LATE LORD CARSON

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 124, 21 November 1935, Page 8

LATE LORD CARSON

FUNERAL AT BELFAST EARTH FROM SIX COUNTIES (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, November 2. The late Lord Carson is the first to be buried in the new cathedral at Belfast. Some 350,000 people watched the progress of the beflagged coffin through the streets between Donegall Quay and the cathedral. The coffin had been conveyed from Liverpool by H.M.S. Broke. On the deck stood a file of bluejackets; on her after deck was a bier covered by a Union Jack, with four sailors on guard. Commander the Hon. W. S. Carson went on board the warship at Liverpool.

Bluejackets bore the coffin ashore through a black-draped shed and placed it on a gun carriage in Queen's Square, just off the quay. Lady Carson arrived from Stormont with her fifteen-year-old son, and decided to walk in the procession. This was led by a special guard of 100 of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Behind the gun carriage the Premier, Lord Craigavon, and the Lord Mayor of Belfast led the files of pallbearers, who included the Marquess of Londonderry, Sir Dawson Bates, Colonel H. F. Crawford, and Sir Wilfrid Spender. There followed the members of both Houses of Parliament, the Ulster representatives in the recent Parliament at Westminster, the Judges, the members of the Belfast and Derry Corporations, veterans of the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Orange and Black institutions, the Apprentice Boys of Derry, and other organisations. A thousand armed police stood before barriers, and every viewpoint was occupied. IN THE CATHEDRAL.

The Governor, the Duke of Abercorn, had a special seat in the cathedral as the representative of- the King, and with him were the Duchess of Abercorn and Lady Sykes, daughter of Lord Carson's friend, Mr. Bonar Law. In his address the Primate of All Ireland, Dr. D'Arcy, called Lord Carson a genius of indomitable courage. "His was a great life, greatly lived; his was a noble work, nobly done. There was a clearness of vision, an unshakable will, unfailing courage, and complete surrender of self to the end he had in view. He was a patriot and a statesman. The mere politician looks for a plan to attract public attention. The statesman sees a vision of fact and truth, and becomes a true leader of men."

The coffin, was taken to the grave by the south wall of the nave, and as it was committed earth from the six counties forming Northern Ireland was sprinkled over it. The doors were opened again, and buglers in the street blew the "Last Post" and the "JXeveille." The slab that is to cover the grave has only one word inscribed, "Carson." The "Last Post" and "Reveille" were sounded by buglers from the steps of the cathedral, and later the "Dead March" from Saul was played on the organ and the doors of the cathedral were thrown open so that the thousands outside might join in the hymn, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." The cathedral service was broadcast by loud-speakers at several points on the route along which the funeral passed. Thus Ulster paid its tribute to a great chief. THE CABINET'S WREATH. One of the numerous wreaths bore the inscription: "In the name of the I loyal people of Ulster whom he loved i so dearly and for whom he sacrificed so much, this wreath is laid in affectionate remembrance by the members of the Cabinet of Northern Ireland." Mr. J. H. Morgan, the eminent K.C., remarks in a tribute to Lord Carson: — "We shall not look upon his like again. He was distinguished by a moral grandeur of character of which every one was immediately conscious except himself. He did not 'charm'— the captivation he exercised over everyone who came in contact with him was utterly artless. 11 was the compelling candour of those blue eyes, the sad eyes of one who had suffered much, which drew men to him. To nil his friends he was a tower of strength and a light in darkness." ,