NOT WORTH TROUBLING ABOUT.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XII, Issue 2374, 2 June 1906, Page 8

NOT WORTH TROUBLING ABOUT.

STIRRING SERMON BY BISHOP WALLIS. THE DEFENCE OF THE COLONY. AN APPEAL. A church parade of the Garrison Artillery Company and the Wellington Nava Is was held on Sunday, 20th ult., at St. Peter’s Church, Wellington. The Bishop, who is honorary chaplain to the Wellington Navals, preached the sermon. The text was taken from Judges V., 16: [ “ Why abodest thou amongst the sheep-folds, to hear the bleatings of I the flock?”

The Bishop said that these words belonged to one of the oldest poems that had come down to us, a song of victory and psalm of thanksgiving uttered by a brave woman after the overthrow of a foreign invader, whose rule of terror had paralysed the people of God for twenty years. He showed how three of tlie tribes had stood aloof from the struggle which at last, with the help of Almighty God. put an end to Jabin’s tyranny. One of them had already embarked in some crazy ill-made boats, prepared to sail for Cyprus or Egypt in the hope of making a home in a new I land. Another had fled to the seashore, where they lay huddled together. either with the expectation ot finding a similar fleet to carry them away, or in an unreasoning I eagerness to put as great a distance as possible between themselves and l their oppressor. These men might be j forgiven : it was not unnatural that at such a time the bravest men might j play the coward. But the scathing denunciation of the text was for ; another tribe, and that the eldest of all. from whom an example of courage and self-sacrifice might have been expected. The tribe of Reuben was. , like ourselves, a pastoral people. So long as their wool and mutton was ; secured to them, they were content.

The invader, they argued, is not likely to trouble himself to cross the Jordan to attack us. As long as we are safe it does not matter to us that the land which God promised our forefathers, the land for which they toiled, for which our brethren are hazarding their lives to-day. passes j into the hands of a foreign ruler, i and our religion is replaced by heaI then ism: Why need we trouble ourselves? The game is not worth the candle: it is not worth our while to put ourselves out.” Were we in Xew Zealand following their example? W'e spoke of the colony as ‘‘ God’s own country ” ; we felt often that our life was “more free here than elsewhere, we had j greater liberty to live and act and speak as we thought right. These are God's gifts, trusts, rather, that he had committed to our keeping. We had to uTk ourselves in His house, in His presence, whether we j were prepared to defend them at the cost it might he of heavy sacrifices of lile and treasure? The Bisi hop went on fo say that the danger iof invasion was not an imaginary | danger. Take one instance: The Chinese KmpTre. which had a- large a population as our own British Empire was slowly awakening from a Jeeji of many centuries to know its | strength. Il was being taught its resources and how to organise its powers hv military experts. Supjaise * bat which (iod forbid it should i desire first to annex Australia and then Xew Zealand, what resistance were we preparing ourselves to offer? Remember that Australia had lO.(XV) miles of seaboard to defend. For every one man Mint we and the Australians could put into the field China had a hundred. China's population is fast growing, while we are suffering from a decreasing birthrate, which is as injurious to the morality as it is threatening to the

existence of our people. It was idle to put our whole trust in tlm British navy. The enormous extent of our Empire made it vulnerable from ninny points. An invader would choose for his attack a moment when we were involved in a life-and-deatli struggle far away. Should nn invasion come lie was sure that New Zealanders would not ho wanting in patriotism; but w hat could he done by tint rained officers and undisciplined men against a well-trained and disciplined force? Such a service was not the proper occasion, nor was ho the proper person, for dilating further on this matter or for showing, what the Civil Mar in North America last century had taught, (lint the handling of an army, (ho supplying troops with food and forage, the unquestioning obedience to orders, could not be learned in a day. His bearers

would remember wind Lord Wolseley had said: That had the l'Vdernls liml ;i single iiriny corps of regular soldier:; I lie war would have been termiunfed in as many months ns it took years ol protracted misery fo accomplish. The Bishop llu-n went on fo press hi. ! arers fo maintain a sacred duly to \l ll lijrl l t.y God to do all in their power to fit themselves for real liaid work, and expressed thu hope

that the time would come when any man who had sufficient strength would count it a shame not to be a volunteer. He had no misgivings in urging this duty in the name of one who was both Prince of Peace and also Captain of tlie Lord’s Hosts. It was in perfect harmony with the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, which forbade individual spitefulness and malice and the desire qf revenge, hut did not tell us that when our child was smitten on one cheek we had to turn the child's other cheek to the smiter. We were to forgive personal injuries, to be patient when a man spoke untrue, unjust, or ungenerous words about ourselves, and to try to do him all the good we could. The Law had a bearing on nations also; we need not let pride of possession keep us from doing right. The Bishop praised the cession of the lonian Islands last century, and said that if in days to come we should ever be convinced that our rule was doing India harm instead of good, we must nof! let our vanity or desire of wealth keep us from considering whether it might not he our duty to relinquish it. But the case was utterly different with a trust such as this land and the institutions for which we were so thankful. We must defend these, and that meant we must be preparing now to defend them, whatever sacrifice this preparation might entail. If we did this, we could count on God’s help when the hour of trial came. What was to be feared most of all was that, like Reuben, | we might feel that it was not worth j troubling about. The Bishop then I spoke of the more formidable enemies I which Christ's soldiers had to fight | impurity, selfishness, and lust for j money - making and our need, in ! view of God’s judgment against the waste of the talents entrusted to j him, and of His infinite and loving patience with us, so long as it was possible to us to hear His voice, of | taking far more trouble than many of us were doing to overcome these enemies of God and of ourselves.