NEW ZEALAND TO ST. PAUL'S.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 September 1915, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND TO ST. PAUL'S.

MEMORIES AND HOPES. London, August fl. A wounded New Zealander who was present in St Paul's during the memorable "Declaration Day" service contributes to the Times the following impression:— Twelve thousand miles away in New •Zealand there is a slate-roofed, ivyuovered college chapel, where, almost a year ago, evefy seat in chancel and nave was occupied by pupils past or present. The masters in hood and surplice, the choir boys in their black cassocks, filled the back benches, and in front privates and officers sang for the last time the end of term hymn and listened to the farewell sermon. These men were on the eve of departure, volunteers going without question to succor a land that most of them had never seen. "Then the scattering of all shadows, And the end of toil and gloom." The notes echoed in the* chapel rafters, and from the lectern the hopeful words of the Benediction fell on the bended heads of the men. Not a year has elapsed, and many of those present that evening are lying in nameless graves among the dwarf oaks of Gallipoli. Yesterday, one of those who had passed through the Valley of the Shadow heard the words of the same hymn sunng beneath the dome of England's greatest cathedral. They awakened sad memories, but soon the majesty of the scene and service, almost oppressive in ceremonial grandeur, filled mind and eye. 'Personal loss and pain both were forgotten, and, in their place, came a sense- of immeasurable pride and thankfulness, for the steadfast courage of England in her dark days. THE SENSE OF SOLEMNITY." To many of these men from overseas the magnificence and solemnity of the ceremony was overwhelming. To them all the pageantry and panoply that pass almost unnoticed in a great Imperial city were strange. The intensity of t'heir patriotism, the fervor of their loyalty, had been fostered by no such outward show. So it was' that the splendor of the grand old church, the pealing organ, the angel-voices that soared to the niisty roof, the gathering of the greatest in the Empire, formed never-to-be-forgotten impressions -that will be handed down as heirlooms'. Ignorant of Monarchy, the New Zealander looked almost reverently on the khakiclad figure of him for' whom be had fought, well content with the quiety dignity that gives such confidence. The National Anthem, which now means so much more than it did a year ago, was sung with thrilling fervor/and its passionate patriotism and loyalty must have in some measure compensated for the anxieties and responsibilities that beset a throne. Midway through the service, as the Archbishop's fervent prayer arose, a ray of sunlight flooded the gloom, striking into sudden brightness the ring on his lifted hand. A whisper of good omen was heard as the shadows fled before the sunbeams. God grant that it may be so, and that before long Prince'and people may again meet m thanksgiviii" for a peace, .vliir-h. when we hud it. we dhl not value. Never have the ties of Empire been so close. They ;i;-e cemented with the life-blood of the colonies, .-.ml the King rules over an undivided .■Tom in ion—God save the King!