"THE SONS OF DEVON."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 202, 30 September 1909, Page 4

"THE SONS OF DEVON."

FOUNDERS OF NEW PLYMOUTH. THEIR EMPIRE-BUILDING IUSTORY. At the Clturili of England Men's Society last evening Mr. C. E. Baker gave an address, entitled " Devonshire men and the pari they have taken in the 'building up of the Empire." The address was it most interesting one. lin his introductory remarks Mr. Baker said Dint as New Plymouth tool; its name from old Plymouth, in the good county of Devon; as it was founded almost exclusively by Devonshire men, and a large portion'of its inhabitants now were Devonshire or the descendants of llieni; it had struck him that an account of some of the worthies of Devon would be of interest, not only to those who- were already familiar with the lives of many of 'them, but also to those younger 'men who, born in the colony, yet came of Devon stock, a-il who would lind that they were, the descendants of a race of men of whom they might he well proud. Air. Baker also acknowledged at the outset that lie was 1 largely indebted for Iris information to a pamphlet written bv the Rev. Austey, vicar of West Seeds, formerly vii-ar of Tiverton; compiled as "a muster roll of Devonshire worthies, together wild a scllim; forth of the part they played in the making of modern England."

Devonshire, Mr. Baker explained, is i -onnty bounded on the west bv Corn■all. on (he east by Somerset niid Dorset, having a sea coast iif 00 miles on the north, and 100 miles on the s'outli. This, of course, explains why many of the exploits of Devon men were naval exploits. The climate is mild, .Till moist, -and this accounts for the complexion of the girls. In no part of England are there to be found prettier women. Devon is famous, of course, for its Red Devon breed of cattle, its Devonshire cream, junket, mid butter, and the real Devonshire cider. In vi/.c, (lie county stands third on the list of English counties. Yorkshire being the largest. In population it stands ninth on the. list with 040.000 inhabitants, as against 3,000,000 each in Lancashire, Middlesex, and Yorkshire. Devonshire stands alone, among the counties of England in the matter of evidence for the antiquitv of man. Tt was the discoveries at 'Windmill Hill Cave, Brixliam, on the South coast of Devon in 1858' which lifted the existence of man in the paleolithic period from the level of an argument to that of a demonstration.

From the dawn of recorded history the men of Devon have never occupied secondary place in the life of the nation, and again and again in the hour of England's need has Devon "found the the man." Her worthies' have taken the front rank century by century in every class, as soldiers, sailors, lawyers', divines, inventors, poets, artists, explorers, colonisers, statesmen, and men of science. The men of Devon played a leading part in the colonisation of the world. They were the first to start the planting of colonies in America; they are found in large numbers in Australia and New Zealand; aHd whomever they have gone they have been distiuguislid for intelligence and probity, liberality of sentiment, independence of character, and zeal for the public good. At the present .moment Devonshire supplies more recruits for the maiming of the Navy than any other county in England. Tho Devon and Somerset Yeomanry are acknowledged to be the best descended and the best mounted yeomanry in the United Kingdom; and at the commencement of the volunteer movement, which began in 1857, the earliest corps' formed was the "First Devon Volunteers," while the services of the Devon Regiment in the Natal campaign, and csjiecially at' Wagon Jlill. outside Ladysinith, will not soon lie forgotten. The Devonshire dialect is spoken of Charles Kingsley as "the remains of a nobler .and purer dialect than our own." Another writer says, "It is the pure classic English. The English of Alfred's time is the ground work upon which modern English has been built up." From the vear 1)0(1 to 1100 A.D., the language of Alfred was the only English written, though other dialects were spoken. In the Devonshire dialect all F's are Vs. and all S's are Z's Our l's arc sounded like the French "en," and there is nothing to compare Die I rill of the Devonshire R in "vur," '..'rah does dutv for "hear," "here." and "vear." TiiiN Devon folk sav "Virc" for lire. "Zee" for see. "Vcu'''

