PROCEEDINGS FOR 1900 XXXV 
of a parliamentary speaker, so that one can at a glance understand that, 
when he was nominated for that elevated position, he was elected by 
acclamation. He was known in many walks of life, and it would not be 
too much to say that he adorned them all; and many of his poems rise to 
a high pitch of excellence. One which may be unknown to those 
present, as it was to myself until the other day, I may perhaps venture 
to quote: 
CANADIAN CAMPING SONG. 
A white tent pitched by a glassy lake, 
Well under a shady tree, 
Or by rippling rills from the grand old hills, 
Is the summer home for me. 
I fear no blaze of the noontide rays, 
For the woodland glades are mine, 
The fragrant air, and that perfume rare— 
The odour of forest pine. 
A cooling plunge at the break of day, 
A paddle, a row, or sail ; 
With always a fish for a midday dish, 
And plenty of Adam’s ale ; 
With rod or gun, or in hammock swung, 
We glide thro’ the pleasant days ; 
When darkness falls on our canvas walls, 
We kindle the camp-fire’s blaze. 
From out of the gloom sails the silvery moon, 
O’er forests dark and still ; 
Now far, now near, ever sad and clear, 
Comes the plaint of whip-poor-will ; 
With song and laugh, and with kindly chaff, 
We startle the birds above ; 
Then rest tired heads on our cedar beds, 
And dream of the ones we love. 
It may be permitted, for a moment, to look back beyond the year 
which has just passed and to commemorate those who have gone over to 
the majority, after having here served their day and generation. The 
original members of the Society numbered eighty, twenty in each section. 
‘There are now 96 members, 24 in the 2nd and 4th sections, 23 in the 
third, and 25 in the first. Of those who have been presidents of the 
