to France, they were much surprised
and disconcerted. When I was preaching at the service and looked down
at the congregation, I had a queer feeling that some mysterious power
was dragging me into a whirlpool, and the ordinary life around me and
the things that were so dear to me had already begun to fade away.

On Tuesday, August the Fourth, war was declared, and the (p. 016)
Expeditionary Force began to be mobilized in earnest. It is like
recalling a horrible dream when I look back to those days of
apprehension and dread. The world seemed suddenly to have gone mad.
All civilization appeared to be tottering. The Japanese Prime
Minister, on the night war was declared, said, "This is the end of
Europe." In a sense his words were true. Already we see power shifted
from nations in Europe to that great Empire which is in its youth,
whose home is in Europe, but whose dominions are scattered over the
wide world, and also to that new Empire of America, which came in to
the war at the end with such determination and high resolve. The
destinies of mankind are now in the hands of the English-speaking
nations and France.

In those hot August days, a camp at Valcartier was prepared in a
lovely valley surrounded by the old granite hills of the Laurentians,
the oldest range of mountains in the world. The Canadian units began
to collect, and the lines of white tents were laid out. On Saturday,
August 22nd, at seven in the morning, the detachment of volunteers
from Quebec marched off from the drill-shed to entrain for Valcartier.
Our friends came to see us off and the band played "The Girl I Left
Behind Me," in the traditional manner. On our arrival at Valcartier we
marched over to the ground assigned to us, and the men set to work to
put up the tents. I hope I am casting no slur upon the 8th Royal
Rifles of Quebec, when I say that I think we were all pretty green in
the matter of field experience. The South African veterans amongst us,
both officers and men, saved the situation. But I know that the
cooking arrangements rather "fell down", and I think a little bread
and cheese, very late at night, was all we had to eat. We were lucky
to get that. Little did we know then of the field kitchens, with their
pipes smoking and dinners cooking, which later on used to follow up
the battalions as they moved.

The camp at Valcartier was really a wonderful place. Rapidly the roads
were laid out, the tents were run up, and from west a