MEMORIAL SERVICES AT NEW PLYMOUTH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8137, 18 June 1906, Page 3

MEMORIAL SERVICES AT NEW PLYMOUTH.

WHITELEY MEMORIAL CHURCH.

There was a very large congregation at Whiteley Church last night, the Her. T. G. Brooke delivering an eloquent appreciation of the late Premier Messrs Jennings and Smith, M'sJO., attended. The preacher took as his text Psalms 49—12 " Man abideth not in honor." Mr Seddon, he said, was a great man seen from the standpoint of his age. Ho was a man of sound judgment. He had lived long enough, and had a wide enough experience, to have a rery ripe knowledge of things, men and events. He was a man of great wisdom, and was never above adopting other men's opinions when he saw they *ere for the pubiic weal. Bight to the end his natural force was not abated. He was a man of marked ability—a self-made man. Notwithstanding ho came from the people, he had a rery honorable parentage. From the commencement of his active life at 14 in the engineering shops till he came to Victoria before he was 20 years of age, he showed the dawnings of the yigor of his after-life and success. He joined the West Coast rush in 18(56, and with only the stock-in-trade o£ brains and clean manhood, he set himself to the work of his new country. He soob came to the front in local politics and served his di&tric-t foir ten years on lfical boards He natnrally graduated to the House of Representatives, and his ability carried him to the' front on the national affairs. It was said of hm when he was made Chairman of the Arahura Road Board in the early days, that he secured for the district a good road. That was to-day one of the best roads in the colony, and his success in that followed throughout his career, not because he was an opportunist, but because he could guage the progress of events and rise to the occasion. • Hence his Premiership of thirteen years of great record, great for his legislative Acts. The preacher referred to Female Franchise, Conciliation) and Arbitration, Old Age Ptnsions, Workers Compensation for Accidents, and legislation for the protection of the young. Mr Seddon was ever a true man of the people. He declined a title fromhis Xing, and preferred the life of a plain man amongst a plain -people. Although many opportunities offered, he never enriched himself at the expense of the people. Although he lived under the fierce glare of pnblic searchlight, his worst political enemies admitted his life was without blemish. He called himself a humanist, and showed it i> championing the cause of women. The people knew him as a friend. Referring to the late Premier's attitude towards religion, the preacher related a number of instances that had come under his personal observation. The occasion of their first meeting was a request from Mr Seddon that he Bhould visit the vidoir of a dead man. He mentioned Mr Seddon's care for a family that was both fatherless and motherless. He remembered Mr Seddon'* telegram to the widow of the Bev. John Hosk ing. In these things the Premier's kindly heart lightened the heavy bur- : dens of the bereaved. At the conclusion of the service the "Dead March" was played, the congregation standing, and the choir sang Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar" as an anthem, >/\A r „ ST. MARY'S CHURCH. I r

On Sunday morning a memorial service was lield at St, Mary's Church. , The' music was appropriate to the occasion, the congregation standing as | a mark of respect when the organist , (Mr A. E. Fletcher) played " Chopin's | Funeral March ' at the conclusion of j the service, ] , Eev. F. 6. Evans delivered a strik- , ing eulogy of the late Premier. "No j event in my knowledge ot New Zealand life," said the Rev, preacher, "has Caused a more profound and widespread sensation of regret than the unexpf cle 1 ! decease of Eichard John Seddcn." It was wonderful how his death had 1 Softened and changed the feeliDgs of < those who had been politically oppt sed to him, and it was exceedingly pleasant to notice how those who bad stood for many years in opposite camps were Bow the most warm in the eulogmm of the great man who had passed into the ; Judgment Hall of the great King of ' lings So that in common with t'-ie people of New Zealand of all sorts and conditions of men, the I congregation stood in the presence of a national sorrow. "New Zealand IHJuris to-day one of her greatest gjns, and none can remain unmoyed amidst so general a regret." Of Mr Seddon's ability there could be no pissible doubt; for no one could have remained Premier of this colony for thirteen years, and have possessed so deep and far-reaching an influence over its people without ability of a remarkable order. And that he was a wonderful man could be well understood when it was remembered that from a comparatively humble position he rose, by Uis own unaided exertions, to be the recipient of the highest honors his country could confer upon dim, and to be esteemed as the friend and Councillor of the King, and of the greatest Government in tie world. Time alone could give an unbiased judgment of his life, for the dust of conflict, of strife, hindered a perfect contemporaneous view; and to the unbiased future must we leave the judgment upon the life and works of Bichard John beddon, In recognising the sterling qualities of the departed] states mm, the preacher referred to the! purity of his domestic and family life, •gainst whose holy sacrednefs no cruel breath of scandal had breathed. Blessed with a wife of more than ■ average ability, there was ever maintained a mutual respect and "admiration that time had only •,deepened and intensified. It was imto speak too highly of Mrs ceddon, who had so much to do witli the unparalleled success of her hus- • baud; and it was fitting that he should ?_ yeatke out Jib last breath upon her

faithful breast: " and our hearts g i out to her as she weeps beside the oue slip has loved so long and so well." The preacher referred to the late Premier's remarkable personality, his remembrance of friends, his generous con duct to his opponents, accounting in some measuro for the affection, almost amounting to worship in which he was held on the West Coast of the South Island, and to the fact that lie was most particular in his recognition of religion Although he never took any active part in the church, he never willingly neglected a place of worship. "In these days, when so men pretend to defpise the means of Grace, it is no small thing to see the head of the Government recognising the claims of religion, and I have often wonderod that men who followed him in most ..ther directions failed to follow lii-n in this most important of all." Dev. Kvans stated liis belief that our late Premier was most sincere in his efforts fof tho people's good, and to do tlio sreatest sood for tho greatest number. Reference was made to those bcnefioonl measures for the assistance of the aged poor, the protection of lives of those in dangerous employment, and the settlement of differences between em-

p'oycr and employee. "No review of the life of the late Mr Seddon could be complete without reference to his intense patriotism, and the deceased statesman was given credit for having not a little to do with the growth of the Imperial idea. And now he has gnge, and his works follow him! Gone into the presence of that Supreme Power who is infinitely just, and in whose sight every motive will have proper weight. ... We cannot help realising that Mr Seddon was a fcreat man in the great hold he had noon the affections of a great people. Yet, as we think of his death we must believe it was the one he himself would have chosen. At the zenith of his popularity; after an unprecedented and triumphant tour of the States of Australia; in the presence of his beloved wife and some of his children ; without any struggle or pain; there was only a ceasing of the beating of that great heart, and for this world he ceased to be."