86 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



worthy of the man and statesman ; for such a monument as has been 

 raised in several cities in Canada to Sir John Macdonald, who in some 

 respects was not his equal, and not more deserving of the gratitude of 

 his fellow countrymen. Howe's life was rarely free from pecuniary 

 embarrassment, fortune never smiled on him and gave him large sub- 

 scriptions and possessions of land and money, the res anyusta domi must 

 at times have worried him. He had an aim before him— not wealth, 

 but his country's liberty and her good. It was, however, a fitting termi- 

 nation to his career that he should have died a tenant of that very 

 government house whose doors had been so long in old times obstinately 

 closed against him. Ilis voice had been often raised in favour of 

 appointing eminent Canadians and Nova Scotians to the position of 

 lieutenant-governor ; and he was wont in some of his speeches to make 

 caustic comparisons between the men of his province and the a])pointee8 

 of Downing street. 



Stern destiny, which is ever playing such pranks with poor humanity, 

 with statesmen as well as mechanics, with the greatest as well as the- 

 humblest of mortals, placed him for a while — too short a while — where 

 Falkland had lorded it over him and others, and where he could recall 

 the past with all its trials and struggles, humiliations and successes ; and 

 then Fate, in its irony, suddenly struck him down, and the old govern- 

 ment house lost the noblest and greatest man who ever lived within its 

 walls. As I close this imperfect tribute to a man whose broad statesman- 

 ship and undoubted genius 1 recalled as I stood last before his portrait in 

 the assembly room of the Province lîuilding, I ask his countr3'men to 

 remember liis own noble verses, and apply them not only to the famous 

 Liberal orator, poet and statesman, but also to his eminent opponent, the 

 Conservative chief, who, like himself, was an honest conscientious man 

 differing in ])rincii)lcs, but equally influenced by loft}' aspirations : 



" Not here? Oh yes, our heart.s their presence feel ; 

 Viewless, not voiceless, from tlie deepest shells 

 On memory's shore harmonious echoes steal, 

 And names, which, in days pone by, were spells, 

 Are blent witli that soft music. If there dwells 

 The spirit liere our country's fame to spread. 

 Where every breast with joy and triumph swells, 

 And carlli reveri)erales to our measured tread. 

 Banner and wreath will own our reverence for the dead. 



" The Roman gather'd in a stately urn 



The dust he honored— while the sacred fire 



Nourished Ijy vestal hands was made to burn 



From ape to ape. If tUly you'd aspire. 



Honour the dead ; and let the sounding lyre 



Recount their virtues in your festal hours ; 



Gather their ashes— higher still, and higher 



Nourish tlie patriot flame that history dowers, 



And o'er the old men's graves go strew your choicest flowers." 



