The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-05-16
VAST ASSEMBLY ATTENDS THE MEMORIAL
SERVICE FOR TITANIC DEAD AT ST. PAULS

out tQr public junction IN England
attended the memorial services for
Che victims of the Titanic disaster
held in st. PauTs cathedral: Many
distinguished persons attended, among
them Whitelaw Reid, the American
ambassador, and Mrs. Reid
Outside there was the bright, hot
April sunshine, the cheerful twitter OF
birds busy with their young broods,y
the trees bursting into bios som, every
where a rush and riot of new life.
Inside the cathedral a vast Assem-
bly,, filling it to the doors and yet
leaving thousands on the steps with
out, was waiting for the service to
begin in memory of those who had
suddenly been snatched from the sun
shine and the springtime, torn from
their dear ones, caught away with all
their hopes, their plans, and ambi-
tions ended at single stroke hurled
to destruction without warning, with
out time to prepare themselves for
the end.
1t is a very human and very pre-
cious impulse which makes us in
moments of a common sorrow feel a
desire for common worship. Never
before in living memory has any loss
of life made so narrowing an impress
sion as this upon the heart of the ma
| ton. 1t was natural, therefore, that
an enormous number of people, from
the highest to the humblest sho1ld
| turn their faces yesterday morning
towards st. Paul's. Their stricken
natures yearned to unite with others
in a solemn testimony to their faith.
They longed to join in an expression
enhanced by beautiful music and by
the poetry of the English liturgy, o.
their sorrow, their sympathy, ami
their abiding trust in God
Though Thou Stay us, yet will we
! trust in Thee" Those wonderful
words of Job found an echo in the
cathedral. That was the dominant
note of the service. Many lips must
| have repeated, with an accent of
cropping usefulness, the words of the
antiphon before the special Psalms
Make Thy way plain before my face.
In the full shock of such a disaster
the way of the Almighty must seem
to many intellects inscrutable and
dark. The prayer was aptly chosen,
with a knowledge of the weakness of
human nature
Yet it was not an impression Of
weakness that the service left upon
the mind 1t was an impression of
strength. Faith triumphant sounded
in the trumpet-note of the Ninetieth
Psalm:
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge
from one generation to another.
II sounded in the plaintive liturgy
of ST. Chrysostom:
Give rest, o Christ, to Thy SER
wants with Thy Saints, where sor-
row and pain are no more, Meth
er signing, but Life Everlasting.
II sounded in the special prayer
written to fit the sad circumstances
Of the hour:
Almighty God, with Whom do
Iva ho
part hence in the Lord, and with
Whom the souls of the faithful,
after they are delivered from the
burden of the flesh, are in iov and
felicity; we humbly leave in Thy
Fatherly keeping the souls of Thy
servants who have now passed
through the waters; beseeching
Thee, that it may please Thee, of
Thy gracious goodness, shortly to
accomplish the number of Thine
| elect, and to hasten Thy king
dom; that we, with all those that
are departed in the true faith Of
Thy holy Name, may have our
perfect contamination and bliss,
both in body and soul, in Thy
eternal and everlasting glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Above all, the assurance OF saliva
ton, the glorious certainty of a life to
come, of which this life on earth is
but the prelude, thrilled through the
crowded cathedral with the noble har-
monies of the Dead March in Saul"
played with most exquisite under
standing by the Kneller Hall band.
First came the muffled thunder Of
the drums, the confused murmur Of
hearts breaking and souls doubting,
the murmur arising from every land
of human misery and pain. Then tho
piteous minor of the brass, a keen
ing" of women, a bitter cry ascend
ing to the Throne of Grace.