ANZAC DAY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14041, 26 April 1920, Page 1

ANZAC DAY.

THE MEMORIAL SERVICE

The public rallied well to honor the memories of the nobly fallen of-Anzac Day, there being scarcely standing room in "the Opera House. " Chaplain AV. M'Lean, M.C.. of Columba, presided, and there were also on the stage Ten. Archdeacon Riiskcll, and Revs. A. Reader.- TX Jamieson.-' Capt. Moore (Salvation Armv). Capt. Redmond (N.Z.S.C), and 200 returned soldiers. The 10th Regiment Band, tinder Lieut, Bandmaster Fox,.gave a beautifully expressive rendering of Rimmer's fantasie on "The Last Post," then following with the National Anthem. Rev. D. Jamieson ' led in prayer of confession, the audience joining in the Lord's Prayer and following with n hearty singing of the hymn' "Oh. Gcd Our Help in Ages Past." Capt. Moore (Salvation Army) thenread Psalm 12-1. - Mr I'\ H. Elcoatc sang with rare feeling Stainer's "My hope is in the Everlasting."

Veil. Archdeacon Russell read from I. Hebrews 11, 32:40. -

Rev. k. Reader then led in prayer cf thanksgiving, for those who had suffered, and for our Empire. Rev. W. M'Lean said that Anzae Day was s rich iu remembrances and hope. They had met to honor the men who bad served and sacrificed in 1914-1918, because, though the day was primarily dedicated to'the heroic paaticipators in the landing, it also embraced -hi significance all men —and women —who served and sacrificed, whether they rested on the inhospitable slopes of Anzae, beneath the tawny sands of Egypt, among the mountains of the Caucasus, in the mud of Flanders, under the fronded palms of Samoa, below the sacred soil of 'Palestine, beneath the waters of the great deep, in 'he Homeland, or here iu their native land. Here in New Zealand the spirit of peace, for more than half a century, had been interrupted but by the Maori and South African wars, and the char-

acter and spirit of the nation was in that- time securely welded on a basis of progress, so that when the sword

flashed from the scabbard in 1914 it was bright and keen and with a sturdy moral purpose behind if. To-day he offered in behalf of all the deepest sympathy to the bereaved relatives. Rutthere were found in Hebrews 11 :.'!!)—10 words that gave a great promise of hope: "And these all. having obtained a jiood report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." These words- suggested that all who died did so in faith. Not that all were seized with the Christian faith which few possessed, but the faith that was faithful unto death, even though many of them could not have expressed if. It was an unpardonable sin to keep two blankets when your mate had none, to secrete double rations when others bad none, to shirk disagreeable duties under great discomfort and hardships. This splendid devotion to duty, this unselfish service to make even the supreme sacrifice, was patent to the world, though often personally inarticulate: Might one not say that God was with them and inspiring them. As Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in hi? saddest and bravest song : "God. if this were faith? r To go on for ever and fail and go on

again, And be mauled to earth and arise. And contend for the shade of a word and a thing not seen with the eyes: With half a broken hope for a pillow at night That somehow the right is right And tin- smooth shall bloom from the rough: Lord, if that were enough?"

The strniisf and mysterious convictions of faith that found their way into every heart were the foundation of a courage to carry on in spite of repeated failure. '•Men left these shores animated by a 1 complicity of motives, but all under a deep emotion, contending for something unseen by eyes and upheld by only a - conviction \hat right was right' and must prevail ultimately. What was their faith? Faith in a better social order, a future of righteousness and peace, not a better lot in heaven, but a better earth in which to live, where every man should enjoy his rights and petty distinctions should vanish in favor of a" universal brotherhood. Some said it was "for the missus and tire kids," some 'died not for flag nor king nor emperor, but for u dream born in a herdman's shed." the dream that, has inspired men down the centuries. Rugged man and scholar alike fought for the same ideal. He thought that as Christ looked on the fallen soldiers he was well pleased with their sacrifice, and "be they ne'er so vile" the day of sacrifice "gentled their condition.*' There has been a great deal of pagan talk about our fallen soldiers. If any entered into the bliss of eternal life it wpuld be'bv the mercy of God and not by any purity of life, which in- man was merely a comparative term, as there was little to choose between the best- and the worst of us. To die for ! righteousness was to die for Christ. (These all died in faith. There was a danger that we might meet on Anzac Dav and nod our heads in sympathy with his words, but if we left- the matter there we were not carrying out our part of the bargain. .Rather must we take it up where they left- it off. Wo must, in their own words. "Carry on.' Yen. Archdeacon Russell led in a pniver of thanksgiving for the heroic dead. Chaplain Mclean pronounced the Benediction, which was followed by the "Last Post" plaved by Bandmaster Fox. , . . , The hvnins used in an impressive service were "With Heart and Soul and Voice." "The Saints of God. their conflict past." and "0 valiant hearts, who to your glory came."

