AFTER FOUR YEARS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 271, 5 August 1918, Page 6

AFTER FOUR YEARS

THE WAR ANNIVERSARY

INTERCESSORY SERVICE IN WELLINGTON

A united service of intercession, arranged by the Council of Churches, was! held in the Wellington Town Hall yesterday afternoon. The hall was.filled, and the proceedings were earnest and impressive. The Governor-General (Lord Liverpool) and Lady Liverpool were present, and were accompanied by Mrs. W. F. Massey and tho Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P., C.M.G.) The Rev. Dr. Gibb presided, and was supported on tho platform by the Hon. Sir William Fraser (Minister of Public Works), tho Hon. D. Guthrie (Minister of Agriculture), and many representatives of tho Churches. " Appropriate prayers' 1 were said, and lessons were read by members of the Council of Churches. Several hymns were sung, and the gathering stood whilo tho City Organist (Mr. Bernard Pago) played the Dead March from "Saul" in commemoration of fallen sons of New Zealand. An address was delivered bv the Rev. J. G. Chapman, who referred' first to the Scriptural account of tho calling of the people of Judea to prayer by Jehosaphat in tho gaze of an almost triumphant enemy. Prayer on that occasion had brought victory, and prayer would bring victory again to tho people who could huaible themselves before God and repent wholeheartedly of their national and individual sins. His Majesty the King, said Mr. Chapman, had called tho nation to prayer on the fourth anniversary of the commencement of the great war. The Germdns were engaged in a like excruise. They were praying for victory with equal earnestness and perhaps with equal confidence in the result. Could God grant the petition of one nation without denying the petition of tho other P The answer to that question was that He conld. The people of the British nation must realise that their God was not a national God. He was the God of Humanity. Ho was on the side of man, nnd the question with Him was what amount of chastisemont the world needed. God had been gazing deeply into tho heart of civilisation, and had presented to the nations in all its hideous .nakedness their manner of living—the brutality of their oponomic system, their orgy of 6port .and splendour, drunkenness and lust. God had shown the peoples of tho world that they could not build their social order on unrighteousness without disaster. "It behoves us to-day to humble ourselves before God on account of our national and our individual 6ins," said Mr. Chapman. "We must learn to recognise and obey the laws of ]t is only with chastened and disciplined souls that we shall be ready for tho blessings of a'just and permanent peace. ... We must take to heart the lessons of this war. Unfathoined resources of tho soul have been revealed to us. Surpassing strength, courage, and endurance nave been revealed in souls lorn from' their, old careless security by the stress of war. Men and women aro to-day enduring and sacrificing with almost incredible courage. These qualities belong not to tho Britis.li, the French, tho Germans, or the Americans alone, but to all meri.\ They are .'divinely human. We owe it to the men who have died and to the generations to como that the suffering and the endurance shall not Have been in vain.' The fruit must be a bettor world and a nobler race of men. Already there is a movement 1 in this direction. We see a League of Nations coming into being—a league based upon peace and justice and. not upon mere might. Tho nations are learning that they must. organise for peace , as _ they havo organised for war, and that international law must displace international 1 jealousy and rivalry. We see the rosy flush of a new dawn. "We owe it to <ur boys that this world shall be a better world when the war is done. Thousands of our boys left these shores to face the ordeal of wounds and death. They esteemed honour and humanity more than life. They hiivo sacrificed, dared, and endured to the utmost. Rolls of honour and public monuments, pensions and. speeches, are poor recognition of tin price that our boys, have paid. Whnt honour can we pay our hemes but to lire for the greatness of the future as they havo