also were two signallers, whose duty it was to signal to the
battalions and bands the numbers of the hymns. On the chairs in front
of the platform were seated the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, the
Princess Patricia, Sir Robert Borden, and other notables. Beyond them
were gathered the men in battalions. At one side were the massed
bands. It was a wonderful sight. The sun was shining. Autumn tints
coloured the maple trees on the sides of the ancient mountains. Here
was Canada quickening into national life and girding on the sword to
take her place among the independent nations of the world. It had been
my privilege, fifteen years before, to preach at the farewell service
in Quebec Cathedral for the Canadian Contingent going to the South
African war. It seemed to me then that never again should I have such
an experience. Yet on that occasion there were only a thousand men
present, and here were fifteen times that number. At that time (p. 023)
the war was with a small and half-civilized nation in Africa, now the
war was with the foremost nations of Europe. On that occasion I used
the second personal pronoun "you", now I was privileged to use the
first personal pronoun "we". Almost to the last I did not know what
text to choose and trusted to the inspiration of the moment what to
say. My mind was confused with the vastness of the outlook. At last
the words came to me which are the very foundation stone of human
endeavour and human progress, "He that loseth his life for My sake
shall find it." I do not know exactly what I said, and I do not
suppose it mattered much, for it was hard to make oneself heard. I was
content if the words of the text alone were audible. We sang that
great hymn, "O God our help in ages past," which came into such
prominence as an imperial anthem during the war. As we sang the
words--

"Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame"--

I looked at the everlasting mountains around us, where the sound of
our worship died away, and thought how they had watched and waited for
this day to come, and how, in the ages that were to dawn upon Canadian
life and expansion, they would stand as monuments of the consecration
of Canada to the service of mankind.

Things began to move rapidly now. People from town told us that
already a fleet of liners was waiting in the harbour, ready to carry
overseas the thirty-three thousand men of the Canadian contingent.

At last the eventful day of o