On Sunday afternoon, September 1, a Memorial Service was held in the Swanston-street chapel. The chapel was filled, brethren assembling from all the city and suburban churches. B. J. Kemp, the Victorian Conference President, presided over the meeting. After the singing of "Jesus, lover of my soul," J. Pittman led in prayer. "When I survey the wondrous cross" was sung, and W. C. Craigie read the twenty-third Psalm. Then followed "For ever with the Lord," after which F. G. Dunn delivered an address.

      He said that, speaking on behalf of the church at Swanston-street (of which A. B. Maston was a fellow officer), he could bear testimony to the loss the church had sustained. Like the Apostle Paul, Bro. Maston could say, "I have fought the good fight; I have kept the faith." In another respect, A. B. Maston was like Paul, inasmuch as he was the victim of physical suffering, having a thorn in the flesh; and like Paul he had turned that thorn into the white flower of Christian patience and heroism. Doctors Stirling and Embley, who attended Bro. Maston, had earned the thanks of the whole brotherhood. On one occasion Dr. Stirling, speaking of the church to which A. B. Maston belonged, remarked that "it must be a splendid religion which could produce such a man as Mr. Maston." By reason of long association in [105] connection with the "Australian Christian," and in other departments of work, he could bear witness to Bro. Maston's whole-hearted enthusiasm for the cause of Christ. A. B. Maston's whole life was circumscribed by the church. To him the church was everything. But the brave fighter has gone home. It is for us now to close up the ranks. He may not come to us; let us see to it that we go at last to him.

      T. Bagley, who spoke next, said that the whole biography of A. B. Maston may be summed up in a few Scriptural sentences. As it was said of Moses, "He was a servant of the Lord"; as of Caleb, "he served God faithfully and wholly"; and as of Enoch, "He walked with God." Bro. Maston lived a consecrated life. The church was first in his thoughts, and he refused to belong to any other organisation. He was ready to go wherever he could do good. He will be missed in all our Conferences. A man of courage, he fearlessly spoke out his convictions. His patience in his prolonged suffering was remarkable. He belonged to the noble army of martyrs. He rested wholly on the promises, and was always conscious of the divine presence. Those who visited his bedside could not fail to be impressed with his faith in God. His submission to God's will was complete. He loved life, and found great joy in work, but as soon as it was evident that he must go, there was no murmuring. He was ready to go, and was able; like Isaac Errett, of America, to say, "I find nothing better than to put my trust [106] in the Lord Jesus Christ." Our beloved brother has gone home, and we are sure that he is safe in the arms of Jesus.

      A. R. Main said that the thoughts in our hearts were also in the hearts of brethren in all the States. We had come to-day to pay our esteem to the memory of a Christian hero, one who knew

We had been privileged to witness the highest and best that Christianity can give to us. A. B. Maston reached something higher than resignation and submission, because in spite of suffering he persevered and did the Master's will and the Master's work. There must have been in his case a blessedness of experience which does not fall to the common lot. Such Scriptures as "That I might know Him, and the fellowship of His sufferings"; "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him"; "Our light afflictions, which are for a moment, work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory"; "There shall be no more pain," must have been very real to him. A. B. Maston loved the church. He could say, "I love Thy kingdom, Lord, the House of Thine abode." He was a man of convictions, and absolutely refused to compromise. With him right was right, and there was an end of it. Bro. Maston was the friend of the preacher, and especially of the young preacher. All over the States there are young men who owe much to the sympathy and help of Bro. Maston. These will mourn the loss of a true friend. [107]

      P. A. Dickson said that he made the acquaintance of A. B. Maston in New Zealand, when he first came out from America. The good and strong impressions made upon him then were abiding ones. Following Bro. Maston at North Melbourne, he could bear testimony to his influence in that church and district. He remembered how at Brisbane, in the midst of intense suffering, Bro. Maston preached night after night, though almost always sleepless with pain. We will never know what he suffered. Our brother speaks to us more eloquently through his sufferings than through the most powerful sermons. His life is before us as an example. We are glad that he has gone over the river. His life will speak to us in after years. None of us will ever forget him. Let us gather up all the good in his life and enshrine it in our own lives. A. B. Maston would ask for no greater thing than that we should do our part more manfully and earnestly as a result of the inspiration of his example. The Master is coming back again, and we shall meet our departed friends in His presence, where there is no pain or sorrow or death, but fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.

      After the singing of "There is a land that is fairer than day," J. T. T. Harding closed with prayer, and the meeting was dismissed.

      Mrs. Maston and her daughter, Melba, were present in the meeting.

[LABM 105-108]