THE QUEEN'S DEATH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 5, 31 January 1901, Page 18

THE QUEEN'S DEATH.

World-wide condolences and tributes on the death of the Queen have been received by the Imperial authorities from the heads of foreign States, Parliaments, Governments, churches, colonies, and oities. Irish Nationalist newspapers pay respect and frank tributes to the great personal virtues of the Queen. The Hon. J. G. Ward has sent the following message to heads of public bodies in the Colony : — ' I have received official advice from London to-night that the funeral of her late Majesty the Queen will take place on Saturday, the 2nd February, and, in conBequence, that day will be observed throughout the Colony as a day of mourniDg. The public offices throughout the Colony will be closed, and Sunday hours will be observed by all post and telegraph offices. Banks, mercantile houses, business people, and all classes are invited, out of respect to the memory of her late Majesty, to suspend business for the whole day. It may be of interest for you to know that his Royal Highness the Duke of York takes the title of Duke of Cornwall. On the receipt of the news af the death of the Queen the following message was sent by his Lordship Bishop Verdon, through his Excellency the Governor, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies : — 'The Catholic Bishop and clergy of Dunedin, in synod assembled, deeply regret the death of the great and good Queen.' At the nine o'clock Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin, on Sunday, his Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. Verdon spoke at considerable length on the life and personal worth of the late Queen. He referred to the outburst of sorrow which had been witnessed when the cable message arrived bringing the Bad intelligence of the demise of the late Queen. The duty of respect for and submission to authority was one which they had taught their children. Some persons placed in authority were feared, many respected, but not so many won at the same time the respect and love of those committed to their care. The late Queen was not merely respected ; Bhe was beloved by all. Speaking of her many admirable domestic virtues, Bishop Verdon said that they were due, under God, to the careful training which she had received from an excellent mother, who had taught her to rightly estimate the serious side of life and to despise the vanities on which the world set an inordinate value. The preacher then referred at length to the unalloyed happiness of the late Queen's married life, and told how, after 22 years, death laid ita hand upon the Prince Consort, and a cloudy sorrow descended upon the life of the widowed Queen. Suitable lessons were drawn therefrom — how the greatest wealth and the highest position were no protection against affliction. At the close of the longest and most prosperous reign in English history, the most consoling reflection to the late Queen upon her death-bed must have been this : that she had tried daring her life to faithfully discharge the duties of her high and responsible office, and had endeavored to live according to the light that God had given her. Royalty never died. Immediately upon the death of the late Queen, her son, Edward VII.. began his reign. The preacher hoped that it would be a long and prosperous one ; that the new King would follow lin the footsteps of his good mother ; that his rule would be marked by prudence, justice, and judgment; and that it would bring down the blessings of heaven upon his people. At the 11 o'clock Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral exceedingly sympathetic references were made by Rev. Father O'Malley to the domestic and public virtues of the late Queen, whom he described as a model Christian sovereign, and to the great prosperity which had marked her reign. As the congregation were leaving the organist, Mr. Vallis, played Chopin's march ' Funebre,' and the Dead

March in ' Saul.' At Vespers the Rev. Father Boyle, CM., also referred in brief but feeling terms to the virtues of the late Queen. At St. Patrick's Basilica, Oamaru, on Sunday morning (says the Mail) the Right Rev. Mgr. Mackay, in the course of hia sermon, said that in the late Queen, one of the greatest, if not the greatest personage of the Ninetieth Century had passed away. The event had caused world-wide grief and every foreign nation had cent ita tribute of sympathy. Queen Victoria's name, the preacher said, would last in history aa marking the most remarkable epoch of the world's history. Whether they considered her as Sovereign, parent, or as an individual only, her personality would stand out always prominently. The Queen's Court, as compared with that of previous reigns, had been as a shining light of purity and an example to England's future rulers. It was impossible for us to adequately gauge the enormous influence that the Court had wielded in Bocial life throughout the British Dominions, especially at the commencement of the reign, when profligacy and license were the order of the day. Nor had the pure influence of the English Court failed to make itself felt in other Courts. As a parent, continued the preacher, the Queen had gained the respect, affection, and sincere attachment of each and every one of her family, and was thus a bright example to her subjects of what a parent should be. Touching upon the Queen's individuality, Monsignor Mackay feelingly alluded to her Christian life and to her love and respect for religion, which trait had proved a strong bulwark against and reproach to the flood of irreligion and infidelity of the present day. The altar had been prettily decorated with white flowers, and at the conclusion of both the morning and evening services the Dead March was played. The choir gallery in St. Mary's Church, Milton (says the Bruce Herald), was draped in black on Sunday, while crape was also displayed in other prominent positions around the walls. The Very Rev. Father O'Neill, at the conclusion of his sermon, made feeling reference to the death of our late Queen, and to the great loss sustained not only by the British Empire, but by the whole civilised world. He spoke of the great purity introduced into the Court, thereby making her reign a model one in the eyes of all. The Bpeaker also referred to the great changes and the many blessings which the Irish people had to thank her Majesty for — the Emancipation of Catholics. Repeal of the Penal Laws, etc., etc.— and for the part our late beloved Queen had taken in this respect her reign would ever be looked back upon by the Irish people with feelings of deepest gratitude and respect. At the conclusion of his remarks, the Dead March was played, the congregation meanwhile standing with bowed heads. At the evening service, the Rev, Father M'Carthy, of Melbourne, who officiated, also referred to the death of her Majesty. He spoke in Iterms similar to those given expression to by the Very Rev. Father O'Neill in the morning, regarding the purity of her court, and the good moral influence extended thereby. The rev. gentlemen also dwelt on the prosperity which had been the lot of the British nation during our late beloved Queen's reign, and to the great advaucea which had been made in literature, arts, science, etc., since her accession to the throne. Truly, he said, her reign was one which would live in the memory of the nations of the earth, as ore of unpwerving devotion and love for her people. The Dead March was played at the conclusion of the service. At the fortnightly meeting of the Milton Hibernian Lodge, No. 24 0, on Saturday evening, the following motion was carried in silence ' That this lodge place on record its sorrow on hearing of the death of her Moat Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria and its deep, heartfelt sense of the irreparable loss sustained by millions of her subjects throughout the whole Empire.' In our ' Diocesan News ' will be found particulars of references made to the sad event in Catholic churches throughout the Colony.