After the opening sentences of the burial service had been read, the procession passed up the nave to the singing of "O God of Bethel," his favourite hymn, recited by him shortly before he died. The coffin was then placed on a bier beneath the lantern, and around it six candles dimly burned. The Dean of Westminster (Bishop Ryle) and the Pre- centor of the Abbey (the Rev. L. H. Nixon) officiated, and when the funeral procession left the Abbey the coffin, covered with beautiful wreaths, was placed in a glass-framed motor- hearse and conveyed to Highgate Cemetery. The vault in which Lady Strathcona was buried lies at the northern end of the burial ground, a pleasantly situated corner almost within the shadow of the trees of Waterlow Park. Here a large number of people gathered behind the barrier of ropes which marked off the space round the graveside. The brief committal service was marked by the same simplicity as the proceedings in the Abbey. The chief mourners stood around the grave, while those who had driven from the Abbey, including the Duke of Argyll and Lord Aberdeen, were grouped behind them. The committal portion of the Church of England service was read by the Rev. Archibald Fleming, of St. Columba's (Church of Scot- land), Pont Street, with the addition of special prayers taken from the Church of Scotland order. The coffin was finally lowered into the grave and placed beside the body of Lady Strathcona, with the two wreaths sent by members of the family upon it. It was not a State nor yet a public funeral. With all his greatness the late High Commissioner of Canada was a simple and homely man; and it was the desire of his rela- tives that his burial should be in keeping with his character, as private and devoid of show as possible. -584- |