THE EIGHTH CONTINGENT

New Zealand Mail, 22 January 1902, Page 25

THE EIGHTH CONTINGENT

CHURCH PARADE AT TRENTIiAM. SERMON BY BISHOP IVALLIS. A church parade >vas held at Tren^ham u y T r^ lS ’ tJle sei ' vi ce beiiig com A?,m? d | J-) ii tile d'-'ffht Rev Bishop Wallis Amongst those present Avere tlie-Preui cj ’ accompanied by Mrs and and Mr and B^’ The men having formed a hollow square a hymn was sung, the Garrison placing tlie accompaniment. PraA'er having been offered by the Bishop, thl 91st Psalm Avas recited, the troopers givWnri t ?f r< r spousos - The lesson Avas the 32nd chapter oi the Book of Numbers n Ud Kipling’s hymn, “God of mlng iatllelS ’ lvuown of Uld ." was then

The Bishop in his sermon, took his text from the Ath verse of St. Paul’s Epistie to the Philippians. He said that none ot them kiieAV for certain the character of the Avork aAvaitmg the Eighth Contingent at the end of the long voyage so shortly to begin. Of this there was no doubt, that Avhatever work might be given them, they would, Avith God’s blessing, show the same courage, in the presence of the enemy, and the same humanity when fighting Avas over, that characterised the British Army; and not only that, but they Avould slioav the same alertness, promptness and readiness of resource that nad characterised the Avork of the contingents AA'hich had already gone from this colony. Their Avork Avould be different from that of the Avork of tho First Con tingent, now that the freshness had gone; there Avould be no pitched battles to fight, but they Avould have to be ever on the Aratch, ever eager, and making firmer every inch of the ground that avc had acquired from the enemy; And just because their AA'ork Avould be of that kind, because it lacked some of tlie romance and outward dignity of some of the Avork of the previous contingents, our sympathies Avent with the men more than ever. They saw the same thing happening in the life of the Christian. It Avas not so hard for a man to stand up for

God m a great crisis, when all men Avere looking to see wliat he Avould do, but what the Christian found hard was to go on day after day doing his duty, trying to conquer little by little those sins Avhich broke him doivn. Their hearts Avere with the men going to South Africa, and tliey sent them forward with every sympathy and hearty good wish. This war Ave Avere fighting was a Avar which God had given us to fight. We were bound to put all considerations of self aside, and fight with our brothers and help them to get what is just and right. The temptation had perhaps come to us; it was possible that Are had felt that as the British nation Avould win throughout this war, and as we in New Zealand were not likely to be attacked, it was not a matter that concerned us; but he thanked God that He had helped us to do our duty, and, God willing, we meant to go on AA'itli it. He trusted that this would be the last! as it was the largest, of the contingents; but if more men Avere needea, so long as there Avas a man Avhc could, sit a saddle or handle a rifle, Are should send him, if lie ivere willing to go, because this Avas n battle wliich. we believed. (Jrod had given us to fight for Him, and he was sure the men of this contingent would fight as those men had fought who had gone Defore them, Avith every humanity. There Avas hardly any need for him to say T how utterly wo repudiated the foul slanders which had been circulated concerning the British .Army. He was one of those Avho believed that when such slanders Avere circulated, it was the best thing to hold our tongues and treat them with silent contempt; hut if any proof Avere Avanted to show hoAV utterly those charges Avere repudiated, it Avas to be found in the Wellington meeting on Friday, Avhich would convince the men that Ave were quPd certain that tliey meant to fight in the same humane spirit in Avhich the British Army had fought in this war. If av© had done Avhat a century or trwo ago mir fathers Avould have done, armed ali xhe men Aye could have got—Kaffirs iff South Africa and Maori volunteers in New Zealand —the Avar Avould ha a - 6 been over long ago. Wo thanked God that He had given us this war to fight, because it had brought Englishmen together as nothing else had brought them together. The Bishop urged tlie soldiers to remember the mission they had to perform. The Boers, he said, Avere sober, God-fearing men; they had made a mistake, or their leaders had made a mistake, but the troopers would make it much harder for tlie Boers to surrender in this Avar if the Boers saAv that the cause our men represented AA-as not God’s cause; if they saAv that our men Avere not obedient to their officers, and that they used the time of victory as a time for license. If our soldiers "so conducted themselves, this would not help the cause of peace, or heip those brave men, Avhen peace had come, to Avork Avith us as brother Christians

A hymn, “O God, our Help in Ages Past,” Avas sung, and the service closed with tlie Benediction pronounced by the Bishop, and the National Anthem.

The Premier afterwards inspected the camp, and Avas conducted through the lines by Major Chven, Avhilst the men stood to attention outside their tents. The Ministers, Bishop and the other A'isitors, including Mr J. H. Witlieford, M.H.R. for Auckland city (avlio drove out to Treatin',m) Avere afterwards entertained by the officers. Mr Witlieford AA r as heartily greeted by the members of the Auckland squadron.

An unusually large number of the general public Avent out from Wellington to Trentham on Sunday afternoon. The Raihvay Department made special arrangements for heavy traffic, and ran ten trains out to the Upper Hutt and back to town. The transit arrangements Avere excellent.

Aery smart Avork in equipping tlie men wa,s done by the Defence Department on Saturday. Starting on Saturday morning at 8 o clock, the officials of the defence stores—Messrs Gerard and Silver, assisted by Mr Bland, and Avith Mr T. Shields the supervising tailor, and Mr Mcßorie, of tne Woollen Company, to deliver the uniforms Avere kept till late on Saturday evening handing over the tunics and trousers to the men of the contingent. The result of the day’s Avork AA-as that bv Saturday evening 450 men had received their complete uniforms, and were able to appear in full dress at the church parade yesterday morning. Sir Arthur Douglas and hus staff have dqne remarkably Avell m equipping the contingents for South Africa, and Saturday’s piece of work is worthy of the high standard previously set by the Defence Stores officials, Avhose organisation has come triumphantly through every strain put upon it. Trooper C. J. McGowan, son of the Commissioner of Taxes, on Saturday received ®£ ,ne useful gifts from his comrades in the public service on the occasion of his leaving for South Africa. He is a cadet in the head office of the Lands and Survey Department, the staff of which presented him with a case of pipes, a case of razors, and a burning glass. The Sur-veyor-General (Mr J. W. A. Marchant) commended Trooper McGowan for volunteering for active service, and the Chief T, rf V a ß l^' sm l aa (Mr E. W. Flanagan) said that if he did his duty at the front as well as he had done his Avork in the department he Avould be a credit to NeAV Zealand.