The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 100 mourners gathered at Christ Church Cathedral yesterday morning for the state funeral of Paul Lawrence Adderley who Prime Minister Perry Christie described as the most intellectually gifted man of his generation.

Paying tribute to the country’s longest serving Attorney General, Mr Christie said to the packed George Street cathedral that Mr Adderley was a “gladiator through and through” in his political life and “a true Renaissance man.”

He described how Mr Adderley gave a great deal to the country, especially when he served as Finance Minister during the “turbulent” financial times of the early 1990s.

“He was a master of parliamentary debate because of the thoroughness of his preparation, the power of his intellect and because of the fire and brimstone that he would heap upon his adversaries,” Mr Christie said.

“He was a fiery orator, and he was absolutely relentless, even ferocious, in debate. Words and logic were his weapons and he wielded them with consummate skill and with pulverising effect upon the arguments of his opponents.”

Mr Adderley’s tenure as Minister of Finance was “the most singularly convincing and the most poignant proof of his patriotism,” Mr Christie said.

“What few of us in the country appreciated at the time were the heroic measures that Paul was obliged to take every day to help keep the country afloat as it tossed about on the turbulent waters of one of the worst recessions in years. To make matters worse, there was a general election looming,” he said.

“It would have been all too easy for Paul to simply embrace a policy of reckless borrowing and profligate spending, but he would have none of that.

“Instead, he put country over party. He put statesmanship over politics, declining to do things that might have made the political prospects a little brighter for his party, but which he knew would definitely have made the financial situation for the country very much worse.”

Mr Adderley knew that in “adhering to fiscal prudence and discipline” and “staying the course with austerity measures,” he was doing the right thing for the country, Mr Christie said.

The Prime Minister also praised Mr Adderley for defending the sovereignty of the country against foreign encroachments.

It is because of Mr Adderley, he said, that the country was able to withstand external threats to its sovereignty during the early years as an independent nation.

“In nearly all these cases it fell to Paul, whether as Minister of Foreign Affairs or as Attorney General or as Minister of National Security to stand up for the Bahamas and defend its sovereignty against the bullying or belligerence of others,” Mr Christie said.

“Paul was unfailingly courageous and unapologetically bold in this regard, and he would dress down any representative of any foreign power, be he or she an ambassador or law enforcement official or congressman or senator, indeed be they anyone who Paul felt was trespassing on Bahamian sovereignty.

“When it came to fighting for his country, Paul never took last. He was a loyal and vigorous defender of our nation from its very beginnings and throughout his life.”

Family members also spoke at the service, as did Reverend James Moultrie who outlined Mr Adderley’s many achievements and called for memorials to be raised in his honour.

“I cannot speak of the nation’s sense of loss,” Fr Moultrie said. “There are no words for that when a man of Paul Adderley’s magnitude dies.”

People who knew Mr Adderley regarded him as a generous and considerate person, he said, and his great intellect, unbending courage, and deep compassion will be remembered for a life time.

“The nation has lost one of its finest sons,” Fr Moultrie said. “To all of us he gave, by example, a set of standards and principles to guide our own lives. The nation owes this national hero a prominent place in its history.”

Also attending the service were Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis, as well as several other current and former ministers and parliamentarians.

Following the funeral service, Mr Adderley was laid to rest in the Western Cemetery, Nassau Street.

Mr Adderley died at the Princess Margaret Hospital at the age of 84 on September 19 after a lengthy illness.

He was originally a member of the PLP, first elected to the House in 1961. He briefly left the political group to form the National Democratic Party before later returning to the PLP where he remained.

In addition to being an Attorney General and Cabinet Minister, Mr Adderley was also acting Governor General from December 2005 to January 2006.