PATRIOTIC SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3013, 26 February 1917, Page 4

PATRIOTIC SERVICE

IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN , . ' " EMPIRE'S CALL TO BATTLE i % patriotio service in memory of iJew Zealand's fallen soldiers was held an Wesley .Church, : ■Tavanaki Street, |yesterday afternoon. Tho service was {wnducted by the president of the {Methodist Conference (Bev._ F. W. "Sinclair), assistod by chaplains of thp jiForces. The address was given by iHe ;.®ev. P. ,W. Fairolough. About. 1000 -'persons were present. i \ Mr. Fairolough said that war must ifbe. recognised'to bo a grim fact in "Wherever yon open Wstory, "or, dk ;in the ruins of Emj;j>ir«s,- or stiiayj.the blend of races, or Vfcrace frontiers on a map," he : said, ;/you come against the great grim cold /ifact of war. ■ Not a rood of ground :Jbut the ultimate title deed is writ /with tho sword; not a throno stands, 'iiot a law runs, not a liberty is secure ,'but for force somewhere. We had |blmost forgotten it. I rccall debates ISn; this conference on military training dn which it was evident that not a few [■thought we wero unfaithful to some ('great ideal, and pandering to jingoism Rin making the most elementary pre-. !j>arations against attaok. This tragic iwar has rudely shaken us out of our Mreams, and awakened us the stern and fewful veracities of this universe. 'Be■caTise thou art virtuous,' says one in fShsiespeare, 'shall there be no more "cakes and ale r Beoause we have ■enough and to spare shall there be. no fJnore division? Because you have |Yead.the Sermon on the Mount and it is there to be no moro Var? Is the great stream of human >tory and tendenoyto reverse its flow ibeoause we wished it? You might as "well expect the gum tree to cease to 'lshed its bark, pr the poplar to cast its ! leaves beoause you have breathed some "irrelevant perfumes into the air.

;; Look at the Facts! v 'Let us look' at the facts.' No nation holds bo muoh of the spoil of war ffe.s Ve do. ; India, Canada, South 'JAfrica, Egypt, ' Gibraltar, Malta we took with the sword, and Australia fand New Zealand we leisurely oocupied . ibecause battle had- made us masters of [Jthe sea. Now our Empire, like, all empires of tho warrior kings of "VjH, whether of Egypt, Babylon; "whether of Alexander, Ceasar,, Cliarleor Napojeon, is held as you hold Siohallenge shield, a belt, or a trophy ui sports. You hold it' while you can it, or till someone finds out 'that you cannot.defend it. AH tho i'other empires have gone that way. - Have we not in our own day watched the empires of Spain, Turkey, and X3hina being challenged, and the spoil Carried off? The enemy thought that our time had come, and that our Empire would crumble when touched with Ithuriel'g spear. Happily, he was ."wrong, hut ihsre is. no doubt ■that 'he olialleagod tho shield .and our position in i the world. iPereonally, I rfgard the_ British Empire as "containflig- the promise and potenoy tof the Kingdom of God in a greater degree than aDy other political organisation that ever existed. I consider that it is the greatest,.trust eyer teponsed in man, and that cot to defend it would -he treason to God and' the : human race: treason to the past and treason to tho future —and we very narrowly , escaped it. / "I do not como here to confess other people's sms, least of all the sins of She grossly had. They have no relation to the war. Let us confess hero the sins of good men, for it was they "that nearly committed the great treason. They let their wishes be father to their thoughts. They stoned Eoberts and put their trust in Haldane. The prediotion of the astronomer in'tho almanao was not based on better evidence than the prediction which warned tour nation of its danger; but multitudes vi good men, reformers and philanthropists and friends of the people, but i jespecTSßy religious men, refused to hear and they brought us to the very verge, ■beyond which repentance is vain. If iVou confess sin to-day,, confess that. IWe held a mighty trust for mankind, 'iand through unpractical counsels it 'almost slipped from us; and though ■wo have escaped that, yet the seojsrge 'of this war is on the world, which I .am convinced would have been averted /had we been able to utter our peace '.■sentiments from behind a million bayonets; I say, confess this and repent, and let us order our conduct and our policies hereafter, .not as before our own ideals, but as before tho God of the things as -they are. |'Most gladly would we have averted this world calamity, but seeing that we j had to do or die we do not regret the ■decision that was taken. Indeed, I . passed some days in an agony of sus:pense lest we should not ao our duty •to the world. But even our most pacific 'Government, that rose to power on tho protest against the Boer War, could do no other than they did, and wo entered on the'red' way of sorrows. It las proved longer and redder than we 'thought possible, but we do not regret.

No Regrets. "The other day I stood before the ''toanumejit .to Captain. Scott in Ohristi"church. I gawd on the strong, quiet ■Face. sculptured by his wifo, and then I read the noble and pathetic words . taken from his diary: ' 'I do not regret : this journey,- whioh shows that Englishmen can endure hardship, help one another, and meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past.' I be- • lieve that these simple and noble words the feelings of .the British nation in this tremendous crisis. We tio not regret. "We do not regret because we have ' played our part with honour, and have not besmirched scutcheon by treachery, barbarity, or unsoldierly deeds, but have borne ourselves with a, patient chivalry that wins the approval of mankind. We do not regret' because we have borne great sorrows and misfortunes .with fortitude, and . courage worthy of our fathers. > Losses and costs beyond all oommon arithmetic have been calmly faced, and faster than our heroes fell have fresh relays offered their breasts to the stroke. We have been able to suffer and be strong. We do not regret because this war has unified our Empire as nothing else could have done. We do not regret onthe score of religion and justice, for we have confidence that though the ; devil be unchained and rage his hour, right will prevail, and the law of nations be stiffened with fresh sanctions. "Finally, we do not regret even on account of ourheroio dead—though God knows our hearts have ached. A stricken father, with tears in voice and eye, said to me, 'It is the noblest of deaths; and T would not ask him back.' Not many, perhaps, can be so bravo at the first touch; but there is much quiet heroism. I saw a widow who had just lost her son meet a father who had just lost his, at my church door. Tiioy looked at each other, elapsed hands, and turned away without a word. Oh, the pathos of it! But kindly timo shall ln-cathe on all things. The grass shall grow on the blasted hill. The peaceful . plough shall turn up the rusted bayonet. The roots of the apple tree shall clutch the broken shard, and the bird shall build in the mouth of the reeking tube. So shall the heart heX^ —the '' tears of evening shall be tho dew of the morning, and the sorrows of to-day become the proud and happy memories of to-morrow. Are some afraid for trie immortal spirits of those who fall in ' battle for the right? Is not the coro iijf our religion self-sacrifice? If I un■igcraiaßiL .what jelf-sacrifice is* these.

men show it to the full. If I understand what it is to deny one's self and to take up the bitter cross/ then these our brethren have done it. If I understand the meaning of the Redeemer of men when He spoke of that greatest love which leads a man to lay down his life for his friends, then I bear, up before him; my friends who hsvo up before Him my friends who have died for you. I have read of a dying hero who, in his last moments, seemed to hear the sentinel's challenge, 'Who goes there?' for ho raised himself and cried, 'An Englishman who has done his duty.' I do heartily _ believe that when ho' answered the like challenge at the gate beyond, the reply would be, . 'Pass, Englishman, who has done hia duty.' "