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Title: The Canadian Portrait Gallery: Volume II
Author: Dent, John Charles (1841-1888)
Photographer: Notman, William (1826-1891)
Photographer: Parks, J. G. (fl. ca. 1880)
Photographer: Topley, William James (1845-1930)
Date of first publication: 1880
Edition used as base for this ebook:
   Toronto: John B. Magurn, 1880 [first edition]
Date first posted: 16 July 2010
Date last updated: 16 July 2010
Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #574

This ebook was produced by:
Marcia Brooks, Donna M. Ritchey, Carlo Traverso
& the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

This file was produced from images generously made
available by the Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries




_THE CANADIAN_

_PORTRAIT GALLERY._

BY

JOHN CHARLES DENT,

ASSISTED BY A STAFF OF CONTRIBUTORS.

VOL. II.

TORONTO:

PUBLISHED BY JOHN B. MAGURN.

1880.




C. B. ROBINSON, PRINTER,

5 JORDAN STREET, TORONTO.


Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year Eighteen
Hundred and Eighty, by JOHN B. MAGURN, in the office of the Minister of
Agriculture.

[Transcriber's Note: Footnotes and Errata are placed at the end of this
file.]




CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.

[A Preface and an Alphabetical Index will be given at the close of the
last volume.]

                                                                                  PAGE.

    THE MOST REV. JOHN MEDLEY, D.D.                           1

    THE HON. GEORGE BROWN                                          3

    THE HON. WILLIAM JOHNSTON RITCHIE                      25

    THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DURHAM                     27

    SIR HUGH ALLAN                                                         38

    THE REV. ALEXANDER BURNS, D.D., LL.D.                  41

    WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE                                        44

    THOMAS LOUIS CONNOLLY                                        54

    ANNA JAMESON                                                          57

    THE REV. D. H. McVICAR, LL.D.                                  67

    THE HON. WILLIAM HENRY DRAPER                          70

    THE HON. SIR CHARLES TUPPER                               73

    MONTCALM                                                                79

    THE HON. OLIVER MOWAT                                        86

    THE REV. GEORGE DOUGLAS, LL.D.                         94

    LORD ELGIN                                                               97

    THE REV. ROBERT ALEXANDER FYFE, D.D.            104

    MARSHALL SPRING BIDWELL                                  108

    THE HON. JOSEPH HOWE                                        115

    THE HON. FRANCOIS GEORGE BABY                      131

    JOHN WILLIAM DAWSON, M.A., LL.D., &c.               133

    THE HON. ADAM CROOKS                                       139

    TECUMSEH                                                              144

    THE HON. GEORGE ANTHONY WALKEM                 158

    THE RIGHT REV. ARTHUR SWEATMAN, D.D.           161

    THE HON. HECTOR LOUIS LANGEVIN                      164

    THE REV. ALBERT CARMAN, D.D.                            167

    SIR FRANCIS BOND HEAD                                       169

    THE HON. SAMUEL HENRY STRONG                       179

    THE HON. SIR ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT             181

    THE REV. MICHAEL STAFFORD                               187

    THE REV. WILLIAM CAVEN, D.D.                              190

    THE HON. LUTHER HAMILTON HOLTON                   193

    THE HON. LOUIS JOSEPH PAPINEAU                       199

    THE HON. WILLIAM ALEXANDER HENRY                  205

    LORD SYDENHAM                                                    207

    THE RIGHT REV. ISAAC HELLMUTH, D.D., D.C.L.     213

    THE HON. ARTHUR STURGIS HARDY                       215

    THE HON. SIR ALBERT JAMES SMITH                     218

    THE REV. EDWARD HARTLEY DEWART, D.D.          221




[Illustration: JOHN MEDLEY, signed as JOHN FREDERICTON]


THE MOST REV. JOHN MEDLEY, D.D.,

_METROPOLITAN OF CANADA_.


The Metropolitan of Canada is the oldest Bishop in British North
America, and, with one exception, the oldest Colonial Bishop now living.
He is an Englishman by birth and education, and was born on the 19th of
December, 1804. He was educated principally at Wadham College, Oxford,
where he early exhibited great fondness for classics and polite
literature. He entered at Wadham in 1823, taking his degree in honours
(second class) in 1826, and becoming an M.A. in 1830. In 1828 he was
made a deacon, and in the following year he was ordained a priest. For
three years he filled a curacy in a small town in Devonshire, and from
1831 to 1838 officiated as minister of St. John's Chapel, in Truro,
Cornwall. In the last named year he became Vicar of St. Thomas,
Exeter--a position which he held until 1845. Three years before this
time he had been made Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. In 1845 the
Diocese of Fredericton, in New Brunswick, was formed, and on the
nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Medley was appointed to
that See, and consecrated its first Bishop, on the 4th of May. The
consecration took place at Lambeth Palace. The new Bishop sailed
immediately for the new world, and on the 11th of June was inducted in
the parish church. The corner stone of Fredericton Cathedral was laid by
the Bishop on the 15th of October following. In 1853 the edifice was
consecrated, Bishop Mountain of Quebec taking an important part in the
ceremony.

At the Synod of 1879 the Bishops of Canada elected Bishop Medley as
their Metropolitan. It was thought that this election would lead to some
controversy, but contrary to general expectation there was none. In
making the choice, the principle was admitted, at the outset, that the
claim of seniority was to prevail. The election was, and in future will
be, a mere formality. It is said that the title of Metropolitan, and the
privileges which it confers, will no longer be attached to a See, but
will be affixed to a personality.

Dr. Medley is incapable of the eloquence of a Punshon or a Chapin, but
his preaching is higher in tone, and more polished in style. He never
carries enthusiasm into the pulpit, but his discourses are rich in
individuality, in learning, and in logic. His sentences are skilfully
turned, and full of graceful imagery and fine culture; but his sermons,
as a rule, are of too high a class to make a deep impression on an
audience which has not, like his own parishioners, grown up with him,
and learned to follow him throughout the peculiar avenues of his
thought. Personally, Dr. Medley is highly esteemed and loved, while the
elevated character of his life-work, and the great industry with which
he has administered the affairs of his diocese--a see which includes the
entire Province of New Brunswick--for upwards of thirty-five years, has
won the highest praise, alike from Churchmen and Christians of other
denominations. He has a keen appreciation of humour. A good story is
told of him, which illustrates this quality. Shortly after the St. John
fire, in 1877, his Lordship preached a sermon on the calamitous event,
in the commercial capital of the Province. Of course public expectation
stood high, and a discourse of great power was naturally looked for. The
audience was very large, and the sermon, which was most effective and
suggestive, fully justified the popular expectation. The daily papers
sent representatives to report the sermon in full. One of these called
on his Lordship before the exercises in the church began, and obtained
from him a half-reluctant promise that the manuscript of the sermon
should be given to him immediately after the close of the service. The
reporter, elated at his good fortune, seated himself in a pew, and
watched with eager interest the efforts which his rivals were making
during the delivery of the sermon. At the close, he stepped into the
private room of the Bishop to claim fulfilment of the latter's promise.
The worthy prelate, without a smile, handed a single sheet of paper to
the discomfited young man, on which were inscribed the notes of the
discourse, in a system of shorthand invented by the Bishop himself. The
reporter turned away, a sadder but a wiser man, and repairing to the
sanctum, spent the greater part of the night and a portion of the next
morning in trying, with the aid of his memory, to decipher the curious
hieroglyphics. By dint of very hard work he managed to write out a
report of about a third of a column in length.

The Metropolitan is an author of repute. His published writings embrace
several volumes of sermons, tracts, etc., besides a small book of
Episcopal Forms for Church Government, several lectures, an Address to
Sunday School Teachers, numerous charges to the clergy, and (this year)
a fine scholarly work on the Book of Job, with a new translation, notes,
and an introduction. English and Canadian critics have spoken in high
terms of this translation. The notes are said to exhibit wide
scholarship and great research. The Bishop, now in his 76th year,
continues to pursue his avocations with his usual spirit and vigour, his
age apparently offering no perceptible barrier to the full play of his
faculties.




[Illustration: GEORGE BROWN]


THE HON. GEORGE BROWN.


Mr. Brown's name has long been one of the most conspicuous in our
politics, and it is safe to say that no man now living has made a more
distinct or abiding mark upon the Canadian history of his time. Although
a good many years have elapsed since his retirement, in a sense, from
active participation in public life, there is no man whose character and
principles have been more frequently discussed down to the present hour;
and there is certainly no man now living in Canada as to whom a wider
divergence of sentiment has prevailed. It is proverbially difficult to
do full justice to a biography during the lifetime of the subject of it,
and the interval which has elapsed since Mr. Brown's lamented death is
as yet too short to render the difficulty materially less. The time for
reviewing his career with historic discrimination or comprehensiveness
of detail is yet distant. The battles in which he took a foremost part
were so fiercely contested, and the issues at stake were so momentous,
that it is well nigh impossible, even for the most impartially-minded
writer, to review them without taking either one side or the other. To
persons familiar with the history of this country during the last
thirty-five years, it will seem like a truism to say that Mr. Brown was
a man of great energy, of indomitable will, of very distinctly
pronounced opinions, and of very marked individuality character
generally. His opponents--and even some of those who were not his
opponents--have been wont to say of him that he was overbearing and
dictatorial, that he was firmly wedded to his own way, and that he had
scant toleration for the opinions of those who differed from him. To
these accusations, whether well or ill-founded, it is only fair to reply
that Mr. Brown's opinions on important public questions were generally
held, not only conscientiously, but with a deep-rootedness and intensity
such as few men ever know. To the consideration of every public question
which engaged his attention he brought a fervour and enthusiasm which
had no affinity with the half-formed and lightly-held predilections of
more shallow minds. When he had once passed judgment on a question,
doubt as to the soundness of his conclusions was never permitted to
intrude itself upon him. He had no conception of "possibilities beyond
his own horizon," and not much faculty for receiving discipline at the
hands of others. His convictions, right or wrong, were to him
demonstrated propositions. They always found forcible expression, and
did not always conduce to his popularity. They were often at variance
with the prevalent sentiments of the community, and not seldom with the
views of his own political adherents. Neither opposition on the part of
his antagonists, nor remonstrance on the part of his friends, was ever
found of sufficient weight to silence him when he felt that he had
anything of importance to say. He was always accustomed to deliver his
message after his own fashion, and the fashion was sometimes one which
cannot be held up to unqualified admiration. No man ever more completely
fulfilled in his own person all the essential conditions of "a good
hater." His denunciations of men to whom he was opposed, and of measures
whereof he disapproved, were sometimes sweeping and unsparing. His
advocacy of cherished opinions was vigorous and uncompromising. Such a
man is tolerably certain to make warm friends and bitter foes. Mr. Brown
was able to number among the public men of Canada a goodly array of
both. As has already been intimated, the time has not yet arrived for a
just and satisfactory analysis of his life's work. When such an analysis
shall have been made, the verdict of history will follow. The purport of
that verdict is not doubtful, though the process whereby it will be
arrived at cannot yet be fully known. Here, it will be said, was a man
who was possessed of genuine convictions. His ambition was high, and
perhaps not always without alloy; but his statesmanship was a reality
and not a sham, and he had always at heart the best interests of his
country. He came to Canada as a young man, without friends or worldly
wealth. By his energy and ability he speedily acquired an influence and
a position which were second to those of none of his competitors. He
spoke, wrote and fought for the people's rights with unwearying
industry, irrepressible vigour, and dauntless courage. He took a
prominent part in public life during many years, and there was no great
reform of his time with which he was not honourably connected. If he was
tenacious of his opinions, his opinions on public questions generally
turned out to be sound. Though a strong and even violent party man, he
could rise above party considerations, and join hands with the most
uncompromising of his foes to bring about a scheme of government which
bade fair to secure the country's lasting good. Such a man, whatever his
shortcomings, was both a patriot and a statesman, and must fill a high
and honourable place in the history of Canada. This, or something like
this, we believe, will be the purport of the verdict which posterity
will pass upon the personal and public career of the Honourable George
Brown.

He was, as most of our readers know, a native of Scotland, and a son of
the late Mr. Peter Brown. His mother was Miss Mackenzie, the only
daughter of Mr. George Mackenzie, of "The Cottage," Stornoway, in the
Island of Lewis. At the time of his son's birth, and for many years
previously, Peter Brown was a resident of Edinburgh, where he was
engaged in various building and mercantile operations. He was a man of
high native intelligence, great force of character, and good social
standing. He possessed a sound education, had read much, and was
especially well versed in the constitutional and political history of
Great Britain. He was well known and highly respected in Edinburgh
society, and though not addicted to letters at this period of his life,
he had many friends among the literary men of the Modern Athens. He was
on intimate terms with Cockburn and Jeffrey; and, notwithstanding his
Liberal politics, was personally acquainted with Sir Walter Scott,
Professor Wilson, and John Gibson Lockhart. In addition to the members
of his own family there are many persons still living in Canada who knew
him well during the last twenty years of his life, and who cherish his
memory with respect and affection. Both by descent and by predilection
he was an avowed Liberal in politics, according to the tenets of
Liberalism in those days, but was a zealous upholder of monarchy, and a
prominent member of the Presbyterian Church.

His eldest son, the subject of this memoir, was born in Edinburgh on
the 29th of November, 1818, and at the time of his death was sixty-one
years and five months old. In his early boyhood he attended the High
School of his native city, but as his educational progress at that seat
of learning was not satisfactory to himself, he was transferred, at his
own request, to the Southern Academy of Edinburgh. The latter
institution was at that time presided over by Dr. William Gunn, a
capable teacher and a very worthy man. Under the instruction of this
gentleman young George Brown made rapid progress, and was particularly
distinguished for his proficiency in mathematics. During his last
session at the Academy he stood high in all his classes, and won
flattering encomiums from his tutor. At the closing examination he was
chosen to declaim an exercise, and Dr. Gunn, in introducing him to the
audience, made a remark the appositeness of which must strike every one
who is acquainted with the young scholar's subsequent career. "This
young gentleman," said the Doctor, "is not only endowed with high
enthusiasm, but he possesses the faculty of creating enthusiasm in
others." Many of his school-fellows at this establishment have since
risen to high dignities, both at home and abroad. He was also for a
short time a pupil at a private school at Musselburgh, where he had for
a fellow-pupil the present Mr. Justice Galt. His father wished him to
enter the University, but the project did not meet with the son's
approval. His mind was practical, and he determined that his school
should thereafter be the world at large. He began to take part in his
father's business, and to interest himself to some extent in political
and municipal affairs. The father early discerned the bent of his son's
mind, and doubtless did much in those early days to mould his opinions.
They were wont to hold long discussions on the topics of the day,
sometimes seated by the domestic fireside, and sometimes in the course
of long walks through the devious ways and picturesque suburbs of the
northern capital. In the course of one of these peregrinations they
encountered an elderly, venerable, and most benevolent-looking gentleman
who was saluted by the father with ceremonious respect. After they had
passed on, the son was informed that the old gentleman was no less
distinguished a personage than the author of "Waverley."

The family-circle at home was a singularly happy and harmonious one, and
for some years nothing occurred to disturb its felicity. In process of
time, however, through the misconduct of an agent, Mr. Brown the elder
became involved in pecuniary difficulties. After a long and fruitless
endeavour to extricate himself he determined to emigrate to America, and
in 1838 he carried out his determination. Accompanied by his eldest son,
and leaving the rest of his family behind, until he should be able to
provide a new home for them beyond the Atlantic, he sailed for New York.
The father, though by no means insensible to his reverse of fortune, was
far from being dispirited by it; and the son was possessed of a
boundless energy and fertility of resource which were not likely to fail
him under such circumstances. Both father and son soon found congenial
employment. Erelong the family were comfortably settled down in New
York, and looking forward with hope and confidence to the future. Peter
Brown's wide reading and his comprehensive knowledge of British politics
stood him in good stead. He became a contributor to _The Albion_, a
weekly newspaper published in New York in the interest of the English
population. _The Albion_ had then been in existence nearly twenty years,
having been founded in 1822 by Dr. John S. Bartlett, British Consul at
New York, who managed it successfully for more than a quarter of a
century. It was the principal medium whereby English ideas were
disseminated through the United States, and had a political and social
influence more than commensurate with its circulation, which was
necessarily somewhat restricted. The proprietor of _The Albion_ was glad
to avail himself of the services of so well-informed a contributor as
the elder Brown, who, in addition to his intimate acquaintance with
English politics, was a ready and forcible writer, and a man whose
opinions were of value. His articles at once attracted attention, and
were eagerly read wherever the paper circulated. His style was clear,
earnest and logical, and his views were liberal and enlightened without
being ultra-radical. It was during his connection with _The Albion_ that
a very foolish book made its appearance at New York under the title of
"The Glory and Shame of England." The author was Mr. C. Edwards Lester,
an American gentleman who for some time filled the post of United States
Consul at Genoa. It professed to give an account of the writer's own
experiences during a hurried visit to Great Britain, and was conceived
in a style and spirit which would have been malevolent if they had not
been feeble and childish. It abounded with errors and false logic, and
contained not a few assertions which, to any one conversant with British
institutions and social life, were palpable misstatements of fact. It
appeared in 1841, and, chiefly in consequence of its rabid republicanism
and its denunciations of everything British, it attracted an attention
altogether out of proportion to its intrinsic merits. Mr. Peter Brown,
in emigrating from his native land, had by no means left his loyalty
behind him, and he conceived it to be his duty as a British subject not
to allow such a farrago of absurdities to remain unanswered. He wrote
and published a reply to Mr. Lester's book under the title of "The Fame
and Glory of England Vindicated." It went over the ground previously
traversed by Mr. Lester chapter by chapter, and almost page by page. It
embodied a formidable array of statistics, and pointed out numberless
absurdities and inconsistencies. This work appeared in 1842 from the
press of Messrs. Wiley & Putnam, of New York, and was at once eagerly
read and discussed by a wide circle. The all but unanimous verdict was
that Mr. Lester stood convicted of gross ignorance and unfairness, if
not of wilful falsehood. Mr. Brown's _nom de plume_ on the title-page
was "Libertas," but the real authorship was no secret, and the effect of
his book was to make his name widely known through the Northern States
as a writer of much keenness and force. His contributions to _The
Albion_ were read with greater interest than before, and there can be no
doubt that his writings did much to extend the circulation of that
paper. His position, however, did not in all respects fulfil his
aspirations. He was merely an employ on the editorial staff, and
probably had to submit to a certain amount of editorial dictation. New
York and the Northern States generally contained a large Scottish
population, and Mr. Brown conceived the idea that a paper which should
occupy the same position towards them that _The Albion_ occupied with
respect to the English would meet with a fair degree of support. This
view was participated in by many of Mr. Brown's friends and
acquaintances in and about New York, and erelong he took up the project
in earnest. A canvass was set on foot, and a considerable
subscription-list was obtained. In the month of December, 1842, the new
venture made its appearance under the title of _The British Chronicle_,
with Peter Brown as its editor, and with George Brown as the publisher
and general business manager. As the organ of the Scottish population of
the United States it was without a competitor, and even as a British
organ it threatened serious rivalry to _The Albion_. It discussed
America and republican institutions with great freedom, and even with
some severity, but it was always well written, and was regarded with
respect even by the Americans themselves. As had been anticipated on its
behalf, it obtained a fair share of support, but _The Albion_, which had
been long established, had too firm a hold of the public to permit its
young rival to achieve a remarkable success. The young publisher
launched all his energy in the enterprise, and travelled over the
greater part of New England and the neighbouring states, taking
advertisements and subscribers, and making himself known to the class of
persons to whom he chiefly looked for support. He had meanwhile begun to
take an interest in the affairs of Canada, where the vigorous articles
in his paper were already attracting some attention among the Scottish
Presbyterians. In the spring of 1843 he determined to try what could be
done in the way of extending the circulation of the _Chronicle_ in this
country, and came over with that end in view. Could he have foreseen the
result of his visit; could he have foreseen that in less than ten years
he would have become one of the best known and most influential of
Canada's citizens, it is to be presumed that he would have come over
with very high hopes. But he had not, and could not have, any such
prescience. His ambition was of a much more modest character. He merely
aspired to extend the circulation and influence of his father's paper.
Upon his arrival in Toronto he presented himself to, and was
well-received by, the Scottish Presbyterians. Young as he was--he was
not yet twenty-five--his energy and force of character impressed all who
came in contact with him. It was the period of the Disruption of the
Scottish National Church. Both his father and himself had entered
zealously into the dispute on the side of the Free Church. The adherents
of that side in Canada felt the want of an organ which should espouse
their interests in opposition to those of the Established Church of
Scotland. This young man was evidently made of the precise kind of stuff
they needed. Overtures were made to him to convert his paper into the
organ of the Free Church Party. At this time there was no idea of
removing the office of publication from New York to Canada, but it was
intended that the _Chronicle_ should circulate freely through this
country, and definite promises of support were given. The proposal was
deemed worthy of consideration by Mr. Brown, and was by him forwarded to
New York for his father's approval. Meanwhile he continued his tour
through Canada, and having received the stamp of endorsement from the
Free Church Party he was everywhere well received by their adherents.
Upon reaching Kingston, which was then the seat of Government, he
received overtures which promised better things still. Having come into
contact with Samuel Bealey Harrison, who then held the office of
Provincial Secretary for Upper Canada in the Lafontaine-Baldwin
Administration, the political situation of the country was discussed
between the two with considerable freedom. It has been intimated that
Mr. Brown had for some time previously taken a good deal of interest in
Canadian affairs, and he was thus able to take an intelligent part in
such a discussion. It is almost unnecessary to say that both his
sympathies and his training had made him an advanced Liberal in
politics. The temper of his mind was such that political controversy was
grateful to him, and he possessed a natural aptitude for dealing with
constitutional questions. His ready and firm grasp of the situation
astonished Mr. Harrison not a little. That a young man who had been only
a few weeks in the country, and who was merely the business agent of a
New York newspaper, should enter with such zest and appreciation into
the issues of Canadian politics, and should take in the main points with
such ready intelligence, seemed to the easy-going Provincial Secretary
almost phenomenal. He was introduced to Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Francis Hincks,
and other members of the Administration. This, it must be borne in mind,
was in the early summer of 1843. Sir Charles Bagot had just been laid in
the grave, and Sir Charles Metcalfe had been only about two months in
this country. What course the latter would pursue was as yet an open
question, as he had been remarkably reticent ever since his arrival; but
he had begun to coquet with Sir Allan Macnab and other prominent
supporters of the ultra-Conservative Party, and several members of the
Administration--Robert Baldwin, Francis Hincks and S. B. Harrison among
them--had already begun to anticipate some measure of the trouble which
subsequently ensued. It seemed not unlikely that the whole question of
Responsible Government would be opened afresh, and that the battle would
have to be fought over again. As may readily be supposed, the Government
were very willing to secure the support of an additional newspaper.
Young Mr. Brown had made a decided impression upon the various members
of the Administration, and had given them the idea that he would be a
potent ally of any political cause to which he might attach himself. It
does not appear that any definite negotiations were entered into, but
the feasibility of removing the _Chronicle_ to Canada was discussed, and
when Mr. Brown left Kingston he must have felt that in the event of his
taking up his abode in this country he could count upon a pretty strong
support from the Government. The Government, however, might not long
remain in power, and if it were ousted there were several prominent
members of it who would probably accept offices which would permanently
remove them from political life. Cogitating on these and a hundred other
possibilities of the near future, Mr. Brown continued his tour through
Canada, and made himself and his paper known to many influential people
in Montreal and Quebec. In due course he reached his home in New York,
whither various overtures from Toronto and Kingston had preceded him.
The overtures had by this time become urgent, and had not been without
effect on Mr. Brown the elder, who, however, saw a fair share of
prosperity before him in the land of his adoption, and did not at first
feel disposed to try the experiment of another removal. But George came
home from Canada with strong representations. The country, he said, was
young, and persons of ability and education were not numerous there.
There was no position to which a man of energy and good character might
not reasonably hope to attain, if his will were strong and his brain
sound. New York, he said, offered a competence and nothing more; whereas
Canada offered probable wealth and possible fame. The family, moreover,
were all strongly British and anti-Republican in feeling, and as a mere
matter of choice would much prefer to live under British laws, and among
persons of British sympathies. The upshot was that the son got the best
of the argument, and before the close of the summer the family had
bidden adieu to the land of the stars and stripes, and were once more
living under British dominion, at Toronto. The name of _The British
Chronicle_ was changed to that of _The Banner_, the first number of
which made its appearance on the 18th of August, 1843. It was a weekly
paper, as the _Chronicle_ had been, and it was above all things the
organ of the Free Church Party; but it was also strongly political, and
supported the Administration, which in the course of the ensuing autumn
entered on its memorable struggle with the Governor-General as to the
true meaning of Responsible Government. The nature of that struggle has
already been sufficiently referred to in the sketch of the life of
Robert Baldwin. Sir Charles made appointments without consulting his
Council, and when remonstrated with by the members for so doing he
declined either to confess that he was in the wrong or to promise that
he would not repeat the offence in future. The Ministry resigned, and
formed themselves into a powerful Opposition under the leadership of Mr.
Baldwin in Upper Canada and Mr. Lafontaine in the Lower Province. To
keep pace with this Opposition, and with Mr. Brown's own strong
political views, _The Banner_ was soon found to be an inadequate medium.
The theological element in it was developed at the expense of all other
matters whatever, and its arguments were chiefly addressed to the
adherents of the Free Church. It was felt that there must be a paper
which should be above all things political, and the recognized organ of
the Reform Party. This truth, as the struggle with Sir Charles Metcalfe
waxed fiercer and fiercer, became more and more apparent. A
well-conducted organ of Reform had become a political necessity of the
time. Mr. George Brown was applied to by the leading Reformers of the
country, and the result of the application was the establishment of _The
Globe_.

The first number of the _Globe_--a weekly, like its predecessor, the
_Banner_--was issued on the 5th of March, 1844. As compared with the
_Daily Globe_ of to-day, it was a very insignificant-looking sheet, both
in size and typographical appearance. The subscription price was four
dollars per annum, and the edition printed was ludicrously small as
compared with the present issue. Upon its first appearance it had five
competitors in Toronto as a political journal. It went on gaining
steadily in circulation and influence for many years. It is a great
power in the land at the present day, but its rivals have all long since
ceased to exist. For these results there is a perfectly good reason. It
would be impossible to conceive of a more apposite illustration of the
doctrine of the survival of the fittest. It was a foregone conclusion
that Mr. Brown must be a successful man. He had now chosen a field where
his tremendous energy could have full play; where every exercise of it
could be made to conduce to a practical result, and where, as a
consequence, his success was doubly assured. At its commencement, the
_Globe_ was the joint property of Peter and George Brown, but the latter
was the directing spirit, and the one upon whom its supporters chiefly
relied. It soon became apparent that the sheet would be no despicable
factor in the struggle with Sir Charles Metcalfe, and the efforts of his
supporters were put strenuously forward to crush it. But the man at the
helm was not one to be crushed. He assailed the members of the once
formidable but now practically moribund Family Compact, as they had
never been assailed before, even by Robert Gourlay or William Lyon
Mackenzie. The time when an obnoxious newspaper proprietor's type and
presses could be battered and thrown into the bay with impunity was long
since past; and as for bandying words with him, not even the most
voluble member of the oligarchy would have cared to try such an
experiment with George Brown in those days. He could always contrive to
say three savage words where any of his opponents could find one. His
vigorous articles began to produce an effect on all classes of society,
and to stir up a feeling throughout the country that it was time to
awaken out of sleep.

The ink was scarcely dry on the first number of the _Globe_ ere Mr.
George Brown was importuned to allow himself to be put in nomination for
a seat in Parliament. Strange as it may seem, the proposal had no
charms for him at that date. His resolve, however, was the result of
careful consideration, and his own innate good sense. He was poor, and
had a way to make in the world for others besides himself. He had
entered on his career as a journalist with high hopes, and believed that
he had found his true vocation in life. To that career he determined to
devote all his energy, until it should have produced him an abundant
crop of fruit. He determined that the _Globe_ should have an
individuality. We think it will be admitted on all hands that he acted
up to his determination and fully realized his expectations. The tone of
the articles in the _Globe_ during the first few years of its existence
is not the tone of the _Pall Mall Gazette_ or the _Saturday Review_. Its
style is not one which we would advise any young journalist to take for
his model, for it is a style which in most hands would be inefficacious
as well as offensive. But it realized the ideal of its proprietor, who
both in and out of print was very much given to calling a spade a spade,
as the saying is. Without laying any claim to eloquence or splendour of
composition, the articles in the _Globe_ were full of a lusty uncouth
vigour which found a road to the understandings of readers from one end
of this land to the other. The writer generally had justice on his side,
and knew it, and it must be confessed that he was very little given to
tempering justice with mercy in those days. A man who made a statement,
on any public matter, which was not strictly borne out by the facts, was
tolerably certain to be told in the next number of the _Globe_ that he
lied. And he was told this, not by implication or innuendo, but plainly,
straightforwardly, and in so many words; and he was fortunate if the
words were not printed in capitals. The article, however, was pretty
sure to be backed by unimpeachable evidence, and even by the bitterest
of its opponents the _Globe_ soon came to be recognized as a paper which
generally told the truth, even if it had its own ungainly fashion of
telling it. The paper, in the public mind, was identified with Mr.
George Brown--and justly, for the _Globe_ was Mr. George Brown. No
paper, from the time of Roger L'Estrange's _Observator_ downwards, ever
more completely reflected the individuality of its editor. Mr. Peter
Brown took a certain share in the business management, and also
contributed occasional articles to its columns; but the bone and sinew,
the body and soul, the heart's blood and nerves of the enterprise were
evolved from the son. The latter made himself acquainted with the wants
and sentiments of the people throughout this Upper Province as no man
had ever done before. He circulated among them, rich and poor, gentle
and simple; went to their houses, visited their schools, inspected their
crops and farm improvements, and placed himself fully in accord with
their inner lives. In an incredibly short space of time he knew every
Reformer in the Province who was worth knowing--as well as a good many
who were perhaps hardly worth the trouble. From Amherstburgh to
Cornwall, from Goderich to Niagara, he hurried hither and thither,
making acquaintances and increasing his influence and his knowledge of
the country every day. In this way he was able to gauge, and not
unfrequently to mould public opinion. The _Globe_ was soon a household
word everywhere in Upper Canada, and had a considerable circulation in
the Lower Province. It was the recognized organ of the Reform Party, but
was conducted with an independence and sometimes with an insubordination
that knew no master, and would submit to no dictation. Its circulation
and influence grew apace, and it soon (1846) became necessary to issue
it twice a-week, though the subscription price remained unchanged. Three
years later it began to be issued both tri-weekly and weekly, the price
of the tri-weekly edition being four dollars a year, and that of the
weekly edition two dollars. Satisfactory as this success must have been,
there was as yet no room for a daily, and even the tri-weekly was
considered as being in advance of the times.

