The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-10-28 00:00:00

The LATE FIELD-MARSHAL SIR JOHN
BURGOYNE.

The funeral seem is for the late Sir John Fox
Burgoyne was, by desire f the bereaved family,
preached on Sunday forenoon in St. Peter's ('hapel,
within the Tower I4' London by the Rev. R. W.
Forrest, M.A., vicar of St. Jude's, South Kensington,
who had attended the deceased in his last illness,
There was a large attendance, besides the officers and
men the garri.am. A number of the Corps of Com-
mbvionaires were also present. The ,ervice was read
by the Rev. W. Grahaut Green, chaplain of the
Tower.

"The preacher took his text from Hebrews xi., 4
Grafi drad, ,it xpak•-th: After referring to the
original significance of the passage, he considered it as
suggesting a subject of general Mrcrest, aml particularly
sought M impress on his auditory two thoughts --first,
that our lives exert an influerce which death cannot
destroy, and, secondly, that the possession of that in-
fence entails upon us all individual responsibility.
Having appropriately illustrated these two pints, the
preacher continued Now, this Li emphatically ap-
plicable to the subject in haul namely, the influence
s.f the great and gooil. Our great pat bas said that—
Tie cu that own Pc.', fir Oleo, ;
Tio, good i$ oft ist.co.fwith this boace."
There is no doubt, as we have said, as to the truth of
the first statement, that 'the evil that men do lives
after them,' lout we must take great exception to the
second statement--` the good is oft interred with their
bones.' It is neither often. Her ever, interred with
their bones. It is as imperishable as its Divine original
—even He 'from whom all holy desires, all good
counsel, and all just works do proceed ;' and it is not
really affected by death. A great living statesman,
referring some time ago in Parliament to the death of
an eminent legislator, said, most truly, that 'he would
always continue to be a member of the House of
Commons ; tha", although his familiar form was gone,
and his eloquent voice WAS hushed, yet that his opinions
would be studied and his example would stimulate ;
that his actions would be admired, and his prim
elides, opinions, and sentiments would mould and
isermeate the minds of the members, and that even on
to the remotest generations.' In fact, the words were
a fine comment on our text, Ile, being dead, yet
'peaked:4' I have said that death does not destroy
this influence ; but, perhaps I slesild have said that,
instead of destroying it, death rather increasses and
intensifies it; because, you know, when a man is alive,
however good and eminent he may be, even the best of
men are not without their failings, --sometimes very con-
siderable deficiencies and infirmities ; so that you very
frequently hear people say, Well, such and such an one
would be a very excellent person if it were not for
so anti so,' pointing to some deficiency, either imaginary
or real ; and I need tint tell you there are some persons
who appear to delight in dwelling even on the defects
of I,s-seat characters - like flies, that are always certain
to perch on the sore places. But when a man is dead
we tread lightly on his ashes; his fanltts and failings
are forgotten, if he has any, and only his excellencies
and perfections are mentioned. We are ready to take
up the words respecting him of our greatest of all
writers :

raga man that, tat, hien all in all,
fr, ghrdl look repo), his like again."

. .
And surely most amosite are these words as applied to ;
that man whose noble and in some respects unparal-
leled career found a fitting close in that simple, but
solemn awl impressive ceremonial of which this his-
toric and venerable place was the scene on Tuesday
last. lam among you, my friends, this morning by
the desire of the iwreaved family, and with the kind
permission of your respected chaplain ; but I hope you
do not suppose that
came up here to pronounce a
panegyric on the character and career of your late
Constable ; for, in the first place, even if I were capable
of doing so, to eulogize or exalt any human character
would ill befit the sacredness of the pulpit and of the
house of (list, in the presence of whose infinite
majesty all men, even the most illustrious, must be as
nothing ; and, in the second place, the comments and
reviews of the public press for the last ten days have
I so entirely exhausted the subject that I shoalil merely
' weary you with repeating what has been so ably ex-
pressed and described already. During the few mo-
ments more I shall detain you I would address myself
to the appopriate, if the humbler, task of pointing
IMt to you a few of the great qualities which distill-
gui,hril the deceased Fielii-Marshah which we all must
admire, and which, too, we all may imitate. I shall
only note mention three ,--One washi, devotion to•luty.
Having been present and performed a distinguished
part in the acmes f the Peninsular war, and, later in
the day, of the Crimean campaign. he was spired to
render eminent service to the State in a civil capacity,
and pre-eminently his kindly and philanthropi, spirit
shone at the painful crisis when a terrible famine
desolated the population of the sister island. As you
are aware, up to the last three or four years he was
actively engaged in the work of that noble and gallant
profession which be loved and which he adorned, and,
after the unexampled term of seventy-three years of
public service he was gathered to yonder honoured
grave, where he came 'in a full age. as a shock of
corn cometh in his season.' My riends, such a life
speaks to us, and ha, lessons for us, whether as men
or as Christians. There is no happiness in this life
apart from duty, awl, he assured of it, there is no misery
so difficult to susMin as that which springs from the
consciousness of duty disregarded. We may all desire
to pluck the most tempting fruits and to cull the sweetest
'lowers, hut, as it has been truly said, there is mime real
enjoyment in the waj side path of duty than in all the
seeming pa adjse of sinful :mlf. indulgence. A setsuad
char:a:tin istic was his iiisintereste, Mesa. England has
seldom, perhaps never had a more single-eyed, a more
high-minded, a more true-hearted public servant than
Sir John Burgoyne. He was morally incapable of en- I
tertaining low enils or of being inftuence,l by Aelfish con-
siderations. It was in all asion to this that the remark
was made by the (r-at Duke himself re,peeting him
which you have seen, doubtless, quoted in all the news-
papers— that he would have been the foremost man in
' the whole army if only he himself could have been per-
, suaAled of the fact. Even when misunderstood and
perhaps, to a certain degree, misrepresented, as he was
• at (Inc period of hi, career, he was never heard by those
, nearest and dearest to him to utter a single com-
plaint or to give the least sign that he hail any sense
of the injury that had been d ,ne to him. A noble
quality is this disinterestedness somonstantly inculcated
'r
by our Divine Reileemcr, awl gloriou,ly illustrated in
, His life and in Hie acts. Brethren, we are never so

great as when, like Him, we can get out of self. One I
other characteristic I shall name—his extraordinary
humility. That modesty which invariably charac-
terizes true merit was a conqpienous feature of his
character. I believe that nobody ever ventured to
praise him in his presence : and, With all his blushing
honours thick upon him having won almost every dis-
tinction iii the power of the Queen to confer, bearing a
name which had become, I may say, almost historic
and i shall even presume to say n this place that in the
grandrollof Chef onstablesof this most ancient fortresii of
Great Britain there is certainly not a nobler name, or
one more eminently deserving of respect and seneration
than that of Sir John Fox Burgoyne - -yet, amid all
this, he bore himself with the meekness and gentlenew
of a child. I can truthfully taw to you that I never
stood in the presence of the Moltke of the British ser-
vice, as be has been styled, without feeling what a
rebuke his unpretentious demeanour administered to
all vanity awl self-conceit. 'Truly, he, being dead,
yet speaketh."
The preacher concluded his discourse, which was
listened to throughout with deep interest, with some
appropriate reflections.
The whole service was a most solemn and impressive