SKETCH OF SIR DANIEL WILSON. 263 



the college and university work continued without the interrup- 

 tion of a single lecture. Hundreds of letters poured in, but not 

 one of them was left without a suitable reply. " Courtesy does 

 not cost much," was his frequent answer, when urged to take no 

 notice of seemingly trivial letters. Encouraged by public sympa- 

 thy, and bent on seeing his much-prized university more than 

 itself again, he seemed to renew his youth. " Sir Daniel is the 

 youngest man in college/' was a common saying at the time. " I 

 mean," he wrote, " not to bate heart or hope ; but trust, near as I 

 am to the goal of life, to see the renovated pile in its old beauty, 

 and vastly improved within." This hope was fulfilled, mainly, it 

 may be said, through the influence of his own great reputation and 

 the character for liberality of comprehension, irrespective of class, 

 creed, or race, which he had stamped upon the institution. Offers 

 of substantial aid to the building fund, the library, and the mu- 

 seum came from numerous and often unexpected quarters in 

 Europe and America, including a generous contribution from the 

 Legislature of Roman Catholic Quebec. So rapidly was the 

 work of renovation pushed on that at the college "commence- 

 ment " of 1891 he was enabled to give his presidential address 

 one of the most eloquent and brilliant, and unfortunately, as the 

 event proved, the last of his efforts in that line, in one of the new 

 halls ; and before his death the restoration of the university, in 

 a condition far superior to that which it held before the fire, had 

 been practically completed. 



Among other honors it may be mentioned that he received the 

 degree of LL. D. from the University of Aberdeen, and later also 

 from McGill University, of Montreal, of which, at an earlier day, 

 he had been offered the presidency. He was for several years 

 President of the Canadian Institute of Toronto, the leading scien- 

 tific association of Ontario. When the Royal Society of Canada 

 was founded by the Governor-General, Lord Lome, he was at first 

 made president of its Literature Section, and three years later was 

 elected president of the society. He was a member of various 

 learned societies in Europe and America, too numerous to men- 

 tion. In religious and charitable associations at home he was an 

 active worker. He aided in founding Wycliffe College in To- 

 ronto, and was at his death a member of its governing board. 

 The newsboys of the city attracted his special care, and it was 

 mainly through his efforts that the " Newsboys' Home," a most 

 useful and well-managed charity, was founded and maintained. 



Near the close of his life one special honor came to him which 

 he highly prized. In the summer of 1891 he paid his last visit to 

 Scotland. While he was there, the " freedom " of his native city 

 was, with much public ceremony and cordial demonstration, con- 

 ferred upon him, and he thus happily " renewed his youth as the 



