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Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 29, 4 February 1901, Page 4

Continued from inside page. Victoria the Beloved. There will be an almost unprecedented' magnificence in the pageantry that will attend her to the grave, a magnificence appropriate and due to her exalted rank, but there will be that in her funeral compared with which all this magnificence will be mean; there will be the grandeur of a nation’s tears, shed in unfeigned reverence and sorrow over the remains of all that was most queenly and most womanly. Her subjects to-day mourn for her as for the loss of a personal friend. Nor will this sorrow be confined to those of our Empire, it is shared by all Christendom, “ For those who loved not England loved her.”

Half a century ago the nation was plunged into mourning by the death of Adelaide, the widow of the previous Sovereign, William IV. It may be within the recollection of some present that that lady, in one of the most touching and unaffected documents that ever went right home to English hearts, requested to be carried to the grave by sailors. We were reminded of this incident when we read that our late beloved Queen, as her end drew near, desired a military funeral. It was not from any love of pomp or display that she proffered this request, her object was to honor those brave men who have enjoyed such a large measure of her sympathy and practical benevolence during the past year. It was her last, HER DYING ASSURANCE of the truth written in that noble letter to Florence Nightingale, and often reiterated : There’s not a heart in England Can feel a pang more keen; That day and night her own loved troops Are thought of by their Queen. Some lives are only immediately useful and beneficial, others are only .ultimately so. It is frequently urged that the true character of those occupying high and prominent positions in public life cannot be accurately estimated or adequately appreciated till years have passed and the historian is able to revive them in their natural dimensions. There are misconceptions that have to be corrected, views distorted, prejudices and passions that have to be adjusted. All this is probably applicable in some degree to her whom we mourn to-day. Be that as it may her life from the day she ascended the throne has exercised a salutary, ennobling influence upon her people. It is impossible to estimate the good results that have come to all elasses from the influence of a good, pure Christian woman upon the throne. It will be sufficient now to remind you that she was from the beginning superior to her environments. She made her Court what it is to-day—the purest known in history —and all the time unspoilt by her surroundings hers remained the simple uncorrupted nature of a good woman. We knew her as a dutiful, devoted daughter, a loving, faithful wife, an affectionate, self-sacrificing mother, a widow unchanging in her fealty to the memory of the man she loved. She was a model woman, a pattern to all, and furnished A NOBLE EXAMPLE FOR HER PEOPLE. It was said of her some time ago— Her court was pure, her life serene; God gave her peace; her land reposed. A thousand claims to reverence closed

•In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen. That peace was shattered in the closing years of her reign. It is probable that the grief, anxiety, and strain of last year hastened the end that could not in the order of nature have been long staved off. But much as we regret the war, during its course we have become more closely acquainted with the character of our late beloved Sovereign.' Every new revelation of her real self has intensified our admiration and devotion, and strengthened the conviction that she will ultimately be more useful, and more reverenced, and more honored than she is to-day. “ She wrought her people lasting good,” Her earthly parent never occupied a throne, but she was a daughter of the King of Kings, and to her the words of the Psalmist are eminently applicable—“ The King’s daughter is all glorious within.” Her goodness was Christian goodness, and as was said of another, “ the Sovereign was merged into the servant of Christ.” Now Death, the great leveller, has claimed her. The one event that happeneth to all has overtaken even her. She has been compelled to relinquish earthly rank, wealth, and power, It is probable that she gladly parted with these, for weight of years and increasing infirmities had for some time caused her to look forward to that heavenly city of which she was so faithful and consistent a citizen while sojourning here on earth. At this hour wo are reminded of THAT PRAYER of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, composed on the occasion of the Queen weeping when receiving the crown of England at the time of her coronation— God bless the weeping Queen, With blessing more divine ; And fill with better love than earth’s That tender heart of thine ; That when the throne of earth shall be As low as graves brought down, A pierced hand may give to thee The Crown which angels shout to see: Thou wilt not weep To wear that heavenly Crown. That prayer, as far as it referred to her life, has been surely answered. It will be the prayer of all, whether it be uttered or unuttered, that the latter petition may be as abundantly granted. The best part of every true Christian life is hidden ; ifc remains nnrevealed on earth. The visions of beauty that we have in mere flashes and glimmerings are hints of Divine revealings that are yet to be made, and of the wondrous possibilities that lie in the hidden depths of the sanctified nature, some day to be brought out. There were here and there hi the life of our beloved Queen glimpses of something exquisitely' beautiful: acts, words, selfdenials, dispositions, the revealing of some noble quality, of some marvellous power or measure of love. But these flashing gems of character, even when attained in the saintliest experienco of earthly Christian life, are but intimations of what the Christian shall be when the limiting conditions of earth shall have been left behind. AND NOW SHE HAS LEFT US. I

She set out on her journey sustained by the Christian faith. Encouraged by that faith, she cherished during life hopes and aspirations that could not be realised on earth. We pray that these may pass into bright, dazzling realities ; that she may be reunited to him to whose memory she has been so loyal for forty years; that she may receive the “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and be satisfied with God’s likeness. We pray that Divine comfort may be extended to those who this day mourn the loss of parent and grandparent. AVe pray especially that the grace and wisdom so earnestly sought by and so abundantly vouchsafed to her may in like manner be sought by and granted to him who rules in her stead. May God bless and save His MajestyKing Edward AMI., is the prayer of his loyal subjects this day.—Amen and amen. EVENING SERVICE. In the evening, there was. a large attendance at Holy Trinity Church, when there was a . service appropriate to the occasion. The Rev. Herbert AVilliams, who is New Zealand born, ably dealt with the subject that was uppermost in everyone’s mind. The hymns were selected and in keeping with the service.