MAYORAL SUNDAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2497, 10 May 1909, Page 4

MAYORAL SUNDAY.

ANNUAL CHURCH PARADE. Yesterday was officially recognised as Mayoral Sunday, snd the occasion was celebrated by a special service in the forenoon at Holy Trinity Church, at which the local volunteers attended. Tho jirocession started from the Garrison Hall, and marched from there to tho Post Office, via Pee! Street and. { Gladstone Road, turning there andprJ-* v ceeding along Gladstone Road to thochurch. The City Band headed the procession, playing two marches, “Clear the Way” (Round) and “Lstria” (Bulcli) in excellent style. Next came the East Coast Mounted Rifles, twenty in number, under Captain O. Hellier EvansThey were followed* by a strong contingent' of the Gisborne Rifles (45), commanded by Captain Beere. The Defence Cadets, who mustered thirty, under Captain Zachariah, followed, and behind them came a detachment of the Fire Brigade under Superintendent Townley. Two landaus, containing the Mayor (Mr. W. D. Lysnar) and Crs. Kirk, Pettie, Smith. Somervell, and the Town Clark, brought up the rear.

The troops presented an effective spectacle, marching in the sunlight., the vivid uniforms of the Gisborne Rifles, presenting a striking contrast to the more sombre trappings of the Mounted Rifles and the Cadets.

The service at Holy Trinity Church was read by Rev. W. H. Roberts, of Te Karaka, and the Yen. Archdeacon Williams preached an eloquent sermon, taking as his t6xt 2nd Timothy, ii., 4:“No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life, that ho mav please him who enrolled Him as a soldier.” Archdeacon Williams commenced by saying that possibly there had been no time in the world’s history when the questions of armament and possible warfare had been occupying the attention of civilised nations as at present- In matters of that sort the British temperament would lead them to assume that everything was satisfactory until they should experience the shock of a rude awakening. At present, how'ever, the whole Empire to have realised the seriousness of the situation. They in New Zealand had contributed a magnificent battleship to the Imperial authorities, but such a gift was absolutely useless unless their hosi&i defences were on a satisfactory footing. On this subject the report of the Council of Defence offered some very dis- , quieting reflections, and it appeared that cut of a nominal local army of 20,000 not one-quarter of that number cou’d be considered efficient. This, he claimed, was not the fault of those who are giving their services, hut rather of tho nation at large. They had in New Zealand 180,000 men between the ages of 20 and 40 who vreie prepared to stand idle and watch about 5000 men fitting themselves to undertake the duty of defending the country should war arise. “Why,*’ he said, “should these men shut their eyes to the duty and privileges of defending themselves, their homes, and their dear ones in case- of attack?” Continuing, the preacher said that compulsory sei' Tice has been mentioned as a cure, bn all seemed to rebel at the mention of - compulsion. He claimed that what required is that, as it is a man’s duty to support himself and his family; as the State is expected to see that eveir child is educated, so is it every man/ duty and privilege to defend lnmseit and his household, and the duty or the State to give that man the opportunity of fitting himself to undertake tnat defence before they were actually face to face with an invasion. Military service forms an apt figure, and .is mole than a figure, of spiritual service. As men they had real warfare. They were soldiers of Christ, and had many enemies. but here again the British temperament led them into methods which were the height of folly. He would mention three vices which were sometimes spoken of as being national: Drunkenness, Impurity, and Gambling. It was folly, lie claimed, to combat the evil of strong drink by voting no-license every three vears at the poll. It was hope.ess to try and stamp out impurity by tij*: formation of vigilance committees and * rescue societies, and ia was ludicrous to attempt to check the propensity for gambling by establishing the totalisator and licensing bookmakers by Act of Parliament. This was the characteristic British method of panic. Not_ only prevalent vices, but any shortcoining of the nation or individual must be combatted by a long and painstaking course of discipline. In earthly, as in spiritual welfare, they must- endeavor to bring themselves to the highest state of efficiency, not alone with the view of repelling the attack of an enemy already on their shores, but that their state of preparedness may, from the first, render such an attack hopeless. One of the highest- of the Christian virtues was temperance, not a mere abstention from alcohol, but the keeping in due check of all the desires of the body. The soldier’s desire, be he earthly or spiritual, should be as St. Paul puts it, “to please Him who has enrolled him.” Here there was no compulsion, but a purely voluntary service, and success might he theirs by following the guidance of the Holy Spirit and drawing on the strength promised by Christ himself. As soldiers they formed one army, and while cowardice in one man might lead to the rout of the army, so, on the other hand, their sitceesss, gained hv dependence on God, plight encourage those lighting hv- their side so to “fight the good light” that they might “lav hold on eternal life.” At- the conclusion of the service the troops again fell in and. preceded by tho C’itv Band, playing Hall’s spirited march “Cavalier,” marched to the Garrison Hall. Inside the hall they formed up, and tho Mayor inspected the different corps. . . In the. course of a short address to the troops, His Worship thanked them for their attendance on parade, and congratulated them upon their smart and efficient appearance. He hoped thev would have a successful year, and profit hv tho encampment upon wlnoM. some of " them were about to enter, ana he regretted that the Government would not give them some assistance towards attending" the encampment. He trusted that in the future they would be successful in inducing the Government to grant them that assistance, especif»’lv as so many of them spent a ' <V-M of time and had to neglect other matters of business for vo.unteeinw Ho would also like to thank the Bun and the Fire Brigade Tor their attendance and expressed the hope that in. P=.nd would be able to bring mjlncMe to hear on the Government to aid t'n.m in th- v “*vitti?i*';of c*iTot«tion, He thanked them one .and .all. and wished them every .prosperity in tho future. Captain Beere, on holm f oi the cord hined corps, expressed their thanks to ll,” Itaud I'm- (l,c-ir .atth-udanco, and the troops were *ed. , _ 11 jj j§| Hj |gjjj 1 MB