Memorial to the Premier's Mother.

Thames Star, Volume XXX, Issue 9088, 7 June 1898, Page 2

Memorial to the Premier's Mother.

BPEECH BY HON..W. P. RE«V_BB _¥• *^» *»■» the ft. _ftwirii,. _*_>«; and Advertise, of B*t_r_av April 16, 18M, that the EftrnTwrl'. Reeves, Agent-General, unveiled a Ohurch, St. Helens, Lancashire, ia recognition of the work and memory ofthe mother of the Bight HoTE? Seddon. TheHon.Wfp.HeeTeTby •peaal request, performed the oereI mony. QF

„•_£_ _rWs ght ' wh° P"*Mr introduced Mr Reeves. He said it was a pleasure in thefirstplsce, beeeise that church was honoured by tbe ueseaoa of so distinguished a and m the next place because Mr Beeves '?_* wi M ? e "Pwwntativeof one St _ < P*** oitiaens. The Hon. W. P. Re,-* „& _, need not tell them with want pleasure N he had come some little distance to be present that day. ■; £Ud it been. ' humanly speakiag, possible, there wes. of course, one other man who would have been there to do that office. But it was not possible, and I so he wrote from the other side ex the world to him to ask Jiim as aa eld political ally, his fellow ootenkt aad as an old colleague hi two Ministries, to accept an invitation to eoW_h&' in his steed that afternoon. Ho Jteeves) never knew the good woman to whoso memory (St' tablet had been erected, bat he had heard of her, of her nature, of the life ike lad, of her ___T g.. the example which she showed: fc_d h» knew, perhaps bettor than meet, the eon whom she gave to New Zsakad. (Applause). That son beWapoeiSoa by the will of his fellow-oakjn£a aot paly of distinction, but oftouSdaeW influence and of very great reetibasib_ity;b«cau»esithoughthavs_ydisla_» and beautiful country «of whisk hrwts;' 1-^H_ €r WM by a handful of people, scarcely «g_t hundred thousand, lookiar taolw not very distant future they knew that on the foundation atones bein* laid today would bo erected egreet, astatolv and an imperial wtnetm^tm^^f^ -and that the responsibility waa'f** r great on those t<»/ta*ff 4*30 the laving of ths foundation atone* In the Tery eloqusat addrsee te which they aad boon lntenfcw, they had been tolj how Aoi s hik_e_f^^Sl3 under the hard beadsge «f j^j^ UiA l° w *«7 *^1* into* bright* and freer land. Perhaps it* would be an exaggeration to coup,* thst boatM with tho industrial system of Europe. Still the lot ofthe poor a goneratm. ago was hard in England and EtDOpe, and, indeed, was hard t033 in «omeplaoee^haar,heer*-H_rflfciii , was a feeling amongst those who went; across the ocean to found"a new state * that they were going out of saT Egyptian bondage, ami ware ***_»!' the,r faces towari a iwmioedl«3:* Of course, tiiey were not merely tadof that for themselves, but for thair: cluldrea and these Who shoaldcSa •iter them, It wn l_tt3S^3e| their task so aobl% so ihj|i:^Uii__Xa < so important. Ofo^in^.|iM^iJ| R Mi be doneby a^ot^i^rt^a^ by means ef laws aid iastitatiwbut qualities which distinguished good J» \ ind women, all the laws and iastfe.-' tions in tho world would not bald ni>i anything like a perfect B^T^ plause.) It was to the good mothers erf numbers of sterliag n»On that theyiil to look for thoae qaalities that were to build up the daughter aatioM 3 Britain. It was to women like the good woman to whoso" memory thattobJet was being unveiled that they had to look for these qualities. Warmly eoald he eohottoe words just spokeiJ"i_«_r, God for good women." laaaadTu the Prime Minister of Now ZmkmA ' inherited from hie mother qualities of r courage, of earnestness, ofifldustrv and of dogged British deMfeSttT of eharacter,be lth6nght thejffiisof , \ Ne* Zealand o»ed no ainafidebta. gratitude to the mother of the statse- 'i man whom they had cLoeen to rule ; wer them. • (Arplausel

The tablet wfVthe. anvisiled. ;it_i of white marble fixed in the wall aear the doors, and bears the inscription: " In affectionate remembranoe of Jeaa, Ae beloved wife offbeats SeddMa * sbhoolmaster, Eocisstoa, and iS of the Right Hon. R. J. SeddcCK? I • - Zealand (1816M86-)." thSmSt * follows a verse of the hymn beginning " I came to Jesus as I was, wesrjMd worn and sad." * On the motion of Mr Lewis**, seconded by Mr H. Noad, a vote of thanks was accorded the Chairman, ' Mr Reeves, Mr Hartley aid the other gentleman who had taken part ia the proceedings.