16 NOVEMBER 1929, Page 3

Armistice Day The principal celebration on Armistice Day, Monday, was

as usual at the Cenotaph. The King was absent for the first time, but his place was taken by the Prince of Wales. It seemed there, as everywhere else, that the two minutes' silence had lost nothing of its magical power to consecrate and to dignify. By the wish of the Government there was a smaller proportion than before of representatives of the armed forces, but an innovation —not in the nature of the case capable of repetition—was the march of the holders of the Victoria Cross, who had come from all parts of the world to be entertained by the Prince of Wales and the British Legion. The sermon in St. Paul's Cathedral was preached by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who emphasized the double sense of the commemoration and commended the work of the League of Nations. The commemoration looks forward as well as back. As the personal memories now poignantly focused by Armistice Day grow dimmer, as they must, the second purpose of the commemoration will become more prominent.