Miscellaneous References.

The widespread area over which keen regret in felt at the death of Dr Stuart was manifest on Monday by the pouring in of messages of condolence from all parts of the colony. Among others, telegrams of sympathy were received by the office-bearers of Knox Church from the following gentlemen, old members of the congregation, who are resident in Wellington The Hon. T. W. Hislop, Dr Chappie, Messrs M'Kerrow (chief commissioner of railways), Glasgow (collector of customs), Campbell, Lambert, Reith, Scoullar, Young, and Morrison. Another telegram from a distance, was from the Rev. J. Anderson Gardiner, and was in the following terms:—"The session and congregation of the Bluff Presbyterian Church desire to express their deep sympathy with the congregation and session of Knox Church in the great loss sustained by them and the church in the death of Dr Stuart."

The registrar of the University of Otago on Monday received a telegram from the chancellor of the University of New Zealand desiring him, on behalf of the university, to convey to Mr William Stuart and to the colleagues and friends of the late Dr Stuart an expression of condolence.

At a meeting of the executive of the Schools Committees Conference held on Monday morning it was resolved—"That the executive, while recording their sense of the loss that the community has sustained by the death of the Rev. Dr Stuart, and especially the loss to the cause of education, beg to express their desire that the various school committees of the city and suburbs will arrange for the head masters and teachers requesting the attendance of their pupils at the funeral of the doctor on Wednesday afternoon." At the meeting of the Arthur street School Committee last evening it was decided to request the head master to invite the pupils, with the exception of the younger children, to attend the funeral.

The Right Rev. Bishop Moran has written to Mr William Stuart a letter of condolence in the occasion of Dr Stuart's death. The bishop regrets that his own serious illness prevented him from visiting Dr Stuart in his sickness, as it will also prevent him from attending the funeral. Dr Moran feelingly alludes to the public services rendered by Dr Stuart and to his many acts of charity. The Rev. Father Lynch has been deputed to act as the bishop's representative.

An Auckland correspondent telegraphs:—"Great regret is felt here at the news of the death of Dr Stuart. Kindly references are made in the press as to his career and labours."

The following telegram has been received by Mr W. Stuart from Sir R. Stout and Mr H. D. Bell, M.H.R's., Wellington:—"William Stuart, Esq., Knox Manse.—On behalf of many past and present Otago men and women now resident in Wellington, we tender our heartfelt sympathy with you on the loss of a kind father, and to Knox page 24 Church on the decease of a beloved pastor. We feel that Otago has lost one of her greatest settlers."

The Hon. W Jennings, M.L.C. of Auckland, has also telegraphed to Mr Stuart:—"As an old Dunedin resident allow me to express regret at the death of your father. He will live in the memory of all who knew his kind and benevolent disposition."

The following cable was received on Wednesday by Dr Hislop:—"Representatives New Zealand Conference sympathise Knox Church bereavement.—(Signed) M'Nicoll, president, Adelaide."

At the annual meeting of the Mornington Presbyterian Church on May 16, the Rev. Mr Porter, before commencing proceedings, referred feelingly to the death of the Rev. Dr Stuart, and expressed his regret that they had found it impossible to postpone the meeting or they would gladly have done so. He went on to say that he was quite sure that throughout the whole congregation there was universal regret at the sad event, and deep sympathy with the congregation which had that day buried their dead. Dr Stuart was so dearly loved by numerous members of the congregation, and he was sure that if Dr Stuart could communicate with us now he would be the last to propose the postponement of a meeting such as this.

Lodge Ivanhoe, U.A O.D., at their meeting on Monday night, which was attended by representatives of many of the sister lodges expressed regret at the death of the Rev. Dr Stuart.

At the fortnightly meeting of the Antidote Division, Sons of Temperance, Bro. A. Adam, W.P., presiding, it was resolved to record on the minutes the heartfelt sympathy and respect felt for the late Dr Stuart, and regretting the loss sustained by Otago, and especially Dunedin, by his death.

