THE PRIME MINISTER
The Prime Minister's visit--Passing of Politics--End to domestic
dissensions--The Imperial idea--Sir Robert's foresight--Arrival in
England--At Shorncliffe--Meeting with General Hughes--Review of
Canadian troops--The tour in France--A Canadian base hospital--A
British hospital--Canadian graves--Wounded under canvas--Prince Arthur
of Connaught--Visiting battle scenes--Received by General
Alderson--General Turner's Brigade--Speech to the men--First and Second
Brigades--Sir Robert in the trenches--Cheered by Princess
Patricias--Enemy aeroplanes--Meeting with Sir John French--The Prince
of Wales--With the French Army--General Joffre--A conference in
French--The French trenches--The stricken city of Albert--To Paris--The
French President--Conference with the French War Minister--Shorncliffe
again--Canadian convalescent home--A thousand convalescents--Sir
Robert's emotion--His wonderful speech--End of journey.
"I think I can trace the calamities of this country to the single
source of our not having had steadily before our eyes a general,
comprehensive, well-connected, and well-proportioned view of the whole
of our dominions, and a just sense of their true bearings and
relations."--BURKE.
"And statesmen at her council met
Who knew the seasons when to take
Occasion by the hand, and make
The bounds of freedom wider yet."
--TENNYSON.
The news that the Prime Minister had arranged a visit to England and to
the battlefield in France aroused great and general interest. Since
the commencement of the titanic struggle which is now convulsing the
world, the standards by which we used to measure statesmen have
undergone great modification. The gifts of brilliant platform
rhetoric, the arts of partisan debate, the instinct for a conquering
election issue, all these have dwindled before the cruel perspective of
war into their true insignificance. It is felt here in England to-day,
and not least by some of us who are ourselves chargeable in the matter,
that it will be long before the politicians at home clear themselves at
the inquest of the nation from the charge of having endangered the
safety of the Empire by their absorption in those domestic dissensions
which now seem at once so remote and so paltry.
And there is already at work a tendency to adopt wholly different
standards in measuring men who, in the wasted years which lie behind
us, kept steadfast and undeluded eyes upon the Imperial position; who
thought of it and dreamed of it, and worked for it, when so many others
were preaching disarmament in an armed world, sustaining meanwhile the
combative instinct by the fury with which they flung themselves into
insane domestic quarrels.
Sir Robert Borden's was not, perhaps, a personality which was likely to
make a swift or facile appeal to that collective Imperial opinion whose
conclusions matter so much more than the conclusions of any individual
part of the Empire. Modest, unassuming, superior to the arts of
advertisement, he never courted a large stage on which to exhibit the
services which he well knew he could render to the Empire. To-day it
is none the less recognised that Borden has won his place by the side
of Rhodes and Chamberlain and Botha, in that charmed circle of
clear-sighted statesmen whose exertions, we may hope, have saved the
Empire in our generation as surely as Chatham and Pitt and Clive and
Hastings saved it in the crisis of an earlier convulsion.
Sir Robert Borden is the first Colonial statesman who has attended a
British Cabinet, a precedent which may be fruitful in immense
Constitutional developments hereafter.
I wonder whether any of those whose deliberations he assisted recalled
the prescience, and the grave and even noble eloquence, with which Sir
Robert closed his great speech--delivered how short a time ago!--upon
the proposed Canadian contribution to the British Fleet. The passage
is worth recalling:--
"The next ten or twenty years will be pregnant with great results
for this Empire, and it is of infinite importance that questions of
purely domestic concern, however urgent, shall not prevent any of
us from rising to the height of this great argument. But to-day,
while the clouds are heavy, and we hear the booming of the distant
thunder, and see the lightning flash above the horizon, we cannot,
and we will not, wait and deliberate until any impending storm
shall have burst upon us in fury and with disaster. Almost
unaided, the Motherland, not for herself alone, but for us as well,
is sustaining the burden of a vital Imperial duty, and confronting
an overmastering necessity of national existence. Bringing the
best assistance that we may in the urgency of the moment, we come
thus to her aid in token of our determination to protect and ensure
the safety and integrity of this Empire, and of our resolve to
defend on sea as well as on land our flag, our honour, and our
heritage."
This gift of wise and spacious speech has been used more than once with
extreme impressiveness--notably at the Guildhall--during the Prime
Minister's recent visit. "All that," he said, "for which our fathers
fought and bled, all our liberties and institutions, all the influences
for good which penetrate humanity, are in the balance to-day.
