APPENDIX A LIX 



Galahads of the camps! For this you learnt 



The fearless life and strenuous company 



Of the wild North, contempt of hurt and cold, 



Joy of unmeasured contest, wit to meet 



Emergency, deft skill and steady nerve. 



What seemed but sport was training, and the best 



Was inner, — loyal will and heart humane. 



And in your battles you remembered oft 



The mountains of the Land of Manitou. 



Some shall return with honor, henceforth called 

 The heroes of the world. But where are those 

 Who shall never return ? 



Alas! to earthly eyes they sleep afar 

 In fields of glory famed to end of time. 

 Yet ever shall they clothe these leafy hills 

 With visions of the noblest deeds of men 

 And hold before Canadian youths to come 

 The quest eternal of the Holy Grail. 



To treat of the part of the gallant French-Canadian Contingent 

 in France would be to encroach on the field of the French Section of 

 this Society. The glory of Talbot Papineau, of Major Roy, of Dumont 

 Laviolette, and of the immortal 22nd, will assuredly be cherished in 

 the Old Province in future years. I may, however, be permitted to 

 quote one tribute to them by a French writer interested in Canada: — 



'MONTREAL AU FRONT DE FRANCE, 

 by René d'Avril. 



"Beaux et forts, l'œil hardi, cambrant leur haute taille 

 Affrontant les dangers trops connus, — la mitraille, 

 Les gaz, le froid, le chaud, la boue, et loin des leurs 

 Ne pensant qu'au pays dont flottent les couleurs, — - 

 Pays qui les rassemble en un. même uniforme: 

 Ils sont aux premiers rangs de cette lutte énorme; 

 Héros de bronze clair qu'envierait un sculpteur. 



Ils ont quitté le sole du logis enchanteur. 

 Plus de rire d'enfants, sous le ciel gris de France 

 Mais l'attaque de nuit, l'implacable défense 

 Et la gloire qui passe en funèbre appareil 



* * * * * 



Ils sont du Canada, non loin de Montréal 



Vaste image émergeant des brouillards de la Somme: 



O grands lacs, O grands fleuves lents, grands champs de blé, 



Pays ou tout est grand, même le cœur de l'homme! 



(Paris, Hôpital de l'Ecosse.) 



