576 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

As we contemplate the lofty qualities of many consecrated
men of the past in Wilmington, whose chief end was to glorify
God, whose self-sacrificing lives were devoted to the temporal
and spiritual welfare of our people, we are moved to emotions
of profound thankfulness that God has given us such Christ-like
examples of His people who through faith and patience have
inherited the promises. The honor roll is a long one, but their
record is on high, and the last is of one who was loved with
more than fraternal affection by his devoted people.

Those of us who had known Robert Strange from his boy-
hood and had witnessed the generous impulses of his school life ;
who had later watched with affectionate interest the moulding
of a character that was to shine in the reflected glory of the
King in His beauty; whose life was to expand from the nar-
rower to the widest sphere of activity and usefulness, were
proud of this prophet, who was not without honor in his own
country, for we believed that he had seen the vision and as his
Divine Exemplar’s evangel would draw many men from world-
liness to the better life. His gentle, genial, kindly nature, his
exquisite courtesy of manner, his loving, sympathetic devotion

Peace Restored 577

evil baffled the efforts of the few who were faithful in promoting
the welfare of the toilers of the sea, and it was largely due to
his sympathy and support in the earlier days of his ministry
that this important service was brought to a higher degree of
efficiency.

In many other ways he was devoted to the welfare of the
people whom he loved so well, and his constantly increasing
activities, linked with the larger responsibilities of his sacred
office, gradually undermined a constitution which had been
greatly overtaxed. His sudden illness, which from the begin-
ning filled us with sad forebodings, seemed for a time to yield
to medical treatment, but the joy this brought to many hearts
was evanescent, for it soon became apparent to those who dis-
cerned a change that the frail tenement was closing up its win-
dows, and putting out its fires; but as the outward man failed,
the Inward man was renewed day by day, until his gentle spirit
took its flight to be forever with the Lord.

It may be said of him in the dying words of General Have-
lock, while his devoted son held him in his arms, “For forty
years I have tried so to live as to meet death without dismay.”

One of Bishop Strange’s rare qualities was a cheerful coun-
tenance and an abiding spirit of cheerfulness. ‘He wist not
that his face so shone.”” And even under the inevitable shadow
of clouds and darkness which sometimes obscured the light, he
was never dismayed. Nor did he ever protest under a sense of
Injustice or unfairness.

to his people and indeed to all men, for he had an intense yearn-
ing for souls, were always manifest; but I think from the
time of his great decision, when, like Samuel of old, he humbly
responded to the call of Jehovah, the increasing beauty of his
personal life was “the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”
He was renewed in the image of God and was enabled more and
more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness.

His humanities were manifold and found expression in his
constant solicitude for the health and happiness of the children
of the city. Several times in the year he made an address to
the pupils of the public schools, and he never went unprepared ;
there was a charm in what he said and in his manner of saying
it that greatly pleased his eager listeners, and his appearance
was always hailed with expressions of delighted appreciation.
He gave much of his valuable time to various schemes for public
playgrounds, and his patience and forbearance under repeated
disappointments when his plans were almost accomplished are
oratefully remembered by those who strove with him to obtain
these benefits for the boys of Wilmington.

We were workers together in the Seamen’s Friend Society
of this port at a critical time in its history, when the forces of

“One single passion held his heart in sway;
An earnest craving for the pure and true.
And though at times God’s face felt far away

His earth-dimmed eyes so deeply yearned to view;

“Still in the dark as in the light he smiled,
He said the sun was shining all the time;

And for the things he could not understand
He hoped and trusted in a love sublime.”