I was not sorry when my Paris leave was over and I returned to my
Headquarters at Chateau d'Acq. It was always delightful to get back to
my war home and settle down again in the midst of those on whose
shoulders the fate of civilization rested. I arrived back on June
29th, just in time to prepare for the special services which were to
be held throughout the Corps on Sunday, July 1st, it being the jubilee
of the Dominion. I made arrangements with the band of the Royal
Canadian Regiment, as our Divisional band was away, to march over from
Villers au Bois and play for us at the service. We had special hymns
and prayers neatly printed on cards, which the men were to retain as
souvenirs. The parade was held just outside St. George's Church, our
new Divisional Commander, General Macdonell, and his staff attending.
The occasion was particularly interesting to me, because I was the
only man in the whole Canadian Corps at the front who could remember
the first Dominion Day. I could remember as a child being taken by my
father on the 1st of July, 1867, to hear the guns firing a salute on
the grounds of McGill College, Montreal. Canada had travelled a long
distance on the path of nationhood since that far-off time, and now,
after fifty years, I had the satisfaction of being with the great (p. 190)
Canadian Army Corps on European soil, engaged in the biggest war of
history. Such an experience is not often the privilege of a human
life, and the splendid body of men before me gave promise of Canada's
progress and national glory in the future. Everyone felt the peculiar
significance of the celebration.

Owing to the fact that my foot was still troubling me, I was sent down
to the rest-camp at Fresnicourt, where I met many of the officers and
men in that delightful old Chateau. The country round about was very
pretty, and the views from the hills were charming. Every night I used
to have either a service, or a talk with the men, on the grass beside
a little stream. They were all enjoying the rest and refreshment that
came from being able to live in pleasant surroundings and away from
shells and work in the trenches. On July 18th, I went by side-car to
St. Omer where the Senior Chaplains of the Army were summoned to a
conference. We were billeted in the large building used as the Chaplains'
Rest Home, and there enjoyed the great privilege, not only of meeting
one another, but of listening to some splendid addresses and lectures
by th