suffered and died for it? In no other way can we match the moral grandeur that has purchased national safety for us at such awful cost." SERMON AT ST. JOSEPH'S In tho course of a sermon delivered by Archbishop O'Shea in St. Joseph's Church yesterday, His Graco paid: "Today is the fourth anniversary of tho breaking out of the great war. It is gratifying to find that the Government has asked us to mako it a day of prayer for God's blessing upon ourselves and our Allies. Catholics from the very beginning realised the need of prayer for victory, and every day week day ns wejl as Sunday, we have been praying in the Mass for God's blessing upon our arms. We are taught to look on all these events from a supernatural point of view, arid there is no doubt in our minds but that this war is a pu/nishmeut on the nations for having.turned aside from God. They had been relying too much upon their extraordinary material' prosperity and upon tho wonderful results brought about by the discoveries of science and by the triumphs of invention over the physical world. They relied so much upon all these things that they forgot their own souls; they forgot God, and believed they could'do wjthout Him. They worshipped instead the idols of material prosperity and of material comfort and pleasure. "Hut God cannot be ignored with impunity. Men had deluded themselves with the false belief that they were so civilised and so highly cultured that war—a relic of barbarism—was no longer possible. And when it came like a thiuider. clap in a clear summer sky the very knowledge and science and invention they used to boast about made it the most frightful war that this old world of ours has ever witnessed; And precisely because rann is not the mere animal that materialistic philosophers wanted us to believe, all sane men now desire an end of war—not a temporary peace that would be followed soonev or later by another struggle, but the complete destruction of wnr'as far as is hununly possible. After four years we have learned many things, nnd chief amongst them is this: that because man is not an animal, and even in the material things of war, must.uso the things of the spirit, therefore war has become inferable to him. As an able writor raid recently, 'Because now all men sh'aro in war, all met desire an end of it.' Another lesson we have learn, ed is that: the issue 'is in tho hands of the God of Battles, and in His name alone shall we conquer. And if dim- country is to obtain the blessing so essential to victory, we must not oniv prav for it; but we must also thoroughly purify our own conduct, and, above all, our' war aims, which are so liable to be lost sight; of under schemes of (eii'ritorial expansion nnd commercial gain. Wo must purify our nation,)! soul, which is still so devoid of the spirit of prayer and so full of tho spirit of greed and lust. "It seems to me a pity that none of the Governments of the European Allies have as yet given a whole-irartod official dpproval of the lofty American ideal, which, while so bent on victory, is yet so unselfish and so anxious .to secure international justice and the destruction of the causes of war. This ideal, set forth officially by President Wilson, is practically an endorsement of the Pone's suggestions in regard to the necessity of r.n international law, which shall restrnr.i the whole family of nations as- strictly as the individuals in ench of them are restrained by their own domestic code. So there _ is great need for us to pray God to give the Allied nations the grace to keep theiir war aims pure, ;.nd to prevent what was begun as a crusade for right and justice from turning into .-■n instrument of racial rivalry or commercial ija'n. There is more reason to fear n deterioration of our war aims than many peonle like to admit. "Now, to brine about more surely that each nation shall make justice and not selfish interest its chief aim. let us pray also for the destruction of tlml blind selfishness—that halved nnd bitterness, that iinforlnnately exist even now amongst the different closes and sections, religious, nnlitical. and economic, of each | country, nnve we no faults *o reproach ourselves wit'i? Are there 'io fortunes being unjustly nude through the war?

