THE UNITED RELIGIOUS SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 821, 21 May 1910, Page 6

THE UNITED RELIGIOUS SERVICE.

AN IMMENSE GATHERING. 6ERMON BY REV. J. .K., ELLIOTT. The service that was held before tho Parliamentary Buildings yesterday will not soon be forgotten by the many thousands who were present. It is easy to obtain solemnity in a great cathedral, with noble columns and highascending'arches, and music rolling under the. vaulted domo, but whore solemnity is achieved without any of these accessories it is' even more impressive. The mind is strangely moved —hnmbled and yet exalted—by the spectable of'thousands of individuals drawn together, silent and subdue3j for ' a common purposo, and that purpose the confession of their frailty and the acknowledgment, even though it bo only fleeting, of a Power that holds us in the hollow of His hand. Yesterday's united service might have been conducted in a foreign language for all that a majority of the great assemblage could hope to hear of it, but it was solemn and impressive by reason of the occasion that brought all creeds and classes to one place, and held the inis- ' . cellaneous concourse silent in a common reverence. , It wonld be bard to say how many people witnessed the great service. There were hundreds on the portico and platforms of the building, and from i these it looked as if tho spacious lawn —the gates and fences even—could not have held one more. There was a large ;rowd at the recent Proclamation cerepxrny, bat it could not compare with.

the pressed multitude that assembled yesterday. The surrounding , streets were thronged with standing people; under the half-mast flags, balconies and rooftops were covered right back to the distant highest roof of the Marino Engineers' Society's new building. Almost' everybody wore some touch of mourning; a ribbon or a' .tie at least ; and quite a largo proportion of the women wero in purple hats. All arrangements had been made with careful foresight. The mourning, programmes, printed by the Government, were distributed at various points of

approach to the grounds, so that there ■ should be no crowding to possess them. Chairs had been provided on the portico and platform, and those officially present reached their seats by a special entrance without bustle or confusion. His Excellency the Governor, the Prime Minister, members of the Ministry, and the Mayor wore present on the portico. On the platform the massed clioir of some 300 voices was placed, being ruled by Mr. Robert Parker from a special rostrum. On the left of the platform tho Garrison Band, under Lieutenant Herd, was stationed, and the volunteers, cadets, and Amokura boys, in their distinctive uniforms, occupied the central place. The band struck up a setting of "Days and Moments Quickly Flying," and at tho conclusion of this voluntary the Rev. J. Kennedy Elliott, 8.A., gave out the hymn "0 God, Our Help in Ages Past." The solemn, etirring strains were taken up by the band and choir, and very generally by the public. Tho effect was most impressive The opening sentences of the burial Bervice, beginning "I am the Resurrection and tho Life," were read by the Rev. J. Dawson, and Psalm SC, which begins, "Lord, thou hast been our Refuge," was read by the Rev. Thomas Fee. It is doubtful if either reading was heard very far; there is a special art in speaking in the open air, but tho behaviour of the .immense crowd was hushed and reverent.--; The Rev. W. A. Evans, 8.A., gave <ra£ the next hymn, "When Our Heads are Bowed With Woe," a moving invocation of Him Who "boro our sorrows." The Rev. H. Van. Staveren ( read Psalm ftAM*, which tells in moving language how "Man walketh 'in a vain shadow, and disquietcth himself in""vain; he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. . . Thonmakest his beauty to consnme away, even aa it wero & moth fretting a garment: every man thereof is but vanity." Tho hymn "Rock of Ages" was announced by Mr. J. Moore, and' sung with touching fervour. The Rev. W. Shirer then read, in a 'louder tone than any speaker had before found, and with a moving emphasis, those "large, divine, and comfortable words" "from the first Epistlo to tho Corinthians which glow with the triumphant promise of Christianity:—.

So also is tho resurrection ot the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; It is sown in' dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness ;' it is raised in ' power. 0 dead, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy.:victory? Tho hymn, "Nearer my God to Thee" —a favourite of the late King—was announced by tho Rev.' J. Reed Glasson. THE SERMON. The preacher, the Rov. J. Kennedy Elliott, 8.A., said: "Wβ are mot together on the border of our Einpiro, men of different creeds and political beliefs, to perform a sorrowful, but a noble, duty—to offer to tho memory of tho great departed our united griof and reverence When death snatched tho ecoptro from his great mother's grasp, onr late beloved King began a task pf stupendous difficulty: To supply the place of Victoria in the hearts of the British race, to preside over tho destiny of a third of, all mankind, to wield the greatest sceptre, to be tho man in all the world most burdened with responsibility, required no ordinary King. But, as happens in the providential government of tho universe, tho occasion brought forth tho man required. Strength and gontlenoss, wisdom and geniality, were Ms rich endowments— tho love of peace his darling attribute, and, fortunately' for tho world, when almost every nation is an armed camp. Although his reign was short, his name will stand among the foremost of a long line of Kings. And now he is gone; but, in the words of Napier, "If glory he a distinction, for each a man death is not a leveller!"

