DAY OF MEMORIES

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 99, 28 April 1928, Page 10

DAY OF MEMORIES

SACRED OBLIGATIONS A CALL AND AN INSPIRATION (Written by S. Saundcrs.) Anzac Day among all the great national anniversaries observed in the Dominion stands ojit pre-eminently, not only because it commemorates the courage and endurance and sacrifice of the men and youths who hastened from this far-flung outpost of tho Empire to the assistance of the Mother Land in her hour of need, but even more particularly because it marks indelibly the entrance of this country and its sister States into the confederation of free and inseparable communities that constitute the British Commonwealth. At the moment, however, tho people of tlu Dominion arc concerning themselves more with what may be termed the personal obligations arising out of tho Great War than with the Imperial obligations. The personal obligations rest upon every, individual in the community, while the Imperial obligations for the time being rest with the statesmpn. Tho gathering held on Wednesday last, thirteen years i after the heroic landing at Gallipoli and nearly ten years after the signing of tho . Armistice that concluded the war, were hallowed by memories of bright young lives that .had been given freely, e,veu cheerfully, in the full and certain belief that they were offered in the cause of right and righteousness. That they were not given in vain, history will tell and posterity will proclaim. _ Already there are signs on the horizon, perhaps to those without faith seeming no bigger than a man's hand, that a chastened generation is turning its eyes longingly towards tho paths of penes. What the Dominions can do towards the consummation of the longings or the civilised world they may be trusted to do. Meanwhile tho people of New Zealand have their personal obligations to discharge, and never before had these been held up to them so eloquently, so impressively, and, perhaps, one may be permitted to say, so persuasively as they were by tho Kov. Fiolden Taylor in the crowded Wellington Town. Hall on tho Anzac Day just passed. LIGHT-HEARTED HEROES. "The cue I want to glvo you this afternoon is that this is a day of memories—a day of sacred memories," said tho war-stricken, much-loved padre, speaking from a chair brought to tho front of tho crowded stage that he might reach every individual in the huge audience. "It is," he resumed; after a tonso pause, "a day on which to remember things which stand out ns gold amidst tho dross of life, amidst the sordid side of our own poor humanity. Let us go back to the early days of the war. I want you to recall the enthusiastic young life which nearly fourteen years ago rushed to the colours. To aid your imagination you have only to recall tho words wo have just sung so beautifully: They were young, straight of limb, true of eye, steady afid aglow. I would have you recall tho enthusiasm which enabled them to endure tho hard training in the desert sand. Tho 'digges' hero will remember with me thos^ hard -.days—the early morning' inarches over tho hot earth, Hie long, weary inarch back. . . Let mo recall that landing at Gallipoli, just thirteen years ago —the boatloads of eager young men scanning the approaching land for signs of tho Turks. . . How eagerly wo disembarked with such high hopes. . . Let mo recall tho stamina of thoso same men, which endured tho halt, tho check, tho apparent reversal; which made light of sickness, wounds, and poor rations; which stood tho loss of comrades as men fell day by day. Let us recall the spirit which kept i en up during those long, weary days, the spirit which made light of sacrifice, which endured pain, which faced ,isablemcnt for life. Let us recall he spirit of light-hearted comradeship, that wonderful brotherhood which still links us up, which makes men 'cobbers' for ever. Let us remember that brotherhood with its hearty laugh—yes, they laughed oven in the trenches —that brotherhood which shared all with all. THE DESOLATION OF WAR. "Visions press before my eyes, ns .before those of other men," continued tho padre, seeming lo look beyond his audience. "I see the transpi rts laden with eager men. Then I see hospital walls—hospitals on tho Dardanelles, in Egypt, Malta, i'rance, .nil England. I pass through wards full ot: broken meii^-and yet men full of laughter and hope and joy. I go back to the trenches where I see men again carrying on, although desperately ill. I see low graves with small, while crosses, and thoso gorgeous ceinete ies on tho Dardanelles. I see cemeteries on tho hillsides, sometimes in Lemnos, in France, in Malta, and in Mesopotamia. I see vision upon vision of graves of tho men who have gone west —little bits of England. Again I ,>eo tho front line, with its dirty sacks surmounting tho parapet in front, tha barbed-wiro entanglements, the desolation and chaos beyond, the mud underfoot—and yet as I gaze at tho mcii there I see a complement of cheerful souls There is laughter even there. >'o one who never has been in a front line trench can even imagine its discomforts. . . I see tho vision of a destroyed country—Belgium and FrJncc with their broken trees, ruined villages, shattered churches and cemeteries —and yet this sight of sheer desolation is relieved by tho presence of men who, in these cheerless surroundings, can keep their spirits high,' and still laugh. . . IN HIGH ENDEAVOUR. "As these visions pass before my eyes," stated the wanderer over the whole field of conflict, coming back to hi:; audience, "I see what men can Jo, what men can be, and my faith in humanity is increased indeed. I- would have you spend to-day as a day of remembrauce; I would have you recall these glorious pictures of those whowent west with, their faces to the foe. They laughed, they sang their melodies of England, They fell open-eyed and unafraid. "Surely wo will remember them.. But to mo it seems vain to remember them alone. It is useless to remember .-n----loss wo do all we can to perpetuate in our lives what these men were. That is tho thought I would give you to-day. Fourteen years ago there were people who were saying that the men of Mie British Empire had lost tlreir grip—that they had become effeminate. 1 hear the same thing to-day. The years 1914 and 1915 proved that the men of the British race were all that their forefathers had been. They were true to the traditions of their race. But we

cannot keep those traditions up just by services of this kind. We rausi; have the grit to perpetuate them in our lives. Wo have been left memo''KS which are an inspiration, and each of us must see that our life is an inspiration to another. In all our difficulties in the fight of life you and i have got to stand as those men stood. Wo must make our lives a lamp such as tho one of remembrance that stands before us to-day. Those men who ha o passed on have left us their lives to perpetuate. We have got to do their job and to carry on their message. We can do this only by making our lives an inspiration lo others, lives of fuitii and steadfastness, and well-doing in whatever sphere our lot uiny be cast. God grant that .we may spend our lives cheerfully and uncomplainingly in that high endeavour." THE OUTLOOK. It is only fair to Fieldcn Taylor —the man's titlcj whether curate or bishop, or anything between, rests mainly in tho regardoorir tho people who know him and.his work intimately—to say that he is unaware of the existence of the shorthand notes from which these words arc written, and will knownothing until they appear in print. If he lias been misreported lie will not complain. One of the most gratifying features of the gathering in the Wellington Town Hall was that not one word was spoken in disparagement of the Allies' enemies in the war, and not a sentiment expressed that might be regarded as an incentive towards war. That this spirit of tolerance .nd even amity is abroad and growing with the passage of the years is becoming more and more apparent. Just. the other day the New South Wales Government returned to Berlin the plate of an enemy's cruiser that had fallen into its hands during the war. Su^h a chivalrous example may bear fruit in the near future. Captured guns which were eagerly sought after fty municipalities and other' public bodies in this country a few years ago are now .regarded in many quarters as somewhat 'of an incongruity side by side with the nations' professions of a desire or abiding peace. On Thursday last a German lady, who declined to give her name, brought to the president of ''he Returned Soldiers' Association a beautiful wreath, to be laid on the Cenotaph in Wellington in me-mory of thoso who had given their lives to their country. Civilisation seems to bo making some progress among tho nations in spite of all their blunders. •