Long before this time Sir Charles Metcalfe had succumbed to the terrible
disease which had so long held him in its grasp. He had resigned his
post, returned to England, and died. The policy which he had striven to
maintain, and which had found so redoubtable an opponent in Mr. Brown,
did not totally disappear from the scene with the Governor-General. It
cannot be said to have been effectually done away with until the
elections of 1847, when it received its death-blow at the polls. To this
result the _Globe_ contributed more perhaps than any other factor
whatever. Mr. Brown worked with an energy which, even for him, was
tremendous, to secure a great triumph for the Liberal Party. He had
established a western branch office of the _Globe_ in London, and had
taken personal charge of it during the busiest four months of the
campaign. He had visited various constituencies in the interest of
Reform candidates, and always with satisfactory results. His speeches
from the hustings and on the stump were generally addressed to audiences
where the Scottish element was predominant, and were always received
with enthusiasm and tumultuous applause. His style of speaking was
something altogether different from that to which Canadian electors had
been accustomed. It possessed precisely the same qualities as his
editorial articles. It was sinewy, tumultuous, impetuous, like the
utterances of a man who must have his say out or perish in the attempt.
It seldom failed to carry all before it, and he was often sent out as a
forlorn hope. Dr. Gunn's characterization of his boyish effort at
declamation at the Edinburgh Southern Academy would have applied with
tenfold felicity to the speeches of his manhood. Any one who is old
enough to have heard him deliver one of his election speeches does not
need to be told that he was endowed with high enthusiasm, or that he
possessed the faculty of begetting enthusiasm in his hearers. By the
time this election campaign was at an end George Brown was better known
throughout the Province than any man in public life in Upper Canada. He
was pressed again and again by various constituencies to enter
Parliament, but he was not yet ready to do so, and continued to devote
himself to his paper. Upon the formation of the Baldwin-Lafontaine
Administration, in 1848, after the arrival of Lord Elgin, the _Globe_
became the mouthpiece of the Government.

In 1849 Mr. Brown's residence in Toronto was attacked by the mob, in
consequence of the agitation arising out of the passage of the Rebellion
Losses Bill--a Bill which of course had received the support of the
_Globe_. Mr. Baldwin was subjected to a similar indignity in Montreal,
as also were most of the prominent members of the Administration, as
well as the Governor-General himself. During the same year Mr. Brown
took a prominent part as one of the Commissioners appointed to inquire
into the abuses connected with the Provincial Penitentiary at Kingston.
The inquiry lasted several months, and resulted in important reforms in
the management of that institution.

Upon the opening of the Parliamentary session in May of the following
year it soon began to be apparent that there was not perfect unanimity
of sentiment among the supporters of the Government. The sources of
discord were various, and the dissatisfaction of the members from the
Lower Province did not arise from the same causes as those which
produced the discontent in Upper Canada. Mr. Papineau's principal
grievance arose from his desire to see the Legislative Council made
elective. The Separate School question was another bone of contention.
In the Upper Province a large section of the Reform Party began to
clamour vehemently for the secularization of the Clergy Reserves. The
agitation on these subjects was largely fomented by Mr. Brown, who
advocated them in the columns of the _Globe_ with the vigour and
determination which he had always been wont to display with respect to
matters on which he had fully made up his mind. The feelings of the
Government on the question of the Clergy Reserves have been sufficiently
indicated in the sketch of Robert Baldwin. The members were not
unanimous on the matter, and some of them were even disposed to abide by
the settlement made under Lord Sydenham. Not one of them was in any
unseemly haste to see secularization accomplished. Mr. Brown,
notwithstanding his strong desire for secularization, continued to give
the Government a general support in the _Globe_. Not so the _Examiner_,
a paper which had been founded twelve years before in Toronto by Mr.
Hincks as an exponent of Reform principles, and which was at this time
under the editorial control of Mr. Charles Lindsey, and the business
control of Mr. James Lesslie. The _Examiner_ now advocated many sweeping
measures of reform with which the Administration was not disposed to
deal, and erelong arrayed itself in Opposition. It supported the policy
of Dr. Rolph, Peter Perry, Malcolm Cameron--who had held office in the
Administration, but had resigned--and the extreme wing of the Reform
Party. The adherents of this Party were distinguished by the name of
"Clear Grits," and in addition to the secularization of the Clergy
Reserves, advocated universal suffrage, vote by ballot, free trade and
direct taxation, the abolition of the Court of Chancery, and many other
root-and-branch reforms. Some of these measures--notably that of
secularization--received support from the _Globe_, but the
root-and-branch policy as a whole was regarded by Mr. Brown as in
advance of the times, and its supporters were denounced as "a little
miserable clique of office-seeking, buncombe-talking cormorants, who met
in a certain lawyer's office on King Street, and announced their
intention to form a new Party on 'Clear Grit' principles." The Clear
Grits were stigmatized by the _Globe_ as republicans, and the war
between the two Reform journals was fierce and bitter. The influence of
the _Examiner_ tended to weaken the hands of the Administration, which,
however, was strong enough to retain a majority in the House until the
close of the session. This division in the Reform camp soon became so
wide that a reconstruction of the Cabinet became necessary. In 1851 both
Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Lafontaine retired from public life, and Mr. Hincks
became Premier. Other changes took place in the composition of the
Ministry, and its policy underwent such modification that the support of
the _Globe_ was entirely withdrawn from it. Two of the most prominent
"Clear Grits"--Dr. Rolph and Malcolm Cameron--accepted seats in the
reconstructed Administration. From this time it not only received no
further support from the _Globe_, but became the object of that
journal's determined opposition.

At the general election which followed the reconstruction of the
Cabinet, Mr. Brown for the first time offered himself as a candidate for
a seat in Parliament. The constituency chosen by him was the county of
Haldimand. His principal opponent was Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie, who
had returned to Canada in 1850. There was a third candidate in the field
in the person of the late Mr. Ranald McKinnon, who was a resident of the
county; but his opposition alone would not have presented any formidable
obstacle to Mr. Brown's success. There were reasons which, at that time,
made Mr. Brown an unpopular candidate in a constituency which contained
a large Roman Catholic vote. His unpopularity was due to his having
taken up what was in those days known as "the Broad Protestant Cry." In
1850 the Pope had put forth a bull creating, or professing to create, a
Papal hierarchy in Great Britain, and had sent over Cardinal Wiseman to
England from Rome, with the title of Archbishop of Westminster. The
English Protestants resented the Pope's action with a vehemence and
_odium theologicum_ altogether out of proportion to the insignificance
of the occasion. The resentment extended from the highest class of
society to the lowest, and was not confined to any sect or creed.
Addresses to Her Majesty poured in from all parts of the country, and
never, perhaps, has the peace of mind of a large and intelligent
community been so seriously disturbed about so trivial a matter. Lord
John Russell put forth an indignant protest in the form of a letter
addressed to the Bishop of Durham, which was copied and commented on
throughout the Christian world. Lord Chancellor Campbell, at a public
dinner given in London, called upon the Protestants of England to rouse
themselves before it was too late, and to nip the insidious aggression
of Rome in the bud. He quoted the line from the Duke of Gloster's speech
to the Bishop of Winchester, in the First Part of King Henry VI.:

       "Under my feet I'll stamp thy Cardinal's hat,"

and was cheered to the echo, both by Cabinet Ministers and city
merchants. In the lower strata of society the talk was just as loud, but
was not confined to talk alone, and took a more practical shape. At
Stockport, in Lancashire, a number of Protestants got together and
created almost a riot by belabouring a squad of Irish Catholics who were
employed in public works there. The Irish Catholics of Birkenhead
retaliated by attacking and burning the houses of Protestants. The
Government of the day took up the matter, and introduced a Bill
prohibiting the assumption of English territorial titles by Catholic
prelates in England. The Bill was opposed with splendid eloquence and
sound argument by Gladstone, Bright and Cobden, who took the broad
ground that the prohibition aimed at would involve an undue interference
with religious liberty. The feeling of the House, however, was such that
even these giants of debate did not inspire respect on this question,
and for once their speeches were listened to with ill-suppressed
impatience. The Bill was passed by a tremendous majority, and at once
received the royal assent. It stands unrepealed to this day; but, though
both Cardinal Wiseman, Cardinal Manning, and others have repeatedly and
fearlessly violated its provisions, no attempt has ever been made to
enforce them.

The sentiment of ultra-Protestantism which rose to such a height of
fervour in England was reflected with, if possible, increased fervour in
Upper Canada. Mr. Brown caught the infection early, but for some time
refrained from giving special prominence to the subject in the _Globe_.
It was decreed, however, that if he continued to refrain, it should not
be for want of an excellent opportunity for speaking out. Cardinal
Wiseman, shortly after his arrival in England from Rome, and pending the
debate on the Prohibition Bill, had put forth a pronunciamento in which
the argument on the Roman Catholic side of the question was presented
with much clearness and force. A copy of this document was handed to Mr.
Brown by Colonel--afterwards the Honourable Sir--Etienne P. Tach, who
held the office of Receiver-General in the Baldwin-Lafontaine
Administration. Colonel Tach challenged Mr. Brown to publish it in the
_Globe_, and jocularly expressed a doubt as to his having the courage
and fairness to do so. Mr. Brown expressed his perfect willingness to
publish the pronunciamento, but not unreasonably stipulated that, in
case of his doing so he should also publish a reply, to be written by
himself. To this Sir Etienne assented, and accordingly both
pronunciamento and reply appeared at full length in the columns of the
Globe. Mr. Brown, in replying to the Cardinal's specious arguments, was
necessarily compelled to present the matter from a Protestant point of
view, and in a light which was far from being acceptable to Roman
Catholics. The question was taken up by the entire press of the country,
and was argued with great bitterness on both sides. Mr. Brown thus came
to be regarded as the Canadian champion of Protestantism, and the avowed
opponent of Roman Catholic doctrines. The stand so taken by him, as
might have been expected, was made the most of by his opponents in
Haldimand. He was represented to the Roman Catholic electors there as a
man whose dominant passion was to circumscribe the power of the Pope,
and who, if he could have his own way, would make it a criminal offence
to perform or attend mass. These tactics answered their purpose, and Mr.
Brown sustained a defeat. There were other constituencies open to him,
however, and in the following December he was returned for the county of
Kent, which then included the present county of Lambton.

Upon the opening of the session at Quebec in August, 1852, he took his
seat in the House, and was thenceforward one of the most conspicuous
figures in it. He had no sympathy with the Government, and criticised
its measures with much asperity. It was alleged by the members of the
Government that his hostility arose from the fact that he had not been
asked to join them. It was also said that he was angry because the
_Globe_ had ceased to be the organ of the Administration, which
proclaimed its policy through the medium of the _North American_, edited
by Mr. William Macdougall. There can be no manner of doubt that the
action of the Government towards Mr. Brown at this juncture, whatever
may have been the motive of it, was a political blunder. His personal
qualities, and the great vigour and ability by which the editorials of
the _Globe_ were marked, had made him in many important respects the
most influential man in the country. No Government to which he was
opposed could expect to run with perfect smoothness. It is simple matter
of fact that some of the most prominent members of the Government were
jealous of Mr. Brown. His rapid rise, and his steadily increasing
influence, were viewed by them with ill-concealed apprehension, and this
feeling was doubtless increased by Mr. Brown's own impetuosity and
unconciliatoriness of spirit. He could not brook contradiction, and
never admitted distrust of himself. His opposition was severe and
merciless, and was constantly breaking out in unexpected places. His
"broad Protestantism" was specially distasteful to the French Roman
Catholic members in the Government, between whom and himself there was
scarcely anything in common.

In the month of October, 1853, the _Globe_ first made its appearance as
a daily paper, and it thenceforward became a more important factor than
ever in the moulding of public opinion. It was clamorous in its demands
for the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, the abolition of Separate
Schools, and Representation by Population. It inveighed strongly against
monopolies of every kind, and availed itself of every occasion to
embarrass the Government. Opportunities for creating such embarrassment
were neither few nor far between. The Ministry were accused by the
_Globe_ of being altogether too dilatory in dealing with the Clergy
Reserves, and other important questions on which the public felt
strongly. As matter of fact the Ministry were willing enough to pass a
measure of secularization, but were unable to do so, owing to the delay
of the Imperial Parliament in repealing the Act of 1840 (3 and 4 Vic.,
c. 78). Mr. Brown was by this time the recognized head of the most
advanced wing of the Reform Party, the "Clear Grits" whom he had
previously denounced. Advanced as were his views, however, he and his
followers had one sentiment in common with the Conservatives, namely,
hostility to the reigning Administration. This bond of union, slight as
it was, was destined to bring about a change of Government. At the
general election which followed the dissolution in 1854, Mr. Hincks, the
Premier, was honoured by a double return. A great majority of the
members returned for the new Parliament, however, were opposed to the
policy of Mr. Hincks's Government. Mr. Malcolm Cameron, the
Postmaster-General, was defeated by Mr. Brown in Lambton by a large
majority, and other staunch supporters of the Government shared a
similar fate. Upon the meeting of Parliament Mr. Hincks was compelled to
resign, and he shortly afterwards retired from public life in this
country, only to resume it many years after. He was succeeded by Sir
Allan Macnab, who formed a Coalition Government, including himself as
President of the Council and Minister of Agriculture, John A. Macdonald
as Attorney-General West, and Commissioner of Crown Lands, William
Cayley as Minister of Finance, Robert Spence as Postmaster-General,
Etienne P. Tach as Receiver-General, and P. J. O. Chauveau as
Provincial Secretary. Upon such a consummation as this Mr. Brown had not
counted, and he opposed the new Government as vigorously as he had
opposed the late one. The Opposition from the Lower Province was led by
Mr. A. A. Dorion, and Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald arrayed himself on
the same side, as the leader of part of the old Ministerial Party.

The Imperial Parliament had meanwhile paved the way to secularization of
the Clergy Reserves by repealing the Act of 1840. The new Canadian
Ministry were worldly wise, and bowed to the popular demand. They
promptly passed a measure handing over the Clergy Reserve lands to the
various municipal corporations, to be devoted to secular purposes. The
Seignorial tenure--the last vestige of the feudal _rgime_ of New
France--was abolished, and various other important reforms were enacted.
Later on, after Mr. John A. Macdonald had supplanted Sir Allan Macnab,
an Act was passed making the Legislative Council elective. The _Globe_,
however, found abundant matter for criticism, both in the conduct of the
Administration and in the personal character of some of its members.
Though its criticisms may have sometimes been unduly harsh and wanting
in discrimination, they seldom failed to tell upon the country. The
_Globe_, merely as a newspaper, had now become a recognized necessity in
the land, even by those who had no sympathy with the principles which it
advocated. It was a daily, and on important occasions several editions
of it were issued in the twenty-four hours. Its circulation was many
thousands. The enterprise of its proprietor had placed it far in advance
of any of its competitors as a medium of disseminating news. Its news
was as trustworthy as current intelligence can possibly be; and however
bitterly it might assail hostile ministries, it was always on the side
of law and order and good morals. This latter qualification, which at
the present day would be assumed as a matter of course, was at that date
a real distinction, as anyone who thinks proper to examine the Canadian
newspapers of the period will readily perceive. The _Globe_, in a word,
was the only paper which was read everywhere in Canada, and its
influence on public opinion was incalculable. It will not be supposed
that this splendid success had been achieved without effort. It is no
slight task for a young man of limited experience and capital to
establish a newspaper which shall affect the rise and fall of
governments, the market price of stocks, the political, and even the
religious faith of a large and heterogeneous community. Its proprietor
possessed a boundless capacity for hard work. When any task of
importance was to be performed, no one ever heard him complain of
fatigue. He believed in himself. There is a not uncommon delusion in the
public mind that a man, in order to be a successful journalist, should
have no opinions of his own. He should be ready to take up any question,
and any side of it, with equal zest. Never was there a greater fallacy.
No man yet ever possessed genuine power without genuine convictions. A
man who writes what he does not believe will never write well. He may
write elegantly, and may cut capers and flourishes in philology with
much alertness; but he will never write what will stir the public blood
and hold the public ear. No amount of rhetorical training will ever
enable a man who has no beliefs to write a telling paragraph. As
Macaulay puts it, "The art of saying things well is of no use to the man
who has got nothing to say." When Dr. Johnson wrote Tory pamphlets like
"Taxation no Tyranny," he was Samson shorn of his hair. George Brown had
pretty nearly all his life had something to say; and when the case was
otherwise--a rare contingency--he had been accustomed to hold his
tongue. His editorial articles in the _Globe_ had always been
conspicuous for what is known among journalists as _point_. They were
not unfrequently very personal and in very questionable taste, but they
were always on subjects in which the public felt a real interest. Their
pungency always made itself felt. It may be doubted whether the acridity
of the editorials had not as much to do with building up a reputation
for the paper as its enterprise in collecting and distributing news. To
carry on such an undertaking as this would in itself have been
sufficient for the energy of most men. It was merely one iron--the
principal one, however--that Mr. Brown had in the fire. He was the
leader of an exacting Party in Parliament, and its mouthpiece outside.
He was busy with church matters, social matters, municipal matters. It
was to be expected that there would at times be pecuniary
embarrassments. Agents sometimes proved dishonest, and the outlay was
sometimes--for those days--enormous. Nothing furnishes a more signal
proof of Mr. Brown's dogged, unconquerable power of will and readiness
of resource, than the fact that he was always able to extricate himself
from the manifold inconveniences of a narrow income and a prodigious
outlay, and this while he had a score of other matters on his hands
imperatively demanding attention. These difficulties, however, had been
in a great measure surmounted at the time to which we have brought the
narrative down. He was now comparatively well-to-do in money matters,
and able to depute a good many of his former duties to subordinates. His
speeches in the House during this period were marked by all the vigour
and impetuosity of his early youth, and by a ripeness of judgment to
which his earlier efforts could lay no claim. Notwithstanding the
multitude and variety of his ordinary pursuits, he had found time to
make himself thoroughly acquainted with constitutional questions, and
looked at things from a broader point of view. Some of his speeches at
this date produce a powerful effect on the mind, even when read in the
solitude of the study, and must have been particularly effective when
accompanied by his own forcible delivery. One or two of the best of them
must have been made with very little preparation. Their spirit is
liberal, and their statesmanship broad. His success as a Parliamentary
speaker no longer admitted of dispute.

At the general election which took place in the autumn of 1857 he
achieved the triumph of being elected for two constituencies--the City
of Toronto and the North Riding of Oxford. The crucial question on which
he offered himself to the electors was that of Representation by
Population--currently known as Rep. by Pop. He elected to sit for
Toronto. Parliament met in Toronto at the end of February, 1858. On the
question of Rep. by Pop. the Government was sustained by a majority of
twelve. On another matter they were less successful. The question as to
the location of the seat of Government had recently been submitted to
Her Majesty, and it was now proclaimed that she had given her decision
in favour of Ottawa. The Opposition, with Mr. Brown at its head,
disapproved of this selection, and brought forward a resolution
expressive of its views. This resolution was carried by a majority of
fourteen, and the Ministry promptly resigned. Sir Edmund Head, the
Governor-General, in order that the business of the country might not be
impeded, requested Mr. Brown to form a Ministry. Mr. Brown assented, and
formed what is known as the Brown-Dorion Administration, which was made
up as follows:--For Upper Canada: George Brown, Premier and
Inspector-General; James Morris, Speaker of the Legislative Council;
Michael Hamilton Foley, Postmaster-General; John Sandfield Macdonald,
Attorney-General West; Oliver Mowat, Provincial Secretary; and Dr.
Skeffington Connor, Solicitor-General West. For Lower Canada: A. A.
Dorion, Commissioner of Crown Lands; L. T. Drummond, Attorney-General
East; M. Thibaudeau, Minister of Agriculture; Luther H. Holton, Minister
of Public Works; and Charles Joseph Laberge, Solicitor-General East.
This, the shortest Administration known to Canadian history, was fated
to last only four days. Persons familiar with the past records of these
gentlemen will readily understand that such a Ministry was composed of
very incongruous materials, and could hardly have been expected to be of
long duration. A vote of want of confidence was passed, and Mr. Brown
requested the Governor-General to dissolve Parliament, upon the ground
that it did not represent the feelings of the country. The
Governor-General declined a dissolution, alleging that a general
election had just taken place, and that the House sufficiently
represented the popular will. The Government adopted the only
alternative left--to resign office.

It was at this juncture that the episode known by the undignified name
of the "Double Shuffle" took place. Mr.--now Sir Alexander--Galt was
applied to by Sir Edmund Head to form a Government. Mr. Galt doubted his
ability to form a Government which would command public confidence, and
had no ambition to form one which, like its predecessor, would be
compelled to resign in a few days. Upon his signifying his refusal to
the Governor-General, the latter applied to Mr. George Etienne Cartier,
the leader of the French-Canadian party in the House; whereupon Mr.
Cartier, with the assistance of Mr. John A. Macdonald, formed the
Cartier-Macdonald Cabinet. The composition of this Ministry was very
much the same as that of the last Conservative Ministry, which had
resigned just before the formation of the Brown-Dorion Administration,
had been. The former had been known as the Macdonald-Cartier
Administration. In the present one the names were simply reversed, and
it became the Cartier-Macdonald Administration. It was composed of
Messrs. John A. Macdonald, Attorney-General West; John Ross, President
of the Council; P. M. M. S. Vankoughnet, Commissioner of Crown Lands;
Alexander T. Galt, Minister of Finance; Sydney Smith,
Postmaster-General; George Sherwood, Receiver-General; Charles Alleyn,
Provincial Secretary; George Etienne Cartier, Attorney-General East;
Louis Victor Sicotte, Commissioner of Public Works; John Rose,
Solicitor-General; and Narcisse F. Belleau, Speaker of the Legislative
Council. The whole arrangement, indeed, was little more than a simple
exchange of offices on the part of the members of the former Government.
This would have been free from objection had the members of the new
Cabinet returned to their constituencies for relection, but they did
nothing of the kind. By a clause in the Act to ensure the Independence
of Parliament it was declared that a minister resigning one office and
accepting another within a month after such resignation might continue
to retain his new office without relection. This is precisely what was
done by the members of the Ministry at this juncture who had held office
in the Macdonald-Cartier Administration. In doing so they kept within
the strict letter of the law, but transgressed against the spirit of the
Constitution, and the prevalent usage in Great Britain. Mr. Brown and
the Reform Party generally denounced this conduct in unmeasured terms,
and succeeded in creating a wide-spread feeling throughout the country
on the subject. The matter was subsequently tested in the Courts, and
the action of the ministers was upheld, as it could not be said that
they had broken the law. The impropriety of such a proceeding, however,
and the monstrous injustice to which it might give rise if allowed to be
repeated, were so apparent that the Act was amended, and the obnoxious
clause repealed. Mr. Brown after accepting office, had returned to his
constituents in Toronto for relection. He was opposed by the Hon. John
Hillyard Cameron, and the contest that ensued was one of almost
unexampled keenness. Mr. Brown, however, was successful, and continued
to represent Toronto until the then existing Parliament expired by
effluxion of time in the month of June, 1861.

The Cartier-Macdonald Government continued to hold the reins of power,
though its membership underwent one or two modifications, until the
close of the Parliament in 1861. In the fall of the year 1859 a Reform
Convention was held in Toronto which was destined to have important
results, not only with respect to the existing Administration, but with
respect to the Canadian Constitution. Two resolutions were passed, the
first of which declared that the existing Legislative Union of Upper and
Lower Canada had failed to realize the anticipations of its promoters;
that it had resulted in a heavy debt, grave political abuses, and
universal dissatisfaction; and that from the antagonism developed
through difference of origin, local interest and other causes, the union
in its present form could no longer be continued with advantage to the
people. The second declared that the true remedy for those evils would
be found in the formation of two or more local Governments, to which
should be committed all matters of a sectional character, and in the
erection of some joint authority to dispose of the affairs common to
all. During the following session of Parliament, which opened at Quebec
on the 28th of February, 1860, Mr. Brown moved these resolutions on the
floor of the House. He supported them in a speech of great power. On the
8th of May a vote was taken on them, and they were both defeated by
large majorities. As we all know, however, the country had not heard the
last of them. The principles they enunciated came, in process of time,
to be recognized as the only ones whereby the Government could be
carried on, and they were subsequently embodied in the British North
America Act of Confederation. Upon presenting himself as a candidate for
Toronto East, at the general election of 1861, Mr. Brown was defeated by
Mr. John Crawford, and did not offer himself to any other constituency.
He was soon afterwards prostrated by a serious illness--the first and
only constitutional ailment which, in the course of a long and amazingly
active life, he was ever called upon to endure. Upon his recovery he
went abroad with a view to the thorough reestablishment of his health,
and was absent from Canada for nearly a year. During his absence he
married, at Edinburgh, on the 27th of November, 1862, Miss Annie Nelson,
a daughter of the eminent publisher Mr. Thomas Nelson. Immediately after
his return he resumed his management of the _Globe_ with all his old
vigour. The Cartier-Macdonald Administration had meanwhile been defeated
on the Bill respecting military defences, and had given place to the
Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte Government. The latter was now vehemently
assailed by the _Globe_ on various grounds, but chiefly for its
non-adoption of Representation by Population, and its devices for
securing the support of the French Canadian members. In 1863 Dr. Connor,
the member for South Oxford, was elevated to a seat on the Judicial
Bench, and thus left a vacancy in the House of which Mr. Brown
determined to avail himself. His election for that constituency was a
foregone conclusion, and he continued to represent it in Parliament
until the Union. During the same year (1863) he delivered a speech in
Toronto on the subject of "The American War and Slavery," which was
subsequently published at Manchester under the auspices of the Union and
Emancipation Society. It attracted much attention, not only in Canada
and the United States, but in Great Britain, and received a warm
eulogium from John Stuart Mill. This year was further rendered memorable
to Mr. Brown by the death of his father, who died at his residence in
Toronto on the 30th of June. The _Globe_ contained an eloquent and
touching tribute to his memory.

By this time the views which Mr. Brown had persistently advocated ever
since his first entry into public life--more especially on the vexed
question of Representation by Population and the "joint authority"
scheme--had begun to commend themselves to the intelligence of his
opponents. The Ministry from time to time underwent various
modifications, but parties were so evenly divided that no Ministry could
feel itself strong. Its majorities on every important measure were
insignificant, and it was compelled to adopt a vacillating policy which
satisfied nobody. There had been a considerable increase in taxation,
accompanied by a steadily-increasing deficit in the public exchequer,
and there was an uneasy feeling from one end of the country to the
other. After the prorogation on the 12th of May, another reconstruction
of the Cabinet took place, and the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion
Administration was formed. Parliament met in August. The debate on the
address lasted fourteen days, and the motion was finally carried by a
majority of only three--the vote standing sixty-three for the Ministry
to sixty against. With this harassing majority the Government contrived
to drag through the session, which came to an end on the 15th of
October. The following spring ushered in a new Cabinet with Sir E. P.
Tach as Premier. It was no stronger than the late one had been, and
only existed a few weeks, when a vote of non-confidence was passed.
Public feeling was more disturbed than ever. It was evident that if the
Government of the country was to be carried on at all there must be a
change, not of the Cabinet merely, but of the constitution itself. There
was literally a "dead-lock" in public affairs. Even the strongest
advocates of party began to stand aghast, and to seriously ask
themselves whither this untoward state of things was leading them. The
Government could no longer be carried on by either party. Neither
dissolutions nor readjustments of the Ministry could effect any lasting
good. Those devices had been repeatedly resorted to, and had
accomplished nothing beyond prolonging an unseemly and useless struggle.

Mr. Brown's day of triumph was at hand. The "joint authority" scheme
which he had so often brought forward; which had been made the subject
of continued ridicule; which had been voted down time and time again by
overwhelming majorities; which had been jeered at as the chimaera of an
unpractical theorist with a bee in his bonnet--this scheme at last began
to be seriously entertained. It soon came to be recognized as the one
and only remedy for the existing dead-lock. Mr. John A. Macdonald, after
taking counsel with his colleagues, made advances to Mr. Brown, and
proposed that a Coalition Government should be formed for the purpose of
carrying the project into effect. Mr. Brown consented to temporarily
sink all past hostilities, and to join hands with his opponents for the
public good. Three seats in the Cabinet were placed at his disposal, and
were filled by himself, as President of the Council, William Macdougall,
as Provincial Secretary, and Oliver Mowat, as Postmaster-General.
"Thus," says Mr. Macmullen,[1] "a strong Coalition Government was formed
to carry out the newly-accepted policy of Confederation, and although
extreme parties here and there grumbled at these arrangements, the great
body of the people, of all shades of opinion, thankful that the
dangerous crisis had been safely passed, gladly accepted the situation,
and calmly and confidently waited the progress of events. Never before
had a coalition been more opportune. It rendered the government of the
country again respectable, elevated it above the accidents of faction,
and enabled it to wield the administrative power with that firmness and
decision so requisite during the trying and critical period which
speedily ensued."

A similar agitation had meanwhile sprung up in the Maritime Provinces,
and during the following September a Conference of Delegates was held at
Charlottetown, Prince Edward's Island, with a view to the Confederation
of those Provinces. At this Conference Messrs. George Brown, John A.
Macdonald, George E. Cartier, A. T. Galt, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, H. L.
Langevin, William Macdougall and Alexander Campbell were present, having
attended for the purpose of urging a confederation not merely of the
Maritime Provinces, but of all the Provinces of British America. This
larger scheme met with favour, and the project of a mere Maritime
Confederation was abandoned. After several days' discussion the
Conference adjourned till the 10th of October, when the delegates agreed
to meet at Quebec. Mr. Brown and his colleagues from Canada West spent a
great part of the interval in making a progress through New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia, where they addressed numerous public meetings, and
unfolded the merits of the great project which they had in view. The
adjourned Conference met at Quebec on the 10th of October, and was
attended by thirty-three delegates, representing all shades of opinion,
from the different Provinces. The session was held with closed doors,
and lasted seventeen days. During those seventeen days all the principal
points of Confederation were agreed upon, and resolutions embodying them
were adopted by the Conference. Mr. Brown's speeches during these
seventeen days have been pronounced by persons who heard them, and who
are capable of forming a disinterested opinion, to have been the most
noteworthy utterances of his life. They were entirely devoid of
party-feeling, and were marked by a lofty and disinterested patriotism
in which his own personal politics and aspirations seemed to have no
part. It is said that more than one of the delegates were for the first
time awakened by those utterances to a true sense of the importance of
the great task in which they had been called to take part.

The details of the scheme were soon afterwards published to the world.
On the opening of Parliament in February of the following year, the
resolutions which had been passed by the Conference were fully
discussed. There were some malcontents, but the country at large
recognized the merits of the scheme, and it was finally adopted. A
deputation, consisting of Messrs. Macdonald, Cartier and Galt, and Mr.
Brown himself, went over to England to confer with the Imperial
Government, and the chief provisions of the Act of Confederation were
there and then finally settled.

The question of Reciprocity between Canada and the United States began
to come prominently forward at this time. The treaty negotiated in 1854
had been conditioned to continue in force for ten years from March,
1855, after which it might be put an end to by either party upon giving
twelve months' notice. That notice had already been given by the United
States, and the treaty would expire on the 17th of March, 1866. The
people of Canada were all but unanimous in desiring a renewal of
reciprocity, and a deputation was sent to Washington for that purpose.
Before the departure of the deputation, however, Mr. Brown had withdrawn
from the Administration. He was not in accord with the other members as
to the terms upon which it would be desirable to negotiate for
reciprocity. His colleagues were disposed to yield more to the demands
of the United States than he believed to be for the interests of the
country. This was his ostensible reason for withdrawing from the
Government; but the probability is that he felt as though he had been in
it long enough. As matter of fact, there was no good purpose to be
served by his continuing to hold office with persons in whom he had no
confidence, and to whom he had always been opposed. It was not without
reluctance that he had amalgamated with them, and he had only consented
to do so for a specific purpose--to bring about Confederation. That
purpose had already been practically accomplished; as, although the Act
had not been passed, its terms had been settled, and there was nothing
further to be done which could not be accomplished as well without his
assistance as with it. His withdrawal, however, was much regretted by
several members of the Cabinet. It may here be mentioned that the United
States finally declined to entertain the project for a renewal of the
treaty, except upon terms to which the Canadian deputation could not be
expected to assent, and the negotiations came to nothing.

