DAME MELBA'S TRIBUTE.

Waikato Times, Volume 101, Issue 16948, 10 November 1926, Page 5

DAME MELBA'S TRIBUTE.

'WHAT THE EMPIRE MEANS TO ME' PERSONAL THANKSGIVING. Dame Nellie Melba, in the "British Empire Review," writes: — "For all of us, I believe, the Empire means something different. For the young it calls up a vision of pomp and "glory. They see llio waving of Hags in far countries, i.hcy he-ir the mowing of bugles on distant plains. For the old, maybe, it signifies security, a comfortable feeling of protection, no matter in what part of the world they may find thcmcslvcs. To the merchant the Empire means trade —commerce far-flung, stretching golden tentacles into the remotest seas. To the priest it is a vast, unexplored Held, waiting lo be sown with the Word of God. And lo the artist—how many things, how many emotions, docs it nDt recall? It may mean the golden flush of wattle in liic woods of my 1131 ived Australia, flaming like a thousand torches which no darkness can extinguish. It'may mean a sunsH en the African veldt, or the echo or a swiff Canadian river. it may mean the song of the birds in the CotswoM?, 1 r the glitter of fireflies in a Colombo dusk. For all fiiat there is of beauty in this world, we posses'. There is no sccnl, no son,-, no colour that is not to be found in our vasl, domains. "But to me? Ah that is a difficult question. Were 1 only an artist, I should tell you that the Empire meant to me the sight of the blue mountains oulside my Australian home —so serene, so vasl, so majestic. Often, as the light raded, I have sat nod watched those mountains, seen them turn from blue lo deeper blue, seen them fade into the universal night, and prayed that when my lime came those mountains would be the last of earth's beauties upon which my tired eyes should rest. "But I am not only an artist, I am a woman, too, and I value my womanhood more than my art. You may think it unpiclurcsquc of me, but I think kind hearts are more than cadenzas, and I would rather lay down on my pillow at night with a clear conscience than sleep with the echo of ten thousand cheers ringing in my head. And the woman in me prompts me to say that the Empire means responsibility. I am sorry if this sounds 'unco guid,' hut I cannot help it. It is the truth. Wherever I go I Did myself unconsciously sticking up for my own country. I have fought Australia's battles in many strange places in tin's world —over a dinner table in New York, on board ship in the Southern Seas, in Iho concert hails of Paris. I have' tried to bring Australian singers lo the fame which thoy deserved. I have tried to introduce Australian goods to those who had never known them. In a thousand ways, too large or too small to enumerate, I have carried on this work throughout my life. I claim no credit for it. I do not do it for gain nor for any theory—l do it for instinct. Yet —if 1 were lo ihcorisc about it I should probabl.y say something like this: 'Here am I a woman whose life has been made possible by the blood and sweat of my fellow countrymen. In can sail in any sea, because the English Hag is protecting me. I can fulfill my life's purpose, without fear, can build my house on firm rock—for the same reason. Is it not for me, therefore, to do my little part, to offer my own personal thanksgiving, which means service?'

"Responsibility? It is a beautiful word. Unhappy arc those who do not know its meaning."