SUNDAY’S FUNCTIONS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12535, 24 June 1901, Page 9

SUNDAY’S FUNCTIONS.

On Sunday morning the Duke and Duchess and most of the suite attended Divine service at the Cathedral, and after the service several members of the suite ascended the Cathedral tower and expressed their admiration of the fin© view obtained, more especially of the Southern Alps, which are covered with snow, and which showed out very distinctly, the rooming being beautifully clear. In the afternoon the Duke and Duchess, with the Governor and Lady Ranfully and the Hon C. Hill Trevor, visited the Museum, and were shown through the rooms by the curator, Captain Hutton, Their Royal Highnesses, with Lord Ranfurly and the Hon 0. Hill 'Trevor, ascended the Cathedral tower, escorted by Canon Harper, (Mr T. Strange, chief sidesman, and Mr J. Heaseman, verger. Although the air was somewhat hazy, and the ranges could not*be seen clearly, their (Royal Highnesses considered the view a very fine one. The Duchess and Lady Ranfurly then returned to Te Koraha in their carriage, and his Royal Highness and his Excellency the Governor walked through the town. They were very soon recognised by the people, and quite a crowd of . children escorted them, until after they had crossed Victoria Bridge, when th© Duke addressed a kindly words to them, and the majority of them retired, hut others followed until they were stopped by the guards at the gate* of To Koraha. _ w During the afternoon Mrs A. E. , E. Rhodes and Mrs H. F. Wfcram, who bad been deputed by the subscribers to act for them, waited upon, the Duchess and presented her with the souvenir which had bum . procured for her eldest son, Edward, on the anniversary of bis birthdayOn account of it being 'Sunday the proceedings were purely of a private nature, the Duchess receiving the ladies alone. The Duke and. Duchess have taken several short walks in the vicinity of Te Koraha, and are highly delighted' with thoroughly English appearance of the neighbourhood. AT THE CATHEDRAL. Christchurch turned out en masse yesterday morning to see their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York at rooming service at the Cathedral. At half-past nine a crowd began to gather in front of the church, and those possessing tickets commenced to assemble at the tower door. At ten the tower door was opened, and the front portion of the church reserved for ticket-holders was quickly filled. The chancel end of the centre aisle had been reserved for their Royal Highnesses, and chairs upholstered in red with desks' and rugs had been placed there for them. The centre aisle was all carpeted. A strong guard of police under Inspector Ellison regulated the crowd at the doors. After the Premier, Mrs and the Misses Seddon and those baying special invitations—amongst them being the Mayor of Christchurch and his wife, and the Mayors of th© surrounding boroughs—arrived, the north and . south doors were .opened and th© side sections, rapidly filled up till th© whole Cathedral was crowded to the doors. At eleven the Right Rev the Lord Bishop, the clergy, and choir proceeded from the vestry to the chancel, and shortly after eleven the Royal party arrived. The crowd in Cathedral Square was kept back by a cordon of police, and a guard of mounted police accompanied the Royal carriage. Before the service Handel’s “ Coronation) Anthem ” and the choruses “Let their Celestial Concerts” and “ Sing Unto Cod ” were played by Messrs G. F. Tendall and 0. Tendall, and as the Royal guests entered the centre aisle the National Anthem was sung by th© assembly. Th©ir Royal Highnesses wer© conducted' to their seats, followed by Lord and Lady Ranfurly, Captain his Serene Highness Prince Alexander of Took, K.C.V.0., Lady Catherine poke, Hon Mrs Derrek Keppel and Lord Wenlock, G.C.S.L, C.C.I.E. There were also present—Lord Wenlock, Sir Arthur Bigge, Lady Lygon, Lady, Coke, Major Derek Keppel, Mrs Keppel, Prince Alexander of Teck, Major Boi-, Colonel Byron, Sir Charles Oust, Rev Canon Dalton, Sir Donald Wallace, Viscount Crichton, Duke of Roxburgh©, Caplain Osborne and Captain Alexander. The service was intoned by the Rev J. A. Julius and the Rev Canon Harper readi the lesson, taken from Romans xiii. Stanford’s To Deum in B flat followed the lesson, and the anthem was Gounod’s “ Sing praises unto the Lord, 0 ye saints of His,” from Psalm xxx. The hymns were “Holy, Holy, .Holy! Lord God Almighty” and “To The© our God we Fly.” Tho service Was full choral. Th© Right Rev Bishop Julius preached from Hebrews i., 8, “ Unto the Son h© saith, Thy throne, 0, God, is for ■ ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness , as the sceptre of Thy .kingdom.” He said: “The psalm from which these words are taken is a bridal song, written upon the occasion of a Royal marriage, possibly in the days of Solomon, probably in later times. There is much in the psalm which is proper to such an occasion, there is much also which far transcends it. The psalmist seems to rise above the condition of an earthly court, he sees far off th© Golden Age, the King m His beauty, the kingdom of righteousness and the reign of peace when none Shall hurt nor destroy, and the knowledge of the Lord . shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. In the light of that glorious day, he sings: ‘ Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is tthc sceptre of .Thy Kingdom.* Israel was a people that looked forward. The Messianic hope is found on every page of their sacred writings; dim amd uncertain at the first, and growing clearer and brighter as the day approached; until, at the last, tho figure of the Son of man stands forth in perfect bsauty, clear and radiant, almost as in tho pages of tho New Testament. Let us glance for a moment at the basis of this great hope. Max Muller tells us that it was characteristic of all Semitic peoples to worship God in History as a Governor, as it wfts characteristic of the Aryan races to worship God in Nature. But the gods of all the Semitic races, save one, were

