MEMORIAL SERVICES,

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11509, 16 February 1903, Page 5

MEMORIAL SERVICES,

SERMON BY DEAN HARPER.

A special service, in memory of the late Hon. William Rolleston, was held at the Cathedral yesterday morning.

Dean Harper was, the preacher, and he delivered his sermon from the sixth verse of the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness." Some people had noticed, said the Dean, in .the course of his sermon, and he thought with _ great deal of truth, that one of the significant signs of our days was the interest taken in the lives and doings of what are called "great men," or, at all events, of men who had held conspicuous positions dn the State or society. There was a considerable demand for books, such as biogragrapbiea and memoirs, and also somewhat lengthy obituary notices of conspicuous persons were expected from the newspapers, and certainly the expectation was not disappointed, for nowadays the public press, possibly more than at any other time in its history, gave very full obituary notices of those men's lives which had been conspicuous. That demand for biographies or memoirs was not all to be put down to the hero worship which was natural to every heart. It meant possibly a hinh«r thing than that. It meant that greal>and good living was being appreciated even in these somewhat lax days for its own sake, and also it might mean, which was a better thing, that good living was being; imitated. The most important question that a man could ask himself ,wa_. what he was living for, and what were his aims, and speaking generally a man could not answer such questions in any better way than by saying he desired to be righteous whatever h ; s position in life might be, whether he was called to a high or a lowly place. In this connection, it waa always belpful to turn from the abstract as it was called to the concrete, to find an illustration of any great idea in the actual life of one wtio had lived among us or occupied a public position, whose acts and character were widely known, and such an illustration he thought we might say without airy unreality and without any undue exaggeration we saw in the life of him who dnrine the pact week had passed away to a greater life—William Rolleston. | His recollections went back for a great ! many yearn in respect of Mr Rolleston. ; While being educated as a boy in Christ's ih* happened to see a good deal of him from ___-» to time in his capacity as an examiner, and as one who took temporarily some of the work of the headmaster during the vacancy of that office. Also he could recollect meeting him on many occasions during the holidays on a sheep run cot very distant from Cihristchurch where for some time he> began his career out here as a farmer, working as a cadet upon that particular run. Boys were open to more impressions perhaps than grown men, and what struck him then, and he had always retained the impression, was that this one thins, especially distincuished our departeJ friend's character—be had the desire for righteousne—». He was a man of strong purpose, but vet not one absorbed in himself. He chose to go out of private and and enter public, impelled by the single desire to do liis best for the advancement of the province and the colony. A great deal had been said of Mr Rolleston during- the past week as a politician. Most of us recognised what enter pnb! ; c life, impe'ied' by the single he did, his energy, his sagacity, and 'he sorre- : what rare quality in these dsy*. hi* scrupulous honesty. Some men governed the world by severity, oome governed the world and attaiivd credit /or th-mselvea by qoertionab'e kinds of policies and none too scrupulous resard for the means they a/'or-t. Others attracted by their, geniality and the force of an upright Character. Mr Rolleston helontrf.. to this latter o!a«_. He com-bir-Y. firmness and force of character with a kind.v nature. He knew how to set _.*ide private enemies when public interests were involved. H* had the patience of a true statesman, and was wiUin_r to wait if in «nother ceneratiep h : s conception* could be realised. Of such a man it min-ht tv said without the slici-test suspicion of exaggeration That he hungered and tb : rs.*d after righteousness, for he knew well and he fully recognised that old truth

let men «*y whufe they would, Ik w* righteousness alone that exalted and gave stability to a nation. As soldiers closed their ranks when their comrades fell, so we most remember in this colony that there was a vacant place among v- whicb the increasing efforts of all who oooupied publio positions were required to fill up. Nothing better could be surely wished for this colony than that Mr Bolkston's pnblio spirit and rectitude of life might always animate us. Those of our n_J-fci-i«-JS who wished to show in their lives a__ opinions that they were not confused or dreamy thinkers, or mere prating politicians who tolerated inconsistency in toeir actions or opinions, they could learn from -dm a hi flier lesson than that. All of us, old and young, both those who might have a life vista of years before them, and those who were within a measurable distance of j tthe end, should call to mind his earnestness and simp-ic-ty of nature, his force of char- . acter, and his greatness. He prayed to God that if it was possible some portion of his spirit might rest upon as all, and upon those to whom was being: c-mmitted . tho task of directing the affairs of the colony. BISHOP JULIUS AT ST. JOHN'S. The life of the late Hon. W. Ito-eston - was the subject of a sermon by Bishop Julius at St. John's Church last evening. The text was part of Acts xiii, 36, "He, having served his generation by the will of God, fell on sleep?' One of Uve greatest of those who came to this province in the very early days, the Bishop said, was he yrlioso loss they mourned. It waa just forty years ago since William Rolleston «_-