Therefore we cannot, because we must not, fail in this war."
It was my duty to accompany Sir Robert Borden on the visit which he
paid to the front, and I gladly embrace this opportunity of
substituting for the stories of bloodshed and glory, which have engaged
my pen so much, the record of a mission which, though peaceful, was of
profound and often of most moving interest.
Sir Robert Borden arrived in England in the middle of July. On Friday,
the 16th, he motored to Shorncliffe, accompanied by Sir George Parley
and Mr. R. B. Bennett, M.P. There he met General Hughes. At nine
o'clock on the morning of the 17th the Canadian troops of the 2nd
Division marched past the Prime Minister. It was impossible to watch
without emotion, if one came from Canada, this superb body of men
gathered from every part of the Dominion, and animated in all ranks by
the desire to take their place side by side with the 1st Division, and,
if possible, to wrest from the war laurels as glorious as theirs.
Certainly, on the view, no finer body of men could be imagined, and if
to a critical eye it seemed that the tactical efficiency of the Western
regiments was a shade higher than that of the Eastern, the reflection
readily occurred that the whole of the 1st Division was criticised, on
this very ground, and that this war, of all wars, is not to be
determined on the parade ground.
Sir Robert Borden's tour began on Tuesday, July 20th. Accompanied by
Mr. R. B. Bennett and a military staff, he embarked for France.
Colonel Wilberforce, the Camp Commandant, who had served on the staff
of a former Governor-General of Canada, met him at the pier on his
arrival. After lunch he visited a Canadian base hospital, commanded by
Colonel McKee, of Montreal. It was pathetic to see the pleasure of the
wounded at his presence, and the plainness with which they showed it,
in spite of the pain which many of them were suffering.
The next visit was paid to a British hospital, where Sir Robert saw
Captain George Bennett, of the Princess Patricias, who was just
fighting his way back to consciousness after one hundred and
twenty-five days of burning fever.[1]
From the hospital the Prime Minister went to the graveyard, where he
planted seeds of the maple tree on the graves of our dead officers and
men. The scene was touching, and Sir Robert was deeply moved. Side by
side with the British dead, lie Captain Muntz, of the 3rd Battalion
Toronto Regiment, Major Ward, of the Princess Patricias, whose fruit
farm in the Okanagan Valley lies fallow, and Lieutenant Campbell, of
the 1st Battalion Ontario Regiment, who won the Victoria Cross and yet
did not live to know it. How he won it, against what odds, and facing
how certain a death, has been fully told in another chapter.
Sir Robert then visited the McGill College Hospital, commanded by
Colonel Birkett, the Canadian Base Hospital, in charge of Colonel
Shillington, and Colonel Murray MacLaren's Hospital, under canvas, in
the sand dunes fringing the sea. Everywhere one noticed the same
patience under suffering, the same gratitude for all done to relieve
pain, and the same sincere and simple pleasure that the Prime Minister
of Canada had wished to see them and to thank them.
Perhaps the long corridor tents in the sand dunes impressed themselves
most upon the memory. The convalescents stood to attention to receive
the Colonial Prime Minister. Some would not be denied whom the medical
staff would perhaps rather have seen sitting. Nor was it less moving
to notice how illustrious in private life were many members of the
brilliant staff which had assembled to meet the first citizen of
Canada. Colonel Murray MacLaren, Colonel Finlay, Colonel Cameron, and
many others, if they ever reflect upon the immense private sacrifices
they have made, would draw rich compensation from the knowledge that
their skill and science have in countless cases brought comfort in the
midst of suffering to the heroic soldiers of Canada. Sir Robert, in a
few sentences of farewell, made himself the mouthpiece of Canada in
rendering to them a high tribute of respect and gratitude.
Early on Wednesday morning the Prime Minister set forth to visit the
Canadian troops at the front. He was joined in the course of his
journey by Prince Arthur of Connaught, who came to represent the
Governor-General of Canada.
The road followed took the party near to where Canada, at the second
battle of Ypres, held the left of the British line. The Prime Minister
examined the position with the greatest care and interest, and looked
upon the ruined city of Ypres, and far in the horizon identified the
shattered remnants of Messines. And before he left he spoke to those
about him, with deep pride and thankfulness, of those who stood and
died for the honour of Canada in that great critical day in the Western
Campaign.
