A Tribute to the Late Mr. Joseph Burne.

Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 17, 21 January 1889, Page 2

A Tribute to the Late Mr. Joseph Burne.

» At tho Terrace Congregational Church yesterday morning Dr. West prefaced his discourse, on the subject of "The Scate of 1 the Blessed Dead," founded upon 11. Corinthians 5 viii., by the following statement : — " We are all mourners here ihis morning". The departure of our brother, Joseph Bnrne, makeß a large gap in our fellowship, and a vacancy in many hearts that will not be easily filled. In his removal there was ended a long life of practical godliness and earnest Christian service. It is not my . custom to make minute personal allusion to those whose death at any time I have ( attempted to improve, nor shall I even in ) this instance forget my duty to the living by ' any prolonged eulogy of the dead ; but I feel . that it would not be right to suffer such a member of this Christian brotherhood as ' Joseph Burne was to pass from us without a public testimony to his many virtues and services. We, the members of thiß church, ■ knew him as the outer world could never ! know him ; we saw his genuine unaffected ; goodness, and we rejoiced in it as the work ' of that Living Spirit, faith in whom alone ' makes any man good. Upon Joseph Burne'a arrival in London as a young man he became '• connected with the church presided over by ' Dr. Andrew Reed, an eminent minister and philanthropiat. Whilst in association with that church the foundations of his religious character were laid ; there he acquired that love for Sunday schools and Sunday sohool work whioh remained with him to the last. I have never been curious to enquire into the circumstances and beginnings of his religious life, or what some call his conversion. I look therefore at those things whioh evince the reality and permanence of a chancre in him, and these we have in his blameless and useful life. He has been a member ot this church for nearly 30 years. For nearly 23 years he has served in the office of a deacon, and for over 29 years he acted as superintendent of our Sunday school. The duties of each of these offioes he discharged with zeal and ) conscientiousness. He was a most regular attendant at all our services — ever in his place at our Communion times, oxcept illhealth prevented. So much did he value our common worship that although his deafness made it impossible for him to hear the teaching portion of our service, yet he was present to join in the reading of the Scriptures and in onr servico of song. He was a man of eminently devout spirit, and to the last maintained his habit of conducting family worship. He hold fast to the old simple truth— it was his food and strength and solace in the house of his pilgrimage, and when heart and flesh failed it sustained him still. The well-being of this church interested him much. He loved the freedom and simplicity of our order, and he believed in its scripturalness. In all that related to its business and discipline you will bear me out when I say that he was wise and far-seoing in counsel, and his judgments were generally Bound. Though he was a large contributor to the erection of this building and to the various funds of our church, yet I speak what is in accordance with fact when I say that he never exacted any deference on that account. He evor took the place of the humblest amongst us, never making the endorsement of his views a condition of co-opera-tion, but cheerfully acquiescing in the deliberate judgment of the majority of his brethren, even though contrary to hiß own. He was Btrong in his friendships, and faithful to thorn. Ever ready to help, to sympathise, with a fountain of tenderness in his heart, all the more precious because it wasaeldom allowed to express itself in words. To be charitable was the habit of his life. Much of the good done by. him in this way will never be known till the secrets of all hearts are revealed For many years paat he allowed me to draw upon his purse for tho relief of distress, and I novor appealed to him in vain. Bat he was no mere creature of sentiment. He ever required from me a full statement of the case I recommended. And it was a matter of real concern with him to give help in Buoh a way as to do no harm to the receiver. He lived for 41 years in this oommunity, and I think I am right when I say that he was an entirely honest business man, unswervingly truthful— his word was his bond —faithful and prompt in the fulfillment of his engagementa ; and though ho may have been favoured by circumstances in the acquisition of his wealth, yet he acquired it by the display of those business capacities and moral qualities which are the conditions of all Buccess that is worth having. To the last he retained his methodical habits, and the simple style of life of his earlier days. He had a real sense of stewardship to God in regard to his money, and was fully alivo to the perils of wealth— its hardening and deteriorating effect upon character. On many occasions I havo talked with him on this matter, and I know he sought to prevent the ill-effects of worldly prosperity by the cultivation of a spirit of devout dependence upon God, and by keeping his heart soft through contact with the suffering of tho world. It is worthy of note that having made his wealth here, he did not go elsewhere to spend it, evading many social claims and ignoring the public and political duties which attach to wealth. By his public giftß he has recognised the claims of the sick and suffering of this community, and in his private bequests he has most honourably fulfilled his duty to his own kindred. I do not wish you to suppose, by what I have said, that I think our departed brother a perfect character. He would be the first to disown such a claim. He had defects and infirmities arising from disposition and early disadvantages and struggles, but these are nothing in comparison with his solid excellencies. Were he here, lam sure he would say, ' By the Grace of God, lam what I am.' Let us be grateful to God that he was spared to us so long. Let us be grateful to God that in his public life ' integrity and uprightness preserved him ' and that his walk and conversation were such as became the Gospel, and let ua see in him a practical proof of the power of the Christian faith to make a worthy character out of humble materials, and to supply a motive for noble Christian conduct. When the misbeliefs and no beliefs of the time in which we live furnish us with a better ideal of goodness and a mightier motive for conduct than wo dorive from the ancient Gospel of Jcbus Chrißt, in which our doparted brother was a believer, it will bo time for us to disquiet ourselves."