LATE PRIME MINISTER

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 138, 15 May 1925, Page 5

LATE PRIME MINISTER

SERVICE IN THE ABBEY.

KING REPRESENTED. (By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received jMay 15, 11.5 a.m. LONDON, May 14. A large congregation of New Zealanders and others wre present at the memorial eorvice to Mr Massey in Westminster Abbey. Mr Crabb represented Sir James Allen. There were also present: Lady and Miss Allen, the ex-Governor-Generals, Lord Liverpool and Earl Jellicoe, I.ady Gwendolin Jellicoe, Sir Frederick Chapman, Sir Donald McGavin, General Sir lan Hamilton, Sir Campbell Stuart, the Honourable W. P. Reeves and Air A. F. Roberts. A fully choral service was conducted by sub-Dean Canon Carnegie and Canon Detrandole. It began with a hymn, “For All the Saints”; Psalm 23 was sung, then a lesson from the Revelation was taken, 21, Ito 7; then came the anthem: “I heard a voice from Heaven” (Goss). The service concluded with tho singing of Kipling’s Recessional and the playing of the Dead March (Saul), His Majesty was represented by Viscount Hampden. There were also representatives of the Duke of Connaught., and the Prince of Wales. The members of the Government present were: Mr Stanley Baldwin, Mr Austin Chamberlain, Lord Balfour, Lord Cecil, Mr Arnery, Mr Neville Chamberlain, Mr W. 0. Bridgeman, Sir Cunliffe-Lister, and Mr W. G. Orinsby-Gore, while all tho others were represented. T|io congregation included many distinguished Englishmefi, the High Commissioner for Canada, Hon. P. Larkin, the Agents-General for Australia and Canada, also representatives of the Australian and Indian High Commissioners. — Reuter.

THE FUNERAL I|DDRESS.

SOME IMPRESSIVE REMARKS.

At Parliament Buildings, Wellington, yesterday aftornoon, prior to the departure of the Prime Minister’s funeral, divine service was conducted by the Rev. G. Miller, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand.

“Our life,” said the preacher, “is like a web that is woven little by little until it is complete, and then God cuts it off from the loom. In that web of life is to be found the results of all that we have done, whether it be good or bad. Two things are of importance—the kind of threads that we weave with; and the kind of pattern that .we follow. “There are times when the shuttle is filled with very dark and dull thread; but when the web is complete and woven according,, to the pattern given by Christ, our great example, it will be found that we grow strong through contest, wise through trial, noble through victory over adverse forces, and gentle through suffering. All the bright and dull threads will be woven into a. wonderful and beautiful harmony, and when the web is complete God cuts it toff from the loom. “That is what we call death; but it is not death to die in Christ. It is but a falling asleep and awakening in the presence of God. Our Lord said, ‘I am the Resurrection and the life. He that belioveth ih Me, though he were dead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.’ A GOOD UPBRINGING. “He whoso body we ure to lay in the grave to-day is not dead. He is alive. He has left the land of the dying, and lias entered into tho land of the living. The late Prime Minister had a good upbringing. He was taught to reverence God and His Word; and that means a very great ejeal in any man’s life. Impressions were made upon his heart that never left him. The reverent way in which he quoted the Scriptures revealed his familiarity with the pages of Holy Writ. We do not sorrow to-day as those who have no hope. We believe that he rested upon the everlasting arms of God. That is, by faith he grasped the unfailing hand of Christ, and that, by the saving power of the Son of God, he has been lifted up into the Heavenly places. “We do not, thon, think of him as dead. He is not dead; but alive forever more. “There is no death! What seems so is transition; This life of mortal breath Is but the suburb of tho life Elysiau, Whose portal we oall death.” FACING DEATH. “There are few men who have not regarded death with something of aversion; and we all sympathise with the touching prayer of Dr. Matheson, the blind preacher of Edinburgh, tho author of the beautiful hymn, ‘0 love, that will not let me go!’ Ilil prayer was: ‘Reveal to me that angel at the gate. Give me a view of death as a huliowed thing. It has long been to me the king of terrors. My gravestone lias held a spectre. Take away the spectre, and put an angel there.’ “But when we look up into the face of Jesus Clirist, and commit our souls into His keeping, then we are able to exclaim with the great Apostle, ‘Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?’

“As has been said, ‘not by all the lamps of worldly wisdom clustered in ono place, can wo guide our steps eo securely as by fixing our eyes on this 'inevitable cloud through which all must pass, which at every step becomes darker and more threatening to the children of this world; but to the children of faith and obedience still thins away as they approach, to melt at length and dissolve into that glorious light wliich knows no setting.’ FAITHFUL PUBLIC SERVICE.

The whole Dominion mourns to-day the loss of a great statesman who loved the land of his adoption; who laboured assiduously and devotedly for her good; who for over thirty years gave to this Dominion faithful public service; and for thirteen years used those splendid gifts of leadership with which God endowed him for the advancement of the Dominion and the honour and prestige of the Empire. His ha 3 been a noble service. He was steadfast and courageous. He had strength of character and nobleness of spirit. He boro through all the political life and political strife an unsullied record. He was thoroughly honest and loyal to his convictions. He was faithful to his friends and generous to his foes ; a courageous fighter. He had unswerving determination, and yet with all was generous and tolerant. “The Dominion owes him a debt of gratitude which it is impossible to repay. He came to the end of a long and honourable career with an unsullied character, and with an honour and a glory of which any man might be justly proud. ‘‘He was also a true patriot. Ho loved his King and his country with a burning love When the war came, how loval he was! How zealously he threw himself into the struggle, and helped New Zealand to play a very important and a very pronounced and a very honoured part in the great struggle. Then how able and masterly he grappled with the perplexing problems that arose after the war. And through it all thero \vas not the slightest indication of self-seeking. “As someone has said,, no publio man ever had a cleaner record or was less open to the charge of having used his position for his own glorification or aggrandisement. “He will be held in grateful memory as one who in years of unexampled stress and difficulty served his country and the Emnjre with ability, loyalty, and. single* hearted devotion. . “To-day our hearts go out in deep sympathy to her who has been bereaved or a loved and loving husband; to those who have been bereaved of a kind and noble father; and to those who have lost a leader and a friend. “We commend them to our gracious Heavenly Father, who Is their refuge and their strength; a very present help m trouble, and who in ail their affliotiona is afflicted. May He look down upon them in their sorrow and affliction, and comfort them. The remembrance of Ms devotion to duty and of a great service for his country nobly done will over be fresh in their memory and fill their hearts with gladness.