KING'S NEW HEAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 213, 8 September 1926, Page 11

KING'S NEW HEAD.

WELCOME TO CANON

ARCHDALL.

SCHOOL AND RELIGION,

TRIBUTES TO MR. MAJOR

! Manor-, members ot the board of i °v>vemoi-!i. d<l boys, parents and friends !of Kinjr's College gathered in the Scots ! Hall last evening to welcome the school's I new headmaster. Canon 11. K. Arehdall. ; who arrived from Australia recently. In welo'iminir the now head, Mr. p. H. Upton. r]ui:-man of the iioard of 'governor.*, traced the history of King's Suck to it- hirth. stressing the tradi;tion* that were attached to it. King's to-day ivn« not purely a Church of England m-!k>o1. hut welcomed boy.- of all dern.niinatons. Of necessity. of course, there had to he some form of [religion aU.K'hed to a college and with [ Kinn's i; wa* file Church of England.

The ei>l!e_v tuil.iy. said Mr. Upton, was carrying on only with extreme difficulty. l.eiiiL , in urgent need of financial :issist.inee King's had no endowments and the school wanted them. It was to ho hoped that it would not he said of Kind's that it was A rollese which failed to obtain the unstinted and wholehearted support nf the pi«,pI P of Auckland. "Mr. Ma ior i- retiring after many years of -ervice of which only very few of u< have the slightest conception," said Mr. Upton. To Mr Major", faith and optimism alone was due thi- fact that tl;e new school had been built at Otahuhu Vow that his life's work was accomplishhl he hnd retired. A greater hearted man. with more sinsrirness of purpose, the speaker had never known. The School Chapeh "The present year is one of transition in regard to our church schools," said Archbishop Averill. Not only was Mr. Major retiring, but so also were the headmaster of King's school, Remuera, and the of the Diocesan School for Girl 3. In endorsing Mr. Upton's eulogistic references to the retiring head, the Archbishop said Mr. Major had set his mind on one thing— the chapel at Middlemore. Mr. Major had said over and over that with the establishment of the chapel his work wo,lid end. No'v that his purpose had been fulfilled he was entitled to a well-earned rest —no man had earned it better. But. although Mr Major was retiring, his love and interest for King's would continue unabated, and when he returned to Au.'klind he would be ready to back up' and assist the s> hool's new head.

When the board of governors had first looked round for a new headmaster, it bad scurht assistance from tlip head nf Rugby. England, and also Mr. V. -I. T.arner. who had siven much of his time while in England in seeking for n suitable man. NVither source had oUp red mivii encouragement, hut nne of the school's oldest friends. Professor H. S. Dettman. had recommended Canon A.-chd:ill. then headmaster of the Arnvdalf school, onp of the leading schools of Australia. Events had so turned out that Kind's had secured Canon ArchdalV nnd hp ventured f , " assert that both the collese and Auckland were to be congratulated in k«v ; ne obtained his vnluablp services ' Applause.l A man who had pcoomnlishpd -o much in the educational and reliffiou? realms in so short a time was a man of narts. Canon Archdall came to Kins's full of idpfl? and idoals. and the hest tp«ti'moriv that "o-uld be obtained cnncerninp him wa s that th" retiring headmaster was more than qntisTod w'th the board's =olpction. The new head had very sound convictions that education was ha=°'l on the sound foundation of rplicion Per=onallv. he did not holieve that Xew Zealand would ever havp n complete aid real education if religion was left out. Relision was the one thin? that helped mo=t to complete a man's education and make him a sfreneth to himself Pnd the Empi-e. Modern :rea:s Ambiguous. In reply. Canon Archdall first voiced an appreciation of Mr. Major's many kindnesses since his arrival. The ideals of modern education, he thought, had become exceedingly ambiguous, and it wae this that had caused him to return to educational woTk after a considerable period witii the Church. The world would never have experienced the late war if civilisation had been on the right basis. "Tf you want to know what really brought mc to King's Colleee," he saii. "it was the chappl and the old hoys roll of honour." He believed that no factor would be so potent in righting tl-e existins ambiguities as the public school of old Kngland.

"The idea that education was the sole property of the political State was an ideal too monstrous m its ronsequences to bf ertertainerl by sensible people. The Church schools hnd learned to work alongside the State schools, desirins to complement them and' permeate them with their deals. There was no desirr to work against them. But he hoped the -eople of Auckland would not be content with education of a partial chnracter. but would put their faith in that wide outlook nn lifp which had Tinde hi=torv in the past.

"T have held oTirial positions in thp Australian Church, hut no matter what religion yon arc. your boy will nor br> nrnsrlvtised if he comes to Km?' a Col-lpp-o." Canon Archdall concludPrl. "You will find in mp no narrow minded sort of person. T look forward to thp day of a united Christendom, but w P will never see it if we rpfu-c tn bpcome brondmindxl.''