ORPHANDOM.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5480, 27 September 1929, Page 2

ORPHANDOM.

PAEROA CLUB’S SESSION. ADDRESS ON “THOUGHT.” Last evening, at the September session of the Paeroa Orphans’ Club, Bro. E. V. Slyfield occupied the chair for the evening. Bro. P. Williams, president of the club, before introducing Bro. Slyfield, recalled the recent death of Bro. J. D. Crawford. By his death Orphandoni had suffered a great loss and a respected and true friend who had visited the Paeroa club two or three times. On a recent visit of some Paeroa Orphans to the Auckland club the chairman, Bro. J. P. Finlay, had made an eloquent eulogy to the memory of Bro. Crawford. He had recalled that even as a boy at Thames Bro. Crawford had been a help and a guide to those around him. The Paeroa committee, on behalf of the club, had sent a wreath to the late brother’s funeral and a letter of condolence to the widow

On the conclusion of Bro. Williams’ words, at his request all the brethren present stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Bro. Crawford.

In opening the evening’s programme Bro. Slyfield said he was there a Victorian amid comparatively recent Orphandom. Years ago, on the day of David Livingstone’s burial, he was but 28 miles away from where Livingstone had been buried. That was many years ago. Now it was the age of His revered Majesty, of a popular Prince, and of Orphandom. The first half of the musical programme was contributed by Messrs J. C. H. McDonald, “The Flight of Ages” and “If I might come to you” ; A. Steward, “It is not because your heart is mine” and “I know a lovely garden” ; E. Edwards, “Midshipmite” “Let the great big world keep turning,” and “Mother Machree” ; E. C. Bridges (Auckland), “I did not know” and “Sincerity” ; E. V. Slyfield, recitations, “Leetle Bateese” and “The Man that is down and out” ; A. F. Steedman, “Any Rags”; Linton Eskrigge, “Arise, oh Sun,” “Finicule, Finicula,” and “Dawn” ; A. Colquhoun (Auckland), “If Winter Comes” and “Will you love the violets when you’ve lost the rose” ; F. G. Williams, ‘Give me the open road,” “Gentlemen, The King !” and, recitation, “Och ! How I envied McGinty.” s The second half comprised numbers by Linton Eskrigge, “Youth” and “For you alone” ; E. Edwards, “Jogging along the highway” and “Absent” ; A. Colquhoun, “Love sends a little gift of Rose” and “I’m in love with Sheila O’Shay” ; E. C. Bridges, “Beneath thy window” and “The Birth of Morn” ; F. G. Williams, “My Ships” and “Mate o’ Mine.” Mr E. Le Petit accompanied all the singers except Mr McDonald, in whose case Mr A. T. Jones was at the piano. The Address. The chairman chose as the theme of his address “Thought,” and in clear, well enunciated words said :— “In choosing a subject for serious thought in such a gathering as this we endeavour to avoid the contentious and perplexing problems of Church and State. We are, however, during these critical minutes permitted to dwell upon some common experience, some common aspiration, or to remind ourselves anew of some easily forgotten fact or privilege of daily life. Unfortunately it is not always easy to choose the right words. There is, however, some consolation in the thought that the wrong words make the deepest impression. That is probably the.reason why the Chinese could swear before he learnt to say “Good morning.” Perhaps one of the most easily forgotten facts of human existence is the place and importance of Thought. Last month Bro. Guardian treated us to a discourse on “The Dignity of Labour,” reminding one of Thomas Carlyle’s famous essay on “The Beauty and Holiness of Work” ; and, indeed, even if the speaker was unaware of it, his address was largely moulded by the same ideas. But work is the expression of ideas. Back of work, through it, and moving along with it are the ideas of planning, preparation, and ultimate accomplishment. Thought may be likened to the turn-over of the engine. It is the turn-over of the grey matter of the brain in devising, setting in order, and seeing the end from the beginning. Thought should precede all speech. Before eloquence, which Mr Justic McGregor so aptly described as “the pictorial representation of thought,” more studied thought must go. When we say “He spoke without thinking” we really mean that instead of ordeied or reflective thought the words were uttered on an impulse of feeling, perhaps of pique or anger or revenge. In a certain drama presented on the stage the expression “Have a bit of common” was constantly repeated throughout the play. It was an admonition to put some thought behind the words or action.

“Physically, both the animal kingdom and the human race are alike in their perpetuation by generation. The power of thought, if not exclusive to it, is distinctively the mark of the human family, alive in evei’y sane and conscious body. By its use we aie guided in the quest of our daily bread; by its cultivation we may learn to appreciate the thought of othei men. By thought the artificial wonders of the world were first conceived in the minds of architects : by thought ships were first fashioned in the mind and afterwards launched upon the sea. “What riches are ours in the thought of other men. What a legacy of thought has been handed down to us in the libraries of the world. We are “the heirs of all the ages” in the wealth of thought bequeathed to us in literature and art. Let us beware of a danger here. In the very excess of read-made thought we may be tempted to sacrifice our'birth-right of individual thought. Thought may run riot, but it cannot be exiled from our nature. It is not bound by time or place. In time thought was ours before we could prattle, and remains with us when age begins to tell upon

our physical frame. In place, “Stone walls do not a prison make.” Fresh deeds of crime and daring may be evolved in thought behind prison bars. Again, in contrast, we have the testimony of noble thought begun in the writing of “Pilgrim’s Progress” behind the bars of Bedford town jaol. What says John Ruskin : “We want many things . . . liberty, amusement, money . . . and we want

peace.” “ ‘We can have it,’ he says, ‘by making to ourselves nests of pleasant thought—none of us have been taught in early youth what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thought, proof against all adversity.’ “The invisible power of thought when concentrated on an objective is the power that lifts men to eminence. Thought is always ‘the power behind the throne.’ It raises kings, it subdues monachies, it orders business. Thought prepares the path of understanding between man and man, between nation and nation. ‘Man reveals himself,” says Bacon, ‘in the tracts of his countenance. The poet speaks true when he says : — “Were I so tall to reach the pole, Or grasp the ocean with a span, I must be measured by my soul, The minds the standard of the man.”

Bro. Slyfield’s erudite address was received with acclamation.

At the conclusion of the evening’s programme Bro. Edwards thanked the Auckland singers for contributing to the enjoyment of the evening, and paid special tribute to the excellent manner in which Mr Le Petit accompanied.