From the time of resigning his place in the Coalition Government Mr.
Brown did not take an active part in Parliamentary life. At the first
general election which took place after Confederation, in 1867, he
contested the South Riding of Ontario with Mr. T. N. Gibbs, for the
House of Commons. It was an act of great temerity on his part, for Mr.
Gibbs was a local candidate of great influence. Mr. Brown was defeated,
and did not afterwards make any similar attempt. On the 16th of
December, 1873, he was called to the Senate, and subsequently attended
from time to time the deliberations of that body, but did not take any
specially prominent part in its proceedings. In the summer of 1874 he
went to Washington on behalf of the Dominion and the Empire, as Joint
Plenipotentiary with Sir Edward Thornton, to negotiate a new Reciprocity
Treaty with Mr. Secretary Fish, on behalf of the United States. He took
with him Mr. J. Saurin McMurray, barrister, of Toronto, in the capacity
of Secretary, and during their stay in Washington, which extended over a
period of several weeks, they were both busily employed in endeavouring
to carry out the object of their mission. A draft treaty was prepared
and approved of by the Governments of the Dominion and Great Britain;
but upon being submitted by President Grant to the United States Senate,
that Body thought proper to reject it; and no attempt to obtain
reciprocity between the two nations has since been made.

During the last few years of his life Mr. Brown's energies were
principally directed to the conduct of the _Globe_ and of the Model Farm
called Bow Park, near Brantford. The latter establishment, which is
owned by a Joint Stock Company called "The Canada West Farm Stock
Association"--of which Mr. Brown was himself the manager, and in which
he was the principal stockholder--is one of the principal attractions of
Canada for all foreign visitors who take an interest in agricultural
matters. It embraces a tract of nine hundred and thirteen acres of land,
and is said to be in many respects the finest stock farm on this
continent. It is resorted to every year by admiring visitors from Great
Britain and the United States, and its establishment has done much to
improve the quality of farm stock throughout the Dominion. Mr. Brown was
undoubtedly moved to enter upon this enterprise by a belief that he
would aid in the development of Ontario agriculture by the introduction
of the best breeds of cattle in large numbers; but he loved farming for
its own sake, and was never so happy as when walking through the cattle
sheds, or roaming through the fields and copses of Bow Park with his
children. Although city born and bred, he is said by those capable of
forming an opinion to have been an excellent judge of the points of
cattle, and he was eminently successful as a breeder. It is cause for
congratulation that his work will be continued under the auspices of the
company which he formed some years ago.

The circumstances under which Mr. Brown received the wound which
produced his death are fresh in the public memory, and are well known to
every reader of these pages. Some account of them, however, is necessary
to give completeness to the present sketch. For some years prior to the
month of February last the _Globe_ Printing Company had in their service
a man named George Bennett, a native of Cobourg, Ontario. He was
employed in the capacity of an assistant engineer, and was a man of
dissipated habits and loose character. On the 5th of February last he
was discharged, by Mr. Brown's orders, for neglect of duty. From Mr.
Brown's own account of the subsequent course of events, and from the
evidence adduced at the trial on the 22nd of June last, it appears that
Bennett, on the day after his dismissal, called upon Mr. Brown
personally, and urged the latter to give him another trial. With this
request Mr. Brown refused to comply. A day or two later Bennett again
called upon Mr. Brown, at his private office in the _Globe_ building,
and urged his restoration in the strongest terms, but with the same
result as before. On both of these occasions Bennett was quite
reasonable in his language and respectful in his demeanour. He showed no
sign of vindictiveness or excitement, either in manner or word. Seven
weeks passed away, and Bennett, on the afternoon of the 25th of March,
again presented himself in Mr. Brown's office. When Bennett entered, Mr.
Brown was writing at his desk, and on seeing who his visitor was he
immediately rose from his seat and walked up to him. Bennett began to
plead for reinstatement, when he was told that it was needless to urge
the matter further. Bennett then drew a paper from his pocket, which he
said contained a certificate to the effect that he had been five years
in the _Globe_ office, which he wished Mr. Brown to sign. This Mr. Brown
refused to do, suggesting to him to go to the head of his department,
who knew the length of time he had been employed, and the manner in
which he had discharged his duty. Mr. Brown also suggested that he
should go to the Treasurer of the Company, who knew from the books how
long he had been in the office. Bennett was not content with this, but
still persisted, saying, "Sign, sign"--at the same time stretching the
paper over towards the desk at which Mr. Brown had been sitting. Mr.
Brown thereupon told Bennett that he could have no more discussion, as
he was very busy. Mr. Brown then walked towards the door, facing
Bennett, when he observed the latter slowly put his right arm around his
back, and then his left hand, the purpose of which was suggested when a
click was heard. Swiftly a revolver was produced, and was on the point
of being raised to fire, within a few inches of Mr. Brown's body, when
Mr. Brown instantly grasped the assassin's pistol-arm with his left
hand, and forced the muzzle down, while he clutched the man closely with
his right arm. The pistol went off before Mr. Brown had time to turn it
away from his person, and he received a bullet through his thigh, which
entered at the front, and came out behind. A scuffle then ensued,
Bennett trying to get the pistol turned towards Mr. Brown's body, and to
get away from Mr. Brown's grasp. This struggle carried the parties
through the doorway and across the hall, when Mr. Brown forced Bennett's
head through a pane of glass, which threatened serious consequences to
him. Bennett struggled desperately to get his pistol free from Mr.
Brown's grasp, which held pistol and hand together. Mr. Brown met this
effort by an equally earnest one to wrest the pistol from his hand, and
at the same time raised the cry of "Murder." Assistance speedily came,
but by this time Mr. Brown was master of the situation. The police were
speedily on the spot, and took Bennett into custody. It was not until
Mr. Brown had walked back into his room, and was surrounded by numbers
of anxious friends asking particulars of the affair, that he became
fully aware that he had been shot. Meantime one of the gentlemen of the
establishment had started off to bring his family physician, Dr.
Thorburn, who in a few minutes made his appearance. The necessary
examinations having been made, Dr. Thorburn was enabled to state that no
serious injury had been inflicted, and that a few days' rest and quiet
were probably all that would be required to restore Mr. Brown to full
health and vigour. Shortly after, Mr. Brown left the office in a
carriage, to which he walked without assistance, amid the hearty
congratulations of his friends at his escape from sudden death.

For some days afterwards, no serious apprehensions were felt as to the
result. Mr. Brown was not a man given to magnifying his personal
ailments, and it will surprise no one who knew him well to learn that he
treated his wound as trifling. When he was borne home from his office on
the day of the catastrophe, he laughed at the solicitude of those near
and dear to him, and for some time afterwards devoted a portion of every
day to business matters. He continued thus hopeful so long as the full
measure of his intelligence remained to him. The members of his family,
however, were more keenly alive to the shock to which his system had
been subjected, and from the first took a less sanguine view of his
situation. As time passed by, his condition became critical. Large
abscesses formed around the wound, which continued to discharge after
being opened by the surgeons. Fever and delirium ensued, and for six
weeks the contest continued, until his natural strength gave way. Modern
appliances for relieving long confinement, for administering food, and
for dressing wounds were used with skill and assiduity. All that
professional skill could do was done, but all was of no avail. Mr. Brown
possessed great energy, and had all the appearance of health, but long
years of earnest labour had made him older than his years, and the
assassin's bullet did its work. About two o'clock in the morning of the
9th of May the end came. He sank quietly to rest, without a struggle, in
the presence of several members of his family. The news of his death
spread rapidly over the country, and created a deep and general feeling
of sorrow. Messages expressive of sympathy and regret were received by
the family from all quarters of the Dominion. The funeral took place on
Wednesday, the 12th, and was the most numerously attended that has ever
been seen in Toronto. The place of sepulture was the family burial-plot
in the Necropolis.

Mr. Brown was a member and regular attendant of the Presbyterian Church.
Whether or not his religious convictions were strong, the writer is
unable to say. They were at all events not unduly paraded. According to
the testimony of those who attended him in his last hours, he lived and
died in the faith of his fathers. He left a wife and three children, a
brother and three sisters, to mourn his loss, and the unhappy
catastrophe which led to it.

Mr. Brown was a man of large views in business, in works of benevolence,
and in public enterprises. He had little time to act on committees or
boards, but no good enterprise was presented to him without securing his
influence and his contribution. His friendships were strong and
enduring, and he never forgot a kindness.

The foregoing pages embody such particulars in Mr. Brown's life as may
reasonably be supposed to possess an interest for the general reading
public of the present day. The facts with reference to his Parliamentary
career have necessarily been given in the merest outline. To go fully
into details would not only occupy a space much greater than the scheme
of this work will admit of, but would render it necessary to adopt an
attitude inconsistent with perfect historic impartiality. Such an
attitude the writer does not conceive it to be his duty to assume. It is
believed, however, that enough has been said to enable the impartial
reader to form something like a correct estimate as to what manner of
man this was who occupied so large a space on the political canvas of
our country for the last thirty years. The writer's own estimate has
been sufficiently indicated in the opening paragraphs; and that
estimate--though it may not commend itself to every reader--will, it is
believed, be sanctioned by the verdict of posterity. Fortunately,
political prejudices are for an age, and not for all time. When the
asperities of the present shall have become merged in the recollections
of the past, it can hardly fail to be conceded that George Brown's
influence upon his chosen country was on the whole exerted for that
country's good. His enemies have often unjustly stigmatized him as a
tyrant. Unjustly; because it is the quality of a tyrant to attack the
weak, and his attacks were always directed against the strong. His
imperious will, his occasional wrong-headedness and infirmities of
temper raised up for him bitter and formidable enemies. They even
prevented many of his friends who judged him only from the outside from
recognizing the great and genuine manliness--and even kindness--of his
character. But when all deductions have been made: when the debtor and
creditor side of his account shall have been fully made out: the balance
will be found to be a large one, and on the right side.




THE HON. WILLIAM JOHNSTON RITCHIE,

_CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DOMINION_.


Chief Justice Ritchie is a son of the late Mr. Thomas Ritchie, one of
the Justices of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of the Province of
Nova Scotia, a tribunal which has long since been abolished. His mother
was a daughter of the late Hon. James W. Johnston, who was for many
years one of the most prominent lawyers and politicians of Nova Scotia,
and who for some time prior to his death, in 1873, occupied a seat on
the Judicial Bench.

He was born at the town of Annapolis, the oldest settlement in Acadia,
on the 28th of October, 1813. He received his education at Pictou
Academy under the tutelage of the late Dr. Thomas McCulloch. After
leaving school he studied law at Halifax, in the office of his brother
the Hon. John William Ritchie, the present Judge in Equity for Nova
Scotia. In 1838, having made up his mind to practise at the Bar of New
Brunswick, and having already practised as an attorney at St. John for
about two years, he was called to the Bar of that Province. His
professional career was highly creditable, but, during its early stages,
was not marked by any incident of special importance for biographical
purposes. His rise was not rapid, but steady, and was built upon a sure
and solid foundation. He soon established himself in practice, and won a
creditable reputation, alike for forensic learning and manliness of
character. He continued in active practice of his profession about
nineteen years, during a part of which time he was also engaged in
political life. It was impossible, indeed, for any rising professional
man in New Brunswick to avoid mingling to some extent with politics in
those stirring times. At the general elections of 1842, Mr. Ritchie was
an unsuccessful candidate in the Liberal interest for the representation
of the city and county of St. John in the Legislative Assembly of New
Brunswick. In 1843 he married Miss Martha Strang, of St. Andrew's, N. B.,
who survived her marriage about four years. In 1847 he again entered
the lists as a candidate for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick,
on behalf of the city and county of St. John. In this second attempt he
was successful, and continued to sit in the Assembly until 1851, when he
retired in order to devote himself exclusively to his profession. In
1854, he married Miss Grace Vernon Nicholson, a daughter of the late Mr.
Thomas L. Nicholson, of St. John, N. B., and a step-daughter of the late
Admiral Owen, R. N., of Campobello.

In the autumn of 1853 he was offered a silk gown, which he declined to
accept, unless upon the condition that the appointment should be made on
professional grounds, and that his acceptance should not be considered
as an endorsement by him of the politics of the party then in the
ascendant. The conditions were made known by the Governor, Sir Edmund
Head, to the Secretary of State in the Home Government. The appointment
was notwithstanding made, and in the month of January, 1854, Mr. Ritchie
became a Queen's Counsel, in which capacity he frequently represented
the Crown in cases of public importance.

In the month of October following he became a member of the Executive
Council of New Brunswick. On the 17th of August, 1855, he was appointed
a Puisn Judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, and continued to
sit on the Bench in that capacity until the end of November, 1865, when
he succeeded the late Hon. Robert Parker as Chief Justice of the
Province. He occupied the position of Chief Justice about ten years,
when, upon the creation of the Supreme Court of the Dominion, he was
nominated as one of the Puisn Judges conjointly with Messieurs S. H.
Strong, J. T. Taschereau, T. Fournier, and W. A. Henry. His appointment
bears date the 8th of October, in that year. He removed from his native
Province to New Edinburgh, a suburb of Ottawa, and has ever since
resided there. On the 25th of November, 1878, during the absence in
Europe of Chief Justice W. B. Richards, Judge Ritchie administered the
oath of office to the Marquis of Lorne upon his landing at Halifax as
Governor-General of Canada. Upon the subsequent resignation of Chief
Justice Richards, Judge Ritchie succeeded to the vacancy thereby
created, and was sworn in by the Marquis of Lorne on the 20th of
February, 1879.

Chief Justice Ritchie enjoys the reputation of being a sound and
thoroughly-read lawyer, an accomplished scholar, and a man of great
force of character. His judgments are held in high respect by his
brother jurists, as well as by the legal profession at large.




[Illustration: EARL OF DURHAM]


THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DURHAM.


It is a circumstance worth noting that the shortest administrative term
known to Canadian history was likewise in many respects, the most
important. Its duration was less than six months. Lord Durham arrived in
Canada on the 27th of May, 1838, and set sail from Quebec on the 3rd of
November in the same year. His stay in this country therefore embraced a
period of little more than five months; but in that brief interval he
acquired a more thorough knowledge of Canadian affairs than had been
possessed by any of his predecessors. The knowledge so acquired was
erelong turned to account, and it is not going too far to say that Lord
Durham accomplished more of lasting good to Canada than was effected by
any other Governor who has represented the Majesty of Great Britain in
these colonies. His elaborate and carefully considered report paved the
way to the union of the Provinces, to the fusion of antagonistic races,
and to the establishment of Responsible Government. The man who brought
about these desirable reforms thereby established an especial claim upon
the lasting regard of the Canadian people. It may be said, indeed, that
he was the founder of good government in this country, and of the
principle which ultimately developed into Confederation. Men like
Francis Gore and Sir Peregrine Maitland come and go, leaving no
beneficial trace of their presence behind them. Men like the Earl of
Durham leave their mark upon their country, and, to some extent, upon
their age.

He was for some years one of the most conspicuous personages in Great
Britain. Half a century ago he was the rising hope of Liberalism in
British politics, and the expectations which were formed as to his
future career were almost extravagantly sanguine. It may be doubted
whether these anticipations would have been fully realized, even if his
life had been spared; for, notwithstanding his rare talents, he lacked
some of the essential elements of statesmanship. He was endowed with an
almost boundless capacity for hard work, but could not bear to wait for
results. He had an imperious will, which made him singularly impatient
under opposition--even the opposition of his best friends. He was
deficient in tact, and his impulsiveness and want of self-control
frequently placed him in a false position before the nation, even when
he unquestionably had right on his side. Conscious of the rectitude of
his intentions, and convinced of the soundness of his judgments, he was
keenly intolerant of contradiction, and was by no means slow to express
his contempt for the opinions of those who differed from him. He made
many powerful enemies, and seemed to take an almost morbid delight in
intensifying the bitterness of their enmity. In this way he materially
hindered the development of his career, and prevented his great talents
from being appreciated according to their merits. He did not live long
enough to outgrow his impetuosity, and to set himself right in public
esteem. His life, we believe, has never been written in his native land,
and his name has almost passed out of public memory there. In this
country, however, there are doubtless many persons who would be glad to
know something more of Lord Durham than is to be found in the various
histories of Canada, and it is due to his memory that we should
occasionally call to mind how much we owe to his exertions on our
behalf.

The subject of this memoir--born plain John George Lambton--was the
representative of an old English family which traces its descent in an
uninterrupted course for a period of seven hundred years, and which to
this day owns and occupies the ancestral estate from which the family
name was originally derived. This estate is situated in the Northern
Division of the County of Durham, only a few miles from the Scottish
border. With antique genealogies, however, we have no present concern,
and for the purposes of this sketch it will be unnecessary to refer to
any ancestor more remote than William Henry Lambton, the father of the
statesman who subsequently became first Earl of Durham and
Governor-General of Canada. William Henry Lambton was a prominent member
of the most advanced section of the Whig party, and represented the City
of Durham in the British House of Commons for many years. He was a
personal friend and ally of Charles James Fox, and held a high place in
the esteem of that great statesman. He married Lady Anne Barbara Frances
Villiers, a daughter of the fourth Earl of Jersey, by whom he had a
daughter and four sons. The eldest son, John George, is the subject of
this sketch. He was born at Lambton Castle, the county seat of the
family, on the 12th of April, 1792. He received his early education at
Eton and Cambridge, and after leaving college held for a short time a
commission in a regiment of hussars. Three months before attaining his
twentieth birthday, on the 12th of January, 1812, he made a romantic
Gretna Green marriage with Miss Harriett Cholmondeley, who survived the
marriage only a little more than three years. Immediately upon attaining
his majority and succeeding to the family estates he offered himself as
a candidate for the representation of his native county of Durham in the
House of Commons, and notwithstanding the Toryism of that constituency
he was returned at the head of the poll. His career as a speaker in the
Commons was not a specially brilliant one, but he was true to the
traditions of his house, and made himself known as an energetic and
advanced reformer. He was a Liberal from profound conviction, as well as
by right of his paternity, and never swerved from his allegiance to his
Party from the time he first entered politics down to the end of his
career. He made himself cordially hated by the Tories of that day, from
his uncompromising opposition to the retrogressive legislation of the
Government. His interest with the Liberal party was strengthened by his
second marriage, which was contracted on the 9th of December, 1816, with
Louisa Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Earl Grey; and his eldest son by
this lady, George Frederick D'Arcy, second Earl of Durham, is the
present representative of the title. In 1819 he came conspicuously
before the public as the champion of popular rights by his scathing
denunciations, both in the House of Commons and at numerous public
meetings, of the measures proposed by the Castlereagh-Sidmouth
Government for the coercion and repression of the Chartists. In the
month of April, 1821, he moved for a Committee of the Whole House to
consider the state of the representation, and made a stirring speech in
favour of Parliamentary Reform. He at this time, which was eleven years
prior to the passing of the Reform Bill, advocated the establishment of
equal electoral districts, the abolition of the Septennial Act, and the
restoration of triennial Parliaments--changes much more sweeping than
were sanctioned by the Act of 1832. His health had never been robust,
and in 1826 its condition was such as to render a continental tour
necessary. He travelled for several months through Southern Europe, and
spent more than half a year at Naples. Upon his return to England in
1827 he supported Canning's Ministry, and after the dissolution of Lord
Goderich's Administration in January, 1828, he was raised to the peerage
by the title of Baron Durham. On the formation of Earl Grey's Reform
Ministry in November, 1830, Lord Durham accepted office as Lord Privy
Seal, and was one of four persons appointed to prepare a new Reform
Bill. Mr. Justin McCarthy, in his recently published "History of Our Own
Times," draws a picture of Lord Durham during his tenure of office in
Earl Grey's Ministry which puts him before posterity in a tolerably
clear light. "He" (Lord Durham), says Mr. McCarthy, "is said to have had
an almost complete control over Lord Grey. He had an impassioned and
energetic nature, which sometimes drove him into outbreaks of feeling
which most of his colleagues dreaded. Lord Durham, his enemies and some
of his friends said, bullied and browbeat his opponents in the Cabinet,
and would sometimes hardly allow his father-in-law and official chief a
chance of putting in a word on the other, side, or in mitigation of his
tempestuous mood. He was thorough in his reforming purposes, and had
very little reverence for what Carlyle calls the majesty of custom. He
had no idea of reticence, and cared not much for the decorum of office."
His well-known passage at arms with the Bishop of Exeter, during the
debate on the Reform Bill, is a not inapt example of his manner of
dealing with his opponents. The Bishop, in the course of a long and not
ineffective speech, had quoted numerous historical examples in support
of his prediction that the passage of the Reform Bill would bring sudden
and certain disaster to Great Britain. He of course did his best to make
light of the arguments of the advocates of the Bill, and indulged in
some badinage which stung Lord Durham to frenzy. The latter had no
opportunity for reply until the next night, but his fury underwent no
diminution, and the sun was permitted not only to go down, but to rise
upon his wrath. When he began his reply on the following night he seemed
to have perfect command over himself, and for some time went on to
criticise certain unimportant details of the Bill. After a few minutes
of this he quietly glided into the subject of the reverend prelate's
speech of the previous night. Then he let loose the flood-gates of his
indignation. He referred to the speech as an exhibition of "coarse and
virulent invective, malignant and false insinuation, the grossest
perversions of historical facts, decked out with all the choicest
flowers of pamphleteering slang." The speaker was called to order, and
it was moved that the language should be taken down. Lord Durham, in
response to this motion, declared that he did not mean to defend his
language as elegant or graceful, but he asserted that it exactly
conveyed what he had meant to say; that he believed the Bishop's speech
to contain false and scandalous insinuations; that he had said so; that
he now begged leave to repeat the words; and that he paused to give any
noble lord who thought fit an opportunity of taking them down. There
was, however, no taking down; and when his Lordship saw from the
demeanour of the House, that he had gone too far, he made a
quasi-apology, not to the Bishop of Exeter but to the House at large. He
begged that some allowance might be made if he had spoken too warmly;
for he had lately suffered much domestic grief. The grief had arisen
from the recent death of his eldest son.[2] The House respected his
great sorrow, and made allowance for the petulance and ill temper he had
displayed.

He was subject to continual attacks of ill health, and on the 23rd of
March, 1833, he resigned his Ministerial office. He was at the same time
advanced in the peerage to the viscounty of Lambton, and was created
Earl of Durham. In the summer of the same year he consented to go to St.
Petersburg on a special mission to the Czar of Russia, on which mission
he was absent until the following spring. Soon after his return a
banquet was given to Lord Grey by the Reformers of Edinburgh. Lord
Grey's Administration, which had accomplished the great work of carrying
through the Reform Bill, and which had passed through a notable session
under the first Reformed Parliament, had long been torn by internal
dissensions, and needed reconstruction. The Premier had completed his
seventieth year, and the state of his health was too feeble to admit of
his discharging the duties of his position with satisfaction to himself.
Lord Brougham whose eccentricities and fierce ebullitions of temper had
already made him the dread of most of his colleagues, was continually
sneering at his Chief, and arrogating to himself governmental functions
which properly belonged to Lord Grey. The latter's position had become
insupportable to himself, and he had repeatedly threatened to resign. He
had at last fulfilled his threat, and a new Ministry had been formed
under Lord Melbourne. Lord Grey's official career having thus come to an
end, the Liberals had determined to give a banquet in his honour, at
which the leaders of the Party might have an opportunity of giving
expression to their unabated esteem for that nobleman's character and
statesmanship. The banquet, which was held at Edinburgh on the 15th of
September, 1834, was of unusual splendour, and to this day is sometimes
spoken of as almost an event in the city's history. Lord Brougham, in
spite of his relations towards the ex-minister, was present on the
occasion, and made an extraordinary speech in which he lauded his own
services and public virtues to such an extent as to disgust every one
present. He descanted on the differences that existed between the two
classes of Reformers. There were, he said, hasty spirits who were bound
to steer the ship of state into harbour by the nearest channel,
unmindful whether or not they cast the vessel on the rocks. The other
class, among which the speaker included himself, he described as being
endowed with prudence and moderation, and as making due provision for
the vessel's safety. "I wholly respect the good intentions of these
men," said his Lordship; "but when they ask me to sail in their vessel I
must insist on staying on shore." These remarks Lord Durham conceived to
have been levelled at himself--as, indeed, there is no manner of doubt
they had been--and he was not the man to tamely submit to castigation,
even from so scorching a tongue as was that of the fiery Chancellor. He
replied in a scathing speech, parts of which were almost as fierce as
anything that had ever come from Brougham's own lips. Other parts of it
were free from objectionable matter, in the abstract; but, owing to
Brougham's position at the time, even those parts were keenly felt and
treasured up by him. The extraordinary courtly leanings which Brougham
had recently been displaying were touched upon with withering sarcasm,
as were also his growing lukewarmness in the cause of Reform. "My noble
and learned friend," said Lord Durham, "has been pleased to give some
advice, which I have no doubt he deems very sound, to some classes of
persons--I know none such--who evince too strong a desire to get rid of
ancient abuses, and fretful impatience in awaiting the remedies of them.
Now I frankly confess that I am one of those persons who see with regret
every hour which passes over the existence of recognized and unreformed
abuses." The effect of this passage of arms was such as seriously to
impair the harmony of the banquet. A few days after, Lord Brougham, at a
meeting at Salisbury, reflected upon Lord Durham by name, and hinted
that they would one day meet in the House of Lords, where the discussion
might be resumed. "I fear him not," said Lord Durham; "I accept his
challenge, and will meet him in the House of Lords." "It is not unfair,"
says the writer already quoted from, "to the memory of so fierce and
unsparing a political gladiator as Lord Brougham to assume that when he
felt called upon to attack the Canadian policy of Lord Durham, the
recollection of the scene at the Edinburgh dinner inspired with
additional force his criticism of the Quebec ordinances."

In the summer of 1835 Lord Durham consented to return to St. Petersburg
in the capacity of Ambassador, and remained there about two years. He
had not been at home many months before he was asked to go to Canada to
quell the rebellion. The numerous difficulties in this country called
imperatively for adjustment. The nature of those difficulties is well
known to all readers of these pages. To Lord Durham's friends it seemed
that a time had arrived when he would have an opportunity of showing the
world how much there was in him. He was appointed Governor-General and
Her Majesty's High Commissioner "for the adjustment of certain important
affairs affecting the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada." Immediately
after accepting the appointment he announced in the House of Lords that
in discharging the duties of his position he would endeavour to make
British supremacy respected in Canada, but that he would act with
perfect impartiality. He would patronize no section of the population,
he said, but would administer equal justice, and afford equal
protection, to all the inhabitants of the colony, whether English,
French, or Canadian. Nothing could have more certainly proved his
fitness for the post than such a disposition. He believed himself to be,
and doubtless it was intended that he should be, armed with the fullest
powers.

He prepared to carry out his mission in a manner befitting his exalted
rank, and the extraordinary powers wherewith he believed himself to be
invested. The vessel which conveyed him to these shores was fitted up
with unusual splendour. His suite was very large, and created a marked
impression upon reaching this country. This was perfectly in unison with
Lord Durham's intentions, for, though an advanced Liberal in politics,
he was unusually fond of pomp and luxurious display. He brought over
with him several gentlemen as secretaries and assistants, among whom
were Charles Buller, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and Thomas E. M. Turton.
All of these were men of unusual ability, but two of them were somewhat
under a cloud in English society on the score of morality. Mr. Buller's
career, both before and subsequent to his Canadian experiences, was in
the highest degree creditable to him. He had in his youth been a pupil
of Thomas Carlyle. Later on he had sat in the British House of Commons,
and had voted for the Reform Bill. His subsequent career was one of
unusual brilliancy, but was cut short by his death in 1848, ten years
after his visit to Canada. His old tutor wrote a touching obituary
notice of him in the _Examiner_, which is included in Mr. Carlyle's
collected works. It is to Mr. Buller's pen that we are chiefly indebted
for the famous "Report" which is inseparably associated with Lord
Durham's name. So far, then, as Mr. Buller was concerned, there was
nothing to be urged against him. With Mr. Wakefield and Mr. Turton the
case was different, and, as will presently be seen, their shortcomings,
as well as Lord Durham's fondness for display, were subsequently taken
advantage of by Lord Brougham and others to influence public opinion.
Mr. Wakefield's principal delinquency consisted in his having been
concerned in the abduction of a young lady from a boarding-school. The
young lady, who was a Miss Turner, had been clandestinely married, and
the marriage had been subsequently annulled by Act of Parliament. The
discussion to which the passage of the Act gave rise rendered it
impossible that the abduction--which was then, and is still, a very
serious offence--could be allowed to go unpunished. Mr. Wakefield was
arrested, tried, and convicted of the offence, and was sentenced to a
term of two years' imprisonment. This, of course, had left a stain upon
his name, and he was not the most reputable ally that a distinguished
statesman and a peer of the realm could have chosen. Mr. Turton, who was
a barrister, had been the defendant in an action for criminal
conversation, and had been mulcted in heavy damages. Both these
gentlemen, however, were, as has already been remarked, men of singular
ability, and it is simply just to say that their advice and assistance
were of inestimable value to Lord Durham and to Canada.

His Lordship landed at Quebec, with true vice-regal pomp, on the 29th of
May, 1838. He found that the rebellion had nearly calmed down. The
constitution of the Lower Province had been suspended by an Act of the
Imperial Parliament, and the administration of affairs had been
entrusted to a Special Council, whose decrees were to have the same
effect as Legislative enactments have under a constitutional government.
The suspension was a sore point with many of the French Canadians, and
Lord Durham had a difficult task before him. He however managed things
wisely and well. He adopted a policy of combined firmness and
conciliation, and put forth a proclamation declaring that the honest,
conscientious advocates of Reform would receive from him that assistance
and encouragement which their patriotism had a right to command, without
distinction of party, races or politics. He at the same time declared
that all disturbers of the public peace, all violators of the law, would
find in him a firm and uncompromising opponent. "I beg you," said his
Lordship, "to consider me as a friend, and an arbitrator ready at all
times to listen to your wishes, complaints and grievances; for I am
fully determined to act with the utmost impartiality." A few days later
he suspended the Special Council, and called into existence a new one,
nominated by himself, and chiefly composed of members of his own staff.
He issued divers ordinances with a view to the pacification of the
country, and travelled about to make himself acquainted with the actual
state of affairs. Everything was going more smoothly than could have
been expected, and he gradually began to see his way to a successful
issue to his mission. The great stumbling-block in his path was the
disposition of the rebels. The public of the Lower Province, as he well
knew, would not sympathize with harsh measures, nor had he himself any
leaning towards harshness. In case of the rebels being brought to trial,
unless the device of packing a jury were resorted to, it would be
impossible to secure convictions. Lord Durham was an honest man, and did
not believe in packing juries, even to convict the most odious of
criminals. He moreover knew that the rebels might justly plead a good
deal in extenuation of their offence. He was disposed to look upon their
struggles for liberty with a pitying eye, and he had certainly no desire
that they should expiate their crime on the gallows. At the same time it
would never do to entirely condone the offence, so far, at any rate, as
the ringleaders were concerned. Some of these had already fled beyond
his jurisdiction, but there were a few still remaining in the country
who could not be allowed to go altogether unpunished. There was no
constitutional way out of this difficulty; or rather, the constitutional
way out of it would have brought further disaster on the country, and
would have given satisfaction to no one. Lord Durham cut the Gordian
knot by proclaiming a general amnesty, making an exception in the case
of certain individuals named, as to whom it was declared that after
undergoing an exile, the length of which was not specified, they might
hope to be permitted to return to their country and their homes when
such return could be allowed with due regard to the public safety. Eight
of the rebel leaders who were then in gaol at Montreal were directed to
be transported to Bermuda. Sixteen others had fled from the Province;
and it was declared that if any of either class should return to Canada
without permission they should suffer death as traitors.

