At the beginning of August 1914 I had just arrived for a month's holiday at Little Metís, on the Lower St. Lawrence, one of the most popular of those summer resorts which are SO delightful a feature of Canadian life. The season was in full swing, the commodious and picturesque "cottages" and the somewhat primitive hotels were full, and a goodly number of young men and maidens were spending the glorious sunny days in golfing and tennis to their hearts' content. Everybody was bent on having a good time, even those of us who had left our youth a long way behind, for the air of the Lower St. Lawrence has a wonderful way of knocking years off one's age.

With the declaration of war there came a sudden and notable change. Nobody then realized the full significance of the event. Yet at once there began an exodus of the younger men. It seemed to be taken for granted from the very beginning, before any official statement could be received in our rather belated part of the world, that Canada would send a contingent, and send it quickly. So those who already belonged to the Militia returned to their homes immediately, to be in readiness for the expected call. Then, directly it was publicly announced that an Expeditionary Force was to be sent, many others hurried off to Valcartier, the place of mobilization, intent on offering themselves for service. Very soon none but men too old and boys too young to go were left.

What I saw at Metís was going on at many similar places. From every point of the compass young men came with all speed to Valcartier, eager to secure a commission in the first contingent. The rank and file were, as was to be expected, mainly British-born; but the officers were mostly Canadians. The

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moral effect of so rapidly dispatching that same first contingent of upwards of thirty thousand men, even granting that they were lacking in training, was incalculable, both abroad and at home. But one was inclined to wonder whether, when the first enthusiastic rush was over, the movement would be sustained. There is always a certain number of adventurous spirits, more particularly in a young country like Canada, to whom such a call would be irresistible. I was for six years head master of a well-known Canadian school, and as soon as war was declared I thought I knew quite well which of my old pupils would join at once. There was young M- for instance, the most charming young scapegrace I ever had as pupil, and P——, a born "scrapper," whether on the football field or in the occasional student outbreaks at college. I was quite right. All that, I expected to go went, and some will never come back, among them the before-mentioned P——, whom I taught cricket in bygone years, and who was so keen to take his part in the de ense of the Empire that, being unable to secure a commission over here, he went straight to England and obtained one in the London Rifle Brigade. He died, I am told, leading his men in an heroic advance. But I was greatly gratified to find that the soberer sort, quiet steady-going fellows, were also coming forward in considerable numbers, some of them not even troubling to wait for commissions, but enlisting at once as privates. Here is a typical case. One of the ablest pupils I ever had, and one of the most conscientious and reliable, the son of very well-to-do parents, who had taken a distinguished degree at McGill University, and was already earning what for so young a man was a large salary as a mining engineer in the

It is most gratifying to observe that such a spirit as this was not exhausted in the first spurt, but is, on the contrary, growing in intensity all the time. Young men of good social standing, and holding excellent business and professional positions, are enlisting in the ranks in large numbers. We had a training camp here of several thousand men all the summer and autumn, and still have three batteries of artillery with us, besides the R.C.H.A., who are always here, and an infantry battalion in process of formation, so I have had plenty of opportunity of observation. The batteries are most popular with this class of men. Not long ago seven young fellows from Toronto, all sons of leading citizens there, enlisted together. Two of them happened to be relatives of friends of ours, so we saw a good deal not only of them, but of "the whole bunch," as they expressed it. I had a few quiet talks with them, and found that their reasons for enlisting were simple but conclusive. They had no particular liking for what they were doing-in fact they found things somewhat "fierce" in many respects-and also by this time they perfectly well realized that they might not come back. It was simply a question of duty; or, as they put it, "I felt it was up to me to go." They have all recently left for England as members of a reinforcing draft.

This was very much the point of view of some former pupils of mine, who were cadets at the Royal Military College here when war was declared. I shall have something to say later on about the splendid work this college has done in training officers at high pressure. Here I will only point out that entering as a cadet at the R.M.C. did not by any means necessarily mean that a boy was intending to become a soldier. As a matter of fact, only a minority of those who took the course there adopted the military calling, a few taking commissions in the Imperial Army, or in the somewhat exiguous Canadian Permanent Force. The majority went on into civil professions or business. None of those with whom I discussed the matter had originally intended to take a commission. One of them was implored by his father, who was in very bad health, not to do so even when war was declared. But he felt, and so did the others, that nothing ought to be allowed to stand in the way of response to this call, which they answered with full knowledge that it might mean that they would not return. They went, of course, as officers.

