The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1917. A GREAT WAR MEMORIAL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3136, 14 July 1917, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1917. A GREAT WAR MEMORIAL

The proposal to build an Anglican Cathedral in Wellington as a thankoffcring and a memorial to the New Zealanders who havo laid down their lives- for their country in this war has evoked a remarkable outburst of enthusiasm. The idea is'' inspiring, The project is a daringly large one, but the boldness and bigness of the scheme will commend it to the<_ minds of many who would not be interested in a timid and commonplace conception. Big and bold as the plan undoubtedly is, it is not too ambitious for a large and wealthy and rapidly developing district like the dioceso of Wellington, and it has been launched so auspiciously that there is every reason to believe that the effort will bo crowned with complete success. The organiser of the sohemo (the Rev. 0. F. Askew, vicar of St. ■ Mark's, Wellington), has been giving much time and thought to his plan of campaign. He wisely determined to aim high, and to place before tho people a proposal which would touch their hearts and kindle their imaginations. The magnitude and magnificence of his idea must have taken the Synod by surprise. But his courage was contagious. His confidence was shown to be based upon a strong foundation of facts and figures and on the firm belief that the .Anglican churchmen of the Wellington diocese would make a wholehearted, prompt, and generous :e----sponso to an apeal for funds to erect a cathedral which would be an ornament to tho city, a- credit to the diocese, and an apprnpratc and abiding witness to those fundamental spiritual instincts and ideals upon which true ai'd permanent national greatness must ultimately depend. The Church authorities felt that nothing second-rate—nothing short of the very best—could be regarded as> an adequate thankoffering commemorative of the mos,t tremendous crisis in tho history of New Zealand and the Empire, and a worthy I memorial of the glorious band of Now Zealanders who will have made the supremo sacrifice. It was therefore decided that tho cathedral should be an architectural masterpiece. Everything possible is to Vo dono to ensuro that it shall_ ho as beautiful ,as money and brains and art can niakc it. 'The splendid response which has already boon mark indicates that the boldness' of the project has not daunted Anglican churchmen. It has rather braced them up in their resolvo to bring to a good end tho noblo task set before them, spurred on by the knowledge that its achievement will mean tho opening of a new and brighter era in tho history of tho diocese of Wellington. They feel that they arc being asked to do something really worth doing. They have been given, a unique opportunity of showing that they have real faith in thoso eternal spiritual realities of which a cathedral is the outward and visible sign. Wellington is already • becoming the consultative , and organising centro for tho Anjrlican Church of the Dominion. The last General Synod 6ct up a Standing Committee to dear with problems which may arise from time to time- requiring immediate action. This committed holds its meetings in Wellington, arid its formation will probably lead oi} to further; developments in

the same direction. There is every probability that the logic of events will in tho course- of time result in Wellington being made tho permanent location of tho Anglican Primacy. The need for a cathedral has long been felt, and thoso best able to judge are of opinion that the psychological moment has arrived for undertaking the work of building it. _ Mr. Askew has got into touch with a number of leading churchmen in town and country, and personal interviews and inquiries in various quarters have convinced him that there are thousands of Church members who will count it a privilege to take a definite part in tho erection of tho cathedral—to give some part of the fabric—as a memorial to son, or brother, or other relative who hr-s fallen in battle, or as a thankoffcring for tho establishment of that just and lasting peace for which our soldiers are now fighting and dying. It was not envy, malice, or greed, nor a desice to augment its material possessions, that compelled our Empire to draw the sword. It is not for material things that our New Zealand soldiers are risking their lives. They aro fighting for tho preservation of spiritual values. They arc fighting for tho things of the spirit—for freedom a-od justice, for international morality, for the maintenance of Christian civilisation. Sir Hay Lankester, a distinguished' scientist, has stated that Britain and her Allies arc fighting for Christian ideals, and that tho Christian religion is being enormously strengthened in its noblest features by this .var. He believes that wo are learning to place a higher value on Christian ethics than wo did throe years ago. It is, therefore, in every way appropriate that the memory of our fallen soldiers should he for ever associated with a Christian cathedra] which would be " a. thing of beauty and a. joy for ever." Tho tendency of the best thought of tho present day is to attach increasing importance to tho survival value of religion and to lay more-and more stress upon the vital connection between religion and morality. A leading American philosopher, Hio late Professor William James, tells us that religious experiences hnvo "enormous biological worth," and that "the strenuous type of character will, on the battlefield of human history, always outwear tho easygoing type, and religion will drive irreligion to the wall." Another authority declares that "the age of scientific materialism is past. The religious instinct has been adjudged normal." It is well that this return of tho intellect to the eternal verities—God, freedom, and immortality—should tind worthy expression in a magnificent building which would put tho mark of Christianity on tho world to conio after the war is over.

The cathedral itself must of course bo built by-tho peoplo of the diocese of Wellington. It will be their thankofforing, and a noble one. But ifc is rightly felt that the co-opera-tion of representative people in the Homeland in the construction and adornment of the military chapel would be a striking and impressive token of tho essential unity of tho Empire, and without such co-opera-tion tho ideas which the chapel is intended to embody cannot be fully realised. Tho chapel will form a most interesting connecting link between Britain and New Zealand, and will commemorate the sacrifices which all parts'>of tho Empire and our gallant Allies have- made in order to save. the world from' tho most galling tyranny that has ever threatened to engulf mankind. Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's are crowded with memorials of Britain's great ones, but tho Wellington military chapel vvill be a reminder to future generations of the deeds of the rank and file as well as of their leaders. All did their duty. What more, can a man give for his country than his life ? Everything in the chapel is to boithe best of its kind. Every feature of tho architecture, tho windows and the decorations are to be symbolic. They will tell the grand story of the wonderful heroism of tho young New Zealanders who left .farm and factory, shop and office, hearth and home, to take part in the greatest fight for right that the world ever witnessed. The symbolic record of this epic struggle should provide a magnificent subject for artistic treatment in connection with a building that will speak of that hope of immortality which springs eternal in the human breast. The military chapel would be a -national sanctuary of unfailing interest and priceless value. It would testify to the supremacy of spirit over matter, and to the worth of tho ideals for which so many New Zcalandcrs have sacrificed their lives. It would also bo an assurance that our fallen soldiers did not die in vain. It is through such sacrifices that our dreams and expectations of tho good time coming are being "wrought into tho substance of the world to be." It should bo a privilege as well as a duty to erect appropriate memorials which will keep the names and deeds of our brave dead in everlasting remembrance. • The scrupulous performance of our obligations to the nion who will come back to us should not be allowed to divert our attention from our duty to those who will never come back. They died that we might live—that is a fact that we can never forget—and we should do our best to perpetuate the memory of the great things they have done for us and for those who will come after us. And the great and beautiful cathedral it is proposed to build in this city affords truly magnificent means of doing this.'