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no idea of the strength opposed to us , and foolishly thought any little show that we might make would be irresistible . Yet , apart from the confidence and hope inspired by more recent and masterful strategy , he believed with the Bard of Avon in King John that

This England never did and never shall Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror . And that—Nought shall make us rue If England to itself , do rest but true .

But if they were to be true to themselves as a uation they must be true to God . The polity of the Commonwealth must be true and loyal to the laws of the Common Father of its Being ; and this critical juncture should the more impel them to come back as a nation more to keep the Ark in view ; to resort to the

good old customs of Sabbaths being kept as Sabbaths ; of the more regular attendance at Divine worship , and of a more universal spirit of honourable and honest dealing , of the abnegation of self , and of our greatness and powers , and a substitution therefore of humble reliance upon the Grand Geometrician Who

plans it all . Let those higher principles guide them as did the Ark the Israelites , faith , hope , and charity—those higher principles of our common Christianity , producing the Christlike life , which enables people constantly and with success to pursue the march through ways of difficulty or sorrow they have not passed before ;

and may their dear ones , whose heads they prayed the Almighty to cover in the day of battle , be supported by the same , so that they might be endued with skill and foresight , strength and courage , bravery and humanity , equal to the emergencies of the hour .

And when they prayed for blessing and success to attend their arms and their heroes in the field , when they prayed for the predominance of a victorious Union Jack , and for the assertion of that spirit of liberty , justice , and right throughout an undivided South Africa , those privileges which were ever the proud apanage

of British rule , let them not be unmindful to extend the forbearing feelings of a true Christianity towards those who unhappily at present were their enemies , and had fought with courage and determination in defence of what they considered to be their independence . It was distressing to be at war with a religious

people having close affinities to ourselves , and he would remind those around him that many of them were Freemasons too . Even their own Grand Lodge in Ireland numbered several Lodges Warranted by them in the Transvaal . And they should not forget the sorrows and woes of the Boers , although they were their enemies , when lashed by bereavement and the wail resounding

from decimated homes and aching hearts , they had to bind themselves before the storm . As poor Robert Burns , the poet of the Craft , once sang , more inspired , he imagined , by love than prophecy— It ' s coming yet for a' that That man to man , the world o'er

Shall brothers be for a' that . The Rev . Brother next proceeded , on behalf of those Freemasons who had inaugurated that Service , especially for their Brethren at the front , many of whom were in high command , to express their sincere sympathy and condolence with all bereaved

suffering , or anxious families , whether connected with the Masonic Order or not . Their hearts—in which were instilled by the teachings of the Order the secrets with which charity aboundsbled in sympathy with theirs ; they wept with those that weep ; and as a small tribute of devotion the collection to be taken up

would be given to Lady Roberts' Fund , which was rendering signal service among the distressed . Widows and orphans were nothing new . Through all the centuries of history the sable veil had fallen here and there , extinguishing matrimonial love , and removing the solicitude of parental care . Graves were not modern

inventions . They were as old as the race . Tears were not recent products . They had been chasing each other down human cheeks , and expressing the sorrow of human hearts since the fall of man , but there was nevertheless something new in the grief of each freshly smitten soul . They walked where they had not passed before .

Unfortunately for the behests of human joy those streams of blood flowing from the battle-fields of South Africa were not unexampled in the history of the Empire , which looked back with conscious pride to the traditions of Crecy and Agincourt , to Blenheim or Talavera , to Waterloo or the Alma . Tens of thousands

of their fellow countrymen , before as now , for pure love of country and in obedience to the call of duty , which England expects every man to do , had lain face upwards under the pale starlight on the battlefield with the life blood ebbing from their wounds . But the boy or girl thus suddenly orphaned and thrown on the cold hard

world , the widow deprived of the strongly arm on which she had been wont to lean , the sister who perhaps advanced in life loses a kind brother ' s support and counsel—cruly did these walk where they had not passed before . Let us extend to them compassion and aid . But the war , with all iis terrible consequences

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and sorrowful environments , had even so far not been devoid of good . Wordsworth had said'Tis Nature ' s law That none , the meanest of created things Of forms created Should exist Divorced from good .

And so it was even with regard to the war . There was no such thing as the cloud without the silver lining of the love of God . Apart from the weighty national reminders to which he had already adverted they had been taught useful lessons of collective fortitude in disaster , resignation in chastisement , coolness amid the conflicting elements of national danger and political

excitement , and they had , with the blessing of Almighty God , exhibited to the nations of the world the nobility of a majestic determination , in contrast , to either the contemptible weakness of a miserable despair or the blindness of a panic when reverse seemed to follow reverse and the horizon appeared but dark and drear . They had

had an example set them of colossal patriotism by their distinguished Brother Lord Roberts , who the very day he heard of the death of his only son , though close on seventy years , obeyed the call of his Queen and took the field because the prestige of his country was in danger .

And when the hero of Kandahar thus stepped forth in response to the mandate of his Sovereign in the hour of his domestic grief to lead what so far had been an army of victory and decision , the very first act of his was to seek the assistance of his old friend , their illustrious primate , Dr . Alexander , to compile a soldier ' s prayer , which he had circulated among all ranks , a copy

to every man , hoping it would be " helpful " —Lord Roberts' own word to each . He bade them , as did Joshua of old , to keep their eyes before the Ark of God and the faith of Jesus Christ , because they had not passed that way before . That day they learned by telegram the grand old veteran was the victor of Cronje , a general as skilful as intrepid , they must admit , but the most unscrupulous

and malignant foe that England had met since Napoleon surrendered on the Bellerophon . They had seen their colonies unite in a common solidarity of interest , linked by the one great tie of Imperial instinct , and sending their bravest and their best to the protection of the influences of the ancestral home . They saw all classes of their fellow-subjects inspired by lavish generosity not

only to aid the poor and distressed , but to give to any fund having for its object patriotism or loyalty or the maintenance of the integrity of the British Empire , and the untarnished glory and supremacy of her flag . They had seen a response to the call to arms by loyal men as marvellous as it was ready and spontaneous . In a word , Great Britain was more the United Kingdom than she

was before ; and for the Queen , whose reign was the longest in English history , and the longest in all modern history , with the exception of Louis XIV . of France , anil most glorious of all , there was more affection and respect for her at the present moment than was enjoyed by any monarch who ever sat upon a throne . In the words of the bard of the MacGregors , replete with loyalty and

love—Long live the delight and the glory Of all that is noble and pure , Long like the renown of thy story , As long as the globe will endure . The offertory—which amounted to , £ 15—was then taken up ,

during which the hymn , " St . Patrick s Breastplate , " was sung . The Ven . Archdeacon of Elphin having pronounced the benediction , the Service concluded with the singing of the National Anthem , the second and third verses of which were rendered by Mr . Arthur Jackson , J . P .

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