Ixiii. 



MR. W. H. JUDKINS. 



A ST. GEORGE OF THE NEWER CHIVALRY. 



By Rev. K. Ditterich. 



The Editor of this Review dii.l not long survive 

 his English chief, Mr. W. T. Stead. Between the 

 two there wa.^ a bond of reciprocal [ler.sonal esteem, 

 and an affinity hwrn of common ideals on social re- 

 form. Each in his own sphere was a warrior under 

 the banner of civic righteoii-sness. Each met with 

 much obloquy on account of his principles, anc] each 

 left a memory to be cherished bv all who love justice 

 md goodnes.s. In the deep waters of the Atlantic 

 Mr. Stead went down, meeting death like a man of 

 British l)lood and faith. And through the deep 

 waters of pain and suffering Mr. Judkins passed 

 with the same conquering heroism. 



AS EDITOR. 

 For .seven \ear.s he was Editor of this journal. 

 His literarv qualities are known to its readers, an.! 

 need no furtlvr mention. He brought to the task 

 of editorshi|> an alert and readv mind, a flowing 

 style, and. al>ove all, a grand enthusiasm for loftv 

 leals of public life. His views often require'l 

 Durage for their utterance, and that courage \va.- 

 never known to fail him.- It would .sometimes have 

 lieen easy to leave things unsaid, and .so avoid 

 _iving offence to readers, but that was not his way 

 A journal was to him a means of pro[)agating certain 

 onvictions. and not a money-making business. As 

 ■• was on the pl.itform, so was he in the Review — 

 1 champion of the higher .nationhrKxl, a wrestler 

 with evil, a .*^t. George of the newer chivalrv fight 

 ing. not fabulous monsters, but those masterful 

 dragons of social vice whos*^ cruel fangs are on the 

 lives of men. women and children all around us. 



THE MAN. 



Mr. JudkiiiN w.is lif»rn at Mars Uirougii. \ Htori.i. 



1 1869. His p.ipnis. of whom the father is still 



ving. belong'-d to the Methodist Chun-h. He wa-, 



•inverted in <arlv lif*. and entered the ministrv as 



a probationer. On .ircount of unsatisfactory h-alth, 



he retireil from th.- work ii<it loiig aftei^wards. In 



New Zeaiaiiil whither he had gone, he remained for 



1 few vearN. .iml took a prominent j/art in lighting 



tor the cans'- of local option. This was part of his 



lireparation for tin- gre;it work awaiting him later 



•11. In iqoj he returned tc> Victoria, and s<Kin Ix'- 



ime |)opul.ir. Ixith as a lay pre.icher and a temper 



lice advocate. In th<- Church he rose to high posi 



lions, being elected yearly to the Repres<'ntative Ton- 



terence of Victoria and Tasmania, and also to the 



I 1st two General Conferences of the .\ustralasian 



<'liurch. The testimonial of over ^[1800 rais.'d to 



mark public appreciation of his work is but one 



token of his i)lace in the esteem of his fellow-citi- 

 zens. . In his wife Mr. Judkins found one who wa- 

 in thorough sympathy with his work, and who fre- 

 quently accompanied him to his meetings in the 

 stormy times, when it meant great discomfort, be 

 sides the indignity of teing followed through th 

 streets by roughs using the vilest language to ex- 

 press their hatred, both of goodness and its advo- 

 cate. She, with her one little girl, remains, not 

 merely to mourn their loss, but to treasure the 

 memory of a kind husband, tender father, heroic 

 reformer. Christian gentleman. To them he has left 

 the legacy of an influence that must always be 

 [irecious. His last illness was borne with calm for- 

 titude, and an unwavering faith that was an inspira- 

 tion to all who saw him, and on Tuesday, September 

 3rd, he passed away in peace, after more than a 

 year of intense suffering and repeated operation.s. 

 While laid aside he wrote a series of articles, which 

 have since been published in booklet form, under 

 the title, " From the Mountain Top." It is a beau- 

 tiful expression of the calm, heroic faith which sub- 

 dued pain into an agency that refined his charac- 

 ter as gold is tried in the fire. 



To his intimate friends he was a model of friend- 

 ship, and they can say of him. as David said of 

 Jonathan, "Very pleasant hast thou been unto me." 

 .At the funeral service, held in Wesley Church, Mel- 

 bourne, a great throng of people crowded out the 

 building on a busy week afternoon, while hundreii- 

 u|)0n hundreds more gathered outside and along the 

 street. A similar concourse assembled at the 

 Booroondara Cemetery, where his remains were laid 

 to re.st. On the following Sundav afternoon two 

 thousand people were present at Weslev Church to 

 hear tributes to his worth and work from So<:iaI 

 Reform leaders who had braved the storm with him 

 in his fighting days. Among these were the Rev. 

 H. Worrall. who exposed the gold stealing, and 

 effected a reform through an Act of Parliament for 

 its suppre.ssion ; Mr. John Vale, for twentv years 

 Secretary of the Victorian Alliance for the .suppres 

 sion of the liquor traffic; Rev. J. C. Martin, wh. > 

 succeeds Mr. Judkins as Superintendent of the 

 Social Reform Bureau : the Rev. .\. R. Edgar, tlv 

 minister of Wesl.-y Church, which has been all 

 through the rallying centre of reform : Mr. S. 

 Manger, a true Christian gentleman : and mvself. as 

 Editor of the Sfechilor. ih>- weekly paper which has 

 been the consistent and outs|)oken literary organ of 

 every movement for .social riglUiiousness for year- 

 past The Rov. T. <= B. W.->odfull. whose name 



