BURIAL OF AN EMPIRE BUILDER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2010, 18 March 1914, Page 3

BURIAL OF AN EMPIRE BUILDER.

4— -rt fc~ . _ LWfiESSIVE OBSEQUIES, 2fow the labourer's task is o'er-, .now the battle (!«y i= past; Jiow iipon the further show Land's the voj-ager at last. That was the note which sounded most clearly through the burial service, at Westminster Abbey (says the "Daily -Vail oiJanuary 21) of Donald Alexan- : cier is-mitn (so his name stood in big black letters upon the order of service), whom . tor niauy years we have known as Lord , fetraUiooua. Thankfulness for the quiet lending of a Jiie packed with hazard I aad adventure. Ui-atiiiude soV 1 tiiafe lue, which has been bo fmitful of ser- ! ! vice to the Empire. Admiration of the . fine ennobling example which the vov-! , ager lias left behind. Nothing was lacking which eoiikl show I'wvthe capital of the Empire valued : tnose services ami that example. Had ■ lie wished it ho might have rested in Westminster Abbey; lie said: "Lay me I tty my wife," so" the jirave was at I Hjghgate. But in tho Abbey, 'filled I With men of distinction its polices ajjd diplomacy, in science and in aft, in | learning and literature, Soldiers and sailors and'pro-consuls, the gfcater part ; of the funeral eeiemoiiv was road, and . sung. Outside there were reverent crowds standing bare-headed when they saw : the coffin, -covered' with a purple pa.il upon which lay a mass of white flowers, chiefly lilies of the valley. BesMe it walked, as pall-bearers, Lord tansdowne, Mr.- Lewis tlarceurt (Colonial fcecrotarv), the Duke of Ar«.yll, Lard ! Aberdeen, Lord Lichfield, Sir William j Osier (another distinguished Canadian), Sir T. Vansittart Bowator (Lord Mayor ■of London), Sir Thomas Skinner, the Very lltsv. G. A. Smith, and Mr. W. L. Griffith, head .of the permanent staff at .the Canadian. High Commissioner's Office. Qugen Alexandra's Wreath. Before the coffin was carried Queen Aicxaudra's wreath of lilies end' orcfcute, inscribed, "In. sorrowful memory of one of the Empire's kindest of men and the greatest of benefactors." Prominent among the congregation' which awaited the arrival of the procession in the Abbey were household officers representing the lung and Queen, the Duke attd Duchess of Connaught, Prince and Princess Arthur of Connanght,, Prince and Princess Christian, Priiaces.3 Louise, and the liuchess (rf Albany. Sir. Asqnith was represented by his sou, Mr. Arthur Asqnitli. . In the gkiom of a. grey morning the candles around 'the bier'flamed yellow and the tall cross which was borne before the procession gleamed with mystic 'stiggestioiis. As the choir walked up the nave from the wast dfoithey sitig with infinitely sweet awl patliotw cadence Lord Strattocona-'s favourite hymn, the hymn which he repeated as he lay dyinjr: "0 God of Bethel, by Whose Hand." , Memorable Moment. Tlie Dean of Westminster in a funeral cape of blaek .velvet heavily embroidered \vitii_ gold, road the Lesson,, St, Paul's passionate assertion of his belief in the immortality of the soul, "0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where h thy victory?" ftoue- couSei help 6el» ing that to such as LoitJ-'Striithccma, at'rest after a great career, prolonged so far beyond the Psalmist's, three-score ycAis and tefi, d-eatk comes as a friend, closing tenderly the tired eyes, Whilethe grave ean claim no victory over wwk well flolie. Tho' service over, tlie whole vast coiigrcgalion stood to -"listen to the , Dead March from "Saol." And just as the coffin was nvisesl on iis bearers' shoulders to be eairicd out, the splendid, thrilling chonjs of the triumph motire filled the Abbey with their message of joy. That was a moment which will live long in (.-he memory. Tifc imisic voiced the whole Empire's gratitude fflr Jjo'rd Strathcona's lifc-woric and tlie confidence that it will steadfastly endure.