Is there 110 exploiting of lie poor, 110 profiteering going 011? Are wo showing due respect to the rights of conscience of everybody in our midst? Is there no cruelty or brutality practised in our military camps? Are wo honestly striving to mete out justice to sll who are called away from their homos and families to servo their country, or who have already sewed it? Let lis not, dwell too much upon the sins and crimes.of our enemies, while ignoring our own. Let 11s rather look into our souls and chango what needs changing. Let us as nations and as individuals turn to God and acknowledge our sins and mistakes in the. past, and siiice the war has commenced, and then we can with confidence ask Him to give ns victory. And remember that a victory that will establish a. reign of peace and justice .in rhe world, according to the ideal set before us by the Pope and President Wilson, and as far as it can bo established in this vale of tears, will alone be worth the awful sacrifices in lives and blood that the nations aro making. Then may we look forward io an era when no longer will conscription or militarism be tolerated in any of tlio "ountiries; to an era when the vast sums of money now spent in the upkeep of great armies and navies wili l>o devoted to the spiritual and temporal benefit of the people, and to the promotion of their real happiness and prosperity. May God hasten the day." AN ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE FROM . MR. MASSEY • A cablegram from London states that in compliance with a special request, tho Prime Minister of New Zealand (Rt. Hon. Mr. Massey) sent the following message on behalf of New Zealand to the Central Committeo of the National Patriotic Organisation for delivery at the London meeting on tho anniversary of the war. "We are now entering upon tho fifth year of the war, and as British citizens we are no less determined than we were four years ago to carry on until victory comes to tlioso armies which are fighting for all that tho freo and honour-loving nations of the earth hold dear. "We have had many disappointments; but we have also had much to bo thankful for, and to-day we can say confidently that the fighting forces of tho Empire, both on land and water and in tho air, are ' stronger than they have been at any time in our history. This also is, true of our Allies, especially since our kinsmen of the United States of America came into 1 tho war in support of tho same sacred cause as that which has brought tho bravest of Britain's sons from every quarter of / the globe, and for which the best blood of the Empire has been poured out. "There is now no reason for pessism, but on the contrary every reason for confidence. With renewed determination tho Allies will pressforward, facing without hesitation any difficulties or dangers which they may encounter, but never stopping or laying aside the weapons of war until a decisive victory has been won, bringing with it security and peace." A DAY OFINTERCESSION In connection with tho war on all-day Bervico of intercession will ■be held in tho Taranaki .Street Methodist Church on Wednesday. The sessions, which will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 9 p.m., have been organised under the auspices of the Wellington Council of Churches. Similar services held in Wellington and in oilier centres Have been widely attended, and marked by tho exercise of fitting and earnest devotion. Each hour of tho sessions 011 Wednesdny will be occupied by tho singing of suitable hymns, prayers for the suocessful and early termination of the war will be offered up, and brief addresses will be given. Hymn sheets will be provided. Tho speakers will include the Revs. Dr. J. Iv. Elliott,' W. Phillips, J. Reed-Glasson. W. Shirer, S. Beckingham, E. Drake, A. E. Hunt, and J. G. Chapman, the Hon. C. M. Lime, and Messrs. W. Allan and Kersley. The following organises will also participate in the service: Mesdames R. A. Evans and Whiteman and Messrs. Templo White, T. Forsyth, W. H. Collio, C. Collins, C. W. Keny, and Harland. ANNIVERSARY IN EUROPE THE NE)W YEAR OF HOPE (Rec. August i, 5.5 p.m.) London, August 3. Sir Douglas Haig has issued an order •to tho troops as follows:—"Tho conclusion of the fourth year of the war marks the passing of the period of crisis. Wo may now look with' added confidence to tiie future. Russia's Revolution set free large hostile forces on tho Eastern front which were transferred to the West. It was tho enemy's intention to uso the preat numbers thus ■ created to jjain a decisive victory before tho arriva* of tho Amoricans should give the Allies a superiority. The enemy made an. effort to obtain a decision on the Western front, and failed. The steady stream of Americans arriving has already restored the balance. The enemy's first and most powerful blows fell on tho British, his superiority in men being thres to one. Although pressed back in parts, the British lino remained unbroken after many days of heroic figlitingj the glory of which will live for all time, and the enemy wa.i held. At the end of four years of war the magnificent fighting qualities 'of our troops remain of tho highest order. I thank them for their devoted bravery and resolution. I know they % will show like steadfastness and courage whatever tho task they are called upon to per-form."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Reuter. (Rec. August 4, 5,5 p.m.) Washington, August 3. Lord Reading, British Ambassador, interviewed, said the beginning of the fifth year finds Britain stern and resolute. Tho spirit of the people has not been finer nor their confidence higher. 'I ho day of liberty is dawning, and a new era of peace will soon open to tho world.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. (Rec. August i, 5.5 p.m.) New York, August 3. TII6 "Now York Times" states editorially:—"Four years of war shows the Germans baffled and defeated, falling back before General Foch's great strategy. The fifth year commences with the Germans 011 tho defensive and tho Crown Prince's army trying to extricate itself from a position of greaj; peril."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable as>i>.