FIRST CHURCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22790, 27 January 1936, Page 6

FIRST CHURCH

“KINGLY IDEALS” Large congregations attended First Church yesterday when special services were held in memory of his Majesty, King George V. Appropriate hymns were sung, and the pulpit was draped in mourning. The preacher at both services was the Rev. Allen Stevely, and Mr R. D. Nimmo acted as organist. The subject „ at the morning diet of worship was “ Kingly Ideals.” ' Our late monarch,” said the preacher, “was a noble King, and he cherished kingly ideals. It has been finely said that ideals are the heart of all true progress. In giving thanks to Almighty God for a noble reign and a gracious King, we cannot fail to make mention of the splendid ideals King George envisioned. For these we owe our late sovereign a debt of love, and they are our hope for years to come. What were some of those kingly ideals that stirred that royal heart? Any crosssection of his notable reign reveals them. One was King George’s high ideal of kingship. Prior to his coronation in 1911, at the ceremony of unveiling the new Queen Victoria memorial in front of Buckngham Palace, his Majesty said, ‘Her life was devoted to the discharge of her solemn public duty. Her authority was exercised on all occasions with sincere respect for constitutional usage and tradition. No reign in this kingdom ever gathered up more carefully the treasures of tha past or prepared more hopefully the path of the future. No woman was ever held in higher honour. No Queen was ever loved so well.' These words were indeed prophetic. They are not only a tribute to a great Queen; they are also a testimony to King George’s conception of kingship. This, on the eve of his coronation, was the ideal of the exalted position to which God was calling him. The best commentary on his faithfulness to that high ideal is the measure in which these words are true of himself. That the vision splendid never faded is gathered from one of Ins last broadcasts from Sandringham: ‘May I add very simply and sincerely that if I may be regarded as in some true sense the head of this great and widespread family, sharing its life and sustained by its affection, this will be a full reward for the long aud sometimes anxious labours of ray reign of well-nigh five and twenty years.’ We find it in that last word to his secretary, ‘ How is the Empire? ’ The ideal was with him to tne “ Then there was his vision of a better national and international life, ’ added the preacher. “In November, 1918, in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster, in reply to the addresses of the two Houses of Parliament, King. George spoke of the task before the nation and all peoples, if a better world were to be built out of the wreckage of the old. His words contain the challenge and inspiration of robust idealism: In what spirit shall we approach these great problems? How shall we seek to achieve the victories of peace? Can we do better than remember the lessons which the years of war have taught? In those years Britain and her traditions came to mean more to us than they had ever meant before. It became a privilege to serve her in whatever way one could, and we were all drawn by the. of the 'cause into a comradeship which fired our zeal and nerved our efforts. This is the spirit we must try to preserve. It is on the sense of brotherhood and mutual goodwill, on a common devotion to the common interest of the nation as a whole, that the future prosperity and strength must be built up.’ The King set the nation an inspiring example by his unfailing sympathy and helpful interest in the need of others. On his deathbed at intervals of consciousness there was a kind inquiry or observation about someone. His ideal points the way along which mankind must travel to a better world. “Both these ideas sprang from and were sustained by the King’s Christian faith and piety,” said Mr Stevely. ‘ His fraud ideal was personal loyalty to Christ, luring a period when creeds were in 'solution and a certain languor fell upon belief King George lived with an unspoiled heart. He was a Christian gentleman. The note of Christian faith he often struck was not the mere convention of office. The spirit of love he diffused and which profoundly affected the national temper was the fruit of fellowship with Christ. The motto of his life seems to have been, ‘To me to live is Christ.’ His gracious influence lay in what he was. He was a man of simple faith in Jesus Christ. With the Queen and hia family to aid him, he made Britain not only a nation but a family. Majesty belongs to the royal office. To that King George added grace—a grace that flows from fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That was why the news of our beloved Sovereign’s death was received everywhere with personal grief, not. only at Home but throughout the Empire, and far beyond its bounds. We honour his memory. His life of kingly ideals points us to Him Who is King of Kings and King of Grace, As citizens of the Empire we extend our warmest sympathy to the bereaved Queen and members of the Royal Family. May God comfort and sustain them.. Let us comply with the request contained in Mr Baldwin’s message of Wednesday: ‘We can best