In Flanders Fields And Other Poems [33]
days.
John McCrae's father felt bound "to give the boy a chance,"
but the boy must pass the test. The test in such cases
is the Shorter Catechism, that compendium of all intellectual argument.
How the faithful aspirant for the school acquires this body
of written knowledge at a time when he has not yet learned the use of letters
is a secret not to be lightly disclosed. It may indeed be
that already his education is complete. Upon the little book
is always printed the table of multiples, so that the obvious truth
which is comprised in the statement, "two by two makes four",
is imputed to the contents which are within the cover.
In studying the table the catechism is learned surreptitiously,
and therefore without self-consciousness.
So, in this well ordered family with its atmosphere of obedience,
we may see the boy, like a youthful Socrates going about
with a copy of the book in his hand, enquiring of those,
who could already read, not alone what were the answers to the questions
but the very questions themselves to which an answer was demanded.
This learning, however, was only a minor part of life, since upon a farm
life is very wide and very deep. In due time the school was accomplished,
and there was a master in the school -- let his name be recorded --
William Tytler, who had a feeling for English writing
and a desire to extend that feeling to others.
In due time also the question of a University arose.
There was a man in Canada named Dawson -- Sir William Dawson.
I have written of him in another place. He had the idea
that a university had something to do with the formation of character,
and that in the formation of character religion had a part.
He was principal of McGill. I am not saying that all boys who entered
that University were religious boys when they went in,
or even religious men when they came out; but religious fathers
had a general desire to place their boys under Sir William Dawson's care.
Those were the days of a queer, and now forgotten, controversy
over what was called "Science and Religion". Of that also
I have written in another place. It was left to Sir William Dawson
to deliver the last word in defence of a cause that was already lost.
His book came under the eye of David McCrae, as most books of the time did,
and he was troubled in his heart. His boys were at the University of Toronto.
It was too late; but he eased his mind by writing a letter.
To this letter John replies under date 20th December, 1890:
"You say that after reading Dawson's book you almost regretted
that we had not gone to McGill. That, I consider, would have been
rather a calamity, about as much so as going to Queen's."
We are not always wiser than our fathers were, and in the end
he came to McGill after all.
For good or ill, John McCrae entered the University of Toronto in 1888,
with a scholarship for "general proficiency". He joined the Faculty of Arts,
took the honours course in natural sciences, and graduated from
the department of biology in 1894, his course having been interrupted
by two severe illnesses. From natural science, it was an easy step
to medicine, in which he was encouraged by Ramsay Wright, A. B. Macallum,
A. McPhedran, and I. H. Cameron. In 1898 he graduated again,
with a gold medal, and a scholarship in physiology and pathology.
The previous summer he had spent at the Garrett Children's Hospital
in Mt. Airy, Maryland.
Upon graduating he entered the Toronto General Hospital as resident
house officer; in 1899 he occupied a similar post at Johns Hopkins.
Then he came to McGill University as fellow in pathology
and pathologist to the Montreal General Hospital. In time he was appointed
physician to the Alexandra Hospital for infectious diseases;
later assistant physician to the Royal Victoria Hospital,
and lecturer in medicine in the University. By examination
he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
In 1914 he was elected a member of the Association of American Physicians.
These are distinctions won
John McCrae's father felt bound "to give the boy a chance,"
but the boy must pass the test. The test in such cases
is the Shorter Catechism, that compendium of all intellectual argument.
How the faithful aspirant for the school acquires this body
of written knowledge at a time when he has not yet learned the use of letters
is a secret not to be lightly disclosed. It may indeed be
that already his education is complete. Upon the little book
is always printed the table of multiples, so that the obvious truth
which is comprised in the statement, "two by two makes four",
is imputed to the contents which are within the cover.
In studying the table the catechism is learned surreptitiously,
and therefore without self-consciousness.
So, in this well ordered family with its atmosphere of obedience,
we may see the boy, like a youthful Socrates going about
with a copy of the book in his hand, enquiring of those,
who could already read, not alone what were the answers to the questions
but the very questions themselves to which an answer was demanded.
This learning, however, was only a minor part of life, since upon a farm
life is very wide and very deep. In due time the school was accomplished,
and there was a master in the school -- let his name be recorded --
William Tytler, who had a feeling for English writing
and a desire to extend that feeling to others.
In due time also the question of a University arose.
There was a man in Canada named Dawson -- Sir William Dawson.
I have written of him in another place. He had the idea
that a university had something to do with the formation of character,
and that in the formation of character religion had a part.
He was principal of McGill. I am not saying that all boys who entered
that University were religious boys when they went in,
or even religious men when they came out; but religious fathers
had a general desire to place their boys under Sir William Dawson's care.
Those were the days of a queer, and now forgotten, controversy
over what was called "Science and Religion". Of that also
I have written in another place. It was left to Sir William Dawson
to deliver the last word in defence of a cause that was already lost.
His book came under the eye of David McCrae, as most books of the time did,
and he was troubled in his heart. His boys were at the University of Toronto.
It was too late; but he eased his mind by writing a letter.
To this letter John replies under date 20th December, 1890:
"You say that after reading Dawson's book you almost regretted
that we had not gone to McGill. That, I consider, would have been
rather a calamity, about as much so as going to Queen's."
We are not always wiser than our fathers were, and in the end
he came to McGill after all.
For good or ill, John McCrae entered the University of Toronto in 1888,
with a scholarship for "general proficiency". He joined the Faculty of Arts,
took the honours course in natural sciences, and graduated from
the department of biology in 1894, his course having been interrupted
by two severe illnesses. From natural science, it was an easy step
to medicine, in which he was encouraged by Ramsay Wright, A. B. Macallum,
A. McPhedran, and I. H. Cameron. In 1898 he graduated again,
with a gold medal, and a scholarship in physiology and pathology.
The previous summer he had spent at the Garrett Children's Hospital
in Mt. Airy, Maryland.
Upon graduating he entered the Toronto General Hospital as resident
house officer; in 1899 he occupied a similar post at Johns Hopkins.
Then he came to McGill University as fellow in pathology
and pathologist to the Montreal General Hospital. In time he was appointed
physician to the Alexandra Hospital for infectious diseases;
later assistant physician to the Royal Victoria Hospital,
and lecturer in medicine in the University. By examination
he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
In 1914 he was elected a member of the Association of American Physicians.
These are distinctions won