tou<l puh.ic life as the youngest member of a Commission on education. From then till the time of hi., death he bad continued , to work in the pub .in service, for in the last few months of his life he returned to the subject which, above all, had engrossed bis early attention, and his mind waa full of the education of tha young, and of their religious training, and of the institution, Christ's College, which he had loved and served so we__. l'oiitical _ife was not an easy life to a high-minded, cultured man. Animosities, pers.-ona_iu.fi, and mud-throw- _ ing were fairly frequent in it, and the public was betterable to criticise than to thank I and respect a man for the labour bestowed on it. According.y such men were often driven away from public service, though perhaps to a leas extent here than e.sowhere, lor here there had been from the earliest times a number of cultivated and high-minded ;utn who served the public faithfu.ly, and deserved all honour for it. How few, how- .; ever, could tell of forty years spent in the public service, and ceaseless criticisms, bat loi which no evil woid cou.d be spoken, on which no stricture could be cast. Such was j the public life of Wil.iam Rolleston. He I was not always successful, but he was not :an opportunist. He was a man who lived ! according to principles, and went straight j on, always doing what he believed to be > right—a man who was like a firm rock, ) steadfast amid shifting sands. It was well, |in these days, to have such men. Another ' point in his character was his industry. | When he came to this province first he was | a highly trained, cultured sobo.ar, who j might have found many opportunities jin the. Old Country. Something drove | him out here, and at once he net himself to the work that first presented .itself. He was not one whit a worse farmer because he waa a good Greek scholar, and in the rough and tumble ot colonial life he retained his culture, and made it a basis for services of inestunabla value to the colony. Every business ha entered upon he carried out thoroughly, not for wealth's sake, or for tlte sake of selfishness, but for the, work's sake, for . the world's sake, for his own true nature's sake, and for God's sake. There waa no leisured class to speak of here as yet, and it might be said that we did not need «J----example to make us work. Surely than was a tendency, however, in the direction of that easiness, that laxity of life whioh had grown up in a great degree in older j countries, and was growing up now ia America. Mr Rolleston worked bard, physically and intellectually, and all his work was in ■accordance with a lofty parpose. He was, therefore, an example to us to-day, for if we werte all workers, wo. were not all hard workers. Lastly, there was the great simplicity of the man. Ibis quality was at toe root ot the young lift of our province. The first settlers • cam* here bringing, not wealth, not magnificent furniture, but strong bands and hearts, and a steadfast purpose, and more or less good, strong common sense. They founded religion, education, law among us, and mada j the province. Some of them, like WiU 1 iiam Rolleston, clung to their gfSkd -implicty to the end. We had not learned yet ostentation, magnificence, display, bat there were tendencies which required watching. The growth of luxury and expenses in America was canaing growtb. of anxiety and indebtedness. The preacher deprecated the practice of tiring furniUire; pianos, and bicycles on easy terms, and hoping in the next ten years to be «_-_ to pay them off. .The tendency to -pend. some part of the summer in camps showed a strong inward sense that in the aimplicity and hardness of such a life there vaa real pleasure, and that ii only society would permit it, bow much happier peopla would be. Not the least benefit whioh the late William Rolleston bad given to this colony was Jhis example.

At a meeting of the Epson- Road Board, in the district of Auckland, a .rotation, , e_q>re__ing sympathy with the famMy sod relatives of the late Hon. W. R-tlesfcm in their irreparable toss, was earned, aa? , several members of the Board spoke of the j , great public services rendered to tho colony by the deceased geirt-«_---. TM cbairman will forward the i_-«iutic_ to tS» family by letter.