Now, in so ordaining, there can be no sort of doubt that Lord Durham was
exceeding his legal authority. Neither can there be any doubt that he
knew perfectly well what he was doing. But the emergency was one without
precedent, and he conceived himself to have been empowered, as we have
seen, to do whatever he should deem best calculated to restore peace and
good order. He cared little for rules of law, if he could do justice,
and at the same time restore tranquillity to the colony. At the present
day, no sensible man will be found to deny that if his policy had met
with universal support at home it would have been efficacious. But he
had exceeded his authority, and Lord Brougham, who had been steadfastly
waiting his opportunity ever since the Edinburgh banquet, saw that it
had come. On the 7th of August he made a ferocious attack upon Lord
Durham in the House of Lords. He animadverted upon what he called "the
appalling fact" that Mr. Louis Joseph Papineau and fifteen of his
compatriots, not one of whom had been brought to trial, had been
adjudged to suffer death if they dared to show their heads in Canada.
Such a proceeding, he said, was contrary to every principle of justice,
and was opposed to the genius and spirit of English law, which humanely
supposed every accused person to be innocent until he had been found
guilty. Lord Lyndhurst declared that no such act of despotism as that
perpetrated by Lord Durham had ever been seen in any country at all
regardful of legal forms. Brougham, Ellenborough and Lyndhurst contrived
to stir up a very strong feeling against Lord Durham. They attacked him
on every hand. They enlarged upon the extravagance which had marked his
Commissionership, and referred to the expense the country had been at in
fitting up the vessel in which he had made his voyage across the
Atlantic. The cost of his vice-regal journeys in Canada was also freely
commented upon. The personal characters of Messieurs Wakefield and
Turton were once more torn to pieces for the benefit of the nation, and
it was alleged that Lord Durham, by employing and allying himself with
these men, had participated in the discredit which attached to their
names. The battle, in a word, was waged, not only without gloves, but
with a ferocity that has had few parallels in English Parliamentary
debate. As a matter of strict law, of course Brougham was correct in
the matter of the banishment of the rebels, and the Ministry, after
mature deliberation, concluded that Lord Durham's ordinance must be
disallowed.

The news of this disallowance, which first became known to Lord Durham
through the medium of a New York newspaper, almost drove him frantic. He
announced his determination to wash his hands of the Imperial Ministry
at once and forever. His feeling was not unnatural, but he was imprudent
enough to give expression to it by means of a proclamation addressed to
the Canadian people resident in Quebec. This, of course, was to
discredit the authority under which he had all along been professing to
act. "The proceedings in the House of Lords"--so ran the words of the
proclamation--"acquiesced in by the Ministry, have deprived the
Government in this Province of all moral power and consideration. They
have reduced it to a state of executive nullity, and rendered it
dependent on one branch of the Imperial Legislature for the immediate
sanction of each separate measure. In truth and in effect, the
Government here is now administered by two or three Peers from their
seats in Parliament. In this novel and anomalous state of things, it
would neither be for your advantage nor mine that I should remain here.
My post is where your interests are really decided upon. In Parliament,
I can defend your rights, declare your wants and wishes, and expose the
impolicy and cruelty of proceedings which, whilst they are too liable to
the imputation of having originated in personal animosity and party
feeling, are also fraught with imminent danger to the welfare of these
important colonies, and to the permanence of their connection with the
British Empire." The sympathies of the British in Canada were of course
with Lord Durham throughout. Addresses from the Canadian people to the
Imperial Ministry were sent across the Atlantic, in which His
Excellency's policy was highly commended as the true and only one by
which Canada could be made a desirable place of habitation. Less
law-abiding citizens sent over addresses couched in threatening and
abusive language, and Lord Brougham, Lord Glenelg and Lord Melbourne
were burned in effigy in the streets of Montreal and Quebec.
Intelligence of these things in due course reached England, where the
press came out strongly in condemnation of Lord Durham's proclamation.
The _Times_ denounced his Excellency's policy from first to last, and
referred to him in a leading article as the "Lord High Seditioner."
Meanwhile His Lordship, without waiting to be recalled, or to obtain
leave to return, embarked for Europe, along with his family, on the
first day of November; leaving the direction of the affairs of the
colony in the hands of Sir John Colborne. This, of course, was another
grave error on his part. A Colonial Governor must be subordinate to his
superiors, or there would soon be an end of Colonial Government
altogether. His proud and sensitive nature had been irritated to such a
degree as seriously to affect his health, which had never been robust.
He well knew, however, that a hard battle was before him, and strung
himself up to the task. During the voyage home the greater part of the
famous "Report" was drafted by Mr. Buller. It was carefully perused and
amended here and there by His Lordship, and his amendments show clearly
how thoroughly he understood the Canadian situation. Upon landing at
Plymouth he found that, by order of the Government, he was not to
receive the customary salute accorded to returned Governors of British
Colonies. The public, however, had got it into their heads that Lord
Durham had been sacrificed for fighting the battles of the people
against the aristocracy, and both at Plymouth and elsewhere throughout
the country they received him with loud acclamations. John Stuart Mill
had taken up his cause in the _Westminster Review_, and the example had
been followed by the lesser lights of the Reform press all over the
kingdom, so that the public were pretty well informed as to the nature
of the quarrel between him and the Ministry. Let Lord Brougham and his
courtly friends roar as loud as they pleased; let the Ministry treat
Lord Durham as a disgraced man. The English people knew that no graver
charge than rashness and petulance could be brought against him, and for
such slight offences they were not disposed to criticise him with
harshness. They knew that he, and he alone among the English statesmen
of that day, saw to the bottom of the Canadian difficulties. They
remembered his services in the cause of Reform, and they were readily
disposed to pardon the insubordination of a peer who fought against his
brother peers for the rights of the people. In an inconceivably short
time, considering its great length, the "Report" was completed, revised,
put in type, and published. From the time of its publication Lord Durham
can hardly be said to have needed any apologist. It is scarcely an
exaggeration to pronounce that Report one of the most masterly State
papers in the English language. No one who is unfamiliar with its
contents can seriously pretend to anything like an accurate or
comprehensive knowledge of Canadian history and politics. Its great
length, and the exhaustive manner in which it deals with every aspect of
the colonial position, precludes the possibility of giving even a
summary of its contents in these pages. It may be said, however, that it
paved the way for Responsible Government and the Union of the Provinces.
One of the first to read it and grasp its main points was John Stuart
Mill, who reviewed it at length in the _Westminster_, and thus made it
known to many persons who are not given to the study of State papers.
Mr. Mill spoke of it as laying the foundation of the political and
social prosperity, not of Canada alone, but of all the other colonies of
Great Britain. How it subsequently came to be acted upon by the Imperial
Ministry, and how Lord Sydenham was sent over to see it carried into
effect, is told elsewhere in this work. Well might Lord Elgin say, a few
years later, that the real and effectual vindication of Lord Durham's
memory and proceedings would be the success of a Governor-General of
Canada who would work out his views of Government fairly.

Lord Durham lived long enough to learn that time would vindicate the
justness of his policy, but not long enough to see that policy
established. He attended public meetings in various towns in England,
and made eloquent speeches in which he used many hard words, and sought
to justify even the undoubted errors by which his Canadian mission had
been marred. He had tried to prepare himself for a prolonged and bitter
struggle, and not altogether without success. But the constant tension
upon his nerves soon completely broke down his health. He retired to his
seat at Lambton Castle, and there for a few months waited the end which
he saw could not be long delayed. There is an old legend connected with
his family to which he used often to refer--probably only half in
jest--during these closing months of his life. The legend, which up to
comparatively recent times was devoutly believed by the peasantry on and
around the family estate, predicts the early death of the chief
representative of the race of Lambton. As it is interesting, and not
very generally known, it may not be amiss to give some account of it. It
must be premised that the Castle, which is near the site of the former
family mansion, stands upon an eminence on the northern bank of the
River Wear, a beautiful winding stream meandering through miles of what
Tennyson calls "brambly wildernesses." The remarkable story of the Worm
of Lambton is as old as the days of the Crusades. We abridge it from an
old chronicler. The heir of Lambton, fishing, as was his profane custom,
in the Wear of a Sunday, hooked a small worm, or eft, which he
carelessly threw into a well, and thought no more of the matter. The
worm, at first neglected, grew till it was too large for its first
habitation, and issuing forth from the Worm Well, betook itself to the
Wear, where it usually lay a part of the day coiled round a crag in the
middle of the water. It also frequented a green mound near the well,
called thence "The Worm Hill," where it lapped itself nine times round,
leaving vermicular traces, of which grave living witnesses depose that
they have seen the vestiges. It now became the terror of the country;
and, amongst other enormities, levied a daily contribution of nine cows'
milk, which was always placed for it at the green hill, and in default
of which, it devoured man and beast. Young Lambton had, it seems,
meanwhile, totally repented him of his former life and conversation; had
bathed himself in a bath of holy water, taken the sign of the Cross, and
joined the Crusaders. On his return home he was extremely shocked at
witnessing the effects of his youthful imprudence. He saw that the Worm
must be at once destroyed, and immediately undertook the adventure.
After several fierce combats, in which the crusader was foiled by his
enemy's _power of self-union_, he found it expedient to add policy to
courage, and not, perhaps, possessing much of the former quality, he
went to consult a witch, or wise woman. By her judicious advice, he
armed himself in a coat of mail, studded with razor-blades, and thus
prepared, placed himself on the crag in the river, and awaited the
monster's arrival. At the usual time, the Worm came to the rock, and
wound himself with great fury round the armed knight, who had the
satisfaction to see his enemy cut in pieces by his own efforts, while
the stream, by washing away the several parts, prevented the possibility
of reunion. There is still a sequel to the story. The witch had promised
Lambton success only on one condition--that he would slay the first
living thing which met his sight after the victory. To avoid the
possibility of human slaughter, Lambton had directed his father that as
soon as he heard him sound three blasts on his bugle, in token of the
achievement performed, he should release his favourite greyhound, which
would immediately fly to the sound of the horn, and which was destined
to be the sacrifice. On hearing his son's bugle, however, the old chief
was so overjoyed that he forgot the injunctions, and ran himself with
open arms to meet his son. Instead of committing a parricide, the
conqueror again repaired to his adviser, who pronounced, as the
alternative of disobeying the original instructions, that no chief of
the Lambtons should die in his bed for seven, or, as some accounts say,
for nine generations--a consummation which, to a martial spirit, had
nothing very terrible about it.--"Johan Lambeton, that slewe y^e Worme,"
says an old pedigree, "was Knight of Rhoodes, and Lord of Lambeton and
Wod Apilton, after the dethe of fower brothers, sans esshewe masle. His
son Robert Lambton was drowned at Newebrigg." Thus the spell began
speedily to operate, according to tradition, and probably in his own
lifetime, as no descendant of his ever appears to have succeeded him in
the estate. Whatever authentic records may prove to the contrary,
tradition stoutly asserts that the wise woman's sentence on the race for
the sin of disobedience was regularly fulfilled down to General Lambton,
the ninth in succession, who, it is said, fearing that the prophecy
might possibly be fulfilled by his servants, under the idea that he
could not die in his bed, kept a horsewhip beside him in his last
illness, and thus eluded the prediction by keeping all his attendants at
a respectful distance from his couch. General Lambton was the
grandfather of the subject of this memoir, and after his death the
peasantry began to modify the legend somewhat. It was said that though
the spell had been wrought out, so far as the prediction about the heir
dying in bed was concerned, yet that it would continue to operate for
several generations longer so far as to curtail the reigning
representative's life. This saying was verified in the case of Lord
Durham's father, who died early. Lord Durham, when he felt how
completely his own constitution was shattered, used jocularly to express
a hope that the worm's manes would accept his own death in full
satisfaction of its injuries, and would not demand the early demise of
his descendants.

It was his wish to die at home; but in the early summer of 1840 his
physicians advised him to try the effects of the air in the south of
France. In compliance with this prescription he started for the
continent, but upon reaching Southampton he found himself so utterly
prostrated that he did not think it advisable to make the experiment of
crossing the channel, the vexed waters whereof make a very uncomfortable
cradle for an invalid. He passed over to Cowes, in the Isle of Wight,
where his life rapidly ebbed away, and on the 28th of July he breathed
his last.

Mr. McCarthy's summing up of his character cannot well be improved upon,
and with it we conclude our sketch. "He wanted to the success of his
political career that proud patience which the gods are said to love,
and by virtue of which great men live down misappreciation, and hold out
until they see themselves justified and hear the reproaches turned into
cheers. But if Lord Durham's personal career was in any way a failure,
his policy for the Canadas was a splendid success. It established the
principles of colonial government. One may say, with little help from
the merely fanciful, that the rejoicings of emancipated colonies might
have been in his dying ears as he sank into his early grave."




SIR HUGH ALLAN.


Sir Hugh Allan was born at Saltcoats, a seaport on the Firth of Clyde,
in Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 29th of September, 1810. His father, the
late Captain Alexander Allan, was a shipmaster who had all his life been
employed on vessels trading between the Clyde and the St. Lawrence, and
was very popular with emigrants and other trans-Atlantic passengers.
Hugh was the second son of his parents, by whom he was early intended
for a seafaring life, like that of his father. As is often the case with
persons who have been very successful in life, he enjoyed comparatively
few educational advantages. At the age of thirteen he entered into the
counting-house of Messrs. Allan, Kerr & Co., at Greenock, in the
shipping trade, where he remained for about a year, when his father
advised him to emigrate to Canada. He acted upon the advice, and sailed
from Greenock in the ship _Favourite_, on the 12th of April, 1826. His
father was the captain of the vessel, and his elder brother was the
second officer. He landed at Montreal on the 21st of May. There was then
only one steam tug on the river, and it was not able to tow the
_Favourite_ through the St. Mary's current. A message was then sent
ashore to a butcher to send some oxen, but the united efforts of the tug
and the oxen were not enough. The _Favourite_ had been built at
Hochelaga, and the builder sent fifty to a hundred men to assist, and so
they got her in. Such, as described by Sir Hugh Allan himself, were the
difficulties encountered in navigating the St. Lawrence in a sailing
vessel half a century ago. In a paper read at a church festival in
Montreal, in the course of last winter, Sir Hugh gave some interesting
personal reminiscences of his early career in Canada, and to that paper
we are indebted for many particulars included in the present sketch.
Speaking of the river-front of Montreal in the year 1826, Sir Hugh
informs us that there were no wharves; that the bank shelved down from
Commissioners Street to the river; that in coming into the river the
ships had to let go an anchor, and the work of unloading could only go
on slowly, over a gangway, the horses and carts standing in the water.
The habits of the people were as primitive as the aspect of the city
itself. They generally lived over their stores, and it was quite usual
for them to sit on chairs on the sidewalk in the open air, enjoying a
chat. There was a large open sewer all the way down Craig Street as far
as Dow's brewery. From there it took a sharp curve, passing where St.
Ann's Market now is, and emptied into the harbour where the Custom House
stands. It was the receptacle for dead animals and all sorts of filth,
and was very offensive. There were but few houses on the west side of
Craig Street. So much for the commercial metropolis of Canada, in the
Year of Grace 1826.

[Illustration: HUGH ALLAN]

Hugh Allan soon obtained a situation in the commercial establishment of
Messrs. William Kerr & Co. The business was dry-goods and small wares.
He was thus engaged three years, during which he also acquired some
knowledge of keeping books and accounts, a pursuit of which he was very
fond, and to which he devoted a large portion of his spare time. The
business as a whole, however, did not suit his taste, and the pecuniary
results were not satisfactory to his ambition. He threw up his situation
and, after a brief visit to the principal towns in the Upper Province,
he returned with his father to Greenock, where he remained for the
winter, and then visited Manchester and London. He again sailed from
Greenock for Montreal on the 5th of April following, in a new vessel
belonging to his father--the _Canada_--and they arrived at Montreal on
the 4th of May. When he landed from the _Canada_ he had no special
object in view. He met on the street the late Mr. James Miller, who then
carried on an extensive shipping business in Montreal. Mr. Miller had a
vacancy in his office, and told him he had better go there for the
present. He was glad of the opportunity to learn the business, and
gratefully acted upon the suggestion. Mr. Miller always treated him with
great kindness, and even partiality. He was occupied for some time
buying wheat for Mr. Miller's export trade, and spent his business hours
in a storehouse in the village of Laprairie. The _habitants_ paid their
rents to the seigneurs in wheat, and the priests collected their tithes
in wheat. Mr. Miller purchased largely from these sources. In 1832 young
Allan shipped for Mr. Miller 150,000 bushels of wheat, 100,000 from
between St. John's and Laprairie, and 50,000 from along the north shore.

After spending five years in the employ of the firm of Miller & Co., Mr.
Allan was admitted as a junior partner. He devoted himself to the
business with great energy, and steadily rose to a high place in the
estimation of his partners and the customers of the firm. Upon the
breaking out of the rebellion in 1837, he joined the Fifth Battalion as
a volunteer, and rose to the rank of a Captain. In 1838 Mr. Miller, the
senior partner in the firm, died, and Mr. Allan's services became more
important to the success of the business than before. The style of the
firm thenceforward became Edmonston & Allan, which subsequently became
Edmonston, Allan & Co. Under various changes of style, the firm has
steadily increased in prosperity, and its business has grown to
momentous proportions. Its present style is Hugh & Andrew Allan--Andrew
being a younger brother of Sir Hugh. In 1851 the firm first began to
build iron screw steamships. The _Canadian_, the first vessel of that
description constructed by them, made her first trip in 1853, and in the
following summer the service of mails was commenced which continue to
this day. The history of the firm from that time down to the present is
the history of Canadian maritime commerce. In addition to their line
plying between Canada and Liverpool they have long had an independent
line plying between the St. Lawrence and the Clyde. Their firm was the
first to adapt the spar or flush deck to the steamers, an innovation
which was strenuously opposed by the Board of Trade, which for a long
time persisted in refusing to allow them any concession in the way of
measurement, for harbour dues, until the _City of London_ went down in
the Bay if Biscay. Then, and not till then, did the Board of Trade
recognize the efficacy of the improvement, and grant the proper
concessions. Nearly all their Atlantic steamers now have the spar deck,
whereby the safety and comfort of passengers is very greatly promoted.
Their fleet has long ranked among the principal fleets of the world, and
is managed with remarkable prudence and efficiency. Most of the
captains have risen from the ranks in their own service, and the
mariners are from time to time promoted according to a system as strict
and impartial as that which prevails in the army.

During the progress of the Crimean War the _Indian_ and the _Canadian_,
two of the company's steamers, were employed by the Governments of Great
Britain and France to transport the troops from Portsmouth and
Marseilles to the Levant. They continued to be employed in the
Government service until the close of the Russian War. Again, in 1874,
the _Sarmatian_ and the _Manitoban_ were employed on a similar service,
to convey troops to the west coast of Africa, to take part in the
Ashantee campaign.

Mr. Allan's great energy, perseverance, close attention, and general
business capacity have met with their just reward, and have placed him
among the first, if not absolutely first among the merchant princes of
the Dominion. He is a Director in many important commercial, banking,
and other enterprises, of some of which he was the original promoter.
Principal among these may be mentioned the Montreal Telegraph Company,
the Merchants' Bank of Canada, the Montreal Warehousing Company, and the
Mulgrave Gold Mining Company. During the visit of Prince Arthur to this
country in 1869, he was the guest of Mr. Allan at his princely residence
of Ravenscraig, in Montreal, and at Belmere, his summer villa on the
shores of Lake Memphremagog. For his courtesies to His Royal Highness,
and in recognition of his great services to Canadian and British
commerce, Mr. Allan was in 1871 knighted by Her Majesty as Sir Hugh
Allan of Ravenscraig. A less pleasing episode in his career is his
connection with the purchase of the Pacific Railway charter, upon which
we have no desire to enlarge.

On the 13th of September, 1844, he married Matilda, second daughter of
Mr. John Smith, of Montreal, by whom he has a numerous family. Though
nearly seventy years of age he is still of active habits, and exercises
a personal supervision over many important departments of the business
of the firm.




THE REV. ALEXANDER BURNS, D.D., LL.D.,

_PRINCIPAL OF THE WESLEYAN FEMALE COLLEGE, HAMILTON_.


Dr. Burns has been eminently successful in life, and enjoys the great
merit of having been in every sense of the term the architect of his own
fortunes. His father was the late Mr. James Burns, a carpenter and
joiner, who resided near the village of Castlewellan, County Down,
Ireland. There Alexander Burns was born, on the 12th of August, 1834. He
began to attend school at a very early age, and continued his attendance
until 1847, when he had reached his thirteenth year. He had by that time
acquired a good rudimentary education, the further progress whereof was
interrupted by the emigration of his parents from Ireland to Canada,
whither he and the other members of the family accompanied them. The
family settled in Quebec, where Mr. Burns the elder carried on his
trade. The son was for a short time employed as an assistant in an
apothecary's shop, but did not find that pursuit to his liking, and soon
abandoned it. After remaining in Quebec about three years his parents
removed to Toronto, where they continued to reside during the remainder
of their lives. Mr. James Burns, the father, was a strict Presbyterian,
and upon his arrival in Toronto became a member of Knox's Church, on
Queen Street. When the division arose in the congregation of that
church, about twenty-eight years ago, Mr. Burns and most of his
compatriots from Ireland who enjoyed the privileges of membership
withdrew, and formed themselves into a separate congregation, which
finally developed into the congregation of Cooke's Church. Mr. Burns was
a man of very moderate views on theological matters, although he had
been taught the Calvinistic doctrines in all their rigour. The members
of his family, who at this time all resided at home, were of course
reared in the Presbyterian faith--the subject of this sketch among the
rest. It cannot be said that the latter held any distinct theological
views until he had nearly arrived at manhood, though of course his
father's teachings had not been altogether without result, and he was a
regular attendant at church. A time soon arrived when he was called upon
to fight the battle which most honest men of any real depth of character
have to fight at some period of their lives. The famous Methodist
revival preacher, the Rev. James Caughey, visited Toronto, and held a
series of religious meetings with a view to calling sinners to
repentance. The effect of his mission was prodigious. Many persons who
had theretofore been indifferent concerning spiritual matters underwent
"conviction of sin," and entered upon a new phase of life, with views
and aims which they had never previously entertained. Young Alexander
Burns attended the meetings, and was drawn under the powerful spell of
the preacher. He awoke to new purposes, embraced the doctrines of the
Wesleyan body, and was enrolled as a member of the Methodist Church. He
was honourably ambitious of acquiring knowledge, and resolved to devote
himself to the ministry. His father's means were limited, and he himself
was largely dependent upon his own resources. In order to obtain the
means of acquiring a thorough educational training, he learned the trade
of wood-turning, and in course of time earned sufficient to enable him
to enter upon a collegiate course. In 1855 he entered Victoria College,
Cobourg, where he studied with great diligence and made rapid progress.
In the capacities of student and teacher he remained at the College
about seven years. When he graduated in 1861, he was honoured with the
Prince of Wales's gold medal, the highest prize in the gift of the
institution. Of this prize he was the first recipient. He officiated as
a tutor in the College for four years. In 1862 he first entered upon
active work in connection with the ministry, and was stationed at
Drayton, in the county of Wellington, where he remained until 1865. In
that year Dr. Elliott, President of the Iowa Wesleyan University,
visited the London Conference as delegate from the Methodist Episcopal
Church of the United States, and persuaded Mr. Burns to accompany him to
Iowa. He was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics and Astronomy, a
position which he filled for three years, acting at the same time as
Vice-President of the University. In 1868 he was elected President of
the Simpson Centenary College of Iowa, which position he filled for ten
years--that is to say, until his return to Canada about two years ago.
After leaving the Iowa Wesleyan University, he was elected to its
Presidency, but declined to accept that position. During his residence
in Iowa he got through with a great deal of public work, outside of his
own special department, such as annual addresses before colleges,
lectures before teachers' institutes, addresses at church dedications,
and similar labours; and this work often extended to other States. On
several occasions he lectured before the North-Western University at
Cranston, in Chicago, and in several other cities of the North-Western
States. In the Centennial year (1876) he was one of the three delegates
from the local Conference to the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, which met in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1878 he accepted
the position of Governor and Principal of the Wesleyan Female College at
Hamilton, Ontario, and returned to Canada. His own department in the
College includes Mental and Moral Science, Logic, Evidences, and Higher
English Literature.

In 1870 he received the degree of S.T.D. (_Sancta Theologiae Doctor_)
from the State University of Indiana, one of the wealthiest in the
United States. In 1878 his _alma mater_, Victoria College, conferred
upon him the degree of LL.D. He is the first and only alumnus that has
received that degree from Victoria College. When her Charter was amended
so as to give the alumni the right to representation on the Senate, he
was one of the first elected, and at the last meeting of the alumni he
was re-elected to the Senate for four years. He is one of the associate
examiners of the University in Metaphysics. He has been elected to
deliver the Annual Lecture before the "Theological Union" next year
(1881).

Dr. Burns's reading has been wide and various, not only in theology, but
in history, philosophy and general science. He is a man of very liberal
and advanced views, alike in political, theological and social matters.
For dogma, considered merely as dogma, he entertains but a very limited
degree of respect. While thoroughly in sympathy with the teachings of
his creed, he interprets that creed by the light of modern scientific
research and the teachings of the times in which his lot has been cast.
He asserts the supremacy of reason in matters theological, as well as
in the ordinary affairs of life, and believes that whatever is repugnant
to reason should be eliminated from modern theology. He is a foe to
infidelity, but believes in combating infidelity by arguments drawn from
human knowledge and experience, rather than by the suppression of free
and honest inquiry. He claims that both Government and the Church are
for the people, and that neither the one nor the other should
countenance a class by whose privileges others are injured or
subordinated, whether the class be called an aristocracy, a democracy,
or a State Church. In a word, Dr. Burns is a scholar, who has both read
and thought much and deeply on the problems which for centuries past
have been agitating the human mind, and which have risen into special
prominence within the last few years. Both as a man and a theologian he
is highly esteemed by his brother professors, and his liberal and
enlightened policy have won for him many warm friends, both within the
pale of the Church and outside of it.

On the 15th of January, 1863, he married Miss Sarah Andrews, of
Devonshire, England, whose grace of person and character, excellent
judgment, and womanly devotion have been a constant inspiration in her
home, and have aided her husband very materially in all his upward
struggles.




WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE.


One morning in the early autumn of the year 1859 two persons were
walking eastward together along the north side of King Street, Toronto.
One of these was a youth of sixteen; the other was a staid Canadian
lawyer of mature age. They had passed the corner where the two main
thoroughfares of the city intersect each other, and had arrived nearly
in front of the site at present occupied by the _Globe_ office, when the
lawyer was addressed by a gentleman walking in the opposite direction,
with whom he stopped to converse. The youth stepped aside to wait for
his companion, who was soon engaged in an animated discussion with the
personage thus encountered. The latter was a gentleman of somewhat
noticeable appearance. He was very short in stature, plainly--almost
shabbily--dressed, and carried in his hand a stout cane. He had a broad
and rather massive brow; thin, mobile lips, which, except while he was
speaking, were kept tightly compressed; and a countenance upon which
Time had written innumerable deep wrinkles. His hair, beard and whiskers
were grizzled, and his somewhat feeble gait betokened that he was past
his prime, and had begun to feel the infirmities of age. The general
expression of his face was suggestive of a long, bitter and unsuccessful
fight with the world. The conversation could not have lasted much more
than a minute before the short gentleman became violently excited. His
eyes flashed red lightning at his interlocutor, and he began to
gesticulate so wildly as to arrest the attention of passers-by.
Perceiving this, and controlling himself by an evident effort, he
moderated his tone and gestures; but he ever and anon brought his cane
down upon the pavement with a ringing emphasis that told a story of
inward excitement and pent-up wrath. The conference was of brief
duration, and apparently was not productive of entire satisfaction to
either of the gentlemen concerned. They separated, and pursued their
respective ways, the lawyer being rejoined by the youth who had been
waiting close by. The latter did not learn the particular topic of
conversation which had aroused the old gentleman's ire, and is ignorant
of it to this day; but he had no sooner resumed his walk than the lawyer
asked:--"Do you know who that was? No! well, he is a man who ought to
have been hanged twenty years ago. That old firebrand is the editor of
the _Weekly Message_, and is no less a personage than William Lyon
Mackenzie." The man who uttered these words died by his own hand within
a few months of that morning. The youth to whom he addressed them was
the writer of these lines.

[Illustration: W. L. MACKENZIE]

During the next few months it was no unfrequent occurrence for the
writer to meet the old man on his way to and from the post-office in the
early forenoon. The lawyer's dictum as to what ought to have taken
place twenty years before was rated at what it was worth--which was very
little. Mr. Mackenzie, in those days, was the mere wreck of his former
self. He was much bowed by years, by poverty, and by mental affliction,
and with a broken constitution and a brain enfeebled by the fatal
disease which had fixed its grasp upon him, he was slowly but steadily
going down to the grave in which he was not long afterwards laid. He was
poor; poor to a degree of which none of his friends, nor, indeed, anyone
beyond the immediate circle of his own family, had any conception. It
was known to all that he was not in affluent circumstances, but it was
not known, or even suspected, that he was frequently in straits to
procure the wherewithal to purchase to-morrow's meal. Had the extent of
his poverty been known, many a helping hand would have been generously
stretched forth to render more tolerable the declining years of the man
who, notwithstanding many fatal errors of judgment, was an honest and
sincere-minded patriot, who had struck many hard and effective blows on
behalf of civil liberty in Canada.

