EMPIRE'S DUTY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22860, 15 October 1937, Page 14

EMPIRE'S DUTY

SUPPORT FOR THE KING APPEAL* MADE BY PRIMATE RECALL TO RELIGION STRENGTH FROM MORALITY An appeal to nil the peoples of the British Empire to follow the example of the King and Queen and to make their task easier bv realising the significance of tho Coronation and supporting Their Majesties in the duty to which they had pledged themselves was made yesterday by tho Prima to of New Zealand, Archbishop Averill, in his adi dress to the Anglican Synod. " Do we as individual members and citizens of the Empire," said Archbishop Averill, "realise that wo can make it easier or harder for the King and Queen to carry out their sacred duties by reason of our devotion to high ideals on the one hand or by our indifference and selfishness on the other? Tho ideals of nations and empires, and the characters of tho peoples composing those nations and empires, cannot help but create an atmosphere around the throne of a sovereign, or status of a ruler, which can be felt." The recall to religion would seem to be a warning lest the fact were forgotten that a nation and kingdom that would not serve God should jiorisli. An earthly kingdom which had no affinity with the Kingdom of God, which had no desire or intention to reflect tho ideals of that Kingdom, which had no vision beyond temporary power acquired and retained by force, and which was self-centred and indifferent to the Divine law, was secretly but surely contributing to its own failure and downfall. The strength of tho British Empire had undoubtedly been its recognition of God and its desire to see justice and righteousness flourish in the world. It must be obvious, he said, to the most ardent instigators or supporters of merely human schemes lor world betterment that they all eventually foundered upon the rock of unregenerato human nature, and consequently that the only hope for a better world was in better men and women. If a better and a peaceful world were wanted, man could have it, but not upon his own terms. He knew perfectly well that Christ was able and willing to bring about a moral and spiritual revolution in the world, but not apart from human wills. Christianity was not on trial, but Christians.

ENGLAND'S EXAMPLE STANDARD OF MORALITY DUTY FACING THE CHURCH Sooner or later the present attitude of England toward the international situation must have a direct influence upon the ideals of the world, said Archbishop Aver ill, in his address to the Anglican Synod yesterday. England, he said, was manifesting the application of Christian principles to all her international relationships. She had taken a very definite stared in her endeavours to maintain peace, and her policy even in the face of considerable provocation and misunderstanding had been a won- j derful object lesson. The archbishop instanced England's loyalty to the League of Nations, her disinterested humanitarian service in Spain and her efforts to localise the war, and her declaration, while compelled by circumstances to increase her armaments, that she had no intention of indulging in an aggressive warfare, as instances of the reasons why the people of the Empire had every cause to be proud of the attitude and service to the world of England. " Again," said the archbishop, "can we he" too thankful for the spirit of England reflected in every part of the Empire when England and the Empire were face to face with a great constitutional and moral crisis? While we can never forget the stand made for righteousness by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the high-principled Prime Minister of England, Earl Baldwin, we can never be sufficiently thankful for the attitude of the whole Empire when a grave moral issue was at stake. We cannot but believe that there is a soundness and an integrity in the heart of the Empire which afford a real ground for hope and thankfulness. "Is it not the bounden duty of the Church and the members of the Church to look forward to the future hopefully and confidently?" asked the archbishop. " There are difficult days in store for the Church, as well as for the world, but God's purposes are sure and eternal, however much man may thwart thoir fulfilment temporarily. The future of the world depend*} very largely upon the faithfulness of the Church in this its day of visitation."