- There has been a good deal of discussion in
the news- papers about the propriety of celebrating Armistice Day by fancy dress balls and special festivities. The Rev. H. R. L. Sheppard in a letter to the Times denounced these things as " not so much irreligious as indecent." On the other hand, it is argued that the celebration of victory rightly admits of joy as well as of solemn acts of remembrance. There is an analogy between the traditional bearing of troops who march to a funeral with reversed arms and every sign of mourning, but who return to a quick and cheerful march tune. It is said also that those who fell in the War would be the last to deny the appropriateness of rejoicing. Did not they themselves fill every moment of their leave with merriment even when they were in the midst of horrors ? What, however, may be true of soldiers, who must neces- sarily adapt their standards, is not necessarily true for the whole of a civil population. In the end people will probably decide according to their temperaments. One can only express one's own inclination. Our inclination is to agree with Mr. Sheppard and to say that a day which begins with a solemn two minutes of silence and rededication is not well ended by a special outburst of festivity.
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