immoral deities, amid their worship semi-’ ous and degraded. To the Jew alone God was a Ruler in Righteousness. The God ; of the Jew was Ms glory and his strength. This conception of God, acting in many ways upon the national character* built up ih the hearts of the best and purest of ’ their race, this hope of a Divine kingdom to be one day revealed upon earth* Whew- ' in should dwell righteousness. The prophets of Israel were not dreamers, they were practical, far-seeing mbit, and they loved their country. They saw the degradation of the kingdom, the decay of simplicity, truthfulness andi justice, the' iSh crease of pride tod luxury j they saw the oppression of the stranger, the fatherless and the widow j they saw the idolatries which wore surely sapping the strength «f the people, and giving them over a prey to their enemies. In Words whose, magru- . fioemce and energy have never been ■ surpassed, they upheld the God! el Righteousnebs as the one refuge of the nation} and when, because of national sin, calamity came upon her, they stood! uhdauinted amd unshaken, by faith in the living. Gad of Righteousness. In the darkest bourns of their nation's history, when Indepeudenoe was gone, and life Was one long struggle against cruelty amid oppression, thedr hope shone clear. To that period We owe the saddest, but also the brightest, psalms,, of which the burden is ever this: "Hjy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever j i sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre oj Thy kingdom.’ What shall we cayt .Did they believe Surely apt.' Uvea in, respect of their own times end the men of their own generation, the great ideal preserved the nation from hopeless corruption. Again and again the righteo-usnieas of God was lifted up as a standard, and the people returned to lb. And though these died in faith, not having received the promises, but,, having seen them afar off, the promises were, fulfilled. The Son of God was all, and more than oil, that they bad looked for. 0 Saviour of the world, Lord of Heaven and earth, Who didst come, in life and death to reveal the righteousness of God and plant it in the 1 hearts of men, there is mono like The©; Thou that art tie hops of the end® of tie earth, prophets and kings desired to see Thy day, and in Thee the yearnings of their hearts is satisfied. But the world is not yet Christian, and Christian nations are not yet righteous. Wo know why it is S'*- We know that if the Christian - / Church had been faithful, were even now f«thful to her Lord, the Gospel would . spread throughout the world, and the nations would become obedient to His will.