His life, almost from his cradle, was one of ceaseless toil and
struggle, and we do not covet the mental equilibrium of the man who can
contemplate it without being stirred to his inmost soul. The sad story
of his tempestuous life, wrecked in contending--unwisely, perhaps, but
with an honesty which cannot be questioned--for a just principle, and
finally brought to a premature close amid the darkness of despair, may
well bring tears to the eyes of any one who is not dead to all human
emotion. True, he himself was by no means free from blame. He was the
most active mover in an ill-advised project, which brought disaster to
many a Canadian household, and which involved a needless sacrifice of
human life. But he, almost alone among his fellows, had the courage of
his opinions: opinions which were honestly entertained, which were just
in themselves, and most of which have since been approved by the general
voice of the Canadian people. At a time when a selfish, grasping
oligarchy, who had long ruled the land and had arrogated to themselves
everything in it that was worth the having, were putting forth their
utmost endeavours to perpetuate political evils, and to keep in a
subjection which was but a modified form of slavery, a people who were
entitled to be free: at such a time, and under such circumstances the
voice of William Lyon Mackenzie was lifted up in the cause of the weak
and oppressed. If, later on, he went farther than a cooler and wiser
judgment would have gone, the censure must not fall upon him alone. And
if he erred greatly he also suffered greatly. Many persons not yet past
middle age can remember when he was a banished man with a price set upon
his head; when he was hunted from place to place like a wild beast; when
his name was execrated and blazoned abroad as that of a seditious rebel
and traitor; when he was sick and imprisoned in a strange land; when he
was compelled to resort to stratagem in order to be permitted to stand
by the bedside of his dying mother. The mollifying influences of time
have ameliorated much of the rancour which once attached to his name.
The cause for which he fought and suffered has come to be regarded as in
the main a righteous one, and even his most indefensible acts have been
recognized as errors of judgment rather than deliberate treason. A
Canadian historian who is by no means disposed to take a too partial
view of his conduct thus rapidly reviews his career:--"As one traces his
checkered existence, which presents such a strange admixture of upright
intentions and dangerous errors, a doubt of his perfect sanity cannot
fail to be evoked, to receive additional colour from the softening of
the brain that finally resulted in death. Ever unstable as water, he
flits changefully before the eye as the Dundee shop-boy, the uneasy
clerk, the bankrupt shopman, the newspaper editor, the bookseller, the
druggist, the member of Parliament, the agitator, the political agent to
England, the fomenter of rebellion, and the rebel general. As a refugee
in the United States he shifted his occupation with the same chameleon
rapidity as in Scotland and Canada; his peculiar faculty of getting into
difficulties of one kind or another being in no way diminished, until at
length, fully as tired of the (American) people as they were of him, he
was glad to shelter his fortunes once more under the British flag which
he had so impotently essayed to trample in the dust." The
quasi-imputation of insanity contained in the foregoing extract, though
it doubtless seemed to the historian the most plausible explanation of
some passages in Mr. Mackenzie's career, will meet with no confirmation
from those who knew him well. Mr. Mackenzie was no madman. He was a man
of strong but erratic will, whose physical temperament was not in
keeping with his mental adjustments. His eccentricity was the result of
a nervous and hyper-sensitive disposition, smarting under a sense of
wrong. The problem of life was to him, even more than to most thinking
men, a very serious and utterly insoluble affair. His circumstances were
almost always unpropitious, and little calculated to induce him to paint
men and things in roseate tints. In other respects the quotation is a
not inept kaleidoscopic picture of the ever-shifting phases of his
strangely chequered career.

He was born on the 12th of March, 1795, at Springfield, a suburb of
Dundee, in Forfarshire, Scotland. On the 9th of April following, when he
himself was less than a month old, his father died, leaving a widow and
an only child wholly unprovided for. They were for many years dependent
upon the bounty of relatives, and frequently suffered the bitter pangs
of want. The trials endured in his early childhood were frequently
alluded to by Mr. Mackenzie in after years. In the autobiography
published soon after his death we find the following touching little bit
of domestic history:--"It is among the earliest of my recollections that
I lay in bed one morning during the grievous famine in Britain in
1800-1, while my poor mother took from our large kist the handsome plaid
of the tartan of our clan, which in early life her own hands had spun,
and went and sold it for a trifle, to obtain for us a little coarse
barley meal whereof to make our scanty breakfast; and of another time
during the same famine when she left me at home crying from want and
hunger, and for (I think) eight shillings sold a handsome, and hitherto
carefully preserved, priest-gray coat of my father's to get us a little
food.... Well may I love the poor, greatly may I esteem the humble and
the lowly, for poverty and adversity were my nurses, and in youth, want
and misery were my familiar friends."

The little boy seems to have been all in all to his mother, who was,
upon the whole, an indulgent parent, though this did not deter her from
imposing upon him, at times, certain most unwelcome tasks in the shape
of long readings from the catechism and dry theological treatises. She
had been reared in a strict and hard school, and regarded a knowledge of
the Westminster Confession as the most important of all acquirements for
a young man beginning life. This training produced a marked effect upon
her son, who manifested a fondness for theological controversy
throughout the whole of his career. Both in physical and mental
characteristics he bore a striking resemblance to his mother, and
inherited from her, among other qualities, a strong unyielding will, and
an energy of purpose which attended him through life. In after years
this energy was chiefly expended upon politics, but was more or less
conspicuous in all his actions. The space at our disposal does not admit
of our following him very minutely through the various phases of his
early years. After receiving an irregular and very incomplete school
education, we find him at nineteen years of age going into business on
his own account, at Alyth, a village about twenty miles distant from his
native town. Having prosecuted this business for about three years he
failed, and removed to England, leaving behind him certain creditors
who, to his honour, were subsequently paid in full when prosperity
attended his efforts. In the month of April, 1820, we find him a
passenger on board the ship _Psyche_, bound for Canada, where in due
course he arrived. His first employment on this side the Atlantic was in
connection with the survey of the Lachine Canal, but this employment
lasted only a few weeks. Before the close of the summer we find him
embarked in a small mercantile business at York, the capital of Upper
Canada; and not long afterwards in a more general business at Dundas,
under the style of "Mackenzie & Lesslie." Here, on the 1st of July,
1822, he married; his bride being a Miss Isabel Baxter, who was likewise
a native of Dundee. The business at Dundas was carried on with a fair
measure of success until the spring of 1823, when the partnership was
dissolved, and Mr. Mackenzie removed to Queenston, where he opened
another general store. Here he remained only a year, but that year marks
an important era in his life, for it was during its progress that he
first began to take a prominent part in the colonial politics of the
day. He abandoned commercial pursuits and became a journalist. He
established a newspaper at Queenston, called the _Colonial Advocate_,
the first of which, containing thirty-two pages, made its appearance on
the 18th of May, 1824. Many years afterwards, in a letter written to a
friend, he gave the following reasons for embarking on the troubled sea
of politics. He says:--"I never interfered in the public concerns of the
colony, in the most remote degree, until the day in which I issued
twelve hundred copies of a newspaper, without having asked or received a
single subscriber. In that number I stated my sentiments, and the
objects I had in view fully and frankly. I had long seen the country in
the hands of a few shrewd, crafty, covetous men, under whose management
one of the most lovely and desirable sections of America remained a
comparative desert. The most obvious public improvements wore stayed;
dissension was created among classes; citizens were banished and
imprisoned in defiance of all law; the people had been long forbidden,
under severe pains and penalties, from meeting anywhere to petition for
justice; large estates were wrested from their owners in utter contempt
of even the forms of the courts; the Church of England, the adherents of
which were few, monopolized as much of the lands of the colony as all
the religious houses and dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church had
had the control of in Scotland at the era of the Reformation; other
sects were treated with contempt and scarcely tolerated; a sordid band
of land jobbers grasped the soil as their patrimony, and with a few
leading officials, who divided the public revenue among themselves,
formed 'the Family Compact,' and were the avowed enemies of common
schools, of civil and religious liberty, of all legislative or other
checks to their own will. Other men had opposed, and been converted by
them. At nine-and-twenty I might have united with them, but chose rather
to join the oppressed, nor have I ever regretted that choice, or wavered
from the object of my early pursuit."

When it is borne in mind that the foregoing is not an exaggerated
account of the state of affairs in Upper Canada in those days, it is not
surprising that the _Colonial Advocate_ and its editor were at once
placed under the ban by the dominant faction in the country. That
faction had not been accustomed to have its policy criticised. The only
man who had ever dared to assail it with anything like vigour was Robert
Gourlay, and his experience had not been such as to encourage further
efforts in that direction. The members of the Compact once more found
themselves dragged before the bar of public opinion, and, figuratively
speaking, placed on their defence. They determined to get rid of
Mackenzie as they had previously got rid of Gourlay. Mr. Mackenzie and
his paper lashed them without mercy, and after a fashion which convinced
them either that this inveterate foe must be silenced or that the end of
their reign was not far off. After publishing twenty numbers of his
paper Mr. Mackenzie determined to remove to York, the Provincial
capital. The removal took place in November, 1824, and on the 11th of
January following the Legislature met. Scarcely had the House opened ere
it became apparent that Liberal principles were making rapid advances in
the country. The Government found itself in a minority, and there could
be no doubt that Mr. Mackenzie and his _Advocate_ had largely
contributed to bring about this result. The paper continued to appear,
not with perfect regularity, but often enough to cause serious alarm to
the objects of its attacks, who made strenuous efforts for its
suppression. Mr. Mackenzie, discouraged by the opposition he had to
encounter, and by the want of pecuniary support accorded to him,
resolved to discontinue the publication of the _Advocate_. This
resolution, however, was not made known to the public, and erelong an
act of ruffianism was perpetrated which gave the paper a new lease of
life. On the evening of the 8th of June, 1826, during Mr. Mackenzie's
temporary absence from home, his printing office was broken into by a
genteel mob, chiefly composed of persons closely connected with the
"gentlemen's party." The office was completely wrecked, part of the type
was destroyed, and the rest thrown into the Bay. This dastardly act was
committed in broad daylight, in the presence of two magistrates, neither
of whom made any attempt to prevent it. Damages were subsequently
recovered against some of the snobocracy who took part in this
performance. Criminal proceedings were likewise instituted, and seven of
the rioters were found guilty, but escaped with nominal punishment.
Before the close of the year the _Advocate_ was again in full swing, and
continued to be published for seven years afterwards.

In consequence of this "press riot," as it was termed, Mr. Mackenzie's
name came more prominently before the public than ever. He was regarded
as a martyr, and many enthusiastic persons rallied to his support. At
the election of 1828 he was returned to the Provincial Parliament as
member for York. Then began a series of persecutions which lasted
without interruption for several years. In the columns of the _Advocate_
he had used many strong expressions against the ruling party in the
House, and these expressions were made the pretext for proceeding
against him for a breach of privilege. The matter came up for
discussion, and Mr. Mackenzie was expelled from the House. His
constituency showed their disapproval of this proceeding by forthwith
relecting him. He was again expelled, and again relected. This
expulsion and relection were repeated five times in succession. It was
not even pretended that Mr. Mackenzie had done anything censurable in
his capacity of a member of Parliament. The pretext for his expulsion
was that, as a newspaper proprietor, he had printed the proceedings of
the House at his own expense, and without official authority. An
obsolete rule of the House--not yet rescinded--forbade such publication,
and the motions for expulsion proceeded upon that ground alone. In this
manner the cause of Mr. Mackenzie became identified in the minds of the
public with that of the liberty of the press, and each expulsion added
to his popularity. Finding, after repeated trials, that no one could
oppose Mr. Mackenzie with any hope of success, it was finally determined
to punish his constituency by refusing to issue a writ for a new
election, and for three years the county of York remained with only one
representative in the Assembly. This arbitrary proceeding drew down upon
the House the severe condemnation of the Imperial Government. Meanwhile
Mr. Mackenzie, in May, 1832, proceeded to England with a petition of
grievances, signed by many thousands of the Canadian people. He was well
received at the Colonial Office, and his stay in England was protracted
to eighteen months, during which time he was successful in bringing
about some much-needed reforms. Certain persons holding high offices in
the Provincial Government were removed, and the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir
John Colborne, was instructed to appoint at least one member of the
popular party to governmental office. Soon after Mr. Mackenzie's return
to Canada the limits of the town of York were extended, and the town
itself became an incorporated city under the name of Toronto. This was
in March, 1834. A municipal election was at once held, and Mr. Mackenzie
was elected the first mayor of the new city.

At the general election in October, 1834, Mr. Mackenzie was returned by
the Second Riding of the county of York as a member of the Legislative
Assembly of Upper Canada. He immediately afterwards discontinued the
publication of the _Colonial Advocate_, the last number of which made
its appearance on the 4th of November in that year. The new House met
early in the following January, and Mr. Mackenzie took his seat without
opposition. The election had been an exciting one all through the
Province, and its result showed that Reform principles were gaining
further ground. The strength of the respective parties in the House was
effectually tested by the vote on the Speakership. Marshall Spring
Bidwell, a staunch Reformer, was elected to that office by a vote of
thirty-one to twenty-seven.

An antagonism had long been growing up between the Assembly and the Home
Government, and it began to be apparent that a crisis in public affairs
was not far distant. Early in the session, on the motion of Mr.
Mackenzie, a Select Committee was appointed to inquire into certain
matters in dispute between the two Governments, and in due time the
Committee drew up and transmitted across the Atlantic the document
subsequently known as the Seventh Grievance Report. This report was
temperate and truthful in its tone, and was chiefly devoted to the
subject of Executive Responsibility to the Assembly. The necessity for
such responsibility had long been apparent, and had often been put
forward by Mr. Mackenzie and those who acted with him. The
Lieutenant-Governor and the Home Government controlled the entire
patronage of Upper Canada, and, in the words of the report, "left the
representative branch of the Legislature powerless and dependent." The
Lieutenant-Governor made such appointments as he thought proper, without
conferring with his Councillors, and sometimes contrary to their express
advice. He observed a similar policy in assenting to or rejecting Bills
passed by the Legislature. The public mind was by this time fully
aroused to the injustice of these proceedings, and Sir John Colborne,
finding his position a most uncomfortable one, finally sent in his
resignation. Before doing so, however, he resolved to make ample
provision for the maintenance of the Church of England. Fifty-seven
rectories were created and set apart from the Clergy Reserves. These
were forthwith put into the hands of the ministry of the Episcopal
Church, with a view to preventing future secularization. This arbitrary
proceeding aroused a storm of feeling in the popular mind. Its legality
was impugned, but without success, as the Constitutional Act of 1791
authorized the establishment of rectories. The lands reserved by that
Act for the support of a Protestant clergy in Upper Canada amounted to
nearly 2,500,000 acres. The appropriation of these lands--which were
known as Clergy Reserves--to the exclusive use of the Church of England
had long been a source of just dissatisfaction to dissenters, and the
subject continued to agitate the public mind down to the year 1854, when
the reserves were abolished and appropriated to secular purposes. The
effect of the establishment of the above-named fifty-seven rectories can
easily be imagined. Having signalized the close of his administration in
this manner, Sir John Colborne surrendered the reins of government to
his successor, who was Sir Francis Bond Head, formerly a Major in the
British army. This gentleman was intellectually incapable of directing
the affairs of the colony in troublous times. His appointment was one of
the most extraordinary events connected with Canadian history, and was
fraught with disaster to the country. His own account--too long for
quotation here--of the manner of receiving the appointment is as
interesting as a romance, and gives us an insight into the method--or
want of method--pursued by the Home authorities in dealing with grave
questions pertaining to this country. Suffice it to say that no
selection could well have been more unwise. Soon after his arrival he
appointed several members of the Family Compact to lucrative offices.
Three places being vacant in the Council he filled them by appointing
three prominent Reformers--Messieurs Robert Baldwin, John Rolph, and
John Henry Dunn--to the vacancies. This was apparently done to
conciliate the Reformers, by whom these three gentlemen were very highly
esteemed; but Sir Francis nullified the appointment by never consulting
the new members upon any public measure, and they soon resigned. It was
evident that on the important question of Responsible Government there
was to be no change for the better. The Governor's conduct was such as
to render him unpopular with people of every shade of politics, and he
had not been three months in the country before he had raised a storm of
public excitement which was destined to produce grave results. Upon his
shoulders, and not upon Mr. Mackenzie's, must rest the lion's share of
responsibility for the rebellion which soon afterwards broke out. The
Assembly framed an address to His Majesty in which Sir Francis was
charged with imprudence, double dealing, and actual deviations from
candour and truth. Then, in 1836, for the first time in Canadian
history, came the stoppage of the supplies. In this extremity the
Governor resolved upon a new election, and dissolved the House. He
controlled the elections to such an extent that the leading Reformers of
the country--including Baldwin, Bidwell, and Mackenzie--were beaten at
the polls; and when the new House met it was a mere echo of his own
voice.

The effect of all these things was to sting the Reformers of the
Province into a righteous fury. As a rule, they were wise enough to bide
their time, knowing that such high-handed tyranny would eventually work
its own cure. The effect upon some of the less discreet, however, was to
persuade them that the privilege of colonial connection with the mother
country was dearly purchased at such a price as they were called upon to
pay, and some of the more discontented began to clamour for a republic.
Among these latter Mr. Mackenzie, who at the commencement of his
political career was as loyal a subject of the British Crown as any man
living, occupied the foremost place. He had long despaired of any
peaceful solution of the difficulty, and had at last become embittered
to such a degree that he could see no remedy for the existing state of
things but armed resistance. An insurrectionary movement had for some
time been on foot in the Lower Province, which at this time burst forth
into open rebellion. It became necessary to withdraw the troops from
Upper Canada, in order to uphold the authority of the Crown in the
sister Province, and Mr. Mackenzie seized the opportunity thus afforded
for raising the standard of revolt nearer home.

To tell aright the history of the Canadian rebellion would require a
large volume, and only the briefest outline can be given here. For a
fuller account the reader is referred to "The Life and Times of W. L.
Mackenzie" by his son-in-law, Mr. Charles Lindsey--a work indispensable
to the student of Canadian history. The spirit of resistance which had
been aroused began to take an active shape. An enrolment of the
disaffected took place. Inflammatory appeals were made by Mr. Mackenzie
and his coadjutors to the people of the Province, who were incited to
strike for the freedom which, in the words of one of the appeals, could
only be won at the point of the sword. A Central Vigilance Committee was
formed at Toronto, and an attempt was made at organization throughout
the settled parts of the Province. The organization, however, was not
fully matured, and there was never any chance of the rebellion being
permanently successful. Early in December, 1837, a few of the
malcontents assembled on Gallows Hill, Yonge Street, within a few miles
of Toronto, for the purpose of making a descent upon the city.
Intelligence of the rising soon came to the ears of the
Lieutenant-Governor, who was panic-stricken by the serious aspect of
affairs. If Mr. Mackenzie and his followers had acted with promptitude
it is tolerably certain that they would soon have been in possession of
the city, in which case insurgents would have raised the standard of
revolt all over the Province, and the rebellion--though it must sooner
or later have been put down--would have proved a serious matter. But
their advance was delayed, and, meanwhile, loyalists began to pour in
from all quarters. Sir Francis regained his courage, and assumed the
offensive. A considerable force was despatched against the insurgents,
who made a very weak defence, and were soon routed, with a loss of
thirty-six men killed and fourteen wounded. Mackenzie made his escape to
the Niagara frontier, and thence across the river to Buffalo. Here,
aided by republican sympathizers from both sides of the boundary line,
he began a series of operations as unjustifiable as useless. The
insurgents and their allies, under an American General called Van
Rensellaer, took up their quarters on Navy Island, in the Niagara River,
about two miles above the Falls, where they continued to disturb the
peace of Canada for about six weeks. An American steamer called the
_Caroline_ was employed to transport supplies for the insurgents. The
Canadian forces organized to suppress the rebellion, were under the
command of Colonel (afterwards Sir Allan) Macnab, who determined to
capture the _Caroline_, and detailed Lieutenant Drew on the service. On
the night of the 29th of December, Drew and a detachment of about sixty
men boarded the steamer at Fort Schlosser, where she was moored, and in
a few minutes she was captured. The resistance offered was very slight,
and only six men were killed. The moorings were cut, the steamer was
towed out into the stream, set on fire, and then abandoned. The current
soon swept her into the rapids, and in a very short time what little of
her was left unconsumed by the flames was hurled over the mighty abyss
of Niagara. Mr. Mackenzie himself was an eye-witness of this spectacle
from his retreat on Navy Island, and has left the following account of
it:--"We observed, about one o'clock in the morning, a fire burning on
the American side of the river, in the direction of the small tavern and
old storehouse commonly called Schlosser. Its volume gradually enlarged,
and many were our conjectures concerning it. At length the mass of flame
was distinctly perceived to move upon the waters and approach the rapids
and the middle of the river above the Falls. Swiftly and beautifully it
glided along, yet more rapid in its onward course as it neared the
fathomless gulf, into which it vanished in a moment amid the surrounding
darkness. This was the ill-fated steamboat _Caroline_." Serious
complications arose between the Governments of Canada and the United
States in consequence of this affair, and for a time threatened to
produce war; but through the intervention of General Scott the matter
was amicably adjusted. After several ineffectual attempts at invading
Canada, Mr. Mackenzie was arrested at the instance of the United States
Government for a breach of the neutrality laws. He was indicted and
tried at Rochester, where he was found guilty and sentenced to eighteen
months' imprisonment. After remaining in confinement twelve months he
was pardoned by the President, and once more became a free man. It was
during this imprisonment that he was compelled to resort to strategem in
order to visit his dying mother, as mentioned in the early part of this
sketch. His mother, ninety years of age, lay dying at the house occupied
by his family in Rochester. All his entreaties to be permitted to visit
her were refused, and he wrote her a most pathetic letter bidding her a
last farewell. A hotelkeeper named John Montgomery then conceived a
device whereby the unhappy prisoner's object was accomplished.
Montgomery sued one of his debtors, and issued a _habeas corpus_
directing the sheriff to bring up Mr. Mackenzie to give evidence of the
debt. The State-Attorney was prevailed upon to permit the court to be
held in the house where the dying woman lay; and under these
circumstances the last interview took place between mother and son. A
few days afterwards the invalid breathed her last, and her son, from the
windows of his cell, witnessed the funeral which he was not permitted to
attend.

After two or three unsuccessful attempts to establish a newspaper at
Rochester he went to New York, where, after suffering extreme poverty
for several years, he obtained a small clerkship in the Custom House.
When Mr. Greeley and his _confrres_ established the _Tribune_, Mr.
Mackenzie obtained employment on the staff of that journal. He acted as
its Washington correspondent, and afterwards represented it at the
Constitutional Convention of the State of New York. Several petitions
were at various times presented to the Canadian Parliament praying that
a pardon might be extended to him for his share in the rebellion; but
the prayer was not granted until the 1st of February, 1849. A letter
written by him shortly before this time gives us an insight into the
effect produced upon him by over ten years' personal experience of
republican institutions. "A course of careful observation," he says,
"during the last eleven years, has fully satisfied me that, had the
violent movements in which I and many others were engaged on both sides
of the Niagara proved successful, that success would have deeply injured
the people of Canada, whom I then believed I was serving at great
risks; that it would have deprived millions, perhaps, of our own
countrymen in Europe of a home upon this continent, except upon
conditions which, though many hundreds of thousands of immigrants have
been constrained to accept them, are of an exceedingly onerous and
degrading character. I have long been sensible of the errors committed
during that period to which the intended amnesty applies. No punishment
that power could inflict or nature sustain would have equalled the
regrets I have felt on account of much that I did, said, wrote, and
published; but the past cannot be recalled.... There is not a living man
on this continent who more sincerely desires that British Government in
Canada may long continue, and give a home and a welcome to the old
countrymen, than myself."

He had long been sick of American institutions, and anxious to return to
Canada. Soon after receiving his pardon he once more became a resident
of Toronto, and in the spring of 1851 he was elected to Parliament as
member for the county of Haldimand. He continued to sit for this
constituency until August, 1858, when he resigned. As a member of the
House he took an active part in public affairs, but owing partly to his
advanced years, and partly to the great change which had taken place in
Canadian politics during his long exile, he did not exercise the weight
which he had been accustomed to exercise in former days. Soon after his
resignation a public subscription was set on foot for the purpose of
presenting him with a testimonial for his past services to the Reform
party of Upper Canada. A homestead was purchased for him on Bond Street,
Toronto, in which he lived out the three years of life which remained to
him. The newspaper called _Mackenzie's Weekly Message_, alluded to in
the early part of this sketch, was started by him soon after his return
to Canada. It continued to be published at irregular intervals down to
the spring of 1860, but was never a financial success. For several years
previous to his death there was an evident failure of his powers, both
physical and mental, and for some time before his last hour it was
apparent to all his friends that his recovery was hopeless. He died on
the 29th of August, 1861, at his own house in Toronto, at the age of 66.

Any dispassionate observer of Mr. Mackenzie's career must come to the
conclusion that, notwithstanding many shortcomings and some grave
faults, he was a man of great ability, true patriotism, and sterling
integrity of purpose. His services to the people of Canada were great,
and to many of them his name is dear. He himself lived to acknowledge
that he had been guilty of a grievous error in inciting the people to
rebellion; but at the time when he did so he believed rebellion to be
the only remedy for the manifold evils under which the country groaned.
He was wrong in his belief, and wrong in his acts founded upon that
belief; but he was not _altogether_ wrong. The ills of Canada were of a
kind calling for strong remedies, and those who were most loud in
denouncing "Mackenzie's Rebellion" were those who were chiefly
responsible for the state of affairs which gave rise to it. Time,
however, makes all things even. The Canadian people have long ago done
justice to his memory, and have recognized the fact that among the names
of those patriots who have manfully and conscientiously struggled for
Canadian freedom, few deserve a higher place than that of William Lyon
Mackenzie.




THOMAS LOUIS CONNOLLY.


The late Archbishop Connolly was born in the City of Cork, Ireland, in
1814. His parents, though obscure, were frugal, worthy people. When he
had reached his third year, his father died, and he and a sister younger
than himself were left to depend upon his mother, who, notwithstanding
the slenderness of her means, contrived to give both of her children a
tolerably good education. The boy was an apt scholar, quick and ready to
learn, and he soon got on famously with his studies. Of striking
appearance, and the possessor of a fascinating manner, he attracted much
attention towards himself, and while yet very young he managed to win
the good opinion of the eminent apostle of temperance, Father Mathew,
who seemed drawn towards the lad by a sort of irresistible impulse. The
reverend father's church was but a few doors beyond the home of young
Connolly, and seeing his _protg_ attentive to the lessons of
Christianity, and faithful in the performance of his religious duties,
he lost no time in exhibiting to the youth proof after proof of his
friendship and esteem. Such attentions had a marked effect on the
susceptible mind of the future prelate, and he listened in wonder,
admiration and love, to the kindly and sympathetic counsel of the
priest. When Connolly had arrived at the age of sixteen, had mastered
history and mathematics, and was well advanced in Greek, French and
Latin, he became a novice in the Order of the Capuchins, through the
instrumentality of his friend and benefactor. At the age of eighteen he
went to Rome to continue and complete his studies for the priesthood. He
remained in the Eternal City six years, devoting his attention to
rhetoric, philosophy and theology. At the close of the term he proceeded
to the south of France, and after a severe course of study, during which
he greatly distinguished himself, he was finally ordained priest in
1838, at the cathedral of Lyons. In 1839 Connolly returned to the land
of his birth, and for three years he laboured in the Capuchin Mission
House, Dublin, and at the Grange Gorman Lane Penitentiary, to which
latter institution he was appointed chaplain. In 1842 the Rev. Dr. Walsh
was appointed Bishop of Halifax, N. S., and young Connolly, then in his
twenty-eighth year, volunteered his services as secretary to the
prelate, whom he was destined to succeed. He proceeded to the capital of
Nova Scotia, and in 1845 became Vicar-General and Administrator of the
diocese. Dr. Dollard, the much esteemed Bishop of St. John, N. B., died
in 1851, and on the cordial recommendation of the American Bishops,
Father Connolly was nominated Bishop of the commercial capital of New
Brunswick--a position which he filled with characteristic zeal and tact.
He found the Church in a state which required action of a prompt and
vigorous nature. A heavy debt was upon the people, and they were
undergoing burdens which a less chivalrous congregation might not have
tolerated. Poverty and suffering had kept them long under a cloud. In
this condition Thomas Connolly found the members of the flock over whose
spiritual destinies he had come to preside. He entered upon his work
with great interest and activity, and during the seven years of his
residence in St. John he accomplished many important undertakings in
connection with his Church. He began the erection of the cathedral--a
fine edifice which stands as a commanding monument of his priestly
administration. He built the orphan asylum, and through his influence
nuns were brought from abroad to conduct it. His administrative powers
were great, and he thoroughly identified himself with even the minutest
details of his office. In 1859, on the death of Archbishop Walsh, Pope
Pius IX. appointed Bishop Connolly to succeed him. The Doctor, who was
then a man of forty-five, sharp in intellect, keen in thought, and
widened in experience, repaired to Halifax. He at once devoted himself
to the enlargement of his sphere of usefulness. The Roman Catholic
population of Nova Scotia was at this time in a state of open discord
with Protestants. Ill feeling between the denominations was the rule
rather than the exception, and much bitterness prevailed. To reconcile
these difficulties was one of the first movements made by the
Archbishop, and it is not too much to say that a considerable part of
the friendly feeling which exists to-day among the Protestant and Roman
Catholic population of Nova Scotia is due to the efforts of Archbishop
Connolly, who in his time was the all-powerful head of his faith. He was
hospitable, genial, and liberal-minded. He entertained lavishly, and in
the exercise of the social element in his nature he never stopped to
inquire the creed or the nationality of those who were invited to his
table. Witty, eloquent, versed in the scriptures, dignified on occasion
and undignified when it suited, and thoroughly acquainted always with
the ways of the world, Archbishop Connolly was truly a many-sided man.
He was respected by all for his learning; he was admired for his ready
wit, even when--as was sometimes the case--it was out of season; he was
loved for the goodness of heart which prompted him to many kindly acts;
and even those who differed from him in religious thought had words of
praise to bestow on the faithful character of his life work.

His name is prominently identified with the Free School movement in
Halifax, the large building operations whereof were from time to time
prosecuted under his auspices--for His Grace was an amateur architect
and builder of no mean capacity. He took an active part in promoting the
Confederation scheme, to carry which he entered into the contest with
all his heart and soul. He even strove to influence the elections by
means of pamphlets and letters which were couched in the very strongest
and most convincing language. There were many co-religionists of His
Grace, as well as many who were not of his faith, to condemn his action
during the political excitement of 1866 and 1867 and later on, but he
paid little heed to any of those who differed from him. A warm admirer
of the late Hon. T. D'Arcy McGee, the Hon. Dr. Tupper, and other
prominent politicians of the time, Archbishop Connolly espoused the
Union cause, and did his utmost to win the people under his charge over
to the side of those who advocated Confederation. He had, however, but
indifferent success, the prejudices of the people triumphing over what
many regarded as undue interference with those political rights and
privileges which men believe to be the direct inheritance of good
citizenship and righteous self-government. Archbishop Connolly was
sincere in his belief in Confederation, and never once doubted, even in
after years, the complete wisdom of the movement. He took no further
interest in political affairs, however, deeming, doubtless, that
ecclesiastical interference was, to say the least of it, unwise, and
fraught with danger to the interests of the Church. It is worth placing
on record here the attitude which Dr. Connolly maintained in Rome,
during the sitting of the Great Council which had been called together
by the Pontiff, to determine the infallibility dogma. He viewed the
dogma as a serious political mistake, and did not hesitate to express
pretty freely his opinion regarding the trouble the adoption of such a
measure would create in the civilized world, and which, in this century
at least, the people were wholly unprepared to accept. He took a leading
part in the memorable discussion which followed, and took pains to
extend his views, both in the Council and out of it. He was over-ruled,
however, by his brethren, and the decrees were proclaimed. Faithful in
the observance of the laws of his Church, he submitted and accepted as
part of his faith the dogma which decreed the Pope's infallibility. He
was sincere in his belief, but his was no rebellious spirit, and when
beaten in debate he yielded up his opposition, and submitted to the
inevitable with what grace he could.

