IN MEMORIAM.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 601, 18 April 1882, Page 2

IN MEMORIAM.

Well, Ben's gone, boys! Another good

fellow lias passed to the "Land o' the Leal," And it makes us left hern full of sadness,. . When memories over us steal Of the bright,happy past when we roughed it, When the wilderness had to be won, When our hearts opened out to each other. And the vigor of youth was not done. He wasn't a saint, God bless him ! "We liked him the better for that. Like us, he'd his faults and his follies, And he never in judgment sat On the weaker ones who had fallen In the weary battle of life, But would cheer his stricken brothers, And fit them again for the strife. Not like those coves that above us On a heap of self-glory stand, Galling the rest poor sinners, And far from the promised land. No, he met us on even terms, boys, Just as good and as bad as the rest; And the thought that it's hard to lose him Is rising in many a breast. When he came here, the furest primeval Spread over the face of the land, And each acre had to be wrested From that forest's giant hand. 'Twas a har.l and a weary struggle To reclaim the obstinate ground ; But now, where all was the wild wood, A smiling village is found.

In those early days roads were scanty, Or rather there were none at all, And ofttimes the travelling swagger Was weary and ready to fall ; But of one thing he always was certain, And that was, he'd be all right If somehow or other he managed To be near to " Old Shad's " at night.

For he never refused a feed, boys, To those who were tired and sad ; Though they'd not a cent in their pockets, He gave them of what he had, And a good strong nip in the morning, To cheer them along the way. There'e many a rough has blessed him Who didn't know how to pray. I have seen his kind face soltenj At a tale of want and woe, At the thought that some poor creatures Should be born to suffer so ; And I'm sure if his worst opponent Had fallen ill at his gate, His great Roft heart would have opened, And cherished him early and late. Obstinate, foolish, pig-headed— Sometimes he was all of thpse ; As I Siiid before, hang perfection ! No innn can be quite the cheese ; All I say is, he loved his fellows, And gave them a helping hand, And the man who sincerely does so Is as good as the best in the land.

That's a grand old Ule how at judgment The wayworn sinner stood, Knowing his many failings, Conscious he was not good ; How the Lord from His throne of glory Called him forth to eternal bliss, Because he'd been kind to the wretched In a sorrowful world like this. He had served his Saviour unknowing, .Without pomp, or parade, or show, 3y aiding the least of his brethren In this world of want and woe ; And those who like him take the burden From a fellow-sinner's breast, Shall go, whan life's trouble is ended, Where the weary aie ever at rest.

SILAS WEGG.