THE BROTHERHOOD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 302, 31 May 1915, Page 3

THE BROTHERHOOD.

ADDRESS BY THE REV. F. HALES. J There, was a large attendance at the j usual meeting of the New Plymouth Brotherhood yesterday. Mr. CI. H. Dolby presided. « The address for the afternoon wasA given by the liev. F. Hales, anil was ' entitled "'Sacrifice, and Its Relation to the. War." The speaker introduced his subject with the words of three men. Carlyle had said: "It is only with renunciations that life, properly speaking, van be said to begin. In a valiant suffering for others, not in a slothful making others suffer for us, did nobleness ever lie." The words of Whyte Melville were equally worthy of record:— " You talk of self as the motive for exertion. I tell you it is the abnegation of self which has wrought out all that is noble, all that is good all that is useful, nearly all that is ornaruent.il in the world." A greater man than citliT of these once said "Whosoever will come after Me, let him renounce himself, and take up his cross daily and fellow me." Matthew Arnold had. said "Perhaps there is no other maxim of Jesus which has such a combined stress of evidence for it. and may he taken as So eminently His." The. world, said the speaker, very soon forgot the in,m who thinks only .for himself, lmt would never forget Carabaldi, or Abraham Lincoln. Ease, avarice and self-indul-gence drew a man to {lie outs Oris of hell, but sacrifice lifted him to heaven. To evfcry young man listening to his country's call came the word 1 Life is through death, and immortal renown through self-renunciation." As they read day by day the lists of casualties in the present awful struggle, what an enigma seemed the lives of those gal Innt lads cut off as they stood on the threshold of life. But did they not hear their footsteps clearer now than ever before? They remembered them with fond and tender affection, and as they did so they felt themselves being drawn nearer to the kingdom of sacrifice and self-renunciation. They longed to follow their example. It was the ' going into the unseen that had opened the door of heaven for many of them, and turned this earth into a worid of self-sacrifice and service for others. During the past few months those voting men had seen an ideal face to face. To some the ideal may have been epito- ■ mised in the name and cause of Eng- I land; to others it might have snown a : nobler majesty and'havi taken tie I form of general human r /it. The I Church of old had promised the crusaders the attainment of perf." tion through the merits of their great adven- ! ture. Should they not hope that youths J of to-day would find perfection in their j present cause. 'As long as they were I members of a State sacrifice was de- I manded of them, though in times of ' peace and prosperity the duty sat lightly on them. Mr. Lloyd George did well to eheck the smile of contempt flint began to curl the lips of «ome Engb-h----men when the news jtrri.vl of tiie food j regulations ot Ceunany. He told his | audience the bare truth when l>o stated j that the nation eoul-.i rheerfully submit to rations of potato-bread is to be ' dreaded as great, and not despised as '' weak. If a people was prepared to suf- { fer to was on the pith to national j greatness. . It stooil, therc'.ora, to rra- » son that to emerge from 'the present J great trial with the » r v of \ictory on . their lips they must excel Germany not ) only in men and cannon, but in sacrifice, j too. The noble facnltv of sclf-n-nincia- ' tion, too rarely seen in times of peace, j must- become the d-iviug force of many. Patriotism that eost nothing was not worth much. The things that Ihreaiened to paralyse thev efforts must be sacrificed at any cost Til.' ultimate 'ssucs of the war depmled a great deal oa the measure of their wdiingiuss (o deny themselves in ordjr to help their country. ANNUAL MEETING. j At the conclusion of {he usual weekly! proceedings, the annual meetim' was held. The secretary (Mr. A. Gray) read the annual report as follows: Your executive committee has much ! pleasure in reporting another year of j useful work in connection with this I Brotherhood. At present there are some 300 members on the roll, and, in the majority of cases, especially during the winter months, the attendance at meetings lias been most gratifying. During the year we have had the pleasure of listening to some exceptionally .fine speakers. Also on many occasions excellent musical and elocutionary iftoms have added to the afternoon's enjoy--mont. Several of the visiting speakers I spoke in_ most enthusiastic terms of the' fine spirit pervading our meetings, one ' I remarking tlmt the singing of tin; men I j compared more than favorably with that : of Brotherhoods in other parts of the I world. A great, deal of the success of i j the past year has been due to the selfsacrificing, spontaneous work of the | various committees. It has been clear that one and all worked for the coin- j mon good. The Helping Hand committee has had to deal with some cases of distress, and they have curried out their duties with discretion and sympathy. The trustees of the Good Templar Hall aio deserving of ojir deepest gratitude, and especially does your committee desire to record its appreciation of the work of the press. During the year the outstanding feature has been the outbreak of war. It, was thought by some that the ideal oi universal brotherhood was incompatible with the carrying out. of a member's duty to his couiitrv, but we have never at, any time advocated "peace at any price," while peace at the price of honor is as far from our thoughts as is the. north polo from the Miuth. e grieve at the loss of our , members at, the front, but at the same j tiioe we feel honored at our association i with men who have been so willing to sacrifice all for their country. Lookimj back, it would appear that our three j years' existence has been a time of preparation 1 or a really great work which wo shall be called upon to do. There will be helpless ones to care for, and, in spite ol all that any government, however generous, can do, there will be much sullcring. Here will come the opportunity of organised institutions such as