As a speaker, Dr. Connolly was a natural orator, full of a certain rude
and homely eloquence. He had a way of reaching the masses, of touching
their hearts and enlisting their sympathies by a word. He always spoke
good sound sense, had no tricks of rhetoric, no theatrical manner. He
was accounted one of the best extempore speakers of his day. He died
suddenly of congestion of the brain, in Halifax, N. S., at midnight, on
Thursday, July 27th, 1876, in the sixty-second year of his age.




[Illustration: ANNA JAMESON]


ANNA JAMESON.


Mrs. Jameson was not a Canadian by birth, nor was her residence in this
country sufficiently prolonged to make her a Canadian by force of
sympathy. Her sojourn among us extended over a period of only about
fifteen months, and when her term of exile came to an end she was very
glad to shake our dust from her feet, and return to a more congenial
clime. Still she carried away with her some not unkindly memories of our
western wilderness, and did something towards making our scenery and
institutions familiar to the reading world of Great Britain. She
possessed the faculty of creating a strong interest in herself wherever
she went; and though her own heart seems to have been to a considerable
extent submerged in her intellect, she certainly succeeded in awakening
many tendernesses in the hearts of others. There are persons still
living in our midst to whom the memory of Anna Jameson is grateful, and
who will doubtless be glad to learn more of her than can be learned from
ordinary works of reference.

The story of her life is tinged with an atmosphere of sadness from first
to last. Her father was a brilliant, unstable, impecunious young
Irishman, by name Brownell Murphy, who at the time of her birth resided
in Dublin. He was by profession a miniature painter, and had married an
English wife. He was possessed of considerable talent in his artistic
calling, but his success in life was impeded by his political
tendencies, and that want of practical common sense which has been the
besetting hindrance of so many of his countrymen. He was one of the
"United Irishmen," an adherent of Robert Emmet and Lord Edward
Fitzgerald. He escaped the disastrous fate which befell so many of his
unhappy compatriots by a timely migration from his own country to
England; but his sympathies remained on the side of the revolutionary
party in Ireland, with some of the leaders of which he continued to
maintain a questionable correspondence until the final collapse of their
enterprises. His eldest daughter, the subject of this memoir, was born
in Dublin, sometime in the year 1794.[3] The removal to England took
place in 1798, by which time the family responsibilities had been
increased by the birth of two additional children, both daughters. The
latter were left behind at nurse, near Dublin, but the eldest, Anna,
accompanied her parents to England. They settled at the little seaport
town of Whitehaven, on the coast of Cumberland, where the next four
years of Anna Murphy's life were passed. Her little sisters still
remained in Ireland, and her life during this period must have been
solitary and desolate enough, for her mother was frequently ill, and her
father's professional pursuits rendered it necessary that he should
frequently be away from home. Another little daughter was born during
the residence at Whitehaven. Some of Anna's autobiographic reminiscences
of this period, written in the maturity of her fame, have been
preserved, and they give us a tolerably clear inkling as to what manner
of child she was. It is evident that she was precocious, and that her
temperament and disposition were not such as to give assurance of a
happy future. "I was," she says, "an affectionate, but not, as I now
think, a loveable or an attractive child. I did not, like the little
Mozart, ask of every one around me, 'Do you love me?' The instinctive
question was rather, 'Can I love you?' With a good temper there was the
capacity of a strong, deep, silent resentment, and a vindictive spirit
of rather a peculiar kind. I recollect that when one of those set over
me inflicted what then appeared a most horrible injury and injustice,
the thoughts of vengeance haunted my fancy for months." It is scarcely
reassuring, after this, to read that the vengeance was not unmixed with
magnanimity, and that she was wont to indulge in mental visions of her
enemy's house on fire, and of herself darting through the flames to the
rescue. She adds, "I always fancied evil and shame and humiliation to my
adversary; to myself the _rle_ of superiority and gratified pride." A
child of tender age, if its mind be perfectly healthy and wholesome,
will hardly be given to the indulgence of such morbid thoughts as these;
and when we read that such were the frequently-recurring daydreams of
Anna Murphy at seven or eight years old, we are quite prepared to read
of matrimonial infelicities and incompatibilities when she shall have
grown to womanhood. Her parents do not appear to have fully comprehended
or sympathized with her. It is probable that she was even somewhat
neglected, and that her morbid tone of mind was unconsciously fostered
by a want of perfect openness between her and her parents. Not that
there would appear to have been any premeditated concealment on either
side. It was simply this: that their natures were not acutely
sympathetic, and that their circumstances made it incumbent upon the
elders to pay more attention to the practical than to the sentimental
side of life. The mother, cramped by a narrow income, and sometimes
prostrated by feeble health, doubtless found sufficient employment for
her time in her domestic cares. The father, though not unkind, was at
least as much in love with his profession as with his family. Amid such
environments was the childhood and youth of the future authoress
permitted to develop itself.

In 1802 the family removed to Newcastle-on-Tyne. Here the father's
pecuniary circumstances underwent a change for the better. The two
little girls were brought over from Dublin, and the household became
reunited. Next year another move was made, and the family settled down
in the neighbourhood of London, whence, in 1806, they migrated to "the
busy region of Pall-Mall." Here Anna, of her own free will, began to
seriously bestir herself in the matter of her education. She worked
hard, we are told, but fitfully, at French, Italian and other modern
languages, in which she acquired what for her age was a high degree of
proficiency. By way of variety she devoted herself to the history and
romances of India, and made some progress with an original story on
Oriental subjects called "Faizy." Here, again, her introspection
furnishes us with further insight into her state of mind. She professes
that she had very confused ideas about _truth_. "I had," she tells us,
"a more distinct and absolute idea of honour than of truth ... I knew
very well, in a general way, that to tell a lie was wicked;" but "to lie
for my own profit or pleasure, or to the hurt of others, was, according
to my infant code of morals, worse than wicked--it was _dishonourable_."
She admits, however, that she had no compunction about telling fictions
for the purpose of exciting the enjoyment of her listeners. "In this
respect," she adds, "Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, that liar of the first
magnitude, was nothing in comparison to me. I must have been twelve
years old before my conscience was first awakened to the necessity of
truth as a principle." Her views on religious matters were equally
confused and disjointed. It is fair to add, however, that her
delinquencies were mental only. She was passionately fond of her little
sisters, and was beloved by them in their turn. She sympathized with the
pecuniary difficulties of her parents, and projected a girlish scheme
for assisting them to make ends meet. She proposed that she and her
sisters should at once set out for Brussels, learn the art of
lace-making, achieve a fortune, retire from business, and set up a
carriage and pair for their father and mother. A more practicable scheme
for assisting her family, however, presented itself when she was about
sixteen. She became a governess in the family of the Marquis of
Winchester. How long she continued in that capacity we have no means of
knowing, and for the next few years, owing to a lack of materials, her
life presents to the biographer a mere blank. Her time, however, must
have been industriously spent, for when next we meet her she is a woman
of considerable learning, varied accomplishments, and wide reading, with
a decided intellectual predominance over most of her friends and
associates.

In the month of December, 1820, she first made the acquaintance of Mr.
Robert S. Jameson, her future husband. He was then a young barrister, of
good family, handsome appearance and fascinating manners. His powers of
conversation were exceptionally brilliant, his morals irreproachable,
and his learning much beyond that of the average even of professional
men of his age. He was a native of the lake country, the _protg_ of
Wordsworth, and the familiar friend of Coleridge and Southey. Miss
Murphy was already somewhat of a _bas-bleu_, and was at once attracted
by the handsome and accomplished young lawyer. It was the old story of
Phyllis and Corydon over again. "His heart confessed a kindred flame."
After a brief courtship a proposal of marriage was made in due form and
accepted. Within a few weeks an estrangement ensued, and the engagement
was broken off. The cause of this estrangement has never been fully made
known, and is not now ascertainable. It was probably nothing more than a
commonplace lover's quarrel, and acquired undue importance from
subsequent events. It would probably have been better for both if all
intercourse between Robert Jameson and Anna Murphy had permanently ended
there and then. The next we know of the latter is that in the month of
June, 1821, she accompanied a lady to France and Italy as governess to
her daughter. During this tour, which lasted about a year, she kept a
full diary of her wanderings and experiences, which was subsequently
published, with some modifications, under the title of "The Diary of an
Ennuye." Soon after her return to England she accepted a situation as
governess in the family of Mr. Littleton, M.P. for one of the ridings of
Staffordshire, who was subsequently raised to the peerage by the title
of Lord Hatherton, and whose grandson, Colonel Edward George Percy
Littleton, is known to many Canadians through his residence in this
country as Secretary to Lord Dufferin. She remained in Mr. Littleton's
service about three years. During her last year of service she again
met her fate in the person of Mr. Jameson. The engagement, broken off in
1821, was now renewed, and the marriage soon afterwards took place.

Mrs. Jameson's biographer expresses the opinion that the marriage took
place with every promise of mutual well-being. "The new husband and
wife," says Mrs. Macpherson, "were of kindred tastes and
accomplishments, fond of literature and of cultivated society, and
though not rich, of sufficiently good prospects to justify their union
in a time not quite so exacting in this respect as at present." As
matter of fact, however, it is doubtful whether either of the parties to
this contract could ever have enjoyed a large share of wedded bliss,
even had each been more prudent in the selection of a partner for life.
It was at any rate utterly impossible that two persons so constituted
should get along happily _together_. Their marriage was a grievous
mistake on both sides. Their community of literary and social tastes was
altogether insufficient as a bond of union. They were both of them
morbidly self-conscious, and neither had learned that great lesson so
necessary to comfortable domestic existence--forbearance. Both were
intellectually vain, and given to self-assertion. There were doubtless
faults on both sides which have never been revealed to the world at
large. Sufficient has been made known, however, to prove most
incontestably that all the blame should not rest upon the wife, whose
domestic trials began on the fourth day of her honeymoon. The marriage
took place on a Wednesday, and the pair settled down in lodgings in
Chenies Street, Tottenham Court Road. On the following Sunday the fond
bridegroom announced his intention of going out to pass the day at the
house of some friends with whom he had been accustomed to spend his
Sundays in the time of his bachelorhood. Mrs. Jameson, who was
unacquainted with these friends of her husband's, was not a little
surprised at the announcement, and suggested the propriety of waiting
until they had shown their wish to become acquainted with her by paying
her a visit. "As you please," was the husband's reply, "but I shall go
whether you accompany me or not," and began to prepare for his
departure. We give the rest of the story in the words of Mrs. Jameson's
biographer. "The bride of three or four days had to make up her mind.
How could she intrude herself upon strangers. But supposing, on the
other hand, that any friend of her own should come; any member of her
family to congratulate her on her happiness, how could her pride bear to
be found there alone and forsaken on the first Sunday of her married
life? Accordingly, with an effort, she prepared herself, and set out
with him in her white gown, forlorn enough, who can doubt? They had not
gone far when it began to rain, and, taking advantage of this same white
gown as a pretext for escaping from so embarrassing a visit, she
declared it impossible to go further. 'Very well,' once more said the
bridegroom; 'you have an umbrella. Go back, by all means; but I shall go
on.' And so he did; and though received, as his astonished hosts
afterwards related, with exclamations of bewilderment and consternation,
calmly ate his dinner with them, and spent the rest of the evening until
his usual hour with perfect equanimity and unconcern." Now, it is
extremely probable that in this statement of the matter we have not the
whole truth. There had doubtless been some petty little quarrel between
the newly wedded pair, and we will give the bridegroom the benefit of
taking it for granted that the bride had been most in fault. There is no
evidence to support such an assumption, and the case may have been
directly the reverse; but assuming everything in the husband's favour,
his conduct was so selfish and mean as to be almost inhuman. The
history of domestic infelicity may be searched in vain for a more
flagrant instance of marital cruelty. Griselda herself might have been
excused for resenting such an exhibition of utter heartlessness. The man
who could be guilty of such petty malignity was unfit to be entrusted
with the happiness of any woman, and if Mrs. Jameson had left her
husband then and there, we, for our part, would be the last to blame
her. She seems, however, to have exercised on this occasion a most
exemplary forbearance, and years of wedded unhappiness were yet in store
for her.

There is no inducement to linger over this portion of the memoir. The
husband and wife continued to dwell together for four years, during
which period the latter produced two books, both of which are tolerably
well known to lovers of literature. The "Diary" has already been
referred to. It achieved considerable success, but the only recompense
received by the author, in addition to the fame it brought her, was a
Spanish guitar, the nominal value of which was ten guineas. The other
book was "Loves of the Poets," which the _Westminster Review_ rather
vaguely pronounced to be "replete with the beautiful and unknown." It
was published in 1829, and realized for the author something more than
mere empty praise, though its sale was not large. Mr. Jameson's success
in his profession, meanwhile, had not fulfilled his expectations, and
during the same year he received an appointment to a puisn judgeship in
the Island of Dominica, one of the British possessions in the West
Indies. He went out to the trying climate of that island, leaving his
wife behind him. It does not seem to have been contemplated by either of
them that their separation should be permanent, though the skeleton in
their domestic closet had attained such proportions as were barely
endurable. Their union had not been blessed with children, nor was there
any prospect of such fruition. Mrs. Jameson returned to the protection
of her father's house, whence she shortly afterwards set out on a tour
on the Continent, accompanied by her father and his patron Sir Gerard
Noel. She was absent many months, and spent some time at Weimar, where
she made the acquaintance of the family of Gothe, and of other
distinguished members of the Grand Duke's brilliant little coterie. Her
impressions of this town were afterwards published under the title of
"Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad." In 1831 appeared her "Memoirs
of the Lives of Celebrated Female Sovereigns," which still enjoys a
limited share of popularity, more especially with female readers. The
profits arising from her literary labours had now become a necessity, as
her remittances from her husband were few and meagre, and she was
compelled to contribute something to the support of her father and his
family. In 1832 her "Characteristics of Women," a series of
disquisitions on the female characters in Shakespeare's plays, appeared.
Of this work, which has perhaps enjoyed a wider reputation than any of
her literary productions, all that need be said is that it contains some
criticism that is worth reading, and that its defects are largely
redeemed by the easy grace of the style in which it is written. Just
before the publication of the "Characteristics," the author supplied the
letterpress to accompany a series of fine engravings of "The Windsor
Beauties," as they are called--a magnificent collection of portraits
painted by Sir Peter Lely for Charles II., depicting a number of the
fair--and in many cases frail--habitus of that monarch's dissolute
court. The paintings had been copied in miniature by Mrs. Jameson's
father, by command of the Princess Charlotte, in whose household Mr.
Murphy had held the appointment of Painter in Enamel, from the year
1810. These, with several additions, were now engraved and published,
under the title of "Beauties of the Court of Charles II." Mrs. Jameson's
sparkling letterpress lent additional charms to a singularly attractive
work. It has several times been republished, and early editions of it
command a high price among lovers of choice books. Its publication was
undertaken entirely for Mr. Murphy's benefit, but, though it added
somewhat to Mrs. Jameson's reputation, the cost of production was very
great, and the profits were little or nothing.

Mr. Jameson, meanwhile, had not found his position in the West Indies
much to his liking, and had never asked his wife to join him there.
Early in 1833 he resigned his judgeship and returned to England, where
he took up his quarters with his wife at the house of Mrs. Bate, a
married sister of the latter's. In a few weeks he succeeded in obtaining
an appointment as Speaker of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, and
took his departure from London for Toronto--or York, as it was then
called. It was arranged between the husband and wife that a home should
forthwith be provided in the little provincial capital, and that Mrs.
Jameson should be sent for. She had long ago ceased to place much
dependence on her lord's word, however, and we can hardly blame her if
she did not feel for him much wifely affection. She devoted herself to
her literary pursuits with fresh assiduity, and set out on another
continental expedition. She spent some time in Germany, where she found
a warm welcome in the best social and literary circles, and formed the
acquaintance of Retzsch and Ludwig Tieck. She kept up an occasional
correspondence with her husband, but no time was arranged for her
joining him in Canada, and their letters were wonderfully stilted and
formal. After a considerable stay in Germany she returned to London,
where she was a sort of literary lioness, and a decided social success.
She supported herself meanwhile by her pen, and had acquired a genuine
love for her literary calling. She became acquainted with Lady Byron,
and their acquaintance soon ripened into a friendship which lasted
nearly twenty years. In the spring of 1834 a letter arrived from Mr.
Jameson in which he at last expressed his desire that his wife should
join him in Canada. She, however, had formed other projects, and felt
quite independent of her husband. She had received overtures from
first-class publishers to undertake literary work which would be both
congenial and profitable. She, a childless wife, did not conceive it to
be her duty to forego the many advantages she enjoyed, merely to take up
her abode in an American wilderness, as the companion of "a cold and
self-sufficing man, to whose happiness she never seemed to be necessary
except when the Atlantic flowed between." In reply to his injunction she
wrote to him evasively; and this brought from him a letter conceived in
a much warmer strain than he had been wont to use. "Dearest Anna," he
writes; "let me look forward to our meeting with hope. Let me not lose
the privilege of loving you, and the hope of being loved by you. Let me
come to my solitary home with the prospect that my daily labours shall,
before any very lengthened day of trial, be rewarded by your presence
and your most precious endearments. I have no single hope that does not
depend on this one. Do not school your heart against me, and I will
compel you to love me. I have been fencing-in my nice little piece of
ground on the banks of the lake, where I am promising myself the
happiness of building you a pretty little villa after your own taste. I
have set a man to plant some trees and shrubs also, for the place was
quite denuded, though by far the finest situation in the town. I have
ground enough for a pretty extensive garden, nearly three acres." Again,
in the following spring (May, 1835,) he writes: "My hopes of receiving
you in a house of your own have been for the present thwarted--I have
not the requisite money. But I have the ground, which I trust I shall
not be driven to sacrifice, because I should never meet with so pleasant
a situation; and before long I trust still to have a nice cottage, at
all events, upon it. And then, what portion of happiness we enjoy in it
depends upon you, dearest Anna; and I think you will not wilfully shut
it out of doors, merely because it may be a better fate than I deserve."
He had by this time ceased to be Speaker of the Assembly, having been
appointed Attorney-General; but his wife was left to learn this fact how
she might, and there is no allusion to his improved circumstances in his
correspondence. The letters from which the foregoing quotations are made
were such as to require that she should make up her mind. She seems,
however, to have been very deliberate, and did not reply until the lapse
of some months. An extract from her reply will give a better idea of the
fathomless abyss that lay between this ill-mated husband and wife than
any description could afford. In his last epistle he had referred to his
solitariness and great need of her; jocularly adding that he intended
erelong to take another wife. She writes: "You say it is your intention
to marry again. My Dear Robert, jesting apart, I wish it only depended
on me to give you that power. You might perhaps be happy with another
woman. A union such as ours is, and has been ever, is a real mockery of
the laws of God and man. You have the power to dispose of our fate as
far as it depends on each other. I placed that power in your hands ... and
had you used that power in a decided manly spirit, whether to unite
or to part us, I had respected you the more, and would have arranged my
life accordingly. But what an existence is this to which you have
reduced us both! If you can make up your mind to live without me--if
your vague letters signify a purpose of this kind--for God's sake speak
the truth to me; but if, on the other hand, it is your purpose to remain
in Canada, to settle there under any political change, and your real
wish to have me with you and make another trial for happiness, tell me
so distinctly and decidedly--tell me at what time to leave England--tell
me what things I ought to take with me ... what kind of life I shall
live, that I may come prepared to render my own existence and yours as
pleasant as possible."

To this letter the husband replied, imperatively enjoining the wife to
come out to him; and in compliance with the injunction she sailed for
New York in September, 1836. Upon reaching New York, contrary to what
she had been led to expect, she found no one to meet her, and was
compelled to make the remainder of the journey alone. She made her way
to Toronto _via_ Albany to Queenston, and thence by steamer. She reached
her destination at an unexpected time, and by an unexpected boat, so
that there was no one at the wharf to meet her. When she landed from the
steamer she stepped from the boat into a street ankle-deep in mud, and
walked through the desolate roads to her husband's abode, more than a
mile distant. The house of the Attorney-General was situated near the
foot of the west side of Brock street. The place had been first enclosed
and ornamentally planted by Mr. Jameson, as related in one of the
foregoing extracts. Her husband's neglect, and the desolate
circumstances which attended her first appearance in Toronto, gave her a
distaste to the place which she never entirely overcame. She has left a
picture of the capital of Upper Canada as it appeared to her in that
dreary autumn of 1838. She describes it as strangely mean and
melancholy: "A little ill-built town on low land, at the bottom of a
frozen bay, with one very ugly church without tower or steeple;" (this
was the St. James's Cathedral of those days;) "some Government offices
built of staring red brick, in the most tasteless vulgar style
imaginable;" (the present Parliament buildings;) "three feet of snow all
around, and the grey, sullen, uninviting lake, and the dark gloom of the
pine forest bounding the prospect. Such seems Toronto to me now. I did
not expect much, but for this I was not prepared." To do her justice,
she seems to have done her utmost for some time to rouse herself from
the gloom which beset her, and to render her home agreeable to her lord
and master. But she was altogether out of harmony with her environment,
and the attempt was a failure. She was insufferably bored by the society
in which she found herself; and her discomfort was increased by repeated
attacks of ague. Her native enthusiasm could not even be roused by a
visit which she paid to Niagara in the depth of winter. She was so
disappointed at the effect produced upon her by the sight of the roaring
abyss that she regretted having gone near it. She would have preferred
that it had remained a "Yarrow Unvisited." A subsequent visit during the
early summer tended to restore the mighty cataract to her favour, but as
yet she beheld everything through a jaundiced medium, and could not work
herself up to the point of admiration. Before spring arrived, Mr.
Jameson was elevated to a seat on the Judicial Bench. He became
Vice-Chancellor, the Chancellorship being vested in the Crown. "He is
now at the top of the tree," writes Mrs. Jameson to her sister in
England, "and has no more to expect or aspire to. I think he will make
an excellent Chancellor; he is gentlemanlike, cautious, and will stick
to precedents, and his excessive reserve is _here_ the greatest of
possible virtues. No one loves him, it is true; but every one approves
him, and his promotion has not caused a murmur." A few lines lower down
in the same letter she adds: "The house is very pretty and compact, and
the garden will be beautiful, but I take no pleasure in anything. The
place itself, the society, are so detestable to me, my own domestic
position so painful, and so without remedy or hope, that to remain here
would be the death of me. My plan is to help Jameson in arranging his
house, and, when the spring is sufficiently advanced, to make a tour
through the western districts up to Lake Huron. Towards the end of the
year I trust by God's mercy to be in England." One of the most
disagreeable features about the whole of this unhappy business is Mrs.
Jameson's disposition to take her relatives, and even the world at
large, into her confidence on the subject of her domestic unhappinesses.
She had much to bear, it is true, and must often and often have been
aweary of life; but she was unquestionably in some respects an unwomanly
woman. She had not that fortitude which frequently belongs to nobler, if
less intellectual, natures, and which teaches them to suffer and be
silent. For such natures, we doubt not, she entertained an unmeasured
contempt. Her love for her husband, if it had ever existed, was dead.
She despised him, and unlike George Eliot, she did not recognize the
fact that the woman who willingly lifts up the veil of her married life
thereby profanes it from a sanctuary into a vulgar place.

The programme which she had sketched out for herself was carried into
effect in all essential particulars. She made a western expedition
through the Upper Canadian peninsula; succeeded in obtaining an
interview with the eccentric Colonel Talbot at the Port named after him;
passed on up Lake Huron, and ran the Sault Ste. Marie in a birch-bark
canoe; saw a good deal of wild rough life among the Indians; and thus
consumed about two months of glorious summer weather. She returned to
Toronto in the early autumn, and soon afterwards took a final farewell
of the Chancellor. We find her, towards the close of the year (1837),
sojourning at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, as the guest of Miss Catherine
Maria Sedgwick, the American authoress. She was lionized by the
hospitable literary people of New England during her stay among them,
which lasted till February, 1838, when she sailed for England. She bore
with her a missive from her husband expressing his acquiescence in a
permanent separation. "My Dear Anna:"--thus it runs--"In leaving Canada
to reside among your friends in England or elsewhere, you carry with you
my most perfect respect and esteem. My affection you will never cease to
retain. Were it otherwise I should feel less pain at consenting to an
arrangement arising from no wish of mine, but which I am compelled to
believe is best calculated for your happiness, and which therefore I
cannot but approve." The husband and wife never met again.

And this was the unhappy end of it. During the rest of his life the
husband allowed her a separate income of 300 a year, which, added to
her own literary gains, made a sufficient sum to enable her to maintain
herself with comfort. But her parents long continued to be more or less
dependent upon her, and it must be confessed that she was ever ready to
minister to their necessities to the utmost of her power. Upon her
arrival in England she took up her abode with her sister, Mrs. Bate, and
soon afterwards brought out her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in
Canada," a work which was received with much favour on two continents,
and which, for Canadian readers, is by far the most interesting of all
her contributions to literature. It deals with her Canadian and United
States experiences at full length, and is written in a lively, animated
style, which makes it very pleasant reading, more especially for persons
familiar with the society and scenes described. Her own individuality,
however, is constantly intruded; sometimes with an effusiveness so great
as to be almost offensive. The book was reprinted in the United States,
and obtained a wide circle of readers there. It has since been reprinted
in England, in a somewhat abridged form, under the title of "Sketches in
Canada, and Rambles among the Red Men."

With the publication of this work the chief interest in Mrs. Jameson's
life, for Canadian readers, may be said to have come to an end. We have
space for only a very brief account of her subsequent career, which was
almost entirely devoted to literary pursuits, and incidentally to some
important social reforms. She spent much of her time on the continent,
and explored the principal art galleries of Germany, Italy and France
with a never-failing enthusiasm. She wrote several works on art and
kindred topics which have done much to create a taste for, and diffuse a
knowledge of, artistic productions. The best known of these are "Memoirs
of the Early Italian Painters," "Memoirs and Essays on Art, Literature
and Social Morals," "Sacred and Legendary Art," "Legends of the Monastic
Orders," and "Legends of the Madonna." She also published several less
ambitious, but extremely valuable works, in the shape of a series of
handbooks to various artistic collections. She numbered among her
friends and correspondents many of the most distinguished authors of the
day. As might have been expected, she developed into a vigorous exponent
of the rights of her sex; exerted herself to get the schools of design
opened to women; interested herself warmly in the cause of female
education; and did much, by her writings and example, to stimulate the
thought of her day on the question of an enlarged sphere of duty for
members of her sex. She cultivated a close intimacy with Lady Byron,
and a warm friendship subsisted between them until the year 1853, when
Her Ladyship took mortal offence at her friend for a trivial cause, and
hated her most cordially ever afterwards. For some years, however, Mrs.
Jameson was one of Lady Byron's most trusted friends, and the recipient
of her most cherished secrets. She was doubtless one of the
twenty-and-odd "tried friends" to whom the poet's widow--the woman
"perfect past all parallel"--disclosed her morbid imaginings about her
dead lord. If so, Mrs. Jameson proved faithful to her trust, and no
great harm was done. Unfortunately, as we all know, Her Ladyship, in a
moment of even more than usually misplaced confidence, told her horrible
chimaera to a woman from Massachusetts: a woman of prying curiosity,
prurient fancy, and slanderous tongue. The result was that within a few
years after Lady Byron had been laid in her grave the world was
entertained with the horrible story--a story so utterly vile and
disgusting that we must go to the records of the Beecher family to find
anything approaching it in infamy.

Mrs. Jameson's father died in March, 1842, leaving her mother and two
daughters entirely dependent upon her for support; as, indeed, they had
been for some years previously. She acquitted herself of her
responsibility with praiseworthy courage, and did her utmost to provide
for them out of her own moderate store. In 1851 a Crown pension was
obtained for her through the good offices of Lord Stanley of Alderley
and Lord John Russell. The spring of the year 1854 was rendered
noteworthy to her by the death of her mother; and in the autumn of the
same year she received from Canada intelligence of her husband's death.
Some particulars as to the latter years of Mr. Jameson's life in Canada
will be found in the sketch of the life of the Hon. William Hume Blake,
included in the present series. Some time previously he had prevailed
upon his wife to surrender to him the legal papers by which her annuity
from him was secured. It had been represented to her that the surrender
was desired by Mr. Jameson with a view to securing the income to her
after his death. She now learned that no provision whatever had been
made for her, and that she was deprived of the income upon which she had
learned to depend. Through the influence of the Procters and other
friends at this juncture a sum was raised which obtained for her an
income of 100 a year for the remainder of her life. She was destined to
benefit by this arrangement only a little more than five years. In 1857
her health began perceptibly to give way. The climate of Italy did
something to restore the natural buoyancy of her spirits, but she never
again recovered more than a very moderate share of physical health. She
returned to London, and continued to engage in literary labours beyond
her strength. Early in March, 1860, she caught a severe cold from
exposure to a cutting snow-storm, while walking from the British Museum
to her lodgings. She was prostrated by fever, and rapidly sank into her
grave. She died on the 17th of the month, and was buried in the cemetery
at Kensal Green, that final resting-place of so many persons whose names
are eminent in English literature.




[Illustration: D. H. McVICAR]


THE REV. D. H. McVICAR, LL.D.


The Principal of the Presbyterian College, Montreal, was born on the
29th of November, 1831, at Dunglass, near Campbelltown, in the peninsula
of Kintyre, Argyllshire, Scotland. His parents emigrated to Canada when
he was only four years of age, and took up their abode in the county of
Kent, near the site of the present town of Chatham. He received his
earliest education under an efficient private tutor, and later on became
a student at the Toronto Academy, which was then conducted by the Rev.
Alexander Gall, M.A., an excellent teacher and disciplinarian. He also
attended for some time as a student at the University of Toronto. He
received his theological training at Knox College, under the supervision
of the late Dr. Willis, Dr. Burns, and Professor G. P. Young. For nearly
two years before he obtained his license authorizing him to preach, he
officiated as a preceptor in a private academy conducted by his brother,
on Gould Street, Toronto, opposite the Normal school. Here he instructed
the pupils in Greek, Latin and English. His first preaching was done at
Collingwood, in the county of Simcoe, in the summer of 1858. During the
following year he obtained from the Toronto Presbytery of the Canada
Presbyterian Church a license to preach the Gospel. He officiated for
some time in a hall in the west end of Toronto, where he received much
assistance in the general work of the congregation, and especially in
the Sabbath School, from the Hon. John McMurrich. Soon afterwards he was
appointed by the Committee on Foreign Missions to undertake a mission to
British Columbia, which mission, however, he declined to accept. He also
received and declined calls to Erin, Bradford and Collingwood. He was
earnestly solicited by the congregation over which he officiated in
Toronto--where he was much beloved--to remain there, but he ultimately
decided to accept a pressing and unanimous call which had been extended
to him by the congregation of Knox Church at Guelph. Having accepted
this call he entered with energy and zeal upon the work of his charge.
He found the congregation much run down, and used his utmost endeavours
to bring about a more prosperous state of things. His efforts were
crowned with success. During the single year of his pastorate fifty-two
members were added, and other work of the church was advanced fully in
proportion to the increased membership. His abilities as a preacher and
pastor were destined speedily to obtain recognition from other
congregations, and towards the close of 1860 he received a call from the
Cote Street Free Church, Montreal, as successor to Dr. Fraser, now of
London, England. This was then, and is still, one of the leading
Presbyterian churches in the country. He accepted the call, and was
inducted into his new pastorate on the 30th of January, 1861. He
discharged the responsible duties of this important pastorate with
marked ability and success for nearly eight years. During this period
the congregation reached the highest point it has ever attained, both in
numbers and efficiency--the membership having nearly doubled. Here, too,
his eminent abilities as a teacher enabled him to draw together and hold
with unflagging interest one of the largest Bible classes in the
country. He carried his people with him heartily into the work of church
extension, founding several Mission Sunday Schools, two of which have
since grown into self-supporting congregations. In 1868 the Synod
appointed him Professor of Divinity in the Presbyterian College,
Montreal. This institution was then in its feeblest beginnings, with no
endowment, no books, no building, and only five or six students. After
about four months' consideration he undertook the duties of his new
office. His congregation unanimously bore testimony by public resolution
to their unabated esteem for him, and to their appreciation of his
ability and uniform fidelity in pulpit and pastoral work. For about four
years the College work had to be carried on in the basement of Erskine
Church. At the present day the institution stands upon a very different
footing. It now has a fine, handsome building, a valuable library of
over seven thousand volumes, a partial endowment, and an efficient staff
of Professors and Lecturers; and its last report to the General Assembly
shows a larger roll of theological students than any other college in
the church. These facts speak for themselves, and show that the Synod
and others were not mistaken in predicting for him success in the great
work of founding a college in Montreal.