At noon Sir Robert reached the Canadian Divisional Headquarters, where
he was received by General Alderson. Two familiar faces were missing
from the number of those who had made the staff dispositions in the
great battle. Colonel Romer, then Chief General Staff Officer, always
cool, always lucid, always resourceful, had become a Brigadier. He is
an extremely able officer, and if a layman may hazard a prediction as
to a soldier's future, he has in front of him a very brilliant and
perhaps a very high career. However brilliant and however long it may
prove, he will never, I think, forget the second battle of Ypres, or
the brave comrades whose exertions it was his duty, under the General,
to co-ordinate and direct.
And we missed, too, the quiet but friendly personality of Colonel Wood
(now Brigadier-General), who had been transferred to Shorncliffe to
organise the Corps Staff. He has returned again to the front, and is
now in charge of our "Administration." General Wood spent some years
at the Royal Military College at Kingston, Ontario, and there acquired
a great knowledge of, and sympathy with, the Canadian point of view.
He is devoted to the Canadian troops, of whom he is intensely proud,
and they on their part understand and trust him.
General Alderson accompanied Sir Robert on his visit to the units of
the Division not on duty in the trenches. The Brigade of General
Turner was commanded for the last time by that officer, for his
soldierly merits have won for him the command of the 2nd Canadian
Division. The command of his Brigade has been given to
Brigadier-General Leckie, of whom I have frequently written.
Sir Robert addressed the men in a few ringing sentences which excited
the greatest enthusiasm in all ranks. The men ran after the moving
motor, and the last to desist was Captain Ralph Markham, a gallant
officer, who was unhappily killed a few days after by a chance shell as
he was returning to billets along a communication trench.
The 2nd Brigade, under the command of General Currie, who has since
been given the command of the 1st Division, and the 1st Brigade
(General Mercer) were also visited. Here it was that Colonel Watson,
of Quebec, marched past at the head of the 2nd Battalion, leading his
men to the trenches. A capable, brave, and very modest officer, he now
commands a Brigade in the 2nd Canadian Division.
Sir Robert then visited the trenches accompanied by General Alderson
and Brigadier-General Burstall, and after a visit to the Army Service
Corps, under Colonel Simpson, he parted from General Alderson and his
fine command.[2]
His next visit was neither less important nor less interesting, for it
was to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. The Regiment,
which assembled 500 strong in a field five miles from Canadian
Headquarters, received with cheers, which broke out again and again,
the Prime Minister and the brother of the Princess, under whose name
and favour the Battalion has so bravely fought. Major Pelly was in
command, the second-in-command being Lieutenant (now Captain) Niven, of
whose deeds I attempted to give some account in the preceding chapter.
The Regiment was formed in three sides of a square and as the Prime
Minister and the Prince advanced, the colours, presented by the
Princess in Lansdowne Park on that great day which seems so long ago,
were ceremoniously unfurled. And, as the tattered folds spread before
a light breeze, the clouds broke, and there was a moment or two of
bright sunshine. Overhead two enemy aeroplanes flew, and there
followed them persistently through the sky bursting shells of shrapnel.
The Prime Minister conveyed in simple words a message from the
Governor-General. The Prince, in plain and soldierly language, spoke
in deep affection of the Regiment whose glory, he said, was so dear to
his sister's heart. The men were deeply moved.
On his return to Headquarters the Prime Minister was invited to take
part in a conference with the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief and his
Staff. Among those present was his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
It had been arranged that Sir Robert's visit to the French armies--a
visit most courteously and even pressingly suggested by the French
Government--should take place on the conclusion of the conference at
General Headquarters.
Sir Robert was received at a small town, which it would be indiscreet
to name, by General Joffre. The famous General, who was full of
confidence and hope, was surrounded by one of the most brilliant staffs
which any army in the world could boast. For a long time he discussed
with the most charming frankness, and the most lucid explanations, the
position and the prospects of the Allied forces in the field.
The French Staff was most anxious to enlarge upon their plans in
conversation with the Prime Minister. It was interesting, indeed, to
an observer of Canadian birth, to listen to the animated conversation
carried on entirely in French. What reflections did the interview not
suggest? The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of France in
conference with the Prime Minister of Canada in the throes of a mighty
war! Jacques Cartier, Frontenac, De Levis, De Salaberry, Wolfe,
Montcalm, the Heights of Abraham, the far-flung antagonism of the great
French and British nations--how many memories crowded the mind as one
silently watched this historic interview! And, of all reflections,
perhaps the most insistent was that the bitterest antagonisms of
mankind may be composed in a period relatively very brief.
