The Press Saturday, November 11, 1922. The Great Silence.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17609, 11 November 1922, Page 10

The Press Saturday, November 11, 1922. The Great Silence.

This is the day on which, by the desire of the King and of the whole British people, reverence is paid, in every land under the flag, to the memory of the men who died in the Great War. Four years ago, at eleven o'clock in the morning, a great silence fell upon the whole b'attlefront; the armistice had been signed, and war gave place to peace. To-day at the same hour, in commemoration of that event, the most important in modern history, if not in the chronicles of all time, and of those who gave their lives that liberty might not pas 3 from us, the I whole Empire will be, for a brief space, j enfolded in a great silence as profound as that of the grave and n even more impressive, because it will be the hushed silence of living men and women. The years of war seem so far distant, so much of vital impor tance to us all has happened since they eamo to an end, and is still happening, that with many people it has passed from memory into oblivion. There was a time in our lives when the whole current of life, even in this remote land, seemed involved in tho dreadful vortex of a struggle such as had never before afflicted the world. We awakened with tho war in our thoughts, in tho case of many thousands with a prayer for tho safety of a son or husband, and it was the last thing in our minds at night. Business, pleasure, the daily round of ordinary lives—the war affected each and all, and when the dark shadow was lifted from the world, the*,relief-was so intense that forgetfulness of the sad-, ness and horror of those anxious years , was almost inevitable, for those whom the war had not plunged into mourning. Tor' those sad hearts there can be nb forgetting. It is their portion r to say, "I _ shall re- '' member while the light lasts and in ." the darkness I shall not forget." But even.for these, the silence on Armistice Day is not wholly a sharpening of their poignant sorrow. Something remains; the presence of grief does not forbid the company of pride —pride in the thought that they whom they mourn laid down life in a noble cause, and that, despite the shatter l ing of hopes of the new world, purified and strengthened and ennobled by suffering, which was to have followed in the train of peace,'the sacrifice was not wholly in vain. That, at least, \a the spirit in which we should bow our heads toWay during the great silence, reverence' for the memory of the fallen, pride in their gallant courage, and a steadfast resolve that their brave effort to make war cease from the ear#i shall not fail for lack of anything that we can do to advance that high purpose. ". Nor, while remembering the dead, shall we forget the living who returned to us. They, like their fallen comrades, have bound us to themselves, in bonds of obligation, not less strong because not written, and since we can do no more for the dead than offer their memory the tribute of reverent gratitude, the greater responsibility rests upon us to see that those who fought and lived have no cause to complain of the ingratitude of their country- '■ . .