His official duties in connection with the College did not prevent his
employing himself usefully in other fields. For six years he had charge,
as Moderator of Session, of Cote Street Church, and to him the
congregation mainly owe it that they were carried unitedly through
protracted vacancies in the pastorate, and through the building of their
present magnificent edifice, the cost of which exceeded $120,000. The
work done during this period was fraught with no ordinary difficulty
both to Dr. McVicar and the congregation. The former's unwearied
efforts, tact, and personal influence with the members contributed very
largely to preserve the congregation unbroken in removing to the new
church, and thus the interests of Presbyterianism in Montreal and beyond
it were greatly promoted.

Principal McVicar has long taken the deepest interest in the work of
French Evangelization. By overture to the Presbytery of Montreal and the
Synod he originated the work of training French and English speaking
missionaries and ministers, and organized the Presbyterian French work
which has since been so successful. At the last General Assembly he
secured the appointment in the College over which he presides of a
French Professor of Theology. He has within the last year taken the
initiative in Canada in establishing a Lectureship for the cultivation
of Celtic Literature, and it is hoped that this may be developed into a
fully endowed chair. He also served many years on the Protestant Board
of School Commissioners in Montreal, and was Chairman at the time of his
retirement last year. His services in this connection have been
invaluable to the cause of education in Montreal--a fact frankly and
repeatedly acknowledged by his fellow-citizens and the local press. A
writer in one of the local journals not long since spoke of his
published lectures and addresses on various questions educational and
theological as entitling him to be ranked among the most vigorous
thinkers of his time. Some of his educational works have already taken
their places as standard text books, and have received the highest
commendations from educators and from the press. These consist, among
others, of two arithmetics, the one primary, and the other of a more
advanced character, both of which have been introduced into the schools
of the Province of Quebec, and authorized by the Minister of Education
for Ontario. Among his other publications, those best known are his
lectures respectively on Inspiration; Miracles; The Constitution of the
Church; The Sabbath Law; Modern Scepticism; Moral Culture; The Teacher
in his Study and Class-room; Romanism in Quebec; Hindrances and Helps to
Presbyterianism, etc., together with sermons on various occasions. In
1876 he delivered a course of twenty lectures on Applied Logic before
the Ladies' Educational Association of Montreal; and in 1878 a similar
course on Ethics before the same Association. He has devoted some time
to the study of certain branches of Medical Science, especially Anatomy
and Physiology, in both of which he still takes a more than ordinary
interest, as bearing upon the direction taken by recent scientific
discussions. During one session he was Lecturer on Logic to McGill
University, Montreal. He is a Fellow of McGill College, and in 1870
received the highest honour in its gift--the degree of LL.D. _honoris
causa_. He has been a member of every General Assembly of his Church,
where he exerts a powerful influence in guiding her councils and
moulding her decisions in all important matters of doctrine and
practice. He was appointed by the General Assembly a member of the first
General Presbyterian Council which met at Edinburgh in 1877, and also of
the one to meet at Philadelphia during the current year. He is not given
to putting himself conspicuously forward as a speaker in Church Courts,
but has always spoken vigorously in advocacy of what he has believed to
be right measures, irrespective of any consideration as to whether his
advocacy might conduce to his popularity. He is known to have definite
opinions, and is always able to give a reason for them. As a preacher he
may be described as exegetical and eminently practical, drawing his
illustrations largely from Biblical sources and the surroundings and
occupations of his hearers. He delivers his discourses with much
animation and force, and seems to delight in pulpit work, as he
frequently appears at the opening of churches, rendering service to his
brethren, and even beyond his own denomination. While no believer in a
vague and nondescript theology, he is anything but sectarian in his
conceptions of the constitution of the Church, and has shown himself
ready to work most cordially with all who profess Christianity. It may
also be noted that he is a powerful advocate on the temperance platform,
and has contributed much to the social enlightenment of the poor of his
city.

He has been compelled to do the heaviest part of the financing on behalf
of the College, and considering the small field to which his labours
have been restricted his success has been almost marvellous. He is still
required to teach Systematic Theology, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology,
and Church Government.

A few years since he received a pressing call from the congregation of
South Church, Brooklyn, and was offered a salary of $7,000 a year by way
of inducement to accept it. He declined, however, to sever the
associations which have hitherto bound him to Montreal and Canada, where
he has exercised so great an influence for good.




THE HON. WILLIAM HENRY DRAPER.


The late Mr. Draper achieved high position in various walks of life.
While still in early youth he took a conspicuous place at the Bar of
Upper Canada, and acquired an enviable reputation at a time when that
Bar numbered among its ranks many persons of marked forensic ability. As
a politician he also attained a foremost place, and for more than two
years was, as matter of fact, the real "power behind the throne." His
political career, however, though it was marked by characteristics
sufficiently salient, and was eminently successful in procuring for him
power and influence, was on the whole not such as to commend itself to
persons of modern ideas. His politics were the politics of a past time.
It is not in the _rle_ of a politician that those who cherish his
memory like best to think of him, and it is not upon his political
achievements that his highest claims to regard must rest. His judicial
career, on the other hand, was not only one of singular brilliancy, but
was destined to leave a distinct and permanent mark upon Canadian
jurisprudence. As a judge, William Henry Draper occupies a place in the
legal history of this country of which any man might justly feel proud.
He was a profound and learned lawyer, who felt the grave
responsibilities of his high position, and his written judgments will
long continue to be cited with the respect due to great legal acumen,
keen power of discrimination, and a remarkably capacious mind.

He was an Englishman by birth and early education, having been born on
the 11th of March, 1801, in one of the Surrey suburbs of London. His
father, the Rev. Henry Draper, was a clergyman of the Church of England,
and was for some years incumbent of one of those many metropolitan
churches which seem, in these days, to have survived their practical
usefulness. He was rector of St. Anthony's--corruptly called St.
Antholin's--in Watling Street, in the very heart of the city, and almost
within the shadow of the great dome of St. Paul's. Subsequently he
became incumbent of a rectory at South Brent, in Devonshire. It was
during his incumbency of St. Anthony's that his son, the subject of this
sketch, was born. The latter is said to have run away to sea, like other
spirited lads, when he had scarcely entered his teens. At all events he
embarked in a seafaring life, as cadet on board an East Indiaman. When
he was about eighteen years of age he abandoned maritime pursuits, and
soon afterwards emigrated to Canada, whither he arrived in the early
summer of 1820, he being then in his twentieth year. He engaged in his
first employment at Port Hope, in the capacity of a school-teacher, but
did not find that pursuit much to his taste, and in 1823 began the study
of the law in the office of Mr. Thomas Ward, a local practitioner of
some repute in those days. How long he remained in the office of Mr.
Ward does not appear, but in 1825 we find him a student in the office of
the Hon. George Somerville Boulton, at Cobourg. He was soon afterwards
appointed Deputy-Registrar of the United Counties of Northumberland and
Durham. While holding this office, and before he had completed his legal
studies, he married the estimable lady who was his companion through
more than half a century of his subsequent life, and who still survives
him. She was Miss White, daughter of Captain George White, of the Royal
Navy. On the 16th of June, 1828, he was called to the Bar of Upper
Canada, and soon afterwards resigned his Deputy-Registrarship. He had
always possessed a vigorous constitution, and was of robust habits.
While holding the office last named he resided at Port Hope. His duties
required his daily attendance at the Registry Office, which was at
Cobourg, seven miles distant. In those days there was no railway, and
the stage did not run at seasonable hours, so that Mr. Draper was
commonly accustomed to make the journey both ways on foot--a custom
involving at least fourteen miles of pedestrian exercise daily.

Almost immediately after his call to the Bar he removed to Toronto. The
Hon. John Beverley Robinson, who was then Attorney-General, having
occasion to be in Cobourg on official business, had made the young man's
acquaintance, and had been much impressed by the manner in which the
latter had prepared a brief for trial. Mr. Robinson offered young Draper
a place in his office, and the offer was readily accepted. He continued
to have his home in Toronto from that time till his death. On the 18th
of November, 1829, he was appointed Reporter to the Court of King's
Bench, an office which he held for a period of about eight years. In
1830 he was appointed a Bencher of the Law Society, and in 1842 he was
created a Queen's Counsel, along with Robert Baldwin, Henry John
Boulton, Henry Sherwood, and James Edward Small, with a patent of
precedence. He was by this time recognized as one of the leaders of the
Bar in this Province, and enjoyed a large and lucrative practice.

He entered political life soon after the arrival of Francis Bond Head in
Upper Canada, which took place early in 1836. During the following
summer Mr. Draper was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly by
the city of Toronto, and towards the close of the year, at the
Governor's request, he accepted a place in the Executive Council without
a portfolio. On the 23rd of the following March he became
Solicitor-General of Upper Canada, and continued to hold that office
through the stormy period of the rebellion, and subsequently until the
Administration of Mr. Thomson--afterwards Lord Sydenham. During his
tenure of office as Deputy-Registrar, at Cobourg, he had held a
colonel's commission in the county of Durham, and in 1838 he was
appointed colonel of a York battalion. During the rebellion he served as
an aide-de-camp to Sir George Arthur. While holding office as
Solicitor-General, in 1840, he introduced a measure for the settlement
of the vexed question of the Clergy Reserves. It passed the Assembly,
but was rejected by the Council. Upon the resignation of Mr. Hagerman,
Mr. Draper succeeded that gentleman as Attorney-General, and held that
office at the time of the consummation of the Union of the two Provinces
in 1841. He was succeeded in the office of Solicitor-General by Robert
Baldwin, who consented to enter the Ministry at the urgent request of
the Governor-General, and upon the supposition that the Government was
to be carried on in accordance with the principles of Responsible
Government. The history of the various administrations of the next few
years, and of Mr. Draper's share in them, has already been given in
various sketches included in this series. Though not a member of the
Family Compact, he was a Conservative of the most pronounced cast, and
had no sympathy with the Reform projects for which Mr. Baldwin and his
colleagues so earnestly contended. It was impossible that any Ministry
containing such incongruous materials as Robert Baldwin and William
Henry Draper could be of long duration. The former resigned at the
opening of the next session of Parliament; the latter continued to hold
office. Upon the accession of Sir Charles Bagot, and the formation of
the Baldwin-Lafontaine Government, Mr. Draper was of course compelled to
resign. Then came Sir Charles Metcalfe, and Mr. Baldwin's Ministry took
its turn at resignation. It was at this crisis that Mr. Draper came
conspicuously to the front. On the 10th of April, 1843, he had been
created a Legislative Councillor. He now resigned his place in the Upper
House, and became Premier, with the portfolio of Attorney-General. With
much difficulty, and after long delay, he succeeded in forming his
Provisional Government. He himself, and his two colleagues, Dominick
Daly and D. B. Viger, divided the ten Cabinet offices among them, and
dragged through the session as best they could. It is to be feared that
for much of the mischief wrought by the Governor-General during this
unhappy period, Mr. Draper must be held largely responsible. As has been
said, he was "the power behind the throne." The plain English of the
matter is that Responsible Government was a myth, and the tide of
progress was effectually stemmed. This state of things lasted until
after Lord Metcalfe's departure from our shores--and in fact until after
the arrival of Lord Elgin, for Earl Cathcart merely administered the
necessary functions of Government during the interval, and did not in
any way attempt to interfere in the disputes of the rival political
parties.

In the summer following Lord Elgin's arrival in Canada, and before the
general election which ensued, Mr. Draper wisely withdrew from political
life, and accepted a seat on the Judicial Bench. He became a Puisn
Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench, as successor to Mr. Justice
Hagerman, deceased. His appointment took place on the 12th of June,
1847, and he retained the position till February 5th, 1856, when he
succeeded Sir James Macaulay as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. This
latter position he filled for seven years. In the month of July, 1863,
he became Chief Justice of Upper Canada, as successor to the Hon.
Archibald McLean, who then succeeded to the Presidency of the Court of
Appeal, rendered vacant by the death of the Hon. Sir John Beverley
Robinson, on the 31st of January previous. Mr. Draper remained Chief
Justice of Upper Canada until February, 1869, when he in turn became
President of the Court of Error and Appeal. This position he continued
to hold up to the time of his death, which took place at his home in
Yorkville, a suburb of Toronto, after a lingering illness, on the 3rd of
November, 1877.

In the foregoing rapid enumeration of the high judicial honours achieved
at various times by Mr. Draper, it has been omitted to mention that, in
1854, the ribbon of a Companion of the Bath was conferred upon him. It
is said that he was several times offered the dignity of knighthood, but
declined. The only other important event to be chronicled is the fact
that in 1857, while he was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, he visited
England on a mission from the Canadian Government in relation to the
North-West Territories. The Chief Justice had a numerous family, of whom
only two survive him. One of these, Major Frank Draper, is the present
Chief of Police in this city.




[Illustration: CHARLES TUPPER]


THE HON. SIR CHARLES TUPPER.


Sir Charles Tupper, who, prior to his receiving the honour of knighthood
last year, was best known by his professional title of _Doctor_ Tupper,
is of U. E. Loyalist stock. He is descended from a German family
formerly resident in the electorate of Hesse-Cassel. Sometime during the
early part of the eighteenth century the family removed to the Island of
Guernsey, in the English Channel, where one of its members formed an
alliance by marriage with the old Saxon family of Brock--the family to
which Sir Isaac Brock, the hero of Queenston Heights, belonged. A few
years later, one branch of the Tupper family emigrated to Virginia, and
settled in the neighbourhood of Jamestown, whither some of their friends
from Guernsey had preceded them. Upon the breaking out of the
Revolutionary War the Tuppers of Virginia espoused the British side, and
after the cessation of hostilities "the Old Dominion" could no longer be
a comfortable home for them. Like hundreds of their compatriots, they
removed to British territory, and took up their abode in Nova Scotia,
where the Rev. Charles Tupper, the father of the subject of this memoir,
was born on the 6th of August, 1794. This gentleman, who has reached the
venerable age of eighty-six years, is still living, and in the full
enjoyment of all his faculties. He has had a highly useful and
honourable career, and is regarded as one of the patriarchs of his
native Province. He is a Doctor of Divinity, and an accomplished
linguist, and was at one time Principal of the Baptist Seminary at
Fredericton. He edited the _Baptist Missionary Magazine_ from 1827 to
1832, and is the author of several works on temperance and polemical
subjects, the best known of which is a volume entitled "Baptist
Principles Vindicated," published at Halifax in 1844.

Sir Charles Tupper is the eldest son of the reverend gentleman above
referred to, and was born at Amherst, Nova Scotia, on the 2nd of July,
1821. After attending various public and private schools he completed
his education at Horton Academy and Acadia College. From the latter seat
of learning he obtained the degree of M.A. He chose the medical
profession as his calling in life, and after studying for some time in
his native Province he crossed the Atlantic, and graduated in medicine
at the University of Edinburgh. He also became a member of the famous
Royal College of Surgeons of that city in 1843. Immediately afterwards
he returned to Nova Scotia and began the practice of his profession in
his native town of Amherst, which is the capital of Cumberland County.
Three years later he married Miss Frances Morse, a daughter of a
gentleman resident at Amherst. This lady, who still survives, has always
been in the true sense of the word a helpmeet to her husband, and has
taken an exceptionally warm interest in the advancement of his
successful political career.

From 1843 to 1855 Dr. Tupper's chief business in life was to thoroughly
establish himself in his profession. In this he was eminently
successful. He not only secured a large and lucrative medical practice,
and amassed considerable wealth, but won a much higher reputation for
professional skill than commonly falls to the lot of a young
practitioner in a provincial town. He is, however, a man of remarkably
sound constitution and great energy of character, and his professional
pursuits did not so entirely engross his time as to exclude a warm
interest in the Provincial politics. Like his father, he was a
Conservative, both politically and socially, and entered into the local
electioneering contests with much zest. Though his partizanship was
never violent or bitter--at least in those days--he had the courage of
his opinions, and regard for his professional interests never kept him
silent when he could serve his party by speaking his mind. Apart from
politics he was in every sense of the word a popular and distinguished
man. He had a fine and commanding presence; was well educated, even for
a professional man; could discourse volubly and cleverly on the topics
of the day; and was not so terribly in earnest about anything as to
provoke bitter animosities on the part of those who did not adopt his
views. The adherents of the Conservative Party began to look upon him as
an eligible candidate for Parliament. In 1855 a general election took
place in Nova Scotia, and, in response to the pressing solicitations of
his political friends he allowed himself to be put in nomination as a
candidate for the county of Cumberland. It was a venture of considerable
temerity on his part, for his opponent was the late Hon. Joseph Howe.
Mr. Howe had already sat in the Assembly for that constituency. He was
the most eloquent, and in many respects the ablest man in Nova Scotia,
and was then at the height of his fame. That a young and successful
professional man like Dr. Tupper, to whom political life was in no
respect a necessity, should court defeat by opposing so redoubtable a
candidate, was considered an exhibition of presumption and
foolhardiness. The great Liberal leader himself was for some time
disposed to make light of the opposition, but when the day of nomination
arrived it was apparent that the impending contest would not be so
one-sided as had been supposed. The campaign was carried on with a
bitterness and acrimony almost unparalleled in the annals of Nova
Scotia. Dr. Tupper proved to be a most vigorous and effective speaker on
the platform, and his diatribes stirred up opposition to Mr. Howe in
quarters where no such opposition had been looked for. Mr. Howe himself,
it is said, was taken by surprise. He had expected to have something
like a walk over the course of Cumberland County. As the campaign
progressed it became apparent that, so far from enjoying a walk over, he
would have enough to do to secure a bare majority. In several of his
speeches during the canvass he did full justice to the energy and
ability of his youthful opponent, and prophesied that the latter, though
defeat must inevitably await him in the present contest, would be heard
of again, and would one day take a foremost place in public life.
Finally the time of election arrived, and, to the surprise even of many
of his warmest supporters, Dr. Tupper's name stood at the head of the
poll. Mr. Howe was constrained to take refuge in another constituency,
which he continued to represent until his appointment to the
Lieutenant-Governorship a short time before his death. Dr. Tupper took
his seat in the House, where he soon attracted notice by the volubility
and vigour of his oratory, and by the enthusiasm with which he fought
out the party battles of the time. The chief points in dispute were a
proposed prohibitory liquor law, vote by ballot, an elective Legislative
Council, and the abolition of the monopoly in the mines and minerals of
the Province. On all these questions Dr. Tupper held very pronounced
opinions, upon which he enlarged at great length and with much
earnestness. The measures advocated by him were defeated for the time,
but his speeches established his reputation as a Parliamentary speaker,
and paved the way for future success. Soon afterwards, differences arose
between the Roman Catholic members and the leaders of the Liberal Party
in Nova Scotia, and the former, who had theretofore supported the
Liberal Policy, arrayed themselves on the side of the Opposition. The
result was the defeat of the Liberal Government, and the late Hon. James
W. Johnston, the leader of the Conservatives, was called upon to form a
new Administration, which was gazetted on the 24th of February, 1856. In
the Government then formed Dr. Tupper was offered the post of Provincial
Secretary, which he accepted, and thus gained his first experience of
official life. During the following year (1857) he ceased to reside at
Amherst, and removed to Halifax, which thenceforward continued to be his
home until after the accomplishment of Confederation.

His first tenure of office as Provincial Secretary was marked by a good
deal of important legislation, for which he is entitled to a full share
of credit, as, though not the actual leader of the Government, he was
its most energetic member, and was regarded as in many respects its
leading spirit. Among the most important measures which became law at
this time were the Act whereby the monopoly in mines and minerals was
abolished; the Act making population the basis of representation in the
Assembly; an Act amending and consolidating the Jury law; and an Act
whereby subordinate officers of the Crown were disqualified from sitting
in the Legislature. An Act making the Legislative Council elective was
also passed by the Assembly, but was rejected by the Upper House.

In 1858 Dr. Tupper went to England on an official mission, organized in
concert with representatives from New Brunswick, to promote the scheme
of constructing the Intercolonial Railway. He was absent for several
months, during which he had frequent conferences with the leading
statesmen of Great Britain, with whom he discussed the feasibility of a
political Confederation of the British American Provinces, and fitted
himself for the prominent part which he afterwards took in bringing that
important project to maturity.

At the general elections held in 1859 Dr. Tupper was again returned as
one of the members for Cumberland County. The general result of the
elections, however, was to place the Government in a minority, and when
the Legislature met in January of the following year, an adverse vote
once more landed the Conservatives in Opposition. As an Opposition
member Dr. Tupper displayed many of the characteristics that have
distinguished him in the wider sphere which he has since found for his
political aspirations. He became a formidable assailant of the
Government. He charged them with extravagance, and denounced their
alleged shortcomings in this respect in the strongest terms. His efforts
culminated in 1863, when he carried a large majority of the
constituencies by means of the retrenchment cry, and once more found
himself seated upon the Treasury Benches, virtually the leader of the
Government. In 1864 provision for the retirement of the Premier, Mr.
Johnston, by the creation of an Equity Judgeship having been made, Dr.
Tupper became Premier, and so continued till 1867. It is alleged by his
political opponents that his hustings and Opposition pledges of
retrenchment and economy were overlooked in the cares of office, and
that his Administration was even more extravagant than the one it
supplanted. To the Tupper Ministry of 1864-7, however, belongs the
credit of passing the School Law which has ever since been in force in
Nova Scotia, and which has done much to advance the cause of popular
education in that Province. Whatever honour is due for the initiation of
the measure and the responsibility of passing it through the House may
be fairly accorded to Dr. Tupper and his colleagues, although, as a
matter of fact, party differences were for the moment laid aside, and an
agreement between the Government and the Liberal leaders, Messrs.
Archibald and Annand, was arrived at on the basis of a free school
system supported by direct local taxation, supplemented by a grant from
the public treasury. The introduction of direct taxation was a bugbear
from which all previous ministers had shrunk. Dr. Tupper plainly foresaw
that he would have to encounter a storm of unpopularity, but his
tenacity of purpose was not to be shaken. He repeatedly stated, both in
his place in the House and elsewhere, his conviction that this Act would
probably cost him place, power and popularity, but that he would ever
regard it as one of the proudest achievements of his life. The value of
the boon, says one of Dr. Tupper's eulogists, may be estimated from the
fact that while in 1861 only 31,000 children between five and fifteen
years of age attended school in Nova Scotia, the number had increased,
in 1871, to more than 90,000. "One man had the courage to fight and
master a great and growing evil, the blight of ignorance covering a
whole Province, and he has his reward in the consciousness of having
initiated and carried out successfully a noble national undertaking,
making posterity his debtor."

In 1864 Dr. Tupper moved the resolution to send delegates to the
Charlottetown (P.E.I.) Conference, where the question of a union of the
Maritime Provinces was discussed, and out of which grew the movement in
favour of the larger project. He was one of the representatives at the
Quebec Conference held in the same year, and also at the London
Conference in 1866-7, where the terms of Confederation were finally
settled. He had entered into the scheme of Confederation with great
energy, and carried his measure through the Local Legislature; but the
feeling of a large number of the people of Nova Scotia was one of great
irritation, and an amount of bitterness was aroused both against the
prime mover in the scheme and the Act of Union itself that is not even
yet wholly allayed. There are those who believe that a statesman with
more tact and discretion and a stronger desire to conciliate would have
achieved his end at less cost; but to Dr. Tupper belongs, at all events,
the merit of success, as the result of great vigour, determination, and
earnestness. The immediate result to himself and his Government was,
however, disastrous. He alone, of all the Union candidates, was elected
to the House of Commons, and in the Local Legislature of thirty-eight
members the Unionists numbered but two. The fact that the Doctor was
able to carry his own election under such circumstances is certainly
about as strong a proof as could well have been afforded of his personal
popularity in his native Province.

In 1867 he was created a C.B. (civil), in recognition of his eminent
public services. During the same year he was elected to the Presidency
of the Canada Medical Association, a dignity which he retained for three
years, when he declined relection in consequence of the pressing
demands upon his time arising out of his public and official duties.
After the accomplishment of Confederation he was offered a seat in the
Dominion Cabinet, but declined to accept it, and continued to sit in the
House of Commons as a private member until June, 1870, when he accepted
the position of President of the Privy Council. In 1868 the Chairmanship
of the Intercolonial Railway Board was offered to and refused by him.
During the same year he visited London on behalf of the Dominion
Government, in order to counteract Mr. Howe's efforts for a repeal of
the recent union of the Provinces. He then had the satisfaction of
seeing the prejudices of his old antagonist overcome by the concession
of the "better terms" to Nova Scotia, while the action of their old
leader had a marked effect on the course of several of the anti-unionist
representatives who had formerly belonged to the Liberal Party. In 1870
the two rivals were both found in the same Dominion Cabinet, Dr. Tupper
being, first, as has been seen, President of the Council; then, in 1872,
Minister of Inland Revenue; and early in 1873 Minister of Customs, a
post which he held until the downfall of the Macdonald Ministry in
November of that year, owing to the Pacific Scandal disclosures. The
general election which ensued in January, 1874, once more placed the
Government supporters from Nova Scotia in a minority, though Dr. Tupper
himself was returned by his old constituents in Cumberland County for
the ninth time. During the existence of Mr. Mackenzie's Government he
was one of its most uncompromising opponents, and was a most unsparing
critic of the financial and Pacific Railway Policy of the
Administration. During the summer of 1878 he took an active part in
organizing the campaign for the impending general election, and like
other prominent politicians on both sides, delivered stirring addresses
at public meetings in various parts of the country. He advocated the
project which has been christened "the National Policy" with remarkable
vehemence. At the election which took place on the 17th of September of
that year he was once more elected by the county of Cumberland, by a
majority of 562 votes, and thereby secured his tenth consecutive return
for that constituency. Upon the formation of the new Administration
under the auspices of Sir John A. Macdonald in the following October,
Dr. Tupper accepted the portfolio of Minister of Public Works, which he
retained until the passing of the Act dividing that Department, since
which time he has been Minister of Railways and Canals. On the 24th of
May, 1879, he was created a Knight of the noble Order of St. Michael and
St. George by the present Governor-General, acting on behalf of Her
Majesty.

Sir Charles Tupper is still, as he has long been, one of the foremost
men of the Liberal Conservative Party, and is usually regarded as the
future leader of that party in the event of Sir John A. Macdonald's
retirement from public life. He has been assailed with much rancour by
his opponents, and various charges of corruption have from time to time
been brought against him; but these accusations do not seem to have
seriously affected his popularity with his political allies, and he
himself appears to regard them with supreme indifference. His character
and attributes have been limned by writers of opposite political
tendencies, and the bias of the writers is of course apparent in the
conclusions arrived at. One of the most hostile of his critics says of
him: "He is not an attractive orator. His speeches lack freshness or
novelty; no original idea ever seems to intrude itself upon his
consideration; his delivery is loud and monotonous, his torrent of words
being extremely tiring to listen to and hard to follow. His statements
are often made loosely and recklessly, with very small foundation, and
apparently upon the spur of the moment. At times it seems as though
exhaustion or apoplexy were about to supervene as the orator thunders
away at real or imaginary grounds of complaint, or magnifies some
microscopical mole-hill into a mountain; but now and then, even in his
most tremendous mood, a lurking smile hints that he is not, after all,
too terribly in earnest, and those who know him best are not always over
persuaded of the sincerity of his advocacy. He is 'the fighting captain'
of the Opposition craft, and has little care apparently for the course
of her navigation or the dangers into which she may be carried, so long
as his aggressive temperament finds its true avocation. His political
life has been one eminently favourable for the cultivation of an
antagonistic habit and manner. Controversy in Nova Scotia, in the days
of his career in the Assembly of that Province, was conducted in no
gentle spirit. The contestants handled each other without gloves, and
his reputation for personal honour and integrity in connection with his
official position was more than once seriously challenged." _Audi
alteram partem._ A writer who takes a much more favourable view of Sir
Charles's character, position and prospects, says that: "On his own side
of the House he stands next to Sir John Macdonald, whose right arm he
is, and whose successor as leader of the Liberal Conservative party, and
the head of a future Conservative Government he is, in all human
probability, destined to become. If the question were asked as to who
are the two ablest men on each side of the House, the line is so clearly
marked that ninety-nine out of a hundred would reply, 'Mr. Mackenzie and
Mr. Blake on the one--Sir John Macdonald and Sir Charles Tupper on the
other.' Sir Charles Tupper has reached his present position through no
extraneous influence. All that he has and is, he owes to himself, under
Providence. He took his place in the front rank as a public man at the
outset by pure force of character and strength of intellect. As a
politician he has throughout been consistent and progressive, generally
taking counsel with himself rather than following the suggestions of
others. There is nothing mean, shifty, or vacillating in his character.
In every line of action he has taken, he has followed it out in a firm,
fearless and undaunted spirit. With strong party feelings, and a still
stronger will, his course has always been shaped in accordance with what
he believes to be the public interest. In the earlier part of his career
he was dreaded for his terrible power of invective. That power remains,
but he has long ceased to wield it as a weapon of offence. His leading
characteristics as an orator and statesman are clearness and rapidity of
thought, fluency and accuracy of language, tenacity of purpose, strength
of will, and promptness of action. His public speeches are an index at
once of his intellect and his constitutional temperament. His words are
poured out like an avalanche, but you will listen in vain for either
verbiage or repetition. The sentences flow on keen and incisive, copious
in fact and illustration, bristling with argument, and crushing in force
and vigour of expression. As a debater he is perhaps the foremost man in
the House of Commons. His articulation is clear and resonant, his
utterance rapid and impassioned. But though vehement enough in manner
when heated by debate, he seldom loses temper, or forgets the
conventional courtesy due to an opponent. His judgment is calm and
collected at all times, and few can parry a thrust more adroitly, or be
more formidable in attack."

Sir Charles Tupper is a Governor of Dalhousie College, Halifax, and is
the author of several pamphlets, the best known of which is "A Letter to
the Right Honourable the Earl of Carnarvon, Principal Secretary of State
for the Colonies," published at London, in 1866, in reply to a pamphlet
by the late Hon. Joseph Howe, entitled "Confederation, considered in
relation to the interests of the Empire."




MONTCALM.

    "My daddy he crossed the wide ocean,
       My mother brought me on her neck,
     And we came in the year 'fifty-seven,
       To guard the good town of Quebec.