honour his noble memory by sustaining the SKing who assumes exacting respouies. May God. guide him aright, and God save the King.’” The subject of the address at the evening service was “A King Loving and Beloved.” “King George,” said the preacher, “ will go down to history as the King loving and beloved.. The sorrow at the passing of our gracious Monarch is worldwide. We can hardy realise that our friend, the King, is dead. He belonged to all in a special way. He was beloved. His sceptre was the mutual goodwill and affection of his far-flung Empire. The State funeral of King Edward VII took place on May 20, 1910. Through crowded streets the solemn cortege passed in bright summer weather. Besides King George, eight kings followed the royal casket—the German Emperor, the King of the Belgians, the Sovereigns of Norway, Greece and Spain, of Bulgaria, Portugal, and Denmark. It was an impressive spectacle. But it was not given to any spectator to see the shadow of doom which hung over the glittering company, or to know what havoc the next decade would make with their thrones. Look at the above list and note how many thrones were swept away. The remarkable thing is that the British Empire, which seemed so lightly held together and whose very existence was in that decade so greatly imperilled, was preserved. Clearly there is something stronger than force. Love, faith, goodwill are stronger and more enduring. The Bible declares love to be the greatest thing in the world. Love was the sceptre his Majesty King George wielded. The significance of the fact has been well expressed by the Earl of Athlone in these words: ‘ Foreigners may note with wonder and admiration what we take as a matter of course, that while empires have crumbled and monarchies have been overset, the King of England remains more securely enthroned than ever before. The reason is not far to seek. The explanation is the King, the representative of his people, and the affection and respect with which hia people regard him. It is not the empty word of idle rhetoric but the accomplished fact of history that our Empire is held together and has survived by the golden cords of friendship that converge at the throne of a King, loving and beloved. , . . • “In November, 1928, at the Armistice Day celebration,” continued Mr Stevely, “his Majesty King George caught a chill which developed into a dangerous pleurisy. At Christmas of that year a shadow hung over the Palace. People waited anxiously for news as if the sick man had been their closest kin. A little girl brought some violets to the Palace gates. Early in the new year the crisis had passed. In April the King issued a message which the Empire will never forget. There is a passage of surpassing beauty and pathos in that royal message, ‘lt has been an encouragement beyond description to find that my constant and earnest desire has been granted—the desire to gam the confidence and affection of my people. His Majesty declared that a very potent factor in hi s recovery was the widespread and loving solicitude with which the Queen and he were surrounded. His illness had evoked a passion of loyal concern which i s without a parallel. It was a reflection of the sympathy the King himself always manifested his people. His poorest subjects were deeply touched by his genuine fellow-feeling. A factory girl living in a street made desolate by a bomb was speaking about his visit to the East End of London, and remarked, ‘ He’s got a nice mind. He -couldn’t have minded more if it had been his own street.’ A writer to the London Times said the expression ‘ his own street deserved to become historic. That wil be so. for King George’s entire reign will be entered in history as that of a King loving and beloved. The tides of the affection between monarch and people were gathering to the full at the jubilee

celebration in 1935. Listen again to King George’s broadcast to the Empire on that occasion: ‘At the close of this memorable day I must speak to my people everywhere, „ yet holv can I express what ia in my mind? . . . how could I fail to be most deeply moved? Words cannot express my thoughts and feelings. I can only say to you, my very dear people, that the Queen and I thank you from the depths of our hearts for all the loyalty, and may I say love, with which on this day and always you have surrounded us, I dedicate myself anew to your service for the years that may be still given to me.” What are these but the words of a King, loving and beloved? King George was more than King. He was friend. The noblest patriotism in the last analysis is a spiritual thing. It is inspired and nourished by faith and hope and love; and these are spiritual things, and they are things that abide. Our beloved King lias passed from us; but the influence of his gracious personality remains to inspire our national and individual life. Of him it can be said: ‘He being dead yet epeaketh.’ May the consolation of the Heavenly Father visit the Royal Home in its bereavement. And may we all answer the clarion call of King George’s life and death by dedicating ourselves anew to the Great Kin» of Love. Whose lie was and Whom he faithfully and graciously sought to serve.” At the conclusion of the morning service the “Dead March” was played.