_BASIL WILBERFORCE_[*]
[Footnote *: A Memorial Address delivered in St. John's Church,
Westminster.]
In the House of God the praise of man should always be restrained.
I, therefore, do not propose to obey the natural instinct which
would prompt me to deliver a copious eulogy of the friend whom
we commemorate--an analysis of his character or a description of
his gifts.
But, even in church, there is nothing out of place in an attempt to
recall the particular aspects of truth which presented themselves
with special force to a particular mind. Rather, it is a dutiful
endeavour to acknowledge the gifts, whether in the way of spiritual
illumination or of practical guidance, which God gave us through
His servant; and, it is on some of those aspects as they presented
themselves to the mind of Basil Wilberforce that I propose to
speak--not, indeed, professing to treat them exhaustively, but
bearing in mind that true saying of Jeremy Taylor: "In this world
we believe in part and prophesy in part; and this imperfection
shall never be done away, till we be transplanted to a more glorious
state."