THE PIONEERS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19803, 16 December 1929, Page 19

THE PIONEERS.

IMPRESSIVE CHURCH PARADE. ARCHBISHOP'S SERMON. Member, oi the l unrcrbun r-lsrmv j Association Clouded an im ; y.res»ivc church parade at the <■ .■''<"<-■ . dral. There was a Urge atnudanee, , and the opportunity was talon '- 1 T \ a wreath at the toot ot the sw ue 01 , John Kohert liodlfy toundor ot u ; province "huh stands in iho < nth.dral prouti.l. The l-atrou ot the .* . Arthur lV>hsoi ) d. - | r ned the wreath ; w a .c,hn.n ;i leave?, the parade, li-.i.H.i ' ~ • cemle.n.M. and the present .Mi . • ■\ tln-'i cntonns tlie Cathedral. « hero a sermon to the oc:a.Mon was preached by Ann- | bls-llOp JuilUs. , . |. His t;ruee took his u-*t t rom the [ lavt two verges of the 11th oh apt. Tot ; the Kpistlc to the Hebrew: And these j all, havu,- ohtaiiKd a re-pou. j throi,-h fVi;h. reeeived not ih.- pro- | luiso:" God bavin? provided s ,-. m .» N-t - . ter thinu for us', that tbr-y without j us should not bo ma do porkvt. j Some time aRo. said his liiaee, .1 voui." married omim came to New "Zealand and wont to live on t.lie West Coast. When e ho jjol there U was rainins; so heaviiv that the homo she was to occupy was hlottod out. WaA it. anv wonder 111 the circumstances that she felt depressed? }> ould the peopie have told her that conditions were generallv as she had experienced them on the West Coast ? Ho did not think e-o. They would rather have told her of the advantages of the district and the kindly hospitality of the good souls who lived then*. Ihe Hebrews had been in such plight, continued the preacher. They had been thrown out. of the synagogues, were despised, and persecute!. Thero was one word in the Epistle which rang in their ears. It was the word "better, and he would remind the present gen , eration that they had come to better thirds than their fathers knew. His Grace asked his congregation to dktinguish between the uords "illusion and '-delusion. - ' The first meant light and the ether darkness. It was impossible to do without illusions, which were absolutely necessary to all human effort. If people did not have illusions they had delusions, and were led that wav to darkness. Illusions, too, were to be found throughout the history of tlis Christian Church, which could not go forward a step without them. People worked hard for tucoo.ss, and it was customary to raise monument* to those who had attained it, but so far as the preacher knew, successful people were tho unhappiest in the world. It was not the .successful people who did the great things in the World, but those who endeavoured to do what they could to better conditions here. His Grace said that he regarded it as an honour to bo able to speak a few words to those pioneers who had come out to New Zealand in the early days. They had come out with illusion*. They had lived in the Old Land, which they decided to leavo aild come to a new country, as it offered them nioiv hope and more opportunities for enterprise. Some wanted to make money and some sought adventure, and a good number of them failed to pet all that they aimed for. They had made tbo voyage to New Zealand in sailing ships, taking their wives and families with them, rind although conditions on board ship were not the most comfortable, he had no doubt that those days were tho happiest of their lives. As to their achievements, one had only to look round to see what they had done. The preacher had himself seen much progress in the last forty years in Christchurch. Tho pioneers had possessed higher ideals than most other men They had laid out the City of Christchurch with rare skill and taste, and although people of to-day tried as hard as they could to destroy it, they could not do so. They had established a great college among other things, and no one to-day should forget what they had done. Certainly they had not done al; that they had rimed at, but neither for that matter had their children. The days of our fathers were passing away. It was a. good thing that their memorial should lie commemorated, but it was bettor that people should not. commemorate the pioneers so much as to endeavour to carry on the work that they had commenced. He looked to the younger people before him to strive to carry out tho visions of their fathers and to aim for higher, nobler, and richer things.

FOUNDING A PROVINCE. CANTERBURY'S ANNIVERSARY. Isevpnty-iiint* years ago. on Decornber 16th, 18-50, t«o of the ships convc3"ing thu Canterbury Association's settlers, th-j Charlotte Jan-.-- and the Randolph, droned anchor, in Lyttel'on harbour, or Port Cooper, as. *it was then named, and so established the date of th-a anniversary of the i'ounda-

tion of Canterbury. A day l»<er the Sir George Sevmour arrived, hut it was not till the 27th that the Cre*ay put in an appearance. A iter c\ents *«Kgest that it might have bwi moiv convenient it the latest da'e had b««*n selected for the celebration of the founding of the, province. Addition*! settlers came in the other ship* ot the Canterbury Association - the Isabella Hercus which arrived on *ehruarv 7th, 1801, mid the Castle Eden, which readied port on March Ist. Th*» majority of thoae hardy pionoem hav* passed away, but the soiindneitt «•** thoroughness of the foundation* they laid is shown by tin* progress that Canterbury ;ind Christ" hurcb hat* made in a period which, in a nation'a history, is comparatively brief. It is very generally regretted by Ih4 descendants of t.hc Canterbury Pilgrims that the observance of Anniversary Day has lost much of the fen tines that marked it in the early du>*. Many still recall the anticipatory filings of pleasure 'with which Anniversary Day was awaited. Athletic- mid other sports were prominent items, and very early the promotion of hoVae racing. for which the province, is now so famous, was undertaken. Account* are still in existence of th<» rnoe, meeting held on that part of Hagley Park fronting on what is, now Deans avenue. Latimer square, before Worcester street was continued through it and bisected it, was a favourite sport** ground to uhich town and country residents flocked on Anniversary Day. With the passage of the 'earn and the increase m the City's population those idyllic days seem to hate. di<«apj>eared. From a business poiut. of view. Anniversary Day j* too 1 lone to the Christmas and Nesr \car holiday it. and, as indicated above, not quite close, enough to them to permit it to form pari of them A few \e«rs ago it was dc< iile«l to observe Anniversary Day on the Saturday nearest to December 16th, but the substitute.] Jay doe* not appeal in the Name wh.v ax th«» observance on the actual dut- would do to the Pilgrims and ih ir d»<c rid ants This year the auoiinilv i> presented of the Pilgrims' Association holding it* celebrations on Saturday, while b*nk», insurance offices, the municipal offiren, and some of the Government office* are closed to-daya state of affair* tbot Whs not contemplated when it »n* decided that the i.bservnu. ,> should 1* on the Saturday nearest the loth. Ibe result cannot be said to be satisfactory, and there i* scope for the application pi a little common sen* in order to introduce some uniformity into » pom tion that lends it-«elf, „ n d indeed demands, a solution on su-h line*.