PULPIT VOICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 250, 22 October 1928, Page 3

PULPIT VOICES.

TRAFALGAR DAY.

ANNIVERSARY SERVICES.

"Trafalgar waß the greatest naval victory, Nelson the greatest admiral, and the Victory the greatest 6hip in history," was a remark of King George quoted yesterday at the anniversary services held to commemorate the event. The Rev. H. K. Vickery preached in the morning at St. Matthew's Anglican Church and at night in St. Mary's Cathedral. The service at St. Matthew's was attended by the officers and men of the Naval Reserve, and by representatives of the Navy League, the Victoria League, the Veterans' Association, the Harbour Lights Guild, the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Mission to Seamen and other patriotic bodies. The achievements of Nelson, said Mr. Vickery, formed on© of the greatest naval dramas in history, and had done much to inspire Britons with that seasense which had been the mainstay of the safety of the Motherland and the Dominions. Nelson had fired the imaginations of Britons right down the long years since Trafalgar. He was one of the moat inspiring figures of history. Mr. Vickery emphasised the wonderful work of the mercantile marine during the late war, which, he said, was as great as it had been in Empire building. But for the work of the mercantile marine victory would not have been possible for the Allies. The present generation of seamen had proved that they possessed the same grit and determination as British mariners of old. No less than 20,000 merchant seamen, to say nothing of 11,000 who died while serving under the White Ensign, gave their lives in successfully keeping Britain supplied with food during the last war.