Appreciations.

For though from out our bourne of time and space
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face,
When I have crossed the bar.

Whilst there is something inexpressibly sad in the suddenness with which the news was brought home to us of the passing away of our dear and beloved friend, that fuller consideration which comes after the first poignant touch has passed enables us to feel that had it been given to him who was with us but yesterday in the fullest of mental vigor and almost unshaken physical health to decide, he would not have chosen any other form of putting aside the burden and duty of life. Nor is there any imperious call, apart from the personal one for excessive demonstrations of sorrow. Into the grief of that inner circle and of that home now rendered sacred by the anguish of the bereaved and the still presence of the loved one we dare not enter. Our sorrow is of a different, less permanent, more general character. But knowing him, as we have done for many, many years, meet in;, him at every hour of the day, conversing with him on men and things, and at time? catching glimpses of that unobtrusive, whole-souled, genuinely practical Christianity which was the foundation of his life's work, and inwoven with the very fabric of his being—knowing these things, we can, in all truth and sincerity, stand forth and say "This was a man."

There was in him an absolute absence of even the shadow of an approach to affectation; his comings and goings were as void of assumption as it is possible for those of any mere mortals to be; he was a friend, companion, adviser, not a superior, a critic, or fault-finder. Nor was there a day in his life but what someone did not wait on him for counsel or help, and we know—few better—that none went empty away. To him the lines, written a century and a-half ago may be applied with singular appropriateness:

His virtues walked their narrow round,
Nor made a pause, nor left a void;
And sure the Eternal Master found
The single talent well employed.
The busy day, the peaceful night,
Unfelt, uncounted, glided by;
His frame was firm, his powers were bright.
Though now his eightieth year was nigh.
Then, with no fiery, throbbing pain,
No cold gradations of decay,
Death broke at once the vital chain,
And freed his soul the nearest way.

To such men the world owes much. Their life's record is an unconscious but perpetual rebuke to the selfish and ignoble. They clarify the atmosphere, and make those whose privilege it was to be in intimate relationship with them feel that it is good to have known them. "Life is worth living," declared our friend on the occasion of his golden wedding, and the words, coming as they did from such a source, made some of the younger pessimists among us feel small and ashamed. Well will it be for us if when our day comes we shall be able to look back upon over seventy years of life so well employed in the service of God and our fellow-men. For ourselves, words ail us—we know not yet the extent of our loss; we can only utter these few broken thoughts by way of tribute, knowing how feeble and impotent they are, though redeemed from sterility by the depth of our sorrow and the consecration of our tears.

This week, in the early part of it, Mr Jago was going about his business as usual, complaining now and again of shortness of breath, but showing no sign of being seriously ill. As late as Thursday he went through his customary routine at the office That evening he consulted Dr O'Neill about the difficulty of breathing which resulted from any slight exertion, and though, as the result of the medical advice, he resolved to take a rest, he felt in no way apprehensive, being inclined to the idea that a touch of indigestion had something to do with his bother about breath. Thus it come about that Mr Jago took a holiday yesterday afternoon. He spent the day at home. In the afternoon the Rev. W. Saunders called at the house, having heard that Mr Jago was not very well, and was pleased to find him not in bed but sitting at his desk finishing a letter. He read the letter to Mr Saunders, and the two old friends sat for a while chatting on general topics, after which they took a turn in the garden and then walked over with Mrs Jago to look at the scene of the neighboring fire. They stayed there a few minutes and then shook hands, Mr and Mrs Jago sauntering home. During the whole of the afternoon Mr Jago was particularly cheerful and bright. About a quarter past six o'clock he went to bed so that Dr O'Neill could make a thorough examination. The doctor did so, and recommended him to take a week's rest in bed. To this he replied that he would not stop in bed but would get up and lie on the sofa. About a quarter past eight his son James commenced to read the 'Star' to him, and in a few minutes heard a strange sound and found his father gasping for breath. Rubbing over the region of the heart did not seem to relieve him and though he got up twice he could find no relief, but kept saying "Breath, breath." His son finally got him to bed again and called the family, and while Mrs Jago was fetching him a drink of hot water that he had asked for he fell back and died in the arms of Mr G. C. Israel and Mr R. Greig the death taking place at 9.45 p.m. Drs Closs and O'Neill were hastily summoned, but the case was beyond their relief. The cause of death was valvular disease of the heart. All the members of the family excepting Mr Alfred Jago (who lives near Ashburton) attended a simple service conducted about midnight by the Rev. W. Saunders.

