AN INSPIRATION

Hokitika Guardian, 25 April 1921, Page 1

AN INSPIRATION

MEANING OF ANZAC. (Reprinted by Request). One of the features of the Anzac dinner at the Wellington Town Hall during the war, was an impressive address by his Honor the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout). Let him, he said, point out to them what the meaning of the Anzac fight was. He need not go into the details of the struggle at Gallipoli. They knew them well. The men of Anzac—some of whose relatives were present at that gathering—were told even when they commenced the fight that it was almost impossible. There they were on the open beach to attack what were termed . impregnable fortresses, and with not such a large body of troops behind that they could hope to overwhelm the defences. But they went on and on, fighting as they were told, fighting for tlieir country, lighting for freedom, and fighting for civilisation. FOR EVER RENOWNED.

“Will not, then, this Anzac fight be for ever renowned?” asked Sir Robert Stout, amid loud applause. “Let me direct your minds to si battle that was fought nearly 2400 years ago not very far from Gallipoli. The Persian horde attacked Greece, and in those days, as there are now, there were traitors in Greece. The Persians, through treachery, passed through Thermopylae. They were opposed by Leonidas. He had only 300 Spartans, about 700 Thespians, and a considerable number of Thebans. But the Thebans, in the language of today, were shirkers and pacifists; instead of fighting alongside the warlike Spartans, they laid down tlieir arms and took no pajpfc-in the battle, and the thousand left/to fight the enormous Persian army were every one of them slain. And the fight at Thermopylae passed into history and became an inspiration not only unto the Greek nations, but to the whole world- But the 1 Thebans ’ became a by-word and a reproach. They were 1 shirkers,’ they were ‘ pacifists ’; they gave no help in the,fight for liberty and for right. Even to-day every school-hoy who reads the history of Greece is inflamed by the story of Leonidas’s brave fight. The battle of the Pass of Themopylae was but the fight of 1000 men. But they made the supreme sacrifice; and as a Greek poet wrote: —

In dark Thermopylae they lie Oh death of glory there to die! Their tomb our altar is, their name A mighty heritage of fame. “There have been great battles*in the world in which our race and ancestors were engaged. We have in our history such names as Waterloo, Balaclava, Bannockburn, Cressy, Lucknow, and many more. ‘But this battle —this fight'at Oallipoli—is of peculiar interest to us in these southern lands, for our brave boys took part in its glory. Let us realise what a great battle becomes. A great battle nobly fought, becomes an inheritance and an everlasting inspiration to the people of the nation whose heroes fought therein. (Applause). The story of the battle is not the mere record of an historical fact. It is not alone that the Australians, the New Zealanders, and the 29th Division found undying glory. “MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD. “A heroic act is incorporated into the soul of a nation. It becomes, to that nation a heritage more precious than gold. It gives the nation an ideal of courage, of self-sacrificce, of nobility. And poor indeed is that nation which has no soul, which, has no past history that can vivify and inspire its citizens. The Anzacs have given us this inspiration, have laid up for us this crown of glory, just as Leonidas and his small army have inspired all the world. And as long as the English language endures this story will go ringing down the ages and inspiring the future generations of our race. This is what the Anzacs have done for us.