FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR G. COMPTON.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 660, 12 June 1882, Page 3

FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR G. COMPTON.

. Yesterday afternoon the remains of the late Mr George Compton were conveyed to their last resting place. At one o’clock a large number of the friends of the de- ■ ceased met at his late residence, East ■ Town Belt, and for some distance the streets were lined with large numbers of .the general public. The Freemasons mustered at their hall in considerable numbers, the large room being crowded. After the Lodge was opened, the brethren • belonging to the Somerset Lodge, 1811, E. 0., St. John’s Lodge, 1858, E.C., Thistle Lodge, 668, S 0., and the Boyal Arch Chapter, S.C., formed into procession, the visiting brethren and the youngest Lodges taking up the lead of the Masons outside the hall. The members of the Fire Brigade, in full uniform, and the Ashburton Brass Band (which headed the funeral cortege) proceeded to the house of the deceased. Six companions of the Royal Arch Chapter, cf which deceased • was a member, acted as pall-bearers, and as soon as the coffin was placed on the hearse, the band played the Dead March in " Saul,” and the procession proceeded to the cemetery in the following order : Band ; Fire Brigade ; Visiting Masons ; Members St John’s Lodge, E.O. ; Members Thistle Lodge, S.C. ; Members Somerset Lodge, E.O. ; Tylers; Hearse; Sojourners and R.A. Companions and Officers. Following this there were a number of persons on foot and in carriages, making the procession more than half a mile in length. Arrived at the cemetery the funeral procession was met by the Bev. E. A. Scott, incumbent of St Stephen’s, Ashburton, who read the beautiful burial service most impressively. The Masonic Brethren, who had formed a square round the grave, now one by one stepped up to it and threw in the grave, according to ancient custom, a sprig of acacia. The deceased was thirty-nine years of age, and a native of Wellington.

Id connection with the untimely decease of Mr Compton the Rev. E. A Scott preached a most impressive sermon at St. Stephens’ Church last evening. The text was taken from John xix.. 30, “ When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, *lt is finished,’ and He bowed :HiShead and gave up the ghost.” In the course of his remarks the preacher dwelt upon the uncertainty of human life, and the inevitable fate that awaits us all. The case of Mr Compton, who was alive and in his usual health on that day week, was used as an illustration of the suddenness with which death will sometimes appear. The rev. gentleman wound up his sermon with an earnest exhortation to his hearers to be prepared for the moment when their time should come.