aid in the brightening of the service, for they made it possible
for every man to join in the singing, which was touchingly hearty
and tender. Only favourite hymns would be in place in an assembly
so strangely mixed, so we began with "Jesu, Lover of my soul,"
followed by "What can wash away my sin?" "Just as I am," and "Oh,
what a Saviour! that He died for me." Nearly half the men on board
are Reservists, fresh from home and home-ties, though now 4,000
miles at sea, and to them the singing of such hymns would
inevitably be wakeful of all hallowed memories, and more helpful
than any sermon.

'Nevertheless, I ventured to speak to them solemnly, yet cheerily,
of the mobilisation order that Joshua issued to the Hebrew host on
the eve of battle, when he commanded them as the one supremely
essential thing to sanctify themselves. The men were reminded that
character tells, above all, on the field of battle, as Cromwell's
troopers proved, and that since, of all work, war is the most
appallingly responsible and perilous, every soldier is doubly
called to be a saint. Such was "Stonewall" Jackson, America's most
victorious general, and as in his case, so in theirs, grace would
not rob them of grit, but increase their store. That grace they all
might find in Christ.

'We also all seemed to feel it a consoling thing to bow in prayer
on that rolling lower deck for Queen and country, for comrades
already at the seat of war, and for "the old folk at home," so, in
our humble measure making ourselves one with that innumerable host
who thus seek "to bind the whole round earth by golden chains about
the feet of God." Not a man seemed unmoved, and the memory of that
first full and official parade will be helpful to me for many days