There is no doubt that the best of our young Canadians, at any rate, are taking a very serious view of their obligations. Here is another group which might be seen at our house on a Sunday afternoon, all privates or non-coms. in one of the batteries. First, the son of one of our bishops in the Northwest, who gave up an excellent business position to enlist; next, the son of a leading Toronto clergyman, who comes from Toronto University to exchange the gown for the

is actually credited with having run away from home to enlist, and one can well believe that it would make his mother's heart ache to let him go, for he is the very living embodiment of Du Maurier's "Little Billee," a most lovable youngster. Presently, though he is a Presbyterian, he will go to church with my wife, for Billy would never say "No" to a lady, however sleepy he might be. Then there are also likely to be two brothers, Englishmen by birth, who answered the call from New Mexico, where they gave up, the one a good business position and the other a large income which he was enjoying as an artist and professor of drawing, to join the colors as privates. These men are typical of literally thousands of others throughout the country who are obeying the Empire's call.

The Royal Military College, Kingston, which always had a high reputation, has greatly added to that reputation since the declaration of war. As I have already stated, there is no military obligation called for from a cadet after he leaves the college, beyond a three years' attachment to his local Militia unit, which need not mean very much-and this freedom from obligation holds good even in the present time of war. This fact makes their record all the more remarkable. At the outbreak of the war special commissions were immediately offered to the cadets at the college, and these were all eagerly accepted at once. With a view to training the remaining cadets special army classes were formed, and these have been kept up ever since. At the commencement of the war the War Office required a six months' residence at the college as necessary for qualification for a commission, but this period has, since January 1, 1915, been raised to one year.

Every cadet who is at the college now is waiting to take a commission,

and so great has been the demand for entrance to the college that a special entrance examination has had to be held.

The number of commissions taken by cadets during the first sixteen months of war is 190, of which 72 were in the Imperial Army, 66 in the Canadian Permanent Force, and 50 in the Canadian overseas contingents. No less than 98 per cent of those available have accepted commissions.

So much for the cadets who were at college when war was declared. The ex-cadets also make an excellent show

ing. There were about 160 of them already holding commissions in the Regular and Indian Army at the commencement of the war. In addition to these, 164 took commissions in the first contingent and over 90 in the second. This meant that upwards of 250 young men who had entered upon a civilian life after leaving the college at once threw up their positions to serve their country on the battle-field. It would probably be true to say that there is hardly a single ex-cadet of military age, and not physically unfit, who is not serving his country in one capacity or another. Their record is one of which they are justly proud.

With regard to the schools, in Canada the term "Public School" is used to denote the State schools. These are of all grades, from kindergarten to matriculation standard. I have no means of ascertaining accurately what kind of response their pupils have made to the call to arms, but I have reason to believe that it has been on the whole good, especially where there has been a cadet corps, which many of the higher grade schools possess.

There is also a certain number of boarding or mixed boarding and day schools which are run on the lines of the English Public Schools. They have usually been founded by members of

the Church of England in Canada, with a few notable exceptions, though they have opened their doors to boys of all denominations. Most of them have enjoyed a somewhat precarious existence. As a rule they have no endowment, and depend almost entirely for their success on the personality of the head master. There are difficulties in connection with their management of which the head master of an English Public School has no conception, as I learned by personal experience. But the present crisis has proved that the effort to maintain these schools in spite of almost overwhelming difficulties has been more than worth while. There was not a moment's hesitation in the response of their "old boys" when the call came. From the English Public Schools a number of boys pass to the Army each year, so that at the outbreak of war they would have a good number already on the active service list; but of the "old boys" of the Canadian schools very few indeed would be normally in the military profession. Even of those who passed on to the Royal Military College each year, perhaps on an average not more than one from each school, or even a less number than that, would take commissions. Also, I suppose it would probably be true to say that the large majority of boys educated at the great English Public Schools have relatives or connections in the Army or Navy, and are therefore more or less familiar with the idea of the profession of arms, whereas with Canadian boys this would not be the case. On the other hand, practically every boy not physically unfit has always belonged to the cadet corps in a Canadian school of this kind, which I believe was not the case in England in ante-bellum days. In any event, judging from the lists that I have seen, upwards of 95 per cent of the old boys from these schools now on active service came from civilian life.