this, and it would surely be right tlmt every nwmbcr of thia brotherhood should enter into a solemn covenant that B8 fur as he can pr vent it no dependent of any patriot who may lose his life or his health during this war shall suffer want. This is a glorious objective for us to have in view. The balance-sheet showed a small credit balance. The report and balance-sheet were unanfmously adopted, on the motion of the Rev. A, B. Chappcll, seconded oy Mr. 10. Doeki'ill. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Officers for the ensuing year were then elected as follows: Rev. A. B. Chappell; vice-presidents, Revs. T. 11. Kos.eveare and F. Hales, Dr. Home, Messrs T. G. Hirst, J. li. Roy, G. H. Dolby, S. G. Smith, W. Healy, E. Dockrill, G. W. Browne, and C. E. Bellringe'.'; ■secretary, Mr. A. Gray; treasurer, Air. E. Brooker; executive. 11. Ainsworth, W. Ambury. W. Sadler, H. Cocker, C. Carter, H. Wilson, W. W. Thompson, A. Mofflin, W. Duncan, H, Goodacre, and W. Ilciirieks; musical director, Mr. A. Gray; music committee, the musical director, pianist, and Messrs W. Ainsworth and W. Henricks; speakers and advertising committee, president, secretary, and Messrs G. H. Dolby and H. White; Helping Hand Committee, S. G. Smith (convenor), C. Carter, G. W. Browne, W. Ambury, and E. Doekrill, with the treasurer; new members' committee, Messrs 11. Cocker (convenor), W. Duncan, vV. Sanders, R. Wilson, 11. Way, and-G. Ellis; absentees and sick visiting committee, Messrs A. Mofflin (convenor), R. Glegg, W. Lander, W. Healy, G. H. Maunder," and Bocock; hall stewards, Messrs Pickerell, Cathro, H. Way, -I. Lister, W. Bell, W. Healy, 11. Rawson, and R. Wilson; registrars, W. J. Smith, J. Bransgrove, E. Simmons, W T . Ainsworth, and. W. Healy (convenor); Pianist, Mr. -Harnett. On the motion of the Rev, A. B. C'happell, it was decided that all committees be given power to add to their number. The Rev. A. B. Chappell also moved that as from time to time word comes through of the casualties the secretary be instructed to convey to relations the sympathy of the Brotherhood, and that a committee, consisting of Messrs Dolbv, Ambury, and the president carry out this proposal. This was carried unanimously. The meeting concluded with Votes of thanks to the speakers, hall trustees, performers, and the press.