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If Lord Strathcona was not buried in St. Paul's it
was because of the wish of his relatives that he should be laid to rest at
Highgate. But he was accorded a public funeral in Westminster Abbey and
the famous building which for a thousand years had been the hallowed
shrine of the mighty men who had made England great was crowded by
thousands who had come to do honor to the illustrious dead, while
multitudes gathered outside and lined the way from his house in Grosvenor
Square.
The gathering represented all the noblest life of
the Empire. The King and Queen and the Governor-General of Canada were
represented, also other members of the Royal family and the Prime Minister
of England. There were present in person the ambassadors of foreign
powers, the high commissioners and agents-general from the other portions
of the Empire, famous men from the universities, leaders in finance,
commerce and philanthropy. The pallbearers were Lord Aberdeen, Lord
Lansdowne, Lord Lichfield, Principal George Adam Smith, Vice-Chancellor of
Aberdeen University W. I. Griffith, the Duke of Argyll, the Lord Mayor of
London, Lewis Harcourt, Colonial Secretary. Sir William Osler and Sir
Thomas Skinner. Hardy has anyone been laid to rest amid such an impressive
company and with such imposing circumstance. The service was simple yet
dignified and stately. The vast congregation joined in singing the hymn
which the dead man had repeated a few hours before his passing, "O God of
Bethel, by Whose hand." Upon the coffin were wreaths from the Dominion
Government, from Alice and Alexander of Teck and one from Queen Alexandra
bearing the beautiful inscription ''In sorrowful memory of the Empire's
kindest of men and greatest of benefactors."
After the service the body was removed to Highgate
and was buried beside the remains of Lady Strathcona, who had died two
months before. There in the quiet graveyard of North London this great
nation builder sleeps after a long life of strenuous activity. As one
thinks of that career, now that it is complete, one can realize more
clearly how wonderful it has been. One must be dull indeed who does not
feel his imagination kindle as he reflected upon the vicissitudes through
which this single life was called to pass. It is difficult, as one turns
from the splendor of that stately service in the great Abbey, and from the
throng of famous men who gathered to do him honor, to conceive that the
subject of this demonstration, seventy-six years before, had left the
little town in Scotland, an unknown boy, and in a little ship had sailed
away over the ocean to try his fortune in that new land across the sea. No
contrast could be greater than that of the raw and diffident lad and the
honored statesman who had just been laid to rest. And the result is all
the greater when it is remembered that the youthful adventurer who was
thus launched upon that life of uncertainty had no advantages apart from
himself, he had no fortune, no social position, no knowledge of public
life, no education as we understand that term. Moreover, the land to which
he was going at that time gave no promise of its marvellous subsequent
development. The political leaders of Great Britain had little conception
of its value. It is a question if, sometimes, they did not underrate it
and deem it more of a liability than an asset. Information about it was
meagre and to the general mind it was the wildest and bleakest part of the
American continent, the choicest portion of that continent being under the
government of the Stars and Stripes. For many years the emigration from
the old country turned its main stream to the United States. Canada then
caused no thrill of pride or hope in British breasts. It was a great wild
country and offered but few opportunities to tempt any but those possessed
of the roving and adventurous spirit. Nothing could possibly seem more
improbable and even fantastic than that such a youth going to such a place
should in the course of time find himself the recipient of the highest
imperial honors and be regarded as one worthy to take his place in one of
''the seats of the mighty." The story of Britain's great men contains the
record of many remarkable careers, of men rising from poverty to wealth,
from obscurity to high position, from small and in surroundings to the
place of commanding power and influence. But it is doubtful if any of them
can match that, of which this story tells, in its conflicts with
difficulties, in its amazing achievements and in its splendid climax.
Westminster Abbey has witnessed many imposing funeral services, has been
the scene of the last rites of a glorious company of the sons of Britain
who have served her well and distinguished themselves in all parts of the
Empire, at home and abroad, who have wrought faithfully in building up the
wonderful fabric of national greatness, mighty soldiers and sailors,
statesmen and orators, poets and philanthropists. It is not claimed for
Lord Strathcona that he was the equal of these in the brilliance, either
of his gifts or of his attainments, but it is claimed that in devotion to
his country, in fidelity to the national ideal, in ungrudging service, in
generous philanthropy, in practical usefulness and in unflagging zeal and
high enthusiasm for all that made for the advancement and glory of the
Empire he was not unworthy of that illustrious company. In the days to
come when Canada shall be appraised at her real value, and when her place
among the young Dominions shall be fully recognized the work of Strathcona
will be appreciated as being of the utmost importance during the critical
and formative period of this young nation's life. His public career was
passed in the strain and stress of conflict, in the years of anxiety and
uncertainty, when great movements had to he carefully guided and no man
did more than he, by wise counsel and sound judgment and courageous
enterprise, to lay the solid foundations of future prosperity. More than
once his native sagacity, his strong will, his clear vision, his powerful
personality and his unfailing tact have served his country in a dangerous
situation. The new country presented many difficult problems—political,
racial, religious and geographical and his share in the solution of those
problems was exceeded by none.
Well might the Empire show gratitude for such
service rendered. Well might the Imperial Government recognize the
greatness of the devoted and loyal subject. Well might the glorious old
Abbey gather together in thousands representatives of all classes to pay
tribute of respect to the faithful servant. Well might. the King himself
do honor to the man, than whom there was no more sturdy supporter of his
throne. He loved the British Empire and cherished the Imperial outlook.
His interest was broad and extensive, reaching every quarter of the globe
where the British flag was acknowledged. But it is safe to say that his
main interest centred on the Dominion of Canada—that portion of the King's
domain with which his long life had been so closely identified, and which
he had done so much to develop. He had seen it grow from an insignificant
and troublesome colony to become one of the most important of the
Dominions beyond the seas and he had spent his life in fostering that
growth. Among those that mourned his death and came to pay their tribute
of respect, none could feel his loss so deeply and sincerely as the
Canadians. He was their friend, the product of their country, one of its
greatest representatives. "Being dead he yet speaketh." And the message he
leaves to his countrymen is to carry on the work to which he gave his life
and make Canada first in loyalty to the British connection, the home of an
industrious and enterprising people, and a co-worker with the mother
country in all that makes for the welfare of humanity. |