The pupils at the Boys' High School were assembled at 12 15 p.m. on Tuesday, when they were informed of the arrangements of the share they were to take in the funeral of Dr Stuart. The rector (Dr Belcher) went on to say:—"It would not become the rector of this school to allow the present juncture to pass away without some reference to the event about which all Dunedin, indeed all Otago, is both thinking and talking. Dr Stuart has for so many years stood in very intimate relationship with this school. Since the formation of the present Board of Control he has year after year been elected as chairman, while year after year his name has been found on the donors' list of our annual prizes, and in various other connections incidental to the main purport of his trust. The last occasion on which he addressed the school was on the morning of the funeral of my predecessor in this office, the late Dr Macdonald. I recollect his saying to me on that occasion that the list of the rectors of the school was already long considering the age of the school, and that there was a word of [unclear: wa-ing] in the fact. It is now our melancholy [unclear: d] to be gathering together the threads of memory to present our old friend to you possibly for the last time. I am, of course, devoutly hoping that some memorial to him will, independently of the wider efforts outside, be erected within these walls. This is however, a matter [unclear: be] left to the feeling of the hundreds—nay, thousands—of boys who have passed the portals the school during the last 30 yea[unclear: rs]. hundreds of these boys he must have been more than an official figure: to them he must have been the house friend, the pastor, and [unclear: the] teacher of souls. There must have [unclear: be] hundreds—many, doubtless, now listeni[unclear: ng] me—for whom he has done the functio[unclear: ns] duties of Christian minister. I surmi[unclear: se] both in the hour of rejoicing of the you[unclear: ng], in the abandonment to sorrow of the [unclear: old], Stuart has been a familiar and a welcome [unclear: fi] to many whom this school claims as her [unclear: ow]. It cannot be, therefore, that they will all[unclear: ow] work to pass without a fitting memorial. [unclear: A] other matters, it remains for me to say [unclear: lit] Much has already been said, much remai[unclear: ns] to be said, which falls from lips more appropriate to the work than mine; but I dou[unclear: bt]. there has never yet been in the history of the colony, whether any of you will live to [unclear: wite] an outburst of tribute so spontaneous and a remarkable as that of which we are this day spectators. The school will be closed to-morrow until 1.30, when all boys are expected to be in their places."

In estimating the character and influence of the minister of Knox Church (says the South land Times) we have much light thrown upon both by reference to his nationality [unclear: and] bringing. He came of a robust Highland stock, and inherited the fervid genius [unclear: of] Scottish hills. His mind was deeply [unclear: tin] with the romance of nature, and his [unclear: disc] breathed of the woods and the heather. [unclear: May] will remember an occasion on which, with [unclear: seeming] unpremeditation, he threw himself loose, in the pulpit, on the scenes of his early days tracing the education of the youthful [unclear: herd] on the hillside, in the family, in the school and in the church; and ending with the [unclear: pict] of a Highland communion at which there [unclear: st] side by side the peer and the peasant a picture so vivid that one could almo[unclear: st] the bowed heads of the worshippe[unclear: rs] hear the footfall of the elders as they Moved from pew to pew. So completely was the mind of the doctor cast in the Highland mould that he even found himself possessed of that mysterious gift called "second sight" a gift which we have heard on competent authority he crushed down within him as a somewhat incongruous adjunct to his sacred page 25 office, or as a something the exercise of whi[unclear: ch] himself regarded with dread. The story of his student life is the story of scores of his countrymen—a record of indomitable perseverance, self-denial, and independence, crowned by influence, honour, and success. It would be vain, in a brief sketch like this, to attempt to [unclear: say] all that might be said of the great figure that has disappeared from among us. That [unclear: task] may safely be left to those who, when the [unclear: rst] shock of bereavement has passed, will know how to gather up and present in full detail all the facts and features of a noble life. We can but say at present—"Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?"

At a meeting of the local assembly of the Knights of Labour the following resolution was passed:—"That this assembly deeply regret the loss sustained by the community through the death of the Rev Dr Stuart, a[unclear: nd] testimony to the fact that the deceased clergyman was ever the friend, counsellor, and helper the poor; and that he was eminently successful in carrying into his daily life the of the Christianity he preached."