ows and
orphans and our crippled men for care and support. May the eyes of
Canada never be blind to that glorious light which shines upon our
young national life from the deeds of those "Who counted not their
lives dear unto themselves," and may the lips of Canada never be dumb
to tell to future generations the tales of heroism which will kindle
the imagination and fire the patriotism of children that are yet
unborn.

The Great War as I Saw It (p. 013)

CHAPTER I. (p. 015)

HOW I GOT INTO THE WAR.

_July to September, 1914._

It happened on this wise. It was on the evening of the 31st of July,
1914, that I went down to a newspaper office in Quebec to stand amid
the crowd and watch the bulletins which were posted up every now and
then, and to hear the news of the war. One after another the reports
were given, and at last there flashed upon the board the words,
"General Hughes offers a force of twenty thousand men to England in
case war is declared against Germany." I turned to a friend and said,
"That means that I have got to go to the war." Cold shivers went up
and down my spine as I thought of it, and my friend replied, "Of
course it does not mean that you should go. You have a parish and
duties at home." I said, "No. I am a Chaplain of the 8th Royal Rifles.
I must volunteer, and if I am accepted, I will go." It was a queer
sensation, because I had never been to war before and I did not know
how I should be able to stand the shell fire. I had read in books of
people whose minds were keen and brave, but whose hind legs persisted
in running away under the sound of guns. Now I knew that an ordinary
officer on running away under fire would get the sympathy of a large
number of people, who would say, "The poor fellow has got shell
shock," and they would make allowance for him. But if a chaplain ran
away, about six hundred men would say at once, "We have no more use
for religion." So it was with very mingled feelings that I
contemplated an expedition to the battle-fields of France, and I
trusted that the difficulties of Europe would be settled without our
intervention.

However, preparations for war went on. On Sunday, August 2nd, in the
afternoon, I telephoned to Militia Headquarters and gave in my name as
a volunteer for the Great War. When I went to church that evening and
told the wardens that I was off