THE SEDDON MEMORIAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 49, 28 June 1915, Page 3

THE SEDDON MEMORIAL.

UNVEILING CEREMONY

Pik Press* association. Wellington, June

In wet weather yesterday afternoon, in the presence of ;i considerable number oi people, the statue of the late (light Hon. H. J. Seddon was Unveiled in the parliamentary grounds by his Excellency the Governor, Lord Liverpool. The National Anthem ami

"The Garland of Flowers" were played by the band, and speeches eulogistic of the late Premier were delivered by the .Mayor (.Mr I'. Luke), the Governor, the Prime Minister ami Sir Joseph Ward. In the course of his speech, the Mayor paid a tribute to Mr Seddon's united efforts tor the uplifting of the people. He read a telegram from the Mayor of Kuiuara, regretting his inability to attend, and tiding: "Time will never dim the lustre of his memory nor Ins works." Worthy tributes to the work and personality of the late Mr Seddon were paid i uthe course of speeches by Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, and Sir Joseph Ward. The statue stands upon it rising .slope in the grounds of Parliament House at a point which will be in direct line with the main entrance of the new budding. It has been placed upon a gracelully proportioned pedestal of Aberdeen granite fifteen feet in height, relieved by chaste mouldings. On the north and south side of the pedestal are bronze shields bearing the deceased's statesman's initials in monogram, while near the top there, runs a freeze of bronze upon which have been i modelled sea shells and billowy waves in which dolphins are sporting, emblematic of the overseas dominions. Upon the front of the pedestal is engraved the simple inscription: "llichard John Seddon." The. figure, which rests upon this pedestal, is of bronze, nine feet six inches high, and is admirably proportioned, like the pedestal. The figure is the work of Sir Thomas Brock, the eminent English sculptor, who is best known as the designer of the great Queen Victoria Memorial now erected in front of Buckingham Palace. Sir Thomas worked from photographs taken while Mr Seddon was in the'act of addressing a meeting at Papawai in 1905. His modelling v,as further aided by suggestions furnished by Mrs and Miss Seddon in London. He has depicted the orator dressed in the frock coat which Mr Seddon al-

ways affected when upon the platform, his right hand uplifted to emphasise his appeal, while in his left hand he holds a shea!' of notes. His feet are firmly planted in a characteristic attitude, giving him a sense of power and motion to the body. At his feet rest two ponderous tomes, a laurel leaf, Union Jack upon a staff, symbolising his work as a legisator, the Empire which he assisted to consolidate, and the victory he won and the success which attended his many acts of statemanship. Xo such work may be above criticism, but the impression loft upon the mind of the impartial observer a s he looks at this, the latest addition to New Zealand's monuments, is that the artist has .succeeded in batching something of the sou! of the man. The pose m natural and forceful, the figure is instinct with life, and as such it has been commented upon with very general approval.

At the close of the ceremony a handsome laurel wreath was laid at the base of the monument by Mr Colvin, M.P.j on behalf of the people of Westland.