pt this trust history in future ages will tell in letters of
gold. Many clergymen of various denominations who had been foremost in
preaching Pacifism, upon hearing of the ruthless invasion of Belgium,
realized the hollow sham of German culture, and saw the Hun in his
true light. With the Empire plunged into a great war, it was not a
time to consider the ancient and pampered ideas of consistency. Until
the German was destroyed there could be no peace of any kind. To their
eternal credit, be it said, they flung themselves whole-heartedly into
the cause, and none equalled them in preaching resistance, recruiting
and working night and day for the Red Cross Society and various other
patriotic and national organizations.

With such vast numbers of men coming forward there was a good deal of
discussion as to who should be first taken, the arguments being very
much in favor of the veterans or "ribbon" men who had seen service in
previous campaigns. About two thousand of the men who had gone from
Canada to the South African war were still living, and a great many
veterans from the Old Country had immigrated to Canada, and with few
exceptions they unhesitatingly offered their services. If they passed
the surgeon they were taken on, and afterwards they did good service.
They were especially numerous in the Princess Pats, the British
Columbian and Western Regiments. These men, although foreign born,
prided themselves on being "Canadians." They increased, however, the
percentage of those in the first contingent born outside of Canada,
but the officers of the first contingent almost to a man were
Canadians.

On Saturday, August 29th, 1914, our Battalion paraded early in the
morning and bade farewell to Long Branch Camp. The night before we
left we had a "sing-song" or concert. Arrangements had been made for
us to take cars for Toronto in the morning and rendezvous at the
Armories during the noon-hour, when the men would be allowed to see
their friends or sweethearts. We entrained safely and made a brave
show as we marched up Queen Street to the Armories, the pipes playing
"Highland Laddie." Shortly after one o'clock the people began to
gather and they soon filled the drill hall. There was very little
gloom and everybody was cheerful.

As we fell in, the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Gibson, and Lady
Gibson, arrived and they spoke to me of their son, Lieutenant Frank
Gibson, who was one of my officers, expressing their pleasure at