( CHURCH OBSERVANCES

rit. Luke's.— I At St. Luke's there was a good number of communicants at the . morning celebrations, while at the forenoon service the Waitaki High School Cadets paraded in uniform under Lieuts. Hargreaves and Suinpter. and the Boy Scouts under Scoutmasters Lightwood and Barter. The Lesson was read by Surgeon-Captain Orbell. M.C.. and the Ven. Archdeacon Russell preached from t*e texts 'Keep in Memory" and "Lest w forget." He emphasised the duty of keeping alhe the memory of manhood at its best, as exhibited by the men whose courage had never flinched,, whose endurance ltfid never failed, and whose self-sacrifice had never faltered. The names of the fifty St. Luke's men and of the twelve Waitaki boys confirmed were read bv i*he Archdeacon. Mr Bnrrv plaved "The Dead March in Saul"" the "Last Post" was sounded by Binders Hardv and Hart, and "The Reveille" bv Bugler A. E. King. At the evening service the Lessons were read bv Bandsman F. J. Cox and Lieut. F. W Kibblewhite. - The "Last Po<t" was phfved by Lieut. Bandmaster Fox and "The Reveille" by Busier Km"-. The choir sang the.anthejii "TheLord/shall be thine everlasting light." and Mr Burrv played the "Dead March in Saul". The' Archdeacon preached From Hebrews 12:1: "Compassed about, with so great a witnesses. ' He dwelt on the love of country which was <=o strong an incentive to heroic conduct, on the comradeship which had permeated all ranks, of Christ Who inspired all noble and on the consecration/to which the memory of the heroic dead called every survivor. —St. Paul's. — At St. Paul's Rev. S. F. Hunter preached at - both services. Appropridte hymns were. sung, and .in the evening the choir Rendered the anthem "What are these that are'arrayed in white robes?'' Mr Hunter preached! in the morning on "The Perfecting of Service." fioni Hebrews' 11. 39, and 40: "These all'received;not, the pro|j nrise . . . that'they without, us "iiot

bfifchei.lferoes was due "to. them '.and ,iiecßsa&y .ifori our inspiration," as a : nation.th-; doing radfiiiniQntJ song, ox - story, was "creating- ideals. ; for coming generations'. Faith* wa^-eisential'for heroism. Tliese Hetfisw heroes ''f.'endured as seeing Hiiff*>vho J W_ righteousnessi -of ; the, cause,' faith in orio J s nation, faith in certain -ffleals 1117 •spirbd vth'e 'irten. remembered On Auzac DaxJ'iantlin''maiiv easeS whole-hearted 'their Father' and Christ His "Redeemer. If a man had not faith , in. aiiythhig he lwd nothiiig to live or die for. Reaper's followed sowers, and completed their work. The fallen had left it to us to complete the work for .which they died. To honor the Tierbic: in sincerity and in truth ; wpu|d he to '■ surrender one's self to the Divine cause of humanity's uplift and cleansing . In the evening Mr Hunter -'preached on "The Way of the Cross"," from Galatians 6-14: "God forbid that I sbqtild glory save in the Cross of our Lord jesus Christ,..etc." He .pointed ..out that the service and sacrifices remembered "that day--led them irresistibly t:> the life of the Great Sacrifice that. ' dominates all history.' He dealt first with the Christ as atonement for sin, the conscription of self, in suYrehder to the purpose of Christ, and closed with an appeal for a similar surrender'to the cause of Jesus-and His Empire. s. —Columba Church.-

Rev. W. McLean was the preacher at-*Columba. At the) morning service the Misses Collett siuig "Thev. shall hunger 110 more" (Gaul). The soldiers' memorial tablet- was draped and a wreath was deposited. The. preacher's morning subject was "Victor, tighten, thj), helmet strap," and the text Was Mark 8-36, the word "Nation" . being submitted for "man." After stating the larger significance of Anzac Day, the speaker said that we must not be allowed to forget the war, its primary cause and its deeper meaning" for the human race. ' Its .primary cause was. the practical materialism of the age, materialism which issued in immoralism. The war was not a war of civilisation against barbarism,.' right against iminoralism, Christianity against materialism. The glory of our heroic dead was that they sacrificed themselves for the unseen future of mankind. "Victor, tighten thy helmet strap." for having triumphed, there, was a danger of being involved in defeat. In the presence of great realities, material things lost their value to the men whose memories we honor; and ire are in peril-lest we pursue the material alone. The true wealth of nations is character. Fallen empires lay rotting because of decay of character. We" best honor our heroic dead by cherishing thai© moral idealism in which they gave their lives. At the .'evening service, the anthem was "No Shadows Yonder."

"Th'e Healing of the Nations" was the evening subject, and was an appeal for applied Christianity as the only • means of healing the gaping wounds of the. nations. Hatred and revenge can never heal the open sores of peoples. The Cross and not the sword is the hope of mankinfl. Humanity is one, and the injury of one nation is the hurt.of all. The preacher told of two soldiers,, one French and the other German, who were mortally wounded during ah advance. Both were- : Roman Catholics, and as death fast approached the Frenchman pressed to his lips and reverently kis'sed. a little silver crucifix. In an outburstof charity the Frenchman extended his crucific to the German and then, taking him by the hand, said: "Having Eerved our countries, let us go to God reconciled." It is the spirit of reconciliation, not- provocation, that will make the nations one. —Wesley Church.—

Special and appropriate reference was made to Anzac Day at the services at Wesley Church yesterday, but no special services or addresses were given in view of the public undenominational service at the Opera Hqjase. .