In Flanders Fields And Other Poems [32]
dwell
if the subject were not too esoteric for this generation.
The minister showed a certain indulgence, and so long as his wife lived
he never employed the paraphrases in the solemn worship of the sanctuary.
She was a woman of provident mind. Shortly after they were married
he made the discovery that she had prepared the grave clothes for him
as well as for herself. Too soon, after only eight years, it was her fate
to be shrouded in them. After her death -- probably because of her death --
John Eckford emigrated to Canada.
To one who knows the early days in Canada there is nothing new
in the story of this family. They landed in Montreal July 11th, 1851,
forty-four days out from Glasgow. They proceeded by steamer to Hamilton,
the fare being about a dollar for each passenger. The next stage
was to Guelph; then on to Durham, and finally they came to the end
of their journeying near Walkerton in Bruce County in the primeval forest,
from which they cut out a home for themselves and for their children.
It was "the winter of the deep snow". One transcription from the record
will disclose the scene:
At length a grave was dug on a knoll in the bush
at the foot of a great maple with a young snow-laden hemlock at the side.
The father and the eldest brother carried the box
along the shovelled path. The mother close behind was followed
by the two families. The snow was falling heavily. At the grave
John Eckford read a psalm, and prayed, "that they might be enabled
to believe, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
unto them that fear Him."
John McCrae himself was an indefatigable church-goer. There is a note
in childish characters written from Edinburgh in his thirteenth year,
"On Sabbath went to service four times." There the statement stands
in all its austerity. A letter from a chaplain is extant in which
a certain mild wonder is expressed at the regularity in attendance
of an officer of field rank. To his sure taste in poetry the hymns were
a sore trial. "Only forty minutes are allowed for the service," he said,
"and it is sad to see them `snappit up' by these poor bald four-line things."
On Easter Sunday, 1915, he wrote: "We had a church parade this morning,
the first since we arrived in France. Truly, if the dead rise not,
we are of all men the most miserable." On the funeral service of a friend
he remarks: "`Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God,' --
what a summary of the whole thing that is!" On many occasions he officiated
in the absence of the chaplains who in those days would have as many
as six services a day. In civil life in Montreal he went to church
in the evening, and sat under the Reverend James Barclay of St. Pauls,
now designated by some at least as St. Andrews.
VIII
The Civil Years
It will be observed in this long relation of John McCrae that little mention
has yet been made of what after all was his main concern in life.
For twenty years he studied and practised medicine. To the end
he was an assiduous student and a very profound practitioner.
He was a student, not of medicine alone, but of all subjects
ancillary to the science, and to the task he came with a mind braced
by a sound and generous education. Any education of real value
a man must have received before he has attained to the age of seven years.
Indeed he may be left impervious to its influence at seven weeks.
John McCrae's education began well. It began in the time
of his two grandfathers at least, was continued by his father and mother
before he came upon this world's scene, and by them was left deep founded
for him to build upon.
Noble natures have a repugnance from work. Manual labour is servitude.
A day of idleness is a holy day. For those whose means do not permit
to live in idleness the school is the only refuge; but they must prove
their quality. This is the goal which drives many Scotch boys
to the University, scorning delights and willing to live long,
mind-laborious
if the subject were not too esoteric for this generation.
The minister showed a certain indulgence, and so long as his wife lived
he never employed the paraphrases in the solemn worship of the sanctuary.
She was a woman of provident mind. Shortly after they were married
he made the discovery that she had prepared the grave clothes for him
as well as for herself. Too soon, after only eight years, it was her fate
to be shrouded in them. After her death -- probably because of her death --
John Eckford emigrated to Canada.
To one who knows the early days in Canada there is nothing new
in the story of this family. They landed in Montreal July 11th, 1851,
forty-four days out from Glasgow. They proceeded by steamer to Hamilton,
the fare being about a dollar for each passenger. The next stage
was to Guelph; then on to Durham, and finally they came to the end
of their journeying near Walkerton in Bruce County in the primeval forest,
from which they cut out a home for themselves and for their children.
It was "the winter of the deep snow". One transcription from the record
will disclose the scene:
At length a grave was dug on a knoll in the bush
at the foot of a great maple with a young snow-laden hemlock at the side.
The father and the eldest brother carried the box
along the shovelled path. The mother close behind was followed
by the two families. The snow was falling heavily. At the grave
John Eckford read a psalm, and prayed, "that they might be enabled
to believe, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
unto them that fear Him."
John McCrae himself was an indefatigable church-goer. There is a note
in childish characters written from Edinburgh in his thirteenth year,
"On Sabbath went to service four times." There the statement stands
in all its austerity. A letter from a chaplain is extant in which
a certain mild wonder is expressed at the regularity in attendance
of an officer of field rank. To his sure taste in poetry the hymns were
a sore trial. "Only forty minutes are allowed for the service," he said,
"and it is sad to see them `snappit up' by these poor bald four-line things."
On Easter Sunday, 1915, he wrote: "We had a church parade this morning,
the first since we arrived in France. Truly, if the dead rise not,
we are of all men the most miserable." On the funeral service of a friend
he remarks: "`Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God,' --
what a summary of the whole thing that is!" On many occasions he officiated
in the absence of the chaplains who in those days would have as many
as six services a day. In civil life in Montreal he went to church
in the evening, and sat under the Reverend James Barclay of St. Pauls,
now designated by some at least as St. Andrews.
VIII
The Civil Years
It will be observed in this long relation of John McCrae that little mention
has yet been made of what after all was his main concern in life.
For twenty years he studied and practised medicine. To the end
he was an assiduous student and a very profound practitioner.
He was a student, not of medicine alone, but of all subjects
ancillary to the science, and to the task he came with a mind braced
by a sound and generous education. Any education of real value
a man must have received before he has attained to the age of seven years.
Indeed he may be left impervious to its influence at seven weeks.
John McCrae's education began well. It began in the time
of his two grandfathers at least, was continued by his father and mother
before he came upon this world's scene, and by them was left deep founded
for him to build upon.
Noble natures have a repugnance from work. Manual labour is servitude.
A day of idleness is a holy day. For those whose means do not permit
to live in idleness the school is the only refuge; but they must prove
their quality. This is the goal which drives many Scotch boys
to the University, scorning delights and willing to live long,
mind-laborious