Special Luncheon

MR. KARN:

Your Honour, Your Grace, My Lord, Reverend Sirs, other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: Since our last meeting, our good friend and faithful supporter, our former Honorary Vice-President, His Honour W. Ross Macdonald has gone to his just reward.

The late W. Ross Macdonald dedicated his life to the service of others, which included carrying the burdens of Speaker of the House of Commons, Government Leader of the Senate, and Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.

Those who knew him will remember him for his warmth and humanity, his great courage and dedication to public service.

Will you kindly stand and observe a moment of silence in honour of our departed friend.

Ladies and gentlemen: I now call upon our Past President, Sir Arthur Chetwynd, to introduce the film "Prince Charles and Canterbury Cathedral".

SIR ARTHUR CHETWYND:

Mr. President, Your Honour, Your Grace, My Lord, Reverend Sirs, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: First, on behalf of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, who is President of the Canterbury Cathedral Trust Fund, Lord Astor of Hevor, who is President of the Canterbury Appeal in England and our own Canterbury Cathedral Appeal Committee, I thank you most sincerely, Mr. President, for arranging this special luncheon meeting in order that we may use this well-known and respected forum--The Empire Club of Canada--to present to you the premiere screening of a new film in which Prince Charles is the central figure, especially at a time when the Canadian Appeal for the preservation of Canterbury Cathedral begins to get into full swing in our country.

During the next months, as Chairman of the Canterbury Cathedral Appeal in Canada, I shall be showing the film you are about to see in all the major centres across Canada. I am most indebted, therefore, to be given this opportunity to appear before such a large audience in my home town, Toronto.

I am also greatly indebted to you, Your Honour, for graciously agreeing to serve as Ontario Patron for the Appeal. As a small token of our appreciation, I hope you will accept this newly published little book, just off the press, which is a modern story of Canterbury Cathedral. Written by Derek Ingram Hill, who is Canon Residentiary at the Cathedral, it is entitled, Christ's Glorious Church, with a foreword by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.

I am sure, Mr. President and ladies and gentlemen, that my latest volunteer job which will continue until the end of the Appeal in September will be relatively easy. To be serving and reporting to His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, is a great honour and a great challenge. To be supported by the Lieutenant Governor of my own Province (who is also Honorary Vice-President of The Empire Club of Canada) is most comforting. To be working with so many kind and dedicated Canadians on this Appeal is stimulating.

Perhaps, most important, to me is the evidence of support already being shown by Canadians from all walks of life. I have been receiving not only generous contributions, but marvelously warm letters indicating that many people care deeply about an important symbol of our history.

Although Canterbury Cathedral is, indeed, the mother church of the Anglican Communion in the world, it is much more than that. Canterbury involves 1,400 years of the history of the English-speaking people. The Appeal, therefore, is truly ecumenical in nature.

For instance, one of the first generous contributions received by the committee in England was a cheque for £ 1,000 forwarded from the Vatican by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI.

I hope that quite apart from the Appeal for funds to preserve the historic fabric and the priceless stained glass of Canterbury Cathedral, all those of English extraction may find their blood stirred anew. At a time in history when some English-speaking people appear to exhibit signs of suffering from "tired blood", a little Geritol (Canterbury Cathedral style) might help!

Before I introduce the film to your audience, Mr. President, may I make just a few more remarks and introduce a few celebrities from the audience whom I think we would all like to meet. Of course, Mr. President, as you know me for a quiet, retiring chap, you can be assured that I would not presume to make any specific appeals for either "funds" or "films" from this rostrum, although in passing you may have noticed some descriptive brochures at each table which we trust will not only be of historical interest, but perhaps stir your blood to other more practical action! I am sure that your favourite branch of the Royal Trust will be glad to look after any of your requests or bequests!

There are six interesting people I would like to introduce to you, all of whom are involved in our subject today.

First, the newly appointed Chairman of the Canterbury Cathedral Appeal in Toronto, Mr. John Irwin. Mr. Irwin is a Past President of the St. George's Society and the Arts and Letters Club, a former Vice-President of The Empire Club of Canada and a former Deputy Warden and still a Sidesman at St. James Cathedral--all fine qualifications for his new responsibilities.

Next, I would like to have you meet a member of the Cathedral Appeal Committee in England who is currently visiting in Toronto. Dr. Gerald Knight is a famous musician and former organist at Canterbury Cathedral, now the overseas Commissioner for the Royal College of Church Music. As an aside, Dr. Knight will remember consulting with a number of us from St. Paul's Church last year when we were agonizing over finding a new organist to replace our old friend Dr. Charles Peaker who was retiring. You will be glad to know, Sir, that your advice was taken and our search was most successful. Sitting at the table next to you is John Tuttle, the new organist of St. Paul's, Bloor Street. John and his wife, Diane, became the proud parents of a hefty new son, their third, yesterday.

