The Late Hon. Dr. Grace

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 18, 30 April 1903, Page 5

The Late Hon. Dr. Grace

The funeral of the late Hon. Dr. Grace (writes our Wellington correspondent) took place on Tuesday morning, and was one of the largest yet seen in Wellington. A Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Church of the Sacred Heart at nine o'clock by the Very Rev. Father Lewis, Adni., with Rev. Father Hills deacon. Rev. Father O'Shea sub-deacon, and Very Rev. Dean McKenna, of Masterton, master of ceremonies. His Grace the Archbishop, the Yen. Archdeacon Devoy, Very Rev. Dean Grogan (Wanganui), Very Rev. Dean Binsiield (Meanee), Very Rev. Father Lane and Rev. Father Walsh (Hutt), and Rev. Fathers Delach (Otaki), O'Meara (Feilding), and Cahill (Carterton) were present in the sanctuary. The following priests, assisted by Mr. R. Loughnan and other memtters of the choir, rendered the Gregorian music during the Mass : Rev. Fathers Ainsworth, Moloney, Holley, Servajean (Blenheim), Maples (Fetone), Tower (Hawera), »nd Dean Lightheart. Rev. Father Kimbell presided at the organ. The church was crowded. Among the many leading citizens were the members of Dr. Grace's family, the Hon. W. W. Johnston, the Hon. C. J. Johnston, the Right Hon. Mr. Seddon (Premier), the Hon. Sir Joseph Ward and Lady Ward, the Hon. W. C. Walker, the Hon. T. Y. Duncan, Captain Alexander (representing his Excellency the Governor), the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout), MajorGeneral Babbington, the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. G. W. Aitken, M.H.R.), and a number of members of the City Council, the Rev. C. S. Ogg, Mr. J. W. Joynt (Registrar of the New Zealand University), Mr. H. Otterson (Clerk of the House of Representatives), and many members of the medical and legal professions. St. Patrick's College, of which Dr. Grace was a firm friend, was represented by about 30 of the senior students, under the direction of the Rev. Father Hills (acting-rector). There was also present in the church a number of the children of St. Joseph's Orphanage, an institution of which Dr. Grace was a generous benefactor. At the conclusion of the Mass the Archbishop, in the course of

An Address,

said : ' Before we consign these remains of one we love so much, and who is so highly respected, allow me to address you briefly on this very mournful occasion. I feel, indeed, that no wtfrds of mine have any weight to express the sorrow we all feel here this morning at so great a loss. I think the loss is irreparable for his own bploved family, with whom we all feel the most sincere sympathy. It is a great loss for a large and influential circle of relatives and friends of every class and creed ; a great loss to this city in which he was engaged on so many useful and far-reaching undertakings ; a loss to the legislature which he honored and endeavored to assist in the best laws enacted for the government of this Colony : a great loss to society at large ; a loss to the whole of this Colony, and, 1 may say, in a certain degree, to the Empire — the one whom we regret to-day and whose remains are about to be buried in mother earth, from which he proceeded, until the day comes when they will arise in glory. I feel, my dear brethren, that a personality so dear to us, so well known for so long a period throughout the Colony, occupies a place in our hearts, in our undertakings, and in our business. He occupies a place that when he has departed he leaves a

great void which it will Jbe very hard to fill. He has been connected with this Colony for 43 years. His career was chequered as well as noble and influential. The beginning of his career was in the very stirring times and as a military surgeon he took a great part in 'that fierce and terrible struggle, the Maori war ; and he left a name behind him on that occasion for bravery and humanity. Then he has sat in the senate of the country for^3o years, and has had his share in the enactment of many a good law for the benefit of the country. As a physician in this city, who can enumerate all the favors

he has bestowed upon so many ? Who can enumerate all his acts of kindness, charity and philanthropy ? In every undertaking regarding the benefit of his feilowmen he was always ready with his eloquence — that peculair, ready, vivid, caustic eloquence for which he was distinguished — he was always ready with his voice and with his hand to assist in every benefaction of his feilowmen. Also he had his share in the education of the country ; for several years he sat as a distinguished member of the University of New Zealand. I nave no time now, nor, indeed, is it the place to enter into every detail about all these undertakings, and to set forth the positions he occupied among us. You know all that better than I do, and it would be a waste of time to bring it all before you, but there is one point upon which I might dwell, and that is upon his religious aspect. He was a man of noble and high ideals, noble standards, and, I say without fear of contradiction, that he derived these high ideals from his religion. He was a sincere, a srood, and a practical Christian, and from this he derived the motive that sustained him in the many troubles of his caeeer. He had his struggles and his trials, in various ways. What sustained him in these trials and made him come out of them with honor and the respect of his fellow-men was his deep religious conviction^. We may say, in the words of the apostle, that the just man lives

by faith. As you well know, he had a fine set of natural virtues to adorn his person and to charm his friends and relatives, but he, had a noble array of supernatural virtues dictated to him by his faith, and it is there he 6tands to-day in our regard as a model Christian. He understood the two great duties of man. Man has to serve hjs fellow-men, but he has still more to servo his God. He served his fellow-man for the sake of his God. It was not mere philanthropy in the man that caused his actions, but it was charity, love of God. He loved God above all things, and he loved his fellow-men for God's sake, and so his virtues were supernatural. Ah ! Indeed he had a good, k,ind, and charitable heart, and we know more than anyone else, for we have been witnesses for years and years of all the kindness, the charity, the trentleness, the fatherly affection, the devotedness that ho so long exhibited to the nuns and to the orphans. He might have taken for himself the Father's title that he was a father to the orphan. He also exhibited his conduct fearlessly as a religious man to the eyes of his neighbors, and those xvho have attended in this church have seen him set a noble example of fidelity to his religious duties in every way, in the freriu.-ntation of t'ae Sacraments, the Holy Mass, and hjs crrn^'-osivv to undertake and to help in every Christian and ( niholic enterprise. So vre celebrate his memory to-day as a man of noble natural virtues ; and as a Christian of noble, di\ine, and supernatural virtues we hold him up as a model to our Christian youth, that as they grow up they may become like him laymen worthy of the holy Church of God, receiving their faith practically, and leading in all that is Christian, noble, and elevating. May his memory live in the hearts of our rising generations, so that we may have many such, to be an ornament of society and a glory to the Holy Church. He realised those words of our Saviour : "Be yp always ready." Ho had no fear of death. What did he say only a few days ago to one who was giving him spiritual comfort ': " Father, I have no fear of death. I have been preparing myself for death for thirty-five years.' When a man lives with his eyes upon death he lives in the light of wise counsel ; for our ideas greatly change and our ambitions vastly dwindle when we look at them in the light of death. He was prepared for death, and we should be prepared too.'

At the conclusion of the service the funeral procession, which included his Grace and the priests who were present in the church, was formed and left for the Kar^ri cemetery. His Grace officiated at the graveside.