ARCHDEACON BEAUMONT'S RETIREMENT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4748, 28 April 1900, Page 2

ARCHDEACON BEAUMONT'S RETIREMENT.

The retirement of the Yen. Archdeacon Beaumont from active service in the Anglican Church and his consequent departure from the district in which he has done such Bplendid and enduring work of a Christian character during a period of nearly thirty years will occasion the deepest regret among all classes in the com* munity. The Archdeacon, it may be noted, though a minister of the Anglican Church, was also a man of broad catholic spirit, whose sphere of active labor, whether religious or secular, was never regulated by the limits of a creed. There was no man, and certainly no clergy man, which is perhaps a larger statement, who had less repellent harshness and narrowness of thought than the Archdeacon, and we would venture without hesitation to say that in the whole of his religious or pulpit discourses during the period of bis ministration here not a single remark would be found hurtful to the susceptibilities of the members of any religious denomination. This was the key to a large part of his life as a clergyman, and who will say, now that he has seen its close, that he is not thankful for the kind of mental and religious temperament which enabled him to go through, life and do tho work allotted to him in a manner that, whatever may be thought by the noisy or aggressive controversialist, approaches most nearly to the highest ideal of Christian life and religious tolerance. His striking declaration on this head at last night's meeting is convincing proof that he rejoices over hia immunity from a fault which is only too assiduously cultivated by clergymen. 1 And that his audience not only endorsed the accuracy of his statement but rejoiced that he had triumphed so signally over a weakness too common, waß promptly and vigorously announced by the manner in whioh his statement was received. But perhaps a still happier proof of the truth of his statement was the presence at the meeting which had assembled to do him honor of members of every denomination, some of whom, a fact of which the Archdeacon might well feel proud, had come ia some miles out of the country to pay what they conceived to be a humble personal tribute of respect and esteem. It is such incidents as these, very much more than any professions from the members of a clergyman's own Church, that,

ppeak most eloquently and, perhaps most convincingly. Only a man, strong and sincere in his religious beliefs could have taken the step which Archdeacon Beaumont thought fit to take, and the fact that he took it, and last night, at a time when, under great personal stra\n,he still stood confident in the wisdom of his reßolve, was another proof of the kind of quiet, unyielding strength that has brought him so successfully through his thirty years of ministry here, retaining at the close all the respect and esteem and confidence of his people. No higher tribute could a man in bis position receive than waß paid him last night by those who had known him intimately during the whole period of the thirty years of his steadfast, self-sacrificing labors in the cause of religion, and there was nothing said but what was keenly, deeply felt and honestly spoken. To such a man as Archdeacon Beaumont it is almost superfluous to say that the consciousness of having through life, as he tersely expressed it " tried his beet " is compensation for many things. That he has succeeded in much that he has tried is clearly the opinion of those who know the merits of his work best. He has himself seen the fruition of much of his labor, and he takes into his retirement the good wishes of all classes of the people here, in which we heartily join.