for "you." Thev conjugate, "1 In-, von In-, it is. in \tv, yen l«.. inn he. They count "«an too. dree. vour. zix, zch:i, eight, nine, tcyn, lebn. twulvc." In regard to gender, it is a safe rule that everything is described us "hur." 'l'lio people of Devonshire are warmhearted, open-handed, and vi'i'v hospitable. The typical Devonshire man is essentially catholic in spirit, charitable in temper, anil imperial in his outlook, lie is distinguished not so much for the brilliance of his gcnuis, or the richness of his endowments, as for character, ability, quiet plodding industry, enorliious slaying power, patient, persistent, persevering cH'ort, and, like Devonshire cream he has a wav of "ahvavs cniniii w In the top." Above all lli ( . 'Devonians are a religious people and many great religions movements have had their origin there. Glancing over the early history of the shire, it is noticed that there is no evidence of the ancienl kingdom of Dumuoii, (including both .Devon and Cornwall)) was ever conquered liy the Romans, and that when the Saxon came he came mil as a heathen freebooter lint as a respectable Christian man, to colonise. footer was not conquered by the Romans or by the Saxons; il was not conquered and held, except for one brief moment, by the Danes; and it was not conquered bv Normans. It bad to yield to William the Conqueror, but it yielded to him oil terms which secured its ancient libertics, and left it one of the four chief cities of the realm, holding equal rank with Loudon, Winchester, and York.

I The first great name on the muster roll of Devonshire worthies is that of Wvnfred, or St. Winifred, better known as St. Honiface. whose claim to fame rests upon the wonderful success of his earnesl devoted inissionarv labors on I he Continent of Europe, lie converted the people of Germany to Christianity, became Archbishop of .Menlz, and was mart vied at (be age of 75 in Frieshuid. The next great nam (he list is that of Kghert. King of England, formerly King of Wcssex. who united the s.wcn kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy into one kingdom. Next comes King A'fred the Great '-the noblest of all KuglMi rulers." lie reorganised the iirmv. cleared (he Danes out of Devonshire, and freed the countrv from the dread of I hem. He created the fleet, introducing a new form of vessel designed bv himself, longer, swifler. lighter, and more steady than those of the Danes, whom be was thus able lo meet in I heir own clement. It is | 0 Alfred, therefore, we must look as the real founder of the maritime supremacy which Ibililin ha-' enjoyed during I lie past 111011 years. Alfred was our first greal English educationalist, an d ho determined thai everv freelmrn English vouil, who bud the means should "Abide al his book (ill he could well understand English wriling." Passing down through Devonshire's roll - of I honor Mr. linker gave a graphic recital of the deeds of Stephe.n Lnnglon the framer of the Magna Charier: six of tfie sieve!) greal. naval commanders of the Elizabethan era. Lord Howard of Effringham. Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and Sir Richard GrenvMle. the hero of the exploit in which bis ship "Revenge" fought a whole Spanish licet; George Monk, Duke of Alberiuarle. who played a leading part in the restoration of Charles II to the Throne of England; the Duke of Marlborough, one of the greatest generals Hie world has ever seen: Lord Seaton. ;, hero of Waterloo; John Oxenhaui, (lie lirsf Englishman who sighted and sailed the Pacilie Ocean; Steven Rorongh. who reached the farthest north'* in l.Vili: Sir liedv~a Duller; Thomas N'ewconiiu. who ikiid not James Walt) the Devonians claim to 'have invented (he steam engine; J. M. W. Turner, one of (he greatest artists in history; Sir Joshua Reynold-, flrst president of the Koya!

Academy; Coleridge, the poet-philoso-pher; Charles Kingsley, R. W. Blaekinore, and many other authors; and a host of others, not omitting the good Queen Bess herself, who, through her mother, Ann Boleyn, was descended from a Devonshire familv.

"And, now," the pa per concluded, "I want you to try and picture for a moment, if you' can, what England would have been if it were not for the 'Men of Devon.' If it hadn't been for St. Winifred we should never have co-i----verted (Scrmany. K it hadn't been for Egbert, we should never have had a I'nited Kingdom, If it hadn't been for Alfred the Great we should never have acquired the maritime supremacy m the British Navy. If it hadn't been for Stephen Langton, we should never have had Magna Charter. If it hadn't been for Sir Francis Drake, we should have been at this moment the subjects of the King of Spain. If it hadn't been for George Monk we should have been singing God save an Oliver Cromwell, the eighth, instead of His Most Gracious Majesty the King. If it hadn't been for Marlborough we should have had a Catholic and a Stuart on the throne; and if it hadn't been for Lord Son ton we should never have won the battle of Waterloo, and England would then have been a mere department of France." At the conclusion of the address a hearlv vote of thanks' was accorded Mr. Baker, on the motion of Mr. W. 11. Skinner, seconded bv the chairman (the Rev. T'. G. Evans). '