The conflagrations that were seen
"Like Angel's visits far between,"
For Bytown then was almost free
From an Insurance Company!
Poor fellow! by a sudden stroke
Death's gloomy shadow o'er him broke,
Upon that well remembered day--
When the old town was wild and gay.
From verdant vale to sunny ridge,
On which the new Suspension Bridge
Was opened--and crowds congregated
To see it then "inaugurated."
To use a word from Uncle Sam,
The concourse was a perfect jam.
'Twas built by Alexander Christie,
From the land of mountains misty;
And though the whirlwind and the storm
For years have revelled on its form--
Though ponderous loads for many a year
Have passed it o'er from from far and near,
It stands in strength unshaken still,
A monument of art and skill;
Long may the builder dash the tide
Of Jordan's swelling surge aside;
And when the lot of all mankind
Overtakes him, may he safely find
A bridge across to Canaan's shore,
To pass in peace death's valley o'er.
While rambling backwards up life's hill,
I meet the stern Paul Joseph Gill,