An unusually inspiriting Empire Day service was held at Holy} Trinity Cathedral on Tuesday morn-_ ing at 10.80 o'clock when the large body of military and naval units in attendance, as well as an exception-lly fine military band, provided an mosphere entirely in keeping with! the observation of the day. The church was well filed half an hour tofore the services began and by the time they actually were begun only standing space was available.
'The Right Rev. H. J. Molony, b., Bishop in Mid-China, preached the sermon which had' a particular bearing upon the commemoration of Empire Day at the present time. After "an opening paragraph be said:
"This is Empire Day and we think of our brethren in Canada and South Africa, in Australia and New Zealand, in India and Africa and the British Colonies scattered all over the world. We remember how the providence of God these places ame into our hands and are still in our safe keeping, We didn't grab] them, we got them mostly by thi intrepid exploits of our explorers, through the diligent labours of our} merchants, in some cases through the heroism of our missionaries. Our soldiers and sailors had to do some fighting. But much more often our fighting men waited and fiently held the fort or patrolled the seas.
And now you have come here to Shanghai, where we told no Empire, nor desire any. You have come to defend your British brethren and sisters, and incidently you find yourselves defending many Chinese refugees who have fled here from oppression, and many others also. It is a slow dull job." As one man said to me recently "We want to get at ft" that is at something more active and exciting. We are all feeling] the dreariness of waiting here in Shanghai: many merchants and missionaries have but little to do Just now: it is tedious and try fre not idle, but are always vi and preparing for sudden emergent cies which may never come, oF which may come any day, when the safety of multitudes will' depend on your efficiency and promptitude. It isthe sort of thing that boys of the Empire have had to do often and often the past.
A Fightis The greatness of rot only in prowess in fighting bat in patience in waiting. "He teacheth my hands to war, so that mine arms do break even a bow of steel, Thy right band hath holden me up and Thy gentleness hath made me great".
The true soldier, like David of old, fs a fighting gentleman. Our best friends are nations we have fought with: the French in Canada, the Dutch in South Africa. Like schoolboys we fight and thoke it up. And here in China we have no enemies.
The distrust and suspicion is all on tone side. We call our friend here "John: Chinaman," thus giving him our national name and making him the brother-of; "Joka Ball" Now
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.