After a long day in the French trenches, varied by visits to advanced
observation posts, from which the Prime Minister could plainly see the
German front-line trenches, the party returned through the stricken
city of Albert. The majestic fabric of its ancient cathedral has been
smitten with a heavy hand. There remain only a scarred and desolate
ruin, and the figure of the Madonna--a true Mater Dolorosa--hung
suspended in mid-air from the mutilated spire.
And so to Paris, with minds saddened indeed by all the misery and the
havoc and the horror, but still full of confidence that right shall yet
conquer wrong, that a period shall yet be assigned to that bloody and
calculated savagery which has swept ever so many fair provinces in
Europe, and has not yet abandoned the hope of dominating the world.
The rest of the week was spent with the Government in Paris and in
discussion with the French President and the Minister of War. Here
again Sir Robert met with the most distinguished kindness. Nothing
promising or unpromising in the prospects of the Allies was concealed
from him, and on his departure from Paris the First Citizen of France
conferred upon the First Citizen of Canada the highest order of the
Legion of Honour.
After a visit on the way home to the great Canadian Base Hospital, over
which Colonel Bridges, an officer of the Permanent Force, presides, and
in which Major Keenan, of Montreal and of the Princess Patricias, gives
his services, the party reached Boulogne on Sunday, and were carried
back to English soil again.
Monday morning was spent in visiting the great hospital at Shorncliffe,
which is under the direction of Colonel Scott, of Toronto. Everywhere
one noticed in the hospitals the same cheerfulness, the same patience
under suffering, and the same unaffected pleasure at the visit of the
Prime Minister.
In the late afternoon the Prime Minister arrived at the Canadian
Convalescent Home, where troops are gathered from all the hospitals in
England, either to return in due course to duty or leave for ever the
military service. This wonderful organisation is under the direction
of Captain McCombe. The institution--so largely his creation--is a
shining example of what such a home can become under intelligent and
humane direction.
The convalescents here were over a thousand strong. Those physically
fit stood to attention. Others in the blue and white uniform of the
hospital leaned heavily upon their crutches. Others lay upon their
couches unable to move, but watching and listening intently. All
Canada was represented, from Halifax to Vancouver. Here were the
survivors of the battle for the Wood; there a remnant of the heroes who
charged to save the British left. Here were those brave men who
gloriously assaulted the Orchard; there the veterans of the 1st Ontario
Regiment who attacked on June 15th.
The Prime Minister was profoundly moved. Flanders had moved him too.
Nor had he escaped deep feeling when he saw the Canadian troops
marching to the trenches. But not until he came face to face with the
shattered survivors of four glorious battles, did he openly show that
deep spring of emotion and affection which those who saw him will
always cherish as their fondest recollection of him.
The warmth and sincerity of his nature found expression in one of the
most wonderful speeches which he or anyone else has ever made. It has
not been reported; it cannot be reported, for those who heard him were
themselves too much moved to recollect the words. But it was a speech
vital with humanity; it was the speech of a father who mourned over
stricken sons, and, closing in a sterner note, it was the speech of one
who foresaw and promised a day of retribution for the conscienceless
race which, with cold calculation, had planned this outrage on humanity.
And so ended the memorable journey. The narrative attempted here
cannot, of course, be too explicit. But the writer has not altogether
failed in his purpose if he has shown the dignity, the restraint, the
eloquence, and the wisdom with which the Prime Minister of Canada has
represented our great Dominion among the leading soldiers and statesmen
of Europe.
[1] Since that time Captain Bennett has been brought to England, but
even now he is in a convalescent home and only slowly recovering.
[2] Before returning to England, Sir Robert Borden sent the following
message to General Alderson, which was circulated in Orders of July
30th:--"The fine spirit of the Canadian Division, and their evident
efficiency for the great task in which they are engaged, very deeply
impressed me. It was a great privilege to have the opportunity of
seeing them, and of conveying to them, from the people of Canada, a
message of pride and appreciation. As I said on more than one occasion
in addressing the officers and men, they can hardly realise how
intensely all Canada has been thrilled by the tidings of their
achievements. The President of the French Republic, as well as General
Joffre and Sir John French, spoke of the troops under your command in
terms of the highest praise. I bid you God speed in the great task in
which you are engaged."