Of Mr Jago's career as a temperance advocate many columns might be written. He signed the pledge when but six or seven page 3 years of age, and the world cannot produce any person who can prove that he ever violated the undertaking. He delivered his first temperance speech when fifteen years old, as Chief Ruler of the Phoenix Hope Tent of the Juvenile Order of Rechabites at Alloa. His last public appearance was when he presided at the presentation to Mr A. S. Adams on the 26th October of last year. In the lengthy interval of nearly sixty years he kept hammering away at the sin of intemperance, and who can tell how many persons he was the means of rescuing? The record is not kept on the earth. Whilst residing in Glasgow he superintended the work of one of the most active temperance missions there, and his services as a platform speaker were freely acknowledged. On coming to New Zealand he became a co-worker with Sir Wm. Fox and other temperance leaders. It may be interesting to mention that of the Committee of the society to which Mr Jago came out only Messrs Frank Graham, A. Stewart (of the Union street School), and James Stewart (Manor place) are now alive. Mr Graham and Mr Jago used to preach every Sunday close to the bush where the Gardens now stand. Mr Jago took part in the introduction of the Order of the Sons of Temperance to New Zealand; he became the Grand Worthy Patriarch of that body; he was chosen as Chief Templar of the first Good Templar Lodge opened in Dunedin, in 1872—the Lodge Pioneer; he was in 1877 made G.W.C.T. at the annual session of the Grand Lodge held in Christchurch; in 1880, at the annual session of the Grand Lodge held in Wellington, he was presented with a gold watch, with a tea and coffee service for Mrs Jago—the only such presentation ever made; he edited the 'Temperance Advocate' and its successor, the 'Temperance Herald'; he was made president of the New Zealand "Alliance in 1898-99; and on more than one occasion he has contributed articles to temperance conferences in Great Britain. Dr Roseby, his former pastor and co-worker, now residing at Marrickville, near Sydney, once wrote this: "Mr Jago is an earnest, well-read, intelligent and most enthusiastic advocate of the cause. He is the best-equipped, the best-informed temperance speaker, and, at times, one of the most eloquent have known. He is a perfect encyclopedia of information on the subject." Sir Robert Stout's appreciation may also be recalled: "It would have been a good thing for the colony if Mr Jago had been enabled to have taken a more prominent part in our social and political life. He has, however, done much for righteousness." These remarks, be it noted, are by men of Mr Jago's own type—unpurchasably-independent.