I spoke of hearing from many people who care for our cause and our history. From the many kind letters we have received, may I read you one to symbolize all the others.

Dear Sir:
Please find enclosed a cheque for fifty dollars ($50.00) . This sum was raised by students of Grade XIII Humberside Collegiate English classes (3) , who are presently studying Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, and many of whom have studied Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. All share the concern of the Canterbury Cathedral Appeal, and each expects one day to visit a restored Cathedral.
With best wishes for a total Canadian success with your target of $200,000 dollars.
Yours truly,
(Mrs.) Mary van Rijn
Dept. of English

This letter was accompanied with the signatures of 35 young Canadians who are students of Mrs. van Rijn's Grade XIII English classes at Humberside Collegiate. We are privileged to have here today Mary van Rijn and two of her students, Louise Hayhoe and Peter Grange, representing their class.

Thank you very much, Mary van Rijn, and your students. You set a marvellous example of the interest and concern being exhibited by young Canadians.

Lastly, many of you, I hope, saw a superb one-hour CBC film telecast earlier this year entitled, "The Family Prince". This was a beautiful television film portraying the warmth of Prince Charles and the Royal Family and the place of the monarchy as central to our democratic parliamentary system. The script was written by a talented Canadian whose name is probably familiar--Barbara Moon.

May I now introduce another talented and proud Canadian, Jeanine Locke, the producer/director of "The Family Prince". I am told this program will be repeated on the English network later this year. Watch for it. Also a French version entitled, "A Family Affair" will soon be telecast on the CBC French network. There is obviously reason and health in us yet!!

And now, Mr. President, Your Honour, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, on film, in "Prince Charles and Canterbury Cathedral".

Following the film, the appreciation of the audience was expressed by M. Gen. Bruce J. Legge, C.St.J., E.D., C.D., Q.C., Past President of The Empire Club of Canada.

MR. LEGGE:

Mr. Chairman, Your Honour, My Lords Spiritual, distinguished guests and fellow members of The Empire Club of Canada.

Having seen this magnificent film and having heard His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales narrate the glories of our English heritage, I consider it a great honour to be asked to express our appreciation to our Past President, Sir Arthur Chetwynd, Chairman of the Canterbury Cathedral Appeal, and to our new President, Mr. William Karn, for his foresight in arranging this special meeting of the club in June.

As one whose family has lived in Canada since 1826, I am familiar with the sharp comment, "You can always tell an Englishman--but not much." Having seen the glories of Canterbury as part of our English heritage, I can understand this comment in a new light. Having heard the immensely talented Prince of Wales, I am delighted that a man of his devotion and sincerity will one day succeed to the throne.

In this forum I thought of today's presentation as it relates to Canada, the crown and the church. A Prime Minister of Queen Victoria, Lord Melbourne, used to say, "While I cannot be regarded as a pillar of the church, I must be regarded as a flying buttress because I support it from the outside." I hope that on behalf of Canterbury, that the "flying buttresses" in this great audience will support Sir Arthur's appeal.

As for the crown, on June 15, 1215, the barons on the fields of Runnymede extracted from King John the great charter--the Magna Charta--of English freedoms and liberties. But long before the crown gave the Magna Charta on the fields of Runnymede, Canterbury was a force for God and for good in that primitive kingdom of England. It was because of the teachings of the church that all men were the sons of God, that the dignity and worth of the common Englishman was recognized in the Magna Charta by a Christian Prince who ruled by divine right. Last week the great charter came to the United States, with the pomp and circumstance of a Guard from the Brigade of Guards, to remain in state in Washington as part of the Bi-Centennial celebration.

In Canada, Your Honour, "freedom wears a crown", and the rights of Magna Charta are enshrined in our democratic practices where the government is carried on in the name of the Queen. In the United States, the same rights, a heritage of the Church and Magna Charta, are enshrined in the Constitution.

Thus, Canterbury as the Cathedral of the Archbishop who is Primate of the English Church has had a great bearing on the traditions and freedoms not only of the English-speaking world but all of Christendom. Above all, this narration of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales shows the identity of the crown with the exemplary style of the Queen as "Defender of the Faith". The crown is an example of service. Indeed, the concept of "noblesse oblige", that the highest service is required from those most highly placed, is a hallmark of the crown as worn by the Queen of Canada.

I know that on behalf of everyone present, you will join me in thanking Sir Arthur Chetwynd and Mr. William Karn, our new President, for this splendid meeting which has so much meaning for Canada, for the crown and for the church in the Canterbury Cathedral Appeal.