MACDONALD

Les vers lus par M. A.-G. Doughty à l’inauguration du monument Macdonald trouvent leur place ici :

Brief are our days ; the heritage of man To toil and suffer, measures but a span !

The golden glory of the noontide hour,

So full of splendour and so rich in power, Soon passes downward to the deeper shade, Where all its radiant beams in twilight fade, And issuing Night, upon her sombre way, Veils all the vanished beauty of the day.

So with man's life ; for one brief hour the crown In lustre glistens, circled with renown ;

Then Death's grim spectre dims the glorious noon, And leaves a void and darkness, all too soon !

But to the iiving still remains a debt ;

In loving rev’rence and with Love’s regret, To keep the memory by such deeds of praise In honour nurtured through the range of days Lo ! here, the shadow of a powerful name Linked te the glory of undying Fame !

Lo ! here, the monument of Love’s regret — Of sympathy with him whose sun has set !

In Britain’s Isle, mid England’s sons, the best,

Her noblest, who in sculptured marble rest,

He holds a place. And you upon this ground

Now decked with flowers, but once with greensward crowned And tablet, sacred to the cherished dead,

Unveil this Tribute with uncovered head,

As witness of a grateful nation’s grief

And loving memory of a peerless Chief.

?Tis but the outward form, seen with the eyes Of blind mortality, which fades and dies.

The genius and the hidden force which swayed In Council and in Senate undismayed,

These graven are upon his country’s heart, And of her destiny are now a part.

No path of roses trod the dauntless Chief,

His labour constant and his leisure brief ;

His country’s honour and his country’s good Were dear to him, and streng as ties of blood. Such was the Statesman whom we all deplore, Such was the Leader whose grand life is o’er ! Here, ‘neath the banner which he loved te wave, Which tracked his glory even to the grave, Behold the champion of a noble cause

Now silent in the calm of Nature’s pause.

No more the music of his eloquence

Will voice the words of ripe intelligence ; Though still the essence of the master mind Unite the common interest of mankind,

Aloft to bear the standard of our race,

And foremost in the great Olympus place

This land of ours. Thus from his life sha!l spring Much of the glory with the years will bring.

His name with Canada's fair name entwined Here in this mute memorial are enshrined !

What fitter monument could Love demand To him, the kingliest Leader of our land !