Of Mr Jago as a churchman and Christian worker the Rev. W. Saunders writes: It is only a few hours since Mr Jago was talking to me about church and other matters neither of us dreaming that death was near. The influence of his living presence is still so strong upon me that I cannot yet write of him as of one whose Christian work on earth is done. The short appreciation from the standpoint of the church which is asked for I must, however, give; but I cannot yet free myself from the thought that my greatly-valued friend and colleague will read what I say. It is too soon to realise that the hour has come to speak of him and his abundant labors as belonging to the past. I knew him best, naturally, in his church relations, as a member and officer of the Moray place Congregational Church. We have worked side by side for nearly fifteen years, and no minister ever had a more thoughtful and reliable friend. It is not too much to say that he loved the very bricks of the Moray place Church. He was one of the most influential of its founders. In the early days, before there was a building or a minister, he was active in gathering the Congregationalists into a temporary hall, and was always willing to conduct the Sunday services. The passing years but strengthened his interest. Difficulties served to bring out his unswerving loyalty and splendid courage. He served from the founding of the church until now either as secretary or treasurer. It is not long since he retired from the choir. In the absence of the minister he was an ever-ready and most-acceptable preacher. There was no scheme for improvement that he did not liberally support. And every institution of the church found its place in his sympathy. His joy in the recent payment of all debt on the buildings was intense. He so completely identified himself with his "religious home" that he unfeignedly rejoiced in every sign of its prosperity. As a Congregationalist, he was deeply interested in all the New Zealand churches of the Congregational order. Until recent years he attended whenever possible the annual meetings of the Council; and as a mark of the high esteem in which he was held by his coreligionists throughout the colony he was elected chairman of the Congregational Union of New Zealand for 1889. He was the tried friend of our ministers, and his home was always open to receive them as welcome guests. Though devoted to his own church and denomination, he was very far from being a narrow sectarian. He was too large of mind and heart for that. He was always ready to give help both in personal service and money to every church. His interest in the Salvation Army, especially in its social work, was deep and lasting. As a theologian one might describe him as a broad evangelical. Perhaps in his last years there was an increasing emphasis placed by him on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, but he was always ready to follow the truth wherever it led. Always to be relied on for assistance in church prayer meetings and mission services, yet no minister needed ever to fear that charges of heterodoxy would come from him. His love for his Saviour never became narrowness to his fellows. He was himself a thinker. He could not live on untried creeds. His faith was an experience and not a tradition. It was the tragedy of life that seemed to perplex him most. A sermon touching on this always led to a most fruitful conversation, and then he would fall back on a favorite quotation from Tennyson's 'In Memoriam'— page 4

". . . Life is not an idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And heated hot with burning fears.
And dipt in baths of hissing tears,
And batter'd with the shocks of doom,
To shape and use."

John Wesley Jago was born at Nails-worth, Gloucestershire, on the 15th March, 1830. In 1838 he was taken by his parents to Glasgow. From Glasgow the family moved to Alloa, where Mr Jago served four years' apprenticeship to the brassfounding. After that he returned to Glasgow and joined the employ of the 'North British Railway and Shipping Journal,' owned by Mr Mills. From that office Mr Jago went to the 'Examiner' office. It was while in the latter employ that he married. His next move was to the service of the Caledonian Railway Company, and later on he accepted a situation with the firm of Wm. Baird and Co. at the Garlsterrie Ironworks. In a little while he was transferred to the company's works at Lugar, in Ayrshire, and here he had to put up with dismisal because, being a Radical, he would not help to secure the return of the Conservative candidate at an election for Ayrshire Borough. Mr Jago then returned to Glasgow and found employment with the firm of Schrader and Mitchell, who dealt in leather, bark, and hides. Shortly after the finding of gold in Otago the Dunedin Total Abstinence Society resolved to bring a man from Scotland to act as agent for the Society, and the selectors (Mr John Marr, the Rev. W. Arnott, and Dr Miller) chose Mr Jago for the appointment. He there-upon resigned his situation in Glasgow and came out with his wife and four children by the ship Cheviot, Captain Orkney, arriving in Otago in October of 1862. They were met and welcomed by a number of old settlers, including Dr Purdie, Mr and Mrs John Logan, Mr A. R: Livingston, Captain Stewart, Mr Jas. Stevenson, Mr A. Rennie, and Mr A. Galt. The arrangement with the Total Abstinence Society was not long sustained, and Mr Jago had to enter business again. He went into the timber trade, and for a time carried on business in conjunction with Mr Allan Gait in the Octagon; he after-wards carried on business as a flax ex-porter in premises opposite the present Law Courts, where he had a disastrous fire, and later was proprietor of a bonded warehouse in Stuart street. In 1872 he took the position of manager of the 'Evening Star' in succession to Mr J. B. White-way, and held that office until the day of his death, enjoying the full confidence of Mr George Bell, sen., and his successors, and being regarded by the employees as their firm friend as well as their manager In June of 1902, when Mr and Mrs Jago celebrated their golden wedding, between 400 and 500 citizens mustered in the largest hall in Dunedin, the Mayor (Mr Park) presiding, to do honor to the worthy couple. The speeches made on that occasion and the messages sent from all parts of the colony made the gathering quite unique. It was a tribute of respect that a prince might have coveted. The surviving members of the family are Mrs Jago, Mrs J. F. Peake, Mrs G. C. Israel, Mrs Joshua Strange Williams. Mrs P. Kahlenberg, Mrs J. W. Smith, Mr J. Jago, Mr A. Jago, and Mr F. Jago.

