TRIUMPH AND SACRIFICE.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15313, 29 July 1915, Page 4

TRIUMPH AND SACRIFICE.

» ■■ _ THE FALLEN NEW ZEALANDERS. IMPRESSIVE SERVICE AT ST. PAULS* PRIMATE'S ELOQUENT TRIBUTE. (FROM OCR OWX CORBESPOSOESt.) LONDON", Juno 23. The Memorial • Service Sn St. Paul's Cathedral yesterday for the: men of New Zealand and Australia who havo fallen in tho war was deeply impressive, and full of dignity and meaning. The Primate delivered the address, tho Bishop of London pronounced tho Blessing, and the Dean of St. Paul's read the lesson from St. John xi.. 11-28. The vast congregation was visibly .-effected, for tilo occasion was ono which could not fail to make- powerful appeal to all those present. In tho nave were several hundred soldiers, wounded or wholo, of the New Zealand and Australian contingent, and"over tho choir hung tho Union Jack and tho flags of *ho Southern States. Tho service opened with tho hymn, "Brief Life is Hero Our Portion," and there followed Psalms xxiii and cxzx. s and Sophr's anthem, "Blest aro-the Departed." Other hymns were "Rock of Ages," "Let Saints on Earth in Concert Sins," and "Now the Labourer's Task is O'er." DEFINITE AND SACRED PURPOSE. Tho Archbishop of Canterbury took as his text: "Greater lovo hath no man than this, that a man lay down his Hfe for his friends," and ho said: "Wo aro met to-night for a definite and very sacred purpose. Hero at tho centre and hub of thc Empire's life we desiro to thank God together for tho splendid devotion of our brothers from Australia and New Zealand, who in the cans© whereto we, as a people, have set our hand regarded not their lives unto death. It % as Christians that we aro met here to-night, as men and women who hold definitely to certain.great truths, and are not ashamed to 6ay so. We want as Christians to say together in St. Paul's this evening, that wo honestly and deliberately believe theso fearful perils, these wounded or stricken bodies of our b3st and bravest, theso saddened hearts and darkened homes, to b e worth while —and if they are worth while, they aro right. The offering, torriblo as it is, ought to be mado without reserve for the cause of truth and honour, the cause of good faith and ordered liberty among the peoples of Europe and of "tho world. It is a duty, grave, inspiring, urgent -which ought to rally every one of us. Just two centuries ago the Christian philosopher, George Berkeley, a singnlatly clear thinker, was standing, as he tells us, in St. Paul's Cathedral, where ho noticed a little fly crawling on one of those great pillars. Hero, ho thought, is the likeness of each lmniar. being as ho creeps along. Tho sorrow which, like some dreadful precipice, interrupts our life, may turn out to be nothing but the joining,or cement which binds the portions and sections of the greater life"into one beautiful and harmonious whole. The dark path may bo but tho curve which in tho full daylight of a brighter world will bo Been to be the inevitable span of somo majestic arch. THE TRIUMPH NOTE. % ■But in 'this great gathering to-night vra want another note besides that. We must have the triumph note for those whose self-sacrifice has meant so much to their country and to u« who honour them. Among the lives laid down could be found, as always, bright examples of tho young leadership, to which wo had looked for upholding among their fellowe the spirit which sets manliness upon the surest basis, the basis of personal loyalty to Christ. For those lives and for the footprints which they hare left upon the eands of time. We give"praise to God to-day. But it would bo unnatural, untrue,' to claim for all who thus gave their lives to the country's cause the character of stainless purity, or of the saintliness which wo sing in our hymns. Some of them, perhaps many of'them, were not saints at all. They were manly saints of the greatest Empire iv the world. They were brave and buoyant, with plenty of spirit. They need, as we shall need, forgiveness and cloansing, and new opportunity, and they are in their Father's keeping, and He knows and. cares : — Blow, trumpets, all your exultation* blow! For never shall their auieokd presence lack; 1 s«<s th««i muater in a gleaming- row, With cver-youthfui brows that nobler show; We find in bur dull road tbe.il- shining track; In every nob.or mood We feel tho orient of their epirit glow, Part of our life's unalterable good. DAUNTLESS GALLANTRY. I Do these words seem too high for •what wo are remembering ? The feat of arms which was achieved on tho rocky beach and scrub-grown cliffs of the Gallipoli Peninsula in tho grey dawn of St. Mark's Day (April 25th), was a feat, we are assured, whofce prowess ha« never been outshone, has scarcely ever been rivalled, in military annals. As the open boats under a hail front hidden guns poured out their men in thousands on the beach, below perpendicular cliffs of tangled scrub, the task of breasting those heights looked, to many expert eyes, a sheer impossibility. But by the dauntless galinntry ot" bravo men the impossible i'oatr was accomplished, and the record of those hours and of the days which followed is now a portion of our Empire's heritage for ever. And who did it? It was not the product of the lons discipline of somo veteran corps of soldiers. It was mainly the achievement of men from sheep-sta-tions in the Australian bush or irom the fields or townships of New Zealand, who a few short months ago had no dream of warfare, as, like other civilians, thoy went about their ordinary work. " But the call rang out, and the response was ready, and the result, is before us all. Those Australians and New Zealanders are enrolled among the champions whom tho Empire, for. generations to come, will delight to honour. One of the. best traits of all is the generous' tribute given by. each group to the indomitablo valour of the rest. To: quote from the private letter of a young New Zealander, "the Australians were magnificent, and deserve every good word that> is said of them." And all unite to praise the officers, midshipmen, and men who formed the beach parties in that eventful lauding, each boat, we are reminded, "in charge of a young midshipman, many of whom have come straight from Dartmouth, after only a. couple of terms." But of necessity it was at fearful cost that these gallant deeds wero done, aud tho great roll of drums under this dome to-night will reverberato our reverent and grateful sympathy to the Empire's furthest bound. This memorable act of stoutest servico gives response al-

ready to the rallying call of the PoetBishop of Australia: By all th.it havo died, for men, By Christ -who endured the Cross, Count notliing but honour gained. Count all that is selfish less. Tnke rro -with loyal heart Thc burden upon yon laid; Who fights ou the eido of God Xeeds never to bo afraid. Be true to the great good land And rear 'neath the southern-sun A race that shall hold its own. And last till tho ivorld ~be done. Then camp the '-hymn "Now the Labourer's Task is O'er," and tho Blessing brought the semco to a close. At once the druta oi tbe Grenadier Guards broke into tho thrilling prelude to the Dead March from "Saul." Directly this was finished the buglers sounded "The Last Post," which reverberated through tho Cathedral with remarkable effect. Lastly came tho National Anthem, plavcd and sung in full. Lord Kintore represented the King. Colonel Streatfield represented Queen Alexandra, Colonel Dalrymple White was thero for the Grenadier Guards. Tho Lord Mayor attended in State, and there was a- very large assemblage of official and unofficial Australians and New Zealanders.