George Mercer Daivson. 425 



a conservative reasoner, a skilful writer, Canada pos- 

 sesses in Dr. Dawson a public servant the value of 

 whose services can never be over-estiniatecl. His name 

 carries authority with it on any subject on which he 

 speaks. That a long career may- be before him is the 

 hope of all, for we all know how much that means to 

 the Dominion." 



Dr. Dawson was a ready and prolific writer and a 

 brilliant conversationalist. His quiet humour was 

 infectious, and any dinner party which numbered him 

 among the guests was sure to be a merry one. He 

 seemed to have an inexhaustible fund of information, 

 not merely about his own special lines of work, but 

 covering the widest range of subjects. The marvel 

 was how in his busy life he had acquired so much and 

 such varied knowledge. For one of apparently 

 delicate constitution, his powers of enduring prolonged 

 physical exertion were as remarkable as his capacity 

 for continuous mental activit3^ He was at work at 

 his office until two days before his death, the imme- 

 diate cause of which was capillary bronchitis. The 

 secret of Dr. Dawson's mdespread popularity, no 

 doubt, lay in his downright unselfishness and in his 

 sunny and sympathetic nature. 