It will be of interest to many of Mr Jago's friends to peruse the letter which he wrote yesterday—the last of many hundreds on the same subject from his pen. It read thus:—

A Word to Boys.

To the Editor.

Sir,—In the interests of our schoolboys and for the encouragement of Band of Hope workers, will you permit the publication of the following extract from an address recently delivered by Surgeon-general Evatt, C.B., as chairman of the thirty-second annual meeting of the Royal Hospital Schools Band of Hope:—

"General Evatt laid the strongest emphasis on the importance of absolute abstinence for every clime. Whether on the stormy Channel, or the broad Atlantic, in the burning Red Sea, or the trying, terrible, exhausting Persian Gulf; whether in the heat of the tropics or in the piercing cold of the Behring Strait, he charged them never to give way to anything in the nature of in toxicants, whatever the custom might be. Let them bear in mind that the man who might chaff them on this point was an enemy to the navy, for in many of those trying climes, where the air was so rarefied, and where it was so difficult to breath at all there was nothing which rendered them more susceptible to disease, made them more unfit and likely to perish, than alcohol He had been twenty-five years in the tropics, and his experience had shown him that men did not perish in the heat of the day, but in the night, after their return from the canteen."

page 5

The question of total abstinence, urged the general, was the great national question of efficiency. He pointed out how that alcohol weakened the brain and the power of observation, and significantly brought home to the boys the fact that for the sake of the Empire the sharpness and clearness of the brain was as important as the cleanness of their guns.

"This school," said General Evatt, "has on its shoulders an enormous responsibility, and there is no more important lesson to be thoroughly taught to the boys, who one day are going to fill perhaps highly-responsible posts in the British Navy, than the tremendous value of total abstinence.

—I am etc.,

An Abstainer.

November 18.

Apart from his office work and his labors in the Temperance cause, Mr Jago was an active colonist, taking a very keen interest in social and poltical life. He was one year chairman of the Congre-gational Union of New Zealand. In the old provincial days he warmly supported Mr Donald Reid when that gentleman contested the Superintendence against Mr Macandrew. In the Interest of the views represented by Mr Reid, Mr Jago put up for the Port Chalmers seat in the House of Representatives, but was de feated by Mr Macadrew after a good run and an exciting canvass. He also stood on one occasion for the representation of Dunedin in the Provincial Council, but was not successful. Amongst other offices, Mr Jago was a member of the Otago Education Board in 1890. and he for several years held the office of chairman of the George street School Committee.

The editorial and business departments of this journal to-day received messages from every part of the colony tendering condolence" with the deceased's family, and expressive of the senders' sense of the loss that the newspaper Press have sustained by his death.

('Evening Star,' November 21, 1904.)

