The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-10 00:00:00

UNVEILING OF A STATUE TO ROBERT
RAIKES.

On Saturday at noon, in the presence of more than
a thousand persons, the Earl of Shaftesbury unveiled
the bronze statue which has been erected to the
memory of Robert Raikes in the Charing-cross orna-
mental gardens of the Victoria Embankment. The
statue, which is the work of Mr. Brock, a pupil of
Mr. Foley, represents Raikes in the costume of his
own day, standing erect, and teaching from a book,
which he holds in one hand, while with the other he
emphasizes the lesson. The following is the inscrip-
tion :

"Robert Raikes, founder of Sunday schools, 1780. This
statue was erected, under the direction of the Sunday School
Union, by contributions from teachers and scholars in Great
Britain, July, 1880."

The cost of the work has been £1,200. About 4,000
Sunday schools have taken part in the subscription,
and the whole amount, with the exception of £2OO,
had been raised before last Saturday. Representatives
were present from France, Germany, the United
States, and Canada, several of whom, in the course of
the proceedings, expressed cordial sympathy with
English friends in the work then so satisfactorily
completed.

A brief religious service having been conducted by
the Rev. Dr. Murphy and the Rev. Dr. Todd,
ministers from New York, Mr. Benham, one of secre-
taries of the Memorial Fund, said that the week which
closed that day would long be memorable in Sunday
school annals. It was three years since Mr. Brigg (of
Keighley) had originated the memorial which woul I
be presently unveiled, and in a short time a sufficient
sum had been subscribed to justify the Committee of
the Sunday School Union in undertaking the responsi-
bility. The Metropolitan Board of Works had cour-
teously permitted them to choose their own site, and
the one they had selected was deemed the best, because
the monument would be seen, not merely by strollers
in the gardens, but by persons driving 'by. Mr.
Brigg said he hoped the statue erected that day would
induce many to ask who was the man to whom such
honour was paid, and what he had done. The
answers they received to these queries might, perhaps,
inspire them to do what they could for the mental
and moral improvement of their respective neigh-
bourhoods.

The Right Hon. Cecil Raikes, as a descendant of
Robert Raikes, said it gave hioi pleasure to see this
honour paid to his ancestor, and under such auspices
as those of that day.

The Earl of Shaftesbury, having unveiled the statue,
said that day of singular interest was heightened by
the presence of Mr. Cecil Raikes and of so many
Transatlantic friends. They had brought a blessing
with them, and he hoped that, taking a blessing home
with them, their visit would tend to promote a spirit
of union among all the English-speaking peoples of
the world. (Cheers.) This was the second statue of
Raikes which he had been asked to unveil, and he
esteemed the invitation a very high honour. When he
went to Glocester he had seen the monument erected
to the great physician, Jenner, and the vacant place
close to it had been assigned to Robert Raikes. The
juxtaposition was most satisfactory and striking, for a
memorial might be seen on the one side to a man who had
been sent by God to 0-Tapple with the greatest bodily
affliction the world had ever known, and on the other
to a man who had been sent to found a system only
the beginnings of which had at present been seen, but
which would certainly diffuse great spiritual healing
over all the nations of the globe. (Cheers.) He could
not help thinking, also, that there was something in
the juxtaposition of this statue and Cleopatra's
Needle. If they looked at the latter they might be
reminded of darkness and ignorance and hopelessness.
As they looked at the two they would see in the
Needle the highest result of Egyptian skill, but in the
statue of Robert Raikes they would be reminded of
one who had been instrumental in instructing
millions of his fellow-beings in the faith and fear
of the Lord, and in illuminating their future with
the brightest hope. Although some doubt had been
thrown npon Raikes having been the original founder
of Sunday schools, it was certain that his name for
all time would be identified with the foundation
of the Sunday school system. He was a man of sound
common sense, great discrimination, and true piety,
who saw in the lowest a man created by the same
Father, redeemed by the same Saviour, and destined
to the same immortality as himself. It was this which
made him what he was, and the fact should not be
forgotten by a single teacher present. He wished
that there were 10,000 men of the type of Robert
Raikes in the metropolis at the present time, for Sun-
day schools, in the present state of society, were more
valuable than ever. Raikes had left a noble and an
undeniable proof of the truth, "The path of the just
is as a shining light, shining more and more unto the
perfect day.' (Loud cheers.) Lord Shaftesbury then
formally handed the monument over to the care of
the Metropolitan Board of Works.