Fdr what is the office of the Church?' Is it not first to represent in her corporate life and teaching Christ as ho was, and as He is?—the Christ, of whOito we know 80' much, and whom we know «o little? For the Christ of God is too often as "a great picture, wrought by a master hand, obscured through neglect and the lapse of years, restored by shme rude artist, anxiops to make it what he thinks, rather than what it is, and become at last so overlaid, disfigured and spoilt, that we can Sea but little of its original beauty. Tho second office of the Church is to bring men to God in Christ, to build them up in the Faith, to make their holy, and through them, in the power of the Holy Ghost to operate upon the world. Not to interfere with Governments, certainly not to exercise temporal rule, which she has never doflo except at the' cost of spiritual power, but certainly to promote national righteousness. Let us remember -that a* there iS individual sin, an individual conscience, faith and righteousness, so also are there national sins, and , a national conscience, faith and righteousness. Is the British nation a righteous nation? I believe from my heart that, in some respect?, at least, it is growing in righteous- < ness. '' The years of that glorious reign which has so recently come to its close, were blessed above all things in this, the ment of national righteousness. ®ie glory of those sixty years was not that of conquest ahd world-wide dominion, of wealth and power, but of the relief of the suffering and the poor, the deliverance of thousands in mines and factories from something worse than slavery, the steady uplifting Of tha masses, the education of the people, ahd the . Upgrowth of free, self-governed Colonies, How much of this was due to the wisdom and sympathy of the great Queeh, , we shall never know. But it may be truly said that a sceptre of righteousness Was the Sceptre of her kingdom. It is good to ktioW .that British rule is loved, that British justice is respected, and that amidst the cruelties and miseries of War, and despite a multitude or lying accusations,,our clemency and forbear. ( aUce have been acknowledged. Nor is there Wanting evidence of, a like develop: , ment of national righteousness in our colonies. That is surely righteousness which secures the greater happiness' and .wellbeing of .the greater number, Which provides for the education of the young, and the relief Of old age, and which gives to the willing mqn an interest in the work of his own hands. Such things as these belong to righteousness, and we acknowledge them not grudgingly, but with a thankful heart'.

But if in some respects there .is an advance in righteousness, in others, on which I do not desire to dwell, we seem to bo standing still, if not growing worse. The miserable homes of the poor in the Mother Country, and the prevalence of drunkenness and gambling, the lowering’of the moml tone of the people, the frequency of divorce, these are facts which make us doubt whether we arc indeed growing in righteousness- Must I add to these, forgetfulness of God- If this be true, the time will surely come when the sceptre of righteousness wifi fall from our hands. For what has any nation done in the world, how long has it endured, when its faith is dead, atid the Voice of the God of Righteousness- appeals no longer to the national conscience? I am far from denying, the vast influence of civilisation as distinct from religion-, but I , do deny that, standing alone, it can ever produce or maintain a great nation. The ©vend ed the last two years have wrought a crisis in our national history. We have been forced into obedience to that tendency which has made this th© day, not of petty kingdoms, but of mighty empires. As one people the colonies responded to the call of the Mother Land ; as one, the great’ sorrow was felt to the furthest boundaries of the Empire; and hi this church, in a far-' off land, men wept with those that viopt at home; as one, we welcome the symbol of our unity, find share the rejoicing of an Empire. God has called us with a wonderful calling, and has bidden Us to service for the world,’and, therefore, to anxiety «®d toil. If we honour Him' in our national life, He will honour us, if we forget Him ,He will cast us off for ever. God grant to. US the blessedness of the nation whose God i» the Lord of the people whom He hath chosen for His Own inheritance.’’ As the Royal party left the Cathedral, Handel’s; overture to “ Athaiiai ” was played.

A large crowd waited outside the building to see the Duke ahd Duchess depart for “.Te Koraha,” and they wer© greeted by loud cheering as they drove off.-