ELOQUENT TRIBUTE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 37, 14 February 1938, Page 6

ELOQUENT TRIBUTE

LATE SIR TRUBY KING

BURIAL AT MELROSE

A striking indication of the place < he had won for himself in a country's

gratitude was provided by the funeral of the late Sir Frederic Truby King, founder of the Plunket Society, who was buried with State honours at Melrose on Saturday afternoon. An i eloquent tribute to his personality ■• and his work was paid by the Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe. Holland, Bishop of Wellington, in the course of a eulogy he delivered, at the service at St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral. "Few, who ■ saw Sir Truby King in his later " years," said the Bishop, "would giiess that that little wizened body housed and sheltered one of 'the great creative, dynamic minds' of the last generation.... He impoverished himself in his service to-the mothers and • infants of New Zealand, He devoted all "he, had of spirit, of intellect, and material goods to the service of humanity." .

The Pro-Cathedral was crowded with those who had come to pay their last respects to Sir Truby King, the attendance of official representatives being supplemented by a large number of the general public. The memorial service was conducted by the Bishop, who was assisted by the Rev. G. McKenzie. It was simple and moving, and jthe Bishop's address was ..inspirational in its beauty and . dig- " nity. ~

The-organ was played by Mr. David Blair.

"We are gathered in this cathedral ihurch this afternoon as representa? lives of a whole nation to honour the

memory of one who was more than

a great and respected citizen," said 7' ihe Bishop. "Sir Truby King will '- ; ' stand out in the annals of this coun- "; ■ try as one of its nation builders, and , in world history as one who made a large.and decisive contribution to the welfare of $he community as' a whole. It is not often that such words as I '■"' have ,just used can be spoken without '» leaving an impression of exaggeration behind them. There' are probably only three of the citizens bt this country,, past or present; of whom that could be said with:any real approxiv mation to the truth; but of those'three ..- Sir Truby King is 1" emphatically one. "This pulpit, I know you will agree, • is not the place from which to/speak af his achievements. Those achievements are the common property and the pride 01 every New Zealander. I myself, as a newcomer to this country, • in traversing the length* and breadth • of its two islands, have realised that ~ one of the outstanding features which differentiates this country from any other country in which I have travel- ' led, is the mark that one great personality has left upon it. . Every city, ■ every town, and every _ considerable 1 .'• ' township which I have seen has given ' me evidence of the'activities of that • Plunket Society which exists to carry into the hearts of every community, and of every family in our land, those great principles of mothercraft and child welfare which Sir Truby enunciated and established, and on which • the future physical well-being of the 1 , nation securely , rests. Of all that 1 ~ iwill say no more. DYNAMIC MIND. , "It is the man, rather than his achievements, to which our thoughts should turn, as today we stand in the ' presence of his mortal remains, arid go '/--'forth from this cathedra] reverently ' "■"' to lay his tired body to rest. Few who saw him in his later years would guess , that that little wizened body , housed and sheltered one of the great creative, dynamic minds of the last generation. Ever since the day that, as a man of 22, he flouted the advice of the doyen ■' of New Zealand bankers, Tolhurst, and 1 ' turned his back on certain success in the banking world to go to .Edinburgh and equip to become one of the servants of humanity, he revealed to those who knew him one of those rare personalities in ' which imaginative genius is allied to immense prac- ; tical capacity. His eyes were those ■ of a visionary, almost of the fanatic. He was a lonely man, as great visionaries always are, but the blazing passion to achieve that vision, the. inner * driving force within him, made him, as well as a great visionary,,, a great realist. He was equally at home in . the laboratory where his researches were undertaken, in the office where the organisation to develop his scheme ■ ■ was prepared, and on the platform, -where his infectious and dynamic.enthusiasm was imparted to ( those from whom he chose his fellow-workers. "It was the combination of ,those qualities that made him the balanced personality that he was, and ensured the eflectivenes's of the schemes which only "a man who conibined the capacity ' for vision with that of a sound and sensible judgment of the practical in ' any proposition, could successfully launch. But even so, the secret, of his success has not been fully probed. I always think that real greatness is never achieved, except by those who forget themselves, and Sir Truby King . was outstanding He was utterly in- ■ different to self and personal gain. He did not even allow his work to be ■as- - ,sociated with his v own name.. He rejoiced that Lord and Lady Plunket, who so quickly appreciated his immense contribution to medicine and health, should honour his work by al- ■ lowing their name to be associated with it. He impoverished himself in his ser- .- vice to the mothers and infants of New Zealand. He devoted all that he had, '' of spirit, intellect, and material goods, to the service of humanity,

SECRET OF HIS GKEATNESS. "There lies the true secret of His greatness. We have material evidence of it' to be seen in the Karitane Hospital, in that host of trained workers .to be found throughout - New Zealand 'and in many other countries of the world, and in the healthy _£hecks of thousands of bonny babies—the 'outJ ward expression of a great and selfless .- soul which has permanently enriched 'the world. My friends; it is so that. ■ God works in the world of men. It is through such lives that we get a ■■■■.-■ true reflection of the love of God. That ' passionate desire to serve the best m- ' terests of one's fellow men is not selt- '"■ originating, but comes from*the bourne 'of space and time, comes, from that - world of spiritf where God dwells and , fills all things'with love and truth and i' beauty. The home to which Sir Truby • has been called will indeed be a home : to him, a honie where his love of chil- « dren, his love of beauty—as seen m| : those wonderful rhododendrons in the lovely Karitane gardens—his love of , truth in science and medicine, will find ■-' perfect completion and fulfilment. I "Sir Truby's favourite hymn was 'Abide With Me.' which we are shorl•ly going to sing. It reminds us that -to him the presence and fellowship of ' God are a great reality and an abiding i'< inspiration, and because of that there lis more of joy than of sorrow in this service, more of light than of gloom. "In one of the counties of the Old

Country in . the old day there was a beautiful' custom j that at a funeral, when the body was approaching the churchyerd, the bells broke off their solemn tolling, and rang a peal ol joy for the sake of the soul that was being borne home. . And so today it is with joy in our nearts that we thank God for the life which God has taken to Himself, and pledge ourselves, as assuredly we must do if there is any meaning whatever in this service for us, in our- own individual * tribute to his memory, to live gladly and adventurously, not for self but for others, not for the fleeting things of this world, but for the abiding things of the life that is eternal."

There was a slight drizzle of rain as the cortege, moved out of the church grounds, followed' by two lorries draped in black and purple and laden with wreaths. The pall-bearers were the Minister of Health (the Hon. P. Fraser), who represented the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage), the Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash), Mr. Justice Blair, Dr. M. B. Tweed, Dr. T..G. Gray, Dr. M, H. Watt, Sir William Hunt, Sir Alexander Roberts, Mr. P. F. Pattrick, and Mr. C. Scott.