The following resolution was passed by the Executive of the New Zealand Alliance:—"The Executive have heard with the deepest regret of the decease of Mr J. W. Jago, of Dunedin. a former president of the Alliance, and for seventeen years a vice-president. For many years Mr Jago was the standard-bearer of the temperance army in the South. He was a most eloquent speaker, and a forcible and convincing writer. His articles tracts, and booklets were numerous and widely circulated, many of them, such as 'The Economics of Drink.' remaining valuable works of reference to the present time. Mr Jago enjoyed the hearty respect of his fellow-citizens, the loyal and enthusiastic esteem of the temperance workers everywhere, and had the happiness of living to see the cause he loved in great, prosperity. The deep sympathy of the Executive with Mr Jago's family in their bereavement is hereby tendered to them, and no doubt expresses the feelings of tens of thousands of their comrades in New Zealand."

At the meeting of Lily of the Valley Lodke, I.O.G.T., Bro. M'Kinlay, C.T., presiding, a motion was carried that a minute be recorded expressing regret at the loss the Order had sustained through the death of Bro. Jago. Bros. Merry, M'Kinlay, and D. C. Cameron spoke of the many excellent qualities of the late Bro. Jago.

The memorial service at Moray place Congregational Church will be held on Sunday, the 27th. in accordance with the wishes of the bereaved family. When the congregation met on Sunday, the 20th. it was evident that the heavy black drapings on choir rails and pulpit fittingly symbolised the gloom in every heart. Mr D. Cooke played as an introit Mendelssohn's 'Funeral March,' and the lessons and hymns, though not of a memorial character, were in harmony with the thoughts and feelings of the congregation. Mr Saunders took no text, but chose tor his subject 'The Last Words of St. Paul.' Asking "And what is the verdict of the old man upon his message and labors as an apostle of Jesus Christ?" the answer was found chiefly in the autobiographical verses in the fourth chapter of the Second Epistle to Timothy. Though Mr Jago was not mentioned, it was evident that the preacher was all the time thinking of the consistency of his aged friend's life and work. During the offertory Mr Cooke played Co wen's 'Better Land,' and for the outgoing voluntary Chopin's 'Funeral March,' though the congregation, visibly affected, remained seated to the end. The evening service differed little in general effect from that of the morning. The intromit was Dr Monk's 'In Memoriam: Even-side,' the voluntary during the offertory Guilmant's 'Chant Seraphique,' and the outgoing voluntary Beethoven's 'Funeral March in B Flat Minor.' Mr Saunders preached from Revelation xxi., 1: "There shall be no more sea," his subject being, very appropriately, the Gospel for those who suffer separation from their loved ones, especially through death.

Reference was made on the same day to the life, character, and work of the late Mr Jago by the Rev. Dr Waddell at St. Andrew's Church, by the Rev. Canon King at St. Peter's, by Mr A. S. Adams and Mr-Bedford, M.H.R., at King street Congregational Church, by the Rev. W. Hay at Hanover street Baptist Church, and by the Rev. W. A. Sinclair at the Garrison Hall.

At a largely-attended meeting of the leaders of the Templar Order in Dunedin, held on Saturday evening in the Choral Hall, the District Chief Templar (Mr Sandilands) made feeling reference to the late Mr J. W, Jago, who had for so many years been the leader of the Temperance party, when the cause was not so popular as it is to-day. It was carried by standing vote, on the motion of Mr D. C. Cameron, seconded by Mr D. Gain (who each gave testimony to the sterling qualities and self-denying energies of their late brother)—"That the District Chief Temp- page 6 lar be requested, on behalf of the Order, to convey their sympathy and condolence to the widow and family of the late Bro Jago, and thankfulness for the great work he so cheerfully and with such conspicuous ability performed."

"Our Own" at Christchurch wires:—At the evening service at the Lin wood Congregational Church yesterday the Rev. I. Sarginson referred to the death of Mr J. W. Jago, of Dunedin, speaking of his work as a Christian. The anthem 'What are These?' was sung by the choir, and the organist played the Dead March in Saul.'

At the meeting of the Port Chalmers Borough Council His Worship the Mayor briefly alluded to the death of Mr J. W. Jago, and moved the following resolution:—"That a letter of condolence he sent from the Council to the widow and family of the late Mr J. W. Jago," which was carried unanimously.