KING'S COLLEGE MEMORIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 137, 12 June 1922, Page 9

KING'S COLLEGE MEMORIAL.

A SCHOOL CHAPEL. TO .MEMORY OF FALLEN. STONE LAID BY LORD JELLICOB. "This i<s an historic occasion, marking the entry of King's College ■ iuto the ranks of the public school of tbe Empire' 1 said Mr. A. J. Lamer, chairman of the board of governors, in welcoming hie Excellency tho Governor-General (Viscount .Tellicoei at the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of the memorial rlmpel at King's College, Mangere Crossing, on Saturday afternoon. There was a very large gathering of friends of the colleL'i'. His Excellence the Gover-nor-General was received by a guard of honour furnished by the King's College Cadet*?, and the band played the Rational Anthem. The ceremony was a relicinus one. Bishop Averill taking the principal part. The college choristers led the singing of the hymns.

His Excellency in the course of a brief address said the event was OEe of great importance and significance, the laying oi the foundation etonc of the chapel which was to be a memorial of the old boys that bad fallen in the great war. All such memorials which were intended to commemorate the sacrifices made in a spirit of great unselfishness were of great moment, and it was impossible to his mind to erect a memorial of a better or a more fitting nature than such a chapel connected with a school. The presence of such a memorial in the precincts of a school was of great importance because of its influence on the minds of the youth of future generations. The sacrifice made by the boys of King's College was made because they thought it right to defend the weak, to fight for civilisation, and for the good of mankind in general. What more fitting memorial could be erected than a chapel which was significant in itself of the supreme sacrifice made nineteen hundred years ago? Future generations of boys of the school would realise when they entered the school that the chapel had been erected because of a great sacrifice, and it could not fail to bring before their minds that it might be necessary for them in their daily lives, or on some great occasion to themselves make a great sacrifice and to make it willingly as the old boys of the school had done. WHAT THE MEMORIAL MEANS. The occasion was significant, said bis Excell&ncy, ibecauae o.f the tact that it •was due to tue efforts of tlio headmaster, the governing body, and the old boys that the chapel liad been built. It also meant that tne old boys were proud ot what King's CoLtego did for them, and. that they were determined that the King's College of the future should carry on its great traditions and its great •part in the education work of the Dominion. King's College that day took rank among the pu'biic schools of the Empire, and perhaps the most important Ibuildings in the Empire were the public schools, because it was there that the future generations were taught their duty to King and Country, and weTe brought up as God-fearing and goorl citizens. What could be more important than such aims? The thanks of the future King's College boys were due to the old boys for the spirit they had (shown in erecting that chapel. It was an encouragement for the coming generations to stand up for and uphold the old traditions, and if possible to beat them. Everyone present must hope that the great school of King's would do much in the future fcb bring up those who entered it as good citizens and Godfearing men, and it was to be hojed that the future boys would succeed in life and bring credit to tbe school.

THANKS TO yiK. MAJOR. Biehop Averill said the chapel was ttie irealisation of a wish, and marked the evolution of the college from a private school to take its place in the ranks ot the great public schools not only of New Zealand but of the Empire, as had been so truly said. It was due to the ideal and determination of the headmaster (Mr. C. T. Major) that the people were aJ)le to take part in euch a ceremony as that which was being held. His Lordship said he mentioned that fact 'because they should give honour to whom honour was due. They must not forget that they owed it to Mr. Major. They owed it also to the old boys, who were determined bo make the memorial as worthy as they could of the old boye who had given their lives in defence oft the noble principles for which the Old Country entered the war. He could not conceive of any greater memorial of the old boye who had fallen than such a chapel as it was proposed to build. It "would instil ideas of duty and selfsacrifice which were associated with the names of the old boys who had given their lives. To-day, when there was disunion and disloyalty and self-interest abroad, it was a very splendid thing that they should have in the very centre of their echool a school chapel which stood for loyalty to the Kins and what they all hoped the Empire stood for, God, King and humanity. The Bishop thanked his Excellency the GovernorGeneral for allowing his name to be with the college, and said it ■was most fitting that the foundation etone oi the chapel should be laid not only 'by the representative of Hie Majesty the King, but by one who was admired and respected for his own splendid manly virtues.

Among those who were on the .platform were Colonel H. R- Potter, C-M.G-, members of the Board of Governors and King's College Old Boys' Association, Sir Frederick Lang (Speaker of the House), Mr. J. S. Dickson, M.P., and others.