nd claims the
utmost of one's strength, and the word and act of sympathy does not come
much to the surface of men's lives, yet, when once a man is bowled over,
a careful country certainly does its best to alleviate his suffering.

On reaching Southampton the following morning, finding that I lived in
the area of a military hospital (The Royal Victoria and West Hants), of
which I have been chaplain for many years, the senior officer, as a
great concession, very kindly allowed me to be sent home.

Home! Do those who always live in the blessed shelter of this sweet
spot, really know the fulness and sweetness of 'home.' Truly the English
classic song, 'Home, sweet Home, there is no place like Home,' comes
with a new, full, deep meaning to men who have passed through the ordeal
of fire.

Bed claimed my presence for many a weary day, and it was March 16
before a Medical Board permitted me to resume my duties with the
British Expeditionary Force. My further experience of service must be
related in the subsequent chapter on 'Life at the Base.'

THE WELCOME OF A PEOPLE

CHAPTER III

THE WELCOME OF A PEOPLE

There was no mistaking the enthusiastic welcome accorded to the Seventh
Division, as it moved south through the well cultivated country,
thriving villages, and prosperous towns of Belgium.

Already the deeds of German 'kultur' had reached the ears of the
inhabitants; indeed, many of those who had fled from the barbarous enemy
bore signs of the gross ill-treatment inflicted by the 'kultured' foe,
in furtherance of the advice of General Bernhardi and others to carry
'terror' into the hearts of the invaded people. And nearly all of them
had some dread story to relate, of wanton destruction to public and
private property, and of vile wrongs perpetrated upon an unoffending
people. Small wonder that they welcomed us; for Great Britain meant more
to them than the name of a powerful nation; it rather conveyed the idea
of the strong, active principles of liberty and justice, which they felt
were about to be set free in their unhappy country.

In contradistinction to the Germans, this people of a small country
seemed to unconsciously uphold the marked differentiation between the
laws of might and right, as exhibited by the two nationalities, Germany
and Belgium.

Germany, the former land of light and learning, has gradually slipped
downwards from her high ideals. A sure and sad process of religious and
moral