These schools are also, as a rule, very much smaller than English schools of a similar type-a fact which should be borne in mind in considering the following statistics which I am able to give of the part which some of them have played in responding to the call. This list is by no means exhaustive; it might be added to considerably. But it will serve as an illustration of the genuine loyalty and habit of obedience to the call of duty inculcated in these schools.

One of the largest and oldest of these institutions is Upper Canada College, Toronto. It is a mixed day and boarding school, undenominational, and though fluctuating considerably the average attendance during the last ten or twelve years would be between two and three hundred. This school has 518 old boys already on active service; it has lost twenty-one killed, has gained one C.B., three D.S.O.'s, four Military Crosses, one Cross of the Legion of Honor, one Order of St. Anne, and eleven mentions in dispatches. The head master tells me that he has great difficulty in keeping the elder boys at the school. Seven more are enlisting or qualifying for commissions as he writes.

St. Andrew's College, Toronto, is also a mixed boarding and day school, founded and supported by the Presbyterian Church. It has only been in existence for a comparatively few years but has enjoyed great success. It is about the same size as Upper Canada College, but of course has not as yet so large a number of old boys to draw upon, but at the same time most of those it possesses would be of fighting age. The number of former pupils now on active service is about 350, which the head master informs me is approximately 35 per cent of the total number of their old boys. Of these ten have been killed in action, or died when on service. Two Military Crosses

have been gained by former members of this school.

The rest of the schools to be mentioned were founded by the Church of England in Canada, though, as has been stated, they have always been open to boys of all denominations. Of these the oldest is Bishop's College School, of which I was head master from 1903 to 1909. This is solely a boarding school, and in my time the members varied from under 50, shortly after I came into office, to abou t140, the highest point it touched during my regime. It has now, I believe, about 100 boys, which would be rather above the average number for the last twenty years. From this school there were nearly 200 old boys on active service when the last list was compiled some time ago. The number would be considerably increased by now. Ten have lost their lives. Five have gained the D.S.O., two the C.B., and one the C.S.I. and C.I.E.

Trinity College School, Port Hope, another famous Canadian boarding school, is somewhat junior to Lennoxville in the date of its foundation, but has usually had a considerably larger number of boys. It would perhaps average from 130 to 150 during the last twenty years. From the list sent me, which is up to date and as accurate as possible, though the compiler informs me that he is certain it is still incomplete, there appear to be 325 old boys on active service, of whom twenty have been killed. The distinctions gained include one K.C.B., one C.B., one C.M.G., one Legion of Honor, one D.S.O., one D.C.M., and four mentions in dispatches. This school seems to have more old boys serving in proportion to its numbers than any of the others, and it has an excellent honor list.

Ridley College, St. Catharine's, has a shorter history than Port Hope School It is practically the creation of the

head master, who has done a fine piece of work there. Its average numbers of late years would be much the same as those of Port Hope. The head master informs me that as far as he knows there are upwards of 180 boys on active service. This is more than a quarter of all the names on the register since the foundation of the school, deducting those who are dead and those who are still in the school, and means that the large majority of those who are of military age and physically fit have joined the colors. Six have already given their lives for their country, and by way of distinction one D.S.O., four Military Crosses, and one Legion of Honor have been gained.

Highfield School, Hamilton, has an excellent record. It is quite a small school, and of very recent foundation; but it can show 142 old boys on active service, of whom two have already lost their lives. Naturally most of the representatives of this school are still quite young, and their distinctions lie before them, but one Military Cross has already been won.

King's College School, Windsor, N.S., is a school attached to the oldest University in Canada. It has never had a large number of boys; the average would be about 60. The head master writes to me that he has been unable as yet to obtain a really complete list of the old boys at the front, but he is certain that there are at least 85, of whom two have given their lives. This school has the proud distinction of having a V.C. in its list of distinctions, though, unhappily, the recipient did. not live to enjoy his honor. One Legion of Honor and one Order of St. George of Russia have also been gained, and one mention in dispatches. is recorded.

St. Alban's School, Brockville, is about the age of the present century, and has never had more than fifty boys, usually rather less, though they