The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 1917. GONE WEST

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3159, 10 August 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 1917. GONE WEST

- I-N the course of his oulogy 0 f the late Captain Bell i n the Ko of Boprcscntatijea on Wednesday last ihra™ n whi, f h° r H Hutt mado *» of * pnraso which tins groat war has endowed with a sp( £ al an d scarS nuiked, Captain Bsll had '('iono West,'havxDgdono his duty" To° a 'tlu° la n e 11CWS o£ tho'death of chv B»f? lan * r? k,icl- bora i" this Ho t„„ ? AD "S G,a " iBAl ' Johnston. Ho, too, has "Gone West," having made tft , lho «S l?d vnnV Lesi of olu ' s l' lcn! tho lueld of. Honour. Thoy all, solHW, Bl^ lo ph, " aso " sod b >' <>«' cowudc, have. "Uono West," and m theso two indescribably touching words reappear the dreams, the nopes, arid tho aspirations of long dead civilisations. One wonders now it was that tho phrase first came into iusb among them, who it was first felfc the ghostly fingers ot tho past pressing upon his consciousness so that he gavo voice to the belief that lies dormant in so many souls, that through tho golden gates of the West lies tho way to peace and tho "Blessed Isles of Dream. _ . All of us, even tho most unimaginative, have at some time or another seen so wonderful a sunset, so marvellous a pageant of unearthly beauty, that \vc havo felt Convinced that could wo but find the elusive path that led to such golden splendours wo would) find ourselves wandering in those happy regions where our best and highest dreams come true. With such memories as these in their hearts it' is not surprising that our soldiers, sick to.the very soul as they often arc- of tho unending desolation of battle and slaughter, turn to the promise of the West for comfort and surcease from the nightmares of war, until for so many thc last sundown sets them Pagan and Christian nations alike have thought of tho West as the place of rest tor depart ed souls, and tho old Egyptian tnyths and legends are full of allusions to the Happy West, where thc spirits of the dead followed tho setting sun, and tho mourners in funeral processions cried: "To tho West! To tho West!"' The Garden of the Hcspcrides also lay in tho. West, that beautiful garden of which William Morris wrote; "Lo, such as is this pardon green In days past, all the world has been; And what we know, all people know, Save this, that unto worse all grow. Bui since thc golden age is gone, This little place is left alone, Unchanged, unchanging, watched of us. The daughter of wise Hesperus."

Celtic literature, especially that belonging to Ireland, is teeming with references to tho West. 'With the Irish of old, Paradise 'vas generally believed to bo a beautiful island lying far out in the Western Ocean, or it might even bo lying under the Western Sea. Another version of it was that "there aie three times fifty far islands in tho ocean to the west of us, and every one of them twice or thrco times more than Ireland." Ou these islands "no wasting will eonio on you with the wasting away of time; you will never see lessening or death." Ever in- quest of beauty and perfection the Irish mind had pictured these islands as tho abode of all delight, whore there was never sorrow nor sickness, nor old age nor regret, and on the West Coast of Ireland and Scotland are yet to be found traces of little cells facing the setting sun, where aged saints retired to prepare themselves for tho parting of soul and body; The western aspect was chosen because of its sacred connection, and because it constantly brought to their minds that Paradise whoso joys they hoped to share. The sacred isles of the Hindoos lay in tho West, and to turn nearer homo tho West figured in the ancient beliefs and legends of our own Maoris. From To Iteinga in tho far NorthWest tho spirits of tho ancients took the leap that opened up tho way to Spirit Land, and some very beautiful legends are clustered around this place of departure iuto the Underworld. With such a vast storehouse of world-memories, stretching down the centuries, what wonder that soldiers in tho midst; of such horrors, such strain of mind and nerve and body as can hardly be conceived, should turn to tho West where in happier days, with the sinking of tho sun, came the end of toil and tho beginning of rest and tranquillity of mind and body. For them it has now become tho portal through which i their weary but unconquerable souk; pas* to that place whero dreams outlive the grave, where age is not, neither "lessening nor death." Liberty, the great ideal for which men in all ages have died so willingly, has never before called fur such sacrifices as arc. now daily laid upon her altar, and never has tho torch been iliold so. high as .now,, wlicii the .call.

is thing to the stars-''Liberty for all nations.' Tim issue i s grater than that of "lung and Country" or lor Empire." It j s n OW 'in its ultimate issue the brotherhood of mn. Of he bravo souls who have Gone West on the greatest quest that man «m die for, who would hayo them less than tho heroes they have proved themselves to be? Wht would think otherwise of them than wo«M RENCE INYON ' S unforgettable"They shall not grow old as we thai . arc left, grow old; Age shall not weary them: nor th'e years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the mormnii Wc will remember them."