t the beginning.

[Illustration: 1. CHURCH OF ENGLAND SOLDIERS' HOME, ALDERSHOT.]

[Illustration: 2. GROSVENOR ROAD SOLDIERS' HOME, ALDERSHOT.]

Here then was a sphere for the work of the new awakening. And one by one
all the agencies mentioned above took up their duty, and entered upon
the enterprise. Mrs. and Miss Daniel founded the Soldiers' Institute.
The Wesleyans, guided by the Revs. Dr. Rule, Charles Prest, I. Webster,
and C.H. Kelly, built their first Home at the West End, where, like
another 'West End,' so much of vice had congregated. Subsequently it was
transferred to the site in Grosvenor Road, and another Home put up at
the North Camp, on a site secured by Sir Hope Grant. Then came the
Church of England, with its splendid premises in Aldershot and its
church rooms in the North and South Camps.

Meanwhile the camp itself has been reconstructed, so that at last the
empire can look without shame upon it; and the brave spirits who first
caught the awakening, or saw that it should not die,--many of whom have
joined the majority, but some of whom are still enriching their country
by their lives,--can rejoice in the work they have been permitted to
accomplish.

And the result? 'Ah, sir,' exclaimed a sergeant, as he entered one of
the Aldershot Homes, 'you are at last giving us a chance. Hitherto you
have provided for us as though we were all bad, and all wanted and meant
to be; and bad we became. But now, sir, you are giving us a chance, and
you will see what will be the result.'

And truly we do; for the life of the nation is enriched, not enfeebled,
by the men who return to it from the Army and the Royal Navy. And all
ranks of society are becoming convinced that religion is the prime
factor in the service efficiency and in the national well-being. Thus
God is, after all, seen to be the greatest need, and the one true
enrichment of human life and character--the vital force by which alone
the commonwealth can live.

The wonderful records which will be found in the succeeding chapters of
this book, telling as they do of Christian life and service in the South
African War, will still further show the fruits of this great
awakening.

Chapter II

ALDERSHOT

A raw, cold morning in the late autumn! A weird-looking train, slowly
drawing into the station out of the mist, with carriages altogether
different in appearance from those we were accustomed to see! A
battalion of brawny Scotchmen, travel-stai