1909] Tributes to Dr. Fletcher. 221 



Reference has been made to Dr. Fletcher's generosity, his 

 desire to help others, his readiness always to do a good turn; it 

 was surely these fine qualities that dominated his life. There 

 must be hundreds scattered all over this wide Dominion who 

 will miss his kindly assistance and encouragement. And this 

 goodness of heart was only equalled by his capacity for work. My 

 bedroom window commanded one in his office, and night after 

 night for weeks together I would retire — and that at no very 

 early hour — leaving his light burning. He was naming botanical 

 and entomological specimens for amateur collectors all over the 

 countrv, scores of whom probably he was thus encouraging in 

 their studies by his kindly help. He must have been blessed with 

 a strong vitality and much strength, for by sunrise next morning, 

 if the season were summer, he would be out gardening — a work, 

 oi rather a pastime for him, of which he was an ardent lover. He 

 took the greatest pride in his garden and nothing gave him more 

 pleasure than the presenting of its products fo his friends. 



It was, of course, in his addresses on Nature Studv and allied 

 subjects that he won his laurels and gained a wide popularity. 

 He was a particularly attractive speaker. Of good presence, with 

 a pleasant voice, of an easy yet enthusiastic manner with fluency 

 of speech it was not difficult to hold his audiences entranced in his 

 description of Nature and Nature 's children. He carried his 

 hearers with him, so that they forgot the immediate surroundings 

 and were transported in spirit to the mountain side or the bank 

 of the stream as he went in quest of his plants or insects. 



But we must not overlook the fact that a very large part of 

 his useful work was done with the pen. I always thought he had 

 a love for letter writing. He had a wide and ever increasing 

 correspondence respecting plants and insects and he encouraged 

 it. His was certainly the "pen of a ready writer. " 



We all like to think of him as our own personal friend His 

 cheery, jovial, kindly spirit — for by nature he was buoyant and 

 light hearted — won all with whom he came in contact. Even 

 those who only met him casually will have a pleasant memorv of 

 his genial manner and desire to help. Since Dr. Fletcher's death 

 I have received manv letters from mutual friends and they all 

 bear warm testimony to his sterling qualities and his charming 

 personality. To those of us who knew him well, intimately, he 

 was a loveable man, warm in sympathy and true, a man of gen- 

 erous impulses and kindly, considerate thought for others. We 

 mourn the death of a dear friend and a truly Christian gentleman. 

 But while we must all deplore the cutting off of such a bright and 

 useful life in the midst of its activities, we must equally rejoice 

 that Dr. Fletcher's work lives after him and that he has left us a 

 noble example to copy in his faithful, helpful, inspiring work. 