In the time of sorrow, personal, domestic or national (said the preacher), Christians instinctively and invariably tamed for consolation to tho Word of God. Many beautiful sentences might bo culled as appropriate to the present situation, but tho passage which had .farced, itself on hia flttentwu Jinttt 'i

had becomo as " a nail fastened in tho Euro place," was found in David'e lamentation: "Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day ill Israel?" In discoursing from this text it was his purpose to speak of three things, nud that briefly. First, tho character of tho lato King; second, sqmo duties to which the death of the King summoned us; third, some lessons which the death of tho King suggested. First, as to tho character of King Edward VIII. One. word fittingly described this, and it was that word "great" King Edward was great in a many-sided way. He ruled over a great Empire, and ho was great in tho possession of many personal, magnetic qualities, foremost amongst which were his tact and hia : kindliness of nature. Tho preacher spoko of the late King's services to international peace, hie consideration for the poor, and the encouragement which he gave to men of science who were endeavouring to stamp out terrible diseases. As to the lessons to ho loaraed, the calamitous event they were, met to doplore impressivelv illustrated the transitoriness of earthly grandeur. "Earthly thrones are emptied, bnt the Lord reigns and He is the only King immortal as well aa eternal and invisible." When we thought of the physical discomforts of tho closing ecene and of the distress and restlessness generally of the dying hour we were admonished to make our calling and election sure now, for tehold, now is the accepted time, behoid'now is the day of salvation." The mercy of God was not restricted to those horn in the purple. Tho divine pardon was offered without money and without price.

' One final word remains to bo spoken," said the preacher, "lot us so live that, like our revered Sovereign, we shall be missed when vre-uro. goue. True, our influence is not far extending;.wo occupy a small and contracted sphere, and do not stand in 'that fierce light which beats

upon a throne and blackens every blot.' But moral laws as well as physical are operative in limited regions as well as in large, a fact referred to in the familiar lines:

"That very law that moulds a tear And bids it trickle from its source.

That law preserves the world a.sphere, And guides tho planets in their course. "Let ns then make tho best possible investment of our lives by dedicating them to the glory of God and to the cause of sinful and suffering humanity. In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was

bora across the eea With a glory in His bosom that trans-

figures you and me, Aa He died to make men holy, let us live to make them free, While .God is marohing on.

"As the poor emblems of a Kine'e mortality are this day laid in the sepulchre, ire are constrained to , say, 'How are the mighty fallen'! The man who was greatest in all the earth has returned to dust. "But let us not bo deceived. The real King Edward lies not in sepulchre, but has gone to pay homage to the 'King of Kings, , the/Lord of Lords, the only ruler of princes. Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incomiption, and, therefore, death is only the beginning of life. Neither as a nation should we be dismayed. The Providence who has guided us through the centuries is still the eame, and will frnido us to the end. "The King is dead—long lire the King!" Mr. Elliott was not widely heard, but Whitcfield must havo strained his voice to bo audible to such a largo assembly. The Rev. J. J. North then offered prayer, dwelling on the transitory nature of man's earthly glory, as con-, trastod with his spiritual eternity. Adjutant Gnnn (Salvation Army) gav» out tho hymn "Abide with Mβ," —the favourite hymn of the Queen Mother — which was sung fervently, and tho Bov, T. H. Sprott led tho Lord's Prayer, in which all joined. Mr. Sprott also'read tho prayer for tho King, and pronounced tho Benediction. Then a bugler of the Royal Now Zealand Artillery steppsd forward, and sounded tho "Last Post." As the clear notes rang out on the still air one caught something of tho solemn significance of the case. It breathes tho spirit of "Good-night" over tho sleeping camp, it wails over the darkness of tho battlefield, it is the soldier's requiem. The Garrison. Band then played the requiem, "Garland of Flowers," very beautifully. The service was at an end. It would bo impossible for a crowd of many thousands to stand quite motionless during a seventy minutes' sorvico, but it is doubtful if any crowd of equal size could havo stood more still and silently than yesterday's assemblage. Naturally, thero were some people moving on the roacLs while the servico lasted, and a fow moved from tho grounds, but, speaking generally, tho degree of silenco and decorum which prevailed was most impressive. It was the more striking from tho fact that; owing to the wide extent of the crowd, only a minority of thoso present could hear anything—except- the singing.