    "In the year 'fifty-nine came the Britons;
       Full well I remember the day--
     They knocked at our gates for admittance,
       Their vessels were moored in our bay.
     Says Montcalm, 'Go drive me yon red-coats
       Away to the sea, whence they come.'--
     Then we marched against Wolfe and his bull-dogs,
       We marched at the sound of the drum."

                                                --THACKERAY.

"Go to; the boy is a born generalissimo, and is destined to be a Marshal
of France," said M. Ricot, holding up his hands in amazement. The boy
referred to was a little fellow seven or eight years of age, by name
Louis Joseph de Saint Vran. M. Ricot was his tutor, and was led to
express himself after this fashion in consequence of some precocious
criticisms of his pupil on the tactics employed by Caius Julius Caesar
at a battle fought in Transalpine Gaul fifty odd years before the advent
of the Christian era. It was evident to the critic's youthful mind that
the battle ought to have resulted differently, and that if the foes of
"the mighty Julius" had had the wit to take advantage of his
indiscretion, certain pages of the "Commentaries" might have been
conceived in a less boastful spirit. Little Louis Joseph had sketched a
rough plan, showing the respective positions of the opposing forces, and
had then demanded of his tutor why _this_ had not been done, why _that_
had been neglected, and why _the other_ had never been even so much as
thought of. M. Ricot, after carefully following out the reasoning of his
pupil, could find no weak point therein, and was fain to admit that the
great Roman had been guilty of a huge blunder in the arrangement of his
forces. Fortunately for the General's military reputation, the Gauls had
been beaten in spite of his defective strategy, and he himself had
survived to transmit to posterity a rather egotistical account of the
affair. M. Ricot had been reading those "Commentaries" all his
life--reading them, as he supposed, critically--but he had never lighted
upon the discovery which his present pupil had made upon a first
perusal. Well might he exclaim, "Go to; the boy is a born generalissimo,
and is destined to be a Marshal of France."

Such is the anecdote--preserved in an old volume of French memoirs--of
the childhood of him who subsequently became famous on two continents,
and who for more than a hundred years past has been accounted one of the
most redoubtable commanders of his age. If the story be true, certainly
the Marquis de Montcalm did not carry out the splendid promise of his
boyhood. He lived to fight the battles of his country with unflinching
courage, with a tolerable amount of military skill, and with a tenacity
of purpose that often achieved success against tremendous odds. But,
unlike the great general to whom, during the last few weeks of his life,
it was his fortune to be opposed, he never gave any evidence of
possessing an original military genius--such a genius as would seem to
have been possessed by the youth who figures in the foregoing anecdote.
His chivalrous bravery, his high-bred courtesy, and, more than all, his
untimely death, have done much to make his name famous in history, and
to obscure certain features of character which we are not usually
accustomed to associate with greatness. "History," says Cooper, "is like
love, and is apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary
brightness. It is probable that Louis de Saint Vran will be viewed by
posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while his cruel
apathy on the shores of the Oswego and the Horican will be forgotten."

He was descended from a noble French family, and was born at the Chteau
of Caudiac, near Nismes, in Southern France, on the 28th of February,
1712. Concerning his early years but few particulars have come down to
us. He seems to have entered the army before he had completed his
fourteenth year, and to have distinguished himself in various campaigns
in Germany, Bohemia and Italy during the war of the Austrian succession.
At the disastrous battle of Piacenza, in Italy, fought in the year 1746,
he gained the rank of Colonel; and in 1749 he became a
Brigadier-general. Seven years subsequent to the latter date he began to
figure conspicuously in Canadian history, and from that time forward we
are able to trace his career pretty closely. Early in 1756, having been
elevated to the rank of a Field-Marshal--thus verifying the prediction
of his old tutor--he was appointed successor to the Baron Dieskau in the
chief command of the French forces in this country. He sailed from
France early in April, and arrived at Quebec about a month afterwards.
He was accompanied across the Atlantic by a large reinforcement,
consisting of nearly 14,000 regular troops, and an ample supply of
munitions of war. He at once began to set on foot those active
operations against the British in America which were followed up with
such unremitting vigilance throughout the greater part of the following
three years.

The state of affairs in Canada at this period may be briefly summarized
as follows:--The Government was administered by the Marquis de
Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, a man ill-fitted for so onerous a position in such
troublous times. The colony extended from the seaboard to the far west,
through the valley of the Ohio, and had a white population of about
80,000. Previous to Montcalm's arrival there were 3,000 veteran French
troops in the country, in addition to a well-trained militia. The
country, indeed, was an essentially military settlement, and the people
felt that they might at any time be called upon to defend their
frontiers. The countless tribes and offshoots of the Huron-Algonquin
Indians had cast in their lot with the French, and were to contribute
not a little to the success of many of their warlike operations. The
French, by means of their Forts at Niagara, Toronto and Frontenac
(Kingston), held almost undisputed sovereignty over Lake Ontario; and
their forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga enabled them to control Lake
Champlain.

Still, the French colonists laboured under some serious disadvantages,
which contributed eventually to decide the contest adversely to them.
They had given comparatively little attention to the cultivation of the
soil, and suffered from a chronic scarcity of food. They were subjected
to feudal exactions ill-suited to the condition of the country, and were
further impoverished by huge commercial monopolies. Every branch of the
public service was corrupt, and the peculations of the officials, if not
shared by the Governor himself, were at least winked at or sanctioned
by him. Montcalm, whatever may have been his shortcomings in some
respects, was no self-seeker, and was very properly disgusted with the
maladministration which everywhere prevailed. His dissatisfaction with,
and contempt for the Governor, had the effect of producing much internal
dissension among the Canadians, and of hastening the downfall of French
dominion in the colony.

The population of the British colonies at this time was not much less
than three millions; but this population, unlike that of Canada, knew
little of military affairs. The British colonists had spent their time
in commercial and agricultural pursuits, and had not cast loose from the
spirit of puritanism which had animated the breasts of their
forefathers. As compared with the mother-country they were poor enough
in all conscience, but they were, as a rule, frugal, industrious and
intelligent; and, as compared with their Canadian neighbours, they might
almost be said to be in affluent circumstances. They possessed in an
eminent degree those qualities--energy, endurance, and courage--which
mark the Anglo-Saxon race in every quarter of the globe. Such a foe, if
once disciplined and roused to united action, was not to be despised,
even by the veteran battalions of France; and the most Christian King
showed his appreciation of this fact by sending against them a general
who was regarded as the most consummate soldier in Europe.

Having arrived at Quebec about the middle of May, Montcalm lost no time
in opening the campaign. One of his earliest proceedings was to lay
siege to Fort Oswego, which, after a faint resistance, was compelled to
surrender. Articles of capitulation were signed, the British laid down
their arms, and the fort was delivered over to the conquerors. One
hundred and thirty-four cannon and a large quantity of specie and
military stores became the spoil of the victors, and more than 1,600
British subjects, including 120 women and children, became prisoners of
war.

Up to this epoch in his career the conduct of the Marquis de Montcalm
had been such as to deserve the unqualified admiration alike of his
contemporaries and of posterity. Though not past his prime, he had
achieved the highest military distinction which his sovereign could
bestow. His chivalrous courage had been signally displayed on many a
hard-fought field, and his urbanity, amiability, and generosity had made
him the idol of his soldiers. He had a manner at once grand and
ingratiating, and in his intercourse with others he manifested a
_bonhommie_ that caused him to be beloved alike by the simple soldier
and the haughty _noblesse_ of his native land. Considering his
opportunities, he had been a diligent student, and had improved his mind
by familiarity with the productions of many of the greatest writers of
ancient and modern times. By far the greater part of his life had been
spent in the service of his country, and when compelled to endure the
privations incidental to an active military life in the midst of war, he
had ever been ready to share his crust with the humblest soldier in the
ranks. Up to this time every action of his life had seemed to indicate
that he was a man of high principle and stainless honour. If it had been
his good fortune to die before the fall of Oswego his name would have
been handed down to future times as a perfect mirror of chivalry--a
knight without fear and without reproach. It is sad to think that a
career hitherto without a blot should have been marred by repeated acts
of cruelty and breaches of faith. On both counts of this indictment the
Marquis of Montcalm must be pronounced guilty; and in view of his
conduct at Oswego, and afterwards at Fort William Henry, the only
conclusion at which the impartial historian can arrive is that he was
lamentably deficient in the highest attributes of character.

Fort Oswego was surrendered on the 14th of August. By the terms of
capitulation the sick and wounded were specially entrusted to Montcalm,
whose word was solemnly pledged for their protection and safe conduct.
How was the pledge redeemed? No sooner were the British deprived of
their arms than the Indian allies of the French were permitted to swoop
down upon the defenceless prisoners and execute upon them their savage
will. The sick and wounded were scalped, slain, and barbarously
mutilated before the eyes of the Marshal of France, who had guaranteed
that not a hair of their heads should fall. Nay, more; a score of the
prisoners were deliberately handed over to the savages to be ruthlessly
butchered, as an offering to the manes of an equal number of Indians who
had been slain during the siege. Such are the unimpeachable facts of the
massacre at Oswego.

It is not to be supposed that these proceedings on the part of the
Indians were agreeable to the feelings of Montcalm, or that he consented
to them with a very good grace. The noble representative of the highest
civilization in Europe could scarcely have taken pleasure in witnessing
the hideous massacre of defenceless women and children. But he was
anxious to retain the coperation of his red allies at any cost, and had
not the moral greatness to exercise his authority to restrain their
savage lust for blood. It has been contended by some defenders of his
fame that he had no choice in the matter--that the ferocity of the
savages was aroused, and could not be controlled. It is sufficient to
say in reply that those who argue thus must wilfully shut their eyes to
the facts. Was it because he could not restrain his allies that he,
without remonstrance, delivered up to them twenty British soldiers to be
tortured, cut to pieces, and burned? Was he unable to restrain them when
he finally became sickened with their butchery and personally interposed
to prevent its further continuance? From the moment when his will was
unmistakably made known to the Indians the massacre ceased; and if he
had been true to himself and his solemnly-plighted word from the
beginning, that massacre would never have begun. By no specious argument
can he be held guiltless of the blood of those luckless victims whose
dismembered limbs were left to fester before the entrenchments at
Oswego.

With the surrender of Oswego Great Britain lost her last vestige of
control over Lake Ontario. The fort was demolished, and the French
returned to the eastern part of the Province. The result of the campaign
of 1756 was decidedly in favour of the French, and Montcalm's reputation
as a military commander rose rapidly, though his conduct at Oswego led
to his being looked upon with a sort of distrust that had never before
attached to his name. His courage and generalship, however, were
unimpeachable, and his vigilance never slept. During the following
winter his spies scoured the frontiers of the British settlements, and
gained early intelligence of every important movement of the forces.
Among other information, he learned that the British had a vast store of
provisions and munitions of war at Fort William Henry, at the
south-western extremity of Lake George. Early in the spring, Montcalm
resolved to capture this fort, and to possess himself of the stores. On
the 16th of March, 1757, he landed on the opposite side of the lake, at
a place called Long Point. Next day, having rounded the head of the
lake, he attacked the fort; but the garrison made a vigorous defence,
and he was compelled to retire to Fort Ticonderoga, at the foot of the
lake. For several months afterwards his attention was distracted from
Fort William Henry, by operations in different parts of the Province;
but early in the month of August he renewed the attempt with a force
consisting of 7,000 French and Canadian troops, 2,000 Indians, and a
powerful train of artillery. The garrison consisted of 2,300 men,
besides women and children. To tell the story of the second siege and
final surrender of Fort William Henry would require pages. Suffice it to
say that the dire tragedy of Oswego was renacted on a much more
extended scale. For six days the garrison was valiantly defended by
Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, a veteran of the 35th Regiment of the line.
Day after day did the gallant old soldier defend his trust, waiting in
vain for succours that never arrived. Finally, when he learned that no
succours were to be expected, and that to prolong the strife would
simply be to throw away the lives of his men, he had an interview with
the French commander, and agreed to an honourable capitulation. Again
did Montcalm pledge his sacred word for the safety of the garrison,
which was to be escorted to Fort Edward by a detachment of French
troops. The sick and wounded were to be taken under his own protection
until their recovery, when they were to be permitted to return to their
own camp.

Such were the terms of capitulation; terms which were honourable to the
victor, and which the vanquished could accept without ignominy. How were
these terms carried out? No sooner was the garrison well clear of the
fort than the shrill war-whoop of the Indians was heard, and there
ensued a slaughter so terrible, so indiscriminate, and so inconceivably
hideous in all its details that even the history of pioneer warfare
hardly furnishes any parallel to it. Nearly a thousand victims were
slain on the spot, and hundreds more were carried away into hopeless
captivity. No more graphic or historically accurate description of that
scene has ever been written than is to be found in "The Last of the
Mohicans," where we read that no sooner had the war-whoop sounded than
upwards of two thousand raging savages burst from the forest and threw
themselves across the plain with instinctive alacrity. "Death was
everywhere, in its most terrific and disgusting aspects. Resistance only
served to inflame the murderers, who inflicted their furious blows long
after their victims were beyond the reach of their resentment. The flow
of blood might be likened to the outbreaking of a gushing torrent; and
as the natives became heated and maddened by the sight, many among them
kneeled on the earth and drank freely, exultingly, hellishly, of the
crimson tide. The trained bodies of the British troops threw themselves
quickly into solid masses, endeavouring to awe their assailants by the
imposing appearance of a military front. The experiment in some measure
succeeded, though many suffered their unloaded muskets to be torn from
their hands in the vain hope of appeasing the savages."

It has been alleged on Montcalm's behalf that when the slaughter began
he used his utmost endeavours to arrest it. His utmost endeavours! Why,
even if his command was insufficient to restrain his allies, he had
seven thousand regular troops, with arms in their hands, at his back.
Instead of theatrically baring his breast, and calling upon the savages
to slay him in place of the English, for whom his honour was plighted,
he would have done well to have kept that honour unsullied by observing
the plain terms of capitulation, and providing a suitable escort.
Instead of calling upon the British--hampered as they were by the
presence of their sick, and of their women and children--to defend
themselves, he should have called upon his own troops to protect his
honour and that of France. Had his promised escort been provided no
attempt would have been made by the Indians, and the tragedy at Oswego
might in process of time have come to be regarded as a mere mischance.
But no such excuse can now be of any avail. According to some accounts
of this second massacre, no escort whatever was furnished. According to
others, the escort was a mere mockery, consisting of a totally
inadequate number of French troops, who were very willing to see their
enemies butchered, and who did not even make any attempt to restrain
their allies. All that can be known for certain is, that if there was
any escort at all it was wholly ineffective; and, leaving humanity
altogether out of the question, this was in itself an express violation
of the terms upon which the garrison had been surrendered. The massacre
at Fort William Henry followed one short year after that at Oswego, and
the two combined have left a stain upon the memory of the man who
permitted them which no time can ever wash away.

It is unnecessary to describe at length the subsequent campaigns of that
and the following year. Montcalm's defence of Fort Ticonderoga on the
8th of June, 1758, was a masterly piece of strategy, and was unmarred by
any incident to detract from the honour of his victory, which was
achieved against stupendous odds. Ticonderoga continued to be Montcalm's
headquarters until Quebec was threatened by the British under Wolfe,
when he at once abandoned the shores of Lake Champlain, and mustered all
his forces for the defence of the capital of the French colony.

The siege of Quebec has been described at length in a former sketch, and
it is unnecessary to add much to that description here. It will be
remembered how Wolfe landed at L'Anse du Foulon in the darkness of the
night of September 12th, 1759, and how the British troops scaled the
precipitous heights leading to the Plains of Abraham. Intelligence of
this momentous event reached Montcalm, at his headquarters at Beauport,
about daybreak on the morning of the 13th. "Aha," said the General,
"then they have at last got to the weak side of this miserable
garrison." He at once issued orders to break up the camp, and led his
army across the St. Charles River, past the northern ramparts of the
city, and thence on to the plains of Abraham, where Wolfe and his forces
were impatiently awaiting his arrival. The battle was of short duration.
The first deadly volley fired by the British decided the fortunes of the
day, and the French fled across the plains in the direction of the
citadel. Montcalm, who had himself received a dangerous wound, rode
hither and thither, and used his utmost endeavour to rally his flying
troops. While so engaged he received a mortal wound, and sank to the
ground. From that moment there was no attempt to oppose the victorious
British, whose general had likewise fallen in the conflict.

Montcalm's wound, though mortal, was not immediately so, and he survived
until the following day. When the surgeons proceeded to examine his
wound the general asked if it was mortal. They replied in the
affirmative. "How long before the end?" he calmly inquired. He was
informed that the end was not far off, and would certainly arrive before
many hours. "So much the better," was the comment of the dying
soldier--"I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." The
commander of the garrison asked for instructions as to the further
defence of the city, but Montcalm declined to occupy himself any longer
with worldly affairs. Still, even at this solemn moment, the courteous
urbanity by which he had always been distinguished did not desert him.
"To your keeping," he said to De Ramesey, the commander of the garrison,
"I commend the honour of France. I wish you all comfort, and that you
may be happily extricated from your present perplexities. As for me, my
time is short, and I have matters of more importance to attend to than
the defence of Quebec. I shall pass the night with God, and prepare
myself for death." Not long afterwards he again spoke: "Since it was my
misfortune to be discomfited and mortally wounded, it is a great
consolation to me to be vanquished by so great and generous an enemy. If
I could survive this wound, I would engage to beat three times the
number of such forces as I commanded this morning with a third of their
number of British troops." His chaplain arrived about this time,
accompanied by the bishop of the colony, from whom the dying man
received the last sacred offices of the Roman Catholic religion. He
lingered for some hours afterwards, and finally passed away, to all
outward seeming, with calmness and resignation.

It seems like an ungrateful task to recur to the frailties of a brave
and chivalrous man, more especially when he dies in the odour of
sanctity. But as we ponder upon that final scene in the life of the gay,
charming, brilliant Marquis of Montcalm, we cannot avoid wondering
whether the "sheeted ghosts" of the wounded men, helpless women, and
innocent babes who were so ruthlessly slaughtered at Oswego and William
Henry flitted around his pillow in those last fleeting moments.
Notwithstanding the fact that his mind seemed to receive solace from the
solemn rites in which he then took part, we have never read the account
of those last hours of Montcalm without being reminded of the lines of
the British Homer descriptive of the death of him who fell "on Flodden's
fatal field."

The exact place of Montcalm's death has never been definitely
ascertained. Various sites are indicated by different authorities, but
no conclusive evidence has been adduced in support of the claims of any
of them. It is, however, known for certain that his body was interred
within the precincts of the Ursuline Convent at Quebec, where a mural
tablet was erected by Lord Aylmer to his memory in 1832. The following
is a translation of the inscription:--

                        HONOUR
                             TO
                      MONTCALM!
    FATE, IN DEPRIVING HIM OF VICTORY,
            RECOMPENSED HIM BY A
                 GLORIOUS DEATH.

A few years ago his remains were disinterred, and his skull, with its
base enclosed in a military collar, is religiously preserved in a glass
case on a table in the convent. The monument to the joint memory of
Wolfe and Montcalm has been referred to in a previous sketch.

Thus lived and died the Marquis of Montcalm. He was forty-seven years of
age at the time of his death, and was constitutionally younger than his
years would seem to indicate. A Canadian historian thus sums up the
brighter side of his character: "Trained from his youth in the art of
war; laborious, just, and self-denying, he offered a remarkable
exception to the venality of the public men of Canada at this period,
and in the midst of universal corruption made the general good his aim.
Night, the rushing tide, veteran discipline, and more brilliant genius
had given his rival the victory. Yet he was not the less great; and
while the name of Wolfe will never be forgotten, that of Montcalm is
also engraved by its side on the enduring scroll of human fame. The
latter has been censured for not abiding the chances of a siege, rather
than risking a battle. But with a town already in ruins, a garrison
deficient in provisions and ammunition, and an enemy to contend with
possessed of a formidable siege-train, the fire of which must speedily
silence his guns, he acted wisely in staking the issue on a battle, in
which, if he found defeat, he met also an honourable and a glorious
death."




THE HON. OLIVER MOWAT.


Mr. Mowat, who has long been one of the most prominent members of the
Reform Party in this country, cannot be said to have inherited any
portion of his advanced political views. He was cradled in the lap of
Toryism, and in his early youth was regarded by some members of the
Conservative Party as an available future candidate for Parliament. His
father, the late Mr. John Mowat, was a native of Canisbay, Caithness,
Scotland, who early in life entered the army, and who served throughout
the whole course of the Peninsular war. In 1816 he came to Canada; and
he had been only a few months in this country ere he took up his abode
at Kingston, where he thenceforward continued to reside until his death.
During the early years of his residence in Canada he married Miss Helen
Levack, who, like himself, was a native of Caithness, and by whom he had
five children, the eldest of whom is the subject of the present sketch.
Soon after settling at Kingston, Mr. Mowat opened a general retail
store, and continued to carry on a successful commercial business for
many years. At the time of the disruption of the Scottish National
Church, in 1843, he adhered to the Kirk. He had then been for many years
an elder of St. Andrew's Church, Kingston, and he so remained until his
death. His business continued to prosper, and in course of time he
realized a competence. As he advanced in years he gradually ceased to
take any personal concern in the management of his commercial affairs,
and finally withdrew from mercantile life altogether. He was a man of
much social influence, and was held in high esteem for the uprightness
of his character. He was one of the original promoters of the Commercial
Bank, and was for many years one of the directors of that institution.
He was also a trustee of Queen's College for many years prior to his
death, which took place at Kingston in 1860. In politics he favoured
Responsible Government in the Province, and was a zealous opponent of
the exclusive claims of the Church of England, but, like many others in
his day who held those views, he was an adherent of the Conservative
Party.

Oliver Mowat was born at Kingston, on the 22nd of July, 1820. After
receiving tuition at several small local private establishments, he
attended a more pretentious educational institution taught by the Rev.
John Cruikshank, who is now minister of the parish of Turriff, in
Scotland. The latter institution was one of some repute in those times,
and numbered among its scholars the present Premier of Canada and the
late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron. Like his father before him, he was bred
in the Presbyterian faith, and has always been a member of that body. As
a child he is said to have exhibited a good deal of mental precocity,
and learned to read at a very early age. When only five years old he
used to mount a high stool in his father's counting-room, and read
the newspapers aloud to the clerks employed in the establishment. Like
most clever boys, he was fond of books and study, and acquired a good
deal of miscellaneous knowledge. Upon leaving school he entered upon the
study of the law in the office of Mr. (now Sir) John A. Macdonald, in
his native town. Within a few months after he had completed his
seventeenth year the rebellion of 1837-8 broke out. Trained as he had
been, he could not be expected to feel any sympathy in that unwise
movement, and, like a loyal subject, he served for a short time as a
volunteer. After spending four years in Mr. Macdonald's office, he
removed to Toronto, where he completed the term of his studies under the
late Mr. Robert E. Burns, afterwards a Judge of the Court of Queen's
Bench. In Michaelmas Term, 1841, he was admitted as an attorney and
solicitor, and in the same term he was called to the Bar of Upper
Canada. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession at
Kingston. He soon afterwards removed to Toronto, and formed a
partnership with his former principal, Mr. Burns, under the style of
Burns & Mowat. The late Mr. P. M. M. S. Vankoughnet was subsequently
admitted to the firm, the style of which thenceforward became Burns,
Mowat & Vankoughnet. Mr. Burns then occupied the position of Judge of
the Home District Court, embracing the present counties of York, Ontario
and Peel. As the law then stood, he was permitted to carry on his
professional business concurrently with his judicial duties; but in 1848
an Act was passed whereby County Court Judges were precluded from
practising at the Bar. Mr. Burns accordingly gave up his professional
practice, and retained his seat on the Bench. He was subsequently raised
to the dignity of a Puisn Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench, and
continued to occupy that position until his death, which took place on
the 13th of January, 1863. Mr. Vankoughnet's distinguished career, both
in political life and as Chancellor of Upper Canada, is outlined
elsewhere in these pages. After Mr. Burns's retirement from practice,
Messrs. Mowat and Vankoughnet continued to carry on business in
partnership for some years. Mr. Mowat confined his attention almost
exclusively to the equity branch of the profession. The Court of
Chancery, which had been created in 1837, was not then very efficiently
conducted. The Chancellorship was vested in the Crown, and the judicial
duties were discharged by Vice-Chancellor Robert S. Jameson, a man of
varied learning and accomplishments, but of objectionable habits, and in
many important respects unfitted for the duties of his office; and the
delay and expense to which suitors were in consequence subjected were so
great as to be almost tantamount to a denial of justice. The
Vice-Chancellor's inefficiency increased with his advancing years, and
things went on from bad to worse, until there was an outcry for the
abolition of the Court of Chancery from one end of the Province to the
other. In 1849, the late Hon. William Hume Blake, who was
Solicitor-General in the then existing Baldwin-Lafontaine Government,
introduced and passed through the House a Bill whereby the Court was
reformed and entirely reorganized, with three judges instead of one. Mr.
Blake himself was induced to accept the office of Chancellor, and from
that time forward the Court of Chancery was conducted with an efficiency
which soon gained the confidence both of the Bar and the public.

[Illustration: O. MOWAT]

At the Bar of the remodelled Court Mr. Mowat took a foremost place. His
practice grew day by day, and he was entirely engrossed by the duties of
his profession. The partnership between Mr. Vankoughnet and himself
having been dissolved by mutual consent, they practised thenceforward
separately, and each had a very large business. Mr. Mowat after a time
formed a partnership with Messrs. John Ewart and John Helliwell (both
deceased), under the style of Mowat, Ewart & Helliwell; and subsequently
with the late Mr. John Roaf and a Mr. Davis, the style of the firm being
Mowat, Roaf & Davis. After the dissolution of this partnership Mr. Mowat
for some time carried on business alone. He had the largest equity
practice in Upper Canada, and was concerned in nearly every important
case which came before the Court of Chancery in those days. Gradually he
began to take a keen interest in politics. He had already, however,
formed political ideas widely at variance with those in which he had
been reared. Theoretically, he had become an advanced Liberal, though he
did not then, and probably does not now, believe that the time had
arrived for carrying all his theories into practice. Some Conservatives
regarded and spoke of his alliance with the Reform Party as a defection
from their ranks. A defection, however, it certainly was not, as he had
never been allied with the Tory Party, as had his father; he had never
recorded a Tory vote, or in fact taken any part in political life. His
growing leanings in the direction of Liberalism were the outgrowth of
the times, and of his own study and reflection.

In 1856 Mr. Mowat was created a Queen's Counsel, and during the same
year he was appointed as one of the commissioners for the consolidation
of the Public General Statutes of Canada and of Upper Canada
respectively. At the general election of 1857, he offered himself in
opposition to Mr. (now the Hon.) Joseph C. Morrison, as a candidate for
the representation of South Ontario in the House of Assembly. He was
elected by a majority of nearly 800, and upon the opening of the next
session in February, 1858, he took his seat in the House. There he spoke
with no uncertain sound. He opposed various measures of the
then-existing Macdonald-Cartier Government with a vigour and clearness
of exposition which produced considerable effect. He was one of the most
effective speakers on the side of the Opposition, all of whom yielded
the palm to their leader, the late Mr. Brown, whose energy and vigour
were then in their zenith. The Opposition as a whole was a most
formidable one, and the Government had no sinecure in their offices. On
the question of Representation by Population the Ministry was sustained,
after an acrimonious debate in which both Mr. Brown and Mr. Mowat took a
conspicuous part, by a majority of only twelve. Then came the debate on
the question of the location of the seat of the Government. A
resolution, the terms of which everybody remembers, was carried against
the Government by a majority of fourteen. Then followed the resignation,
and the formation of the Brown-Dorion Government, in which Mr. Mowat
accepted the post of Provincial Secretary. This Government, however, was
fated to last only four days, the Governor-General having refused the
usual and well-known right of a new Ministry to a dissolution. The
"Double Shuffle" followed, and Mr. Mowat and his colleagues once more
found themselves in Opposition. Mr. Mowat continued to second Mr. Brown
with much energy all through that Parliament.

During the year 1857 he sat in the City Council of Toronto as Alderman
for St. Lawrence Ward, and during the following year for St. James's
Ward. While occupying that position he proposed and carried through the
Council an important measure which was known as "Alderman Mowat's
By-law." It was entitled, "An Act to provide for the better
administration of the affairs of the Corporation," and furnished an
important check upon the expenditure of the public funds. It has since
been consolidated, and now forms a part of the City By-law No. 504.

At the general election of 1861 he made a bold move, being nothing less
than an attempt to oust Mr. Macdonald from the representation of
Kingston, which the latter gentleman had then represented for a
continuous period of seventeen years. The attempt was not successful,
and indeed could hardly have been expected to be so, and Mr. Mowat took
refuge in his old constituency of South Ontario. Upon the formation of
the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion Administration in May, 1863, Mr. Mowat
accepted the portfolio of Postmaster-General, which he retained until
the defeat of that Government in the following year. Upon the formation
of the Tach-Macdonald Government he again accepted the
Postmaster-Generalship, which he retained for about four months. He was
a member of the Union Conference held at Quebec in that year, and took a
part in the drafting of the Constitution for the Dominion. In the
subsequent proceedings which resulted in the accomplishment of
Confederation he was not destined to play a very important part, as he
about this time withdrew from political life. In the autumn of 1864 the
death of Vice-Chancellor Esten left a vacancy on the Chancery Bench in
Upper Canada. The vacant position was offered to Mr. Mowat, and after
due consideration accepted. During the next eight years he discharged
the important and onerous duties of an equity judge with honour to
himself, and with acceptance to the profession. The most noteworthy
characteristic of his decisions is the manifest desire to mete out
perfect justice between man and man; and for this purpose to regard, as
far as a judge may, the spirit of the law in preference to the letter.
This, of course, is one of the duties of every judge who presides over
the Court of Chancery; though there is no greater mistake than to
suppose that an equity judge is not bound by precedents, and even by
technicalities, though not, perhaps, to so great an extent as judges of
the Courts of Common Law. It was currently said by members of the
profession that he was the most reluctant judge on the Bench to grant a
decree to a dishonest suitor, whatever former decisions and the strict
letter of the law in the case might be. Many of his written judgments
are notable specimens of clear and logical reasoning, and are held in
high respect by the judges and the profession generally.

In the autumn of 1872 Mr. Mowat resigned his seat on the Bench and
rentered political life. The circumstances under which he was induced
to take this step were simply these. The Act prohibiting Dual
Representation having come into force, Mr. Blake, the then Premier of
Ontario, was compelled to choose between the Dominion and the Local
Parliaments as a field for his future labours. Mr. Mackenzie, who also
held office in the Local Cabinet, was placed under a similar necessity.
They both finally resolved to select the House of Commons, and it became
necessary in the interests of the Reform Party of Ontario to supply
their place in the Local Cabinet. It was suggested to the
Lieutenant-Governor--no doubt by Mr. Blake, the retiring Premier--that
Mr. Mowat, if he could be induced to re-enter the political arena, would
be eminently fitted to carry on the Government with advantage to the
Province. The suggestion was acted upon, and Mr. Mowat accepted the
proposition made to him. On the 25th of October it was announced that
the Ministry had been reconstructed under Mr. Mowat's auspices, and that
Mr. Mowat had himself taken the office of Attorney-General. Nearly eight
years have elapsed since that time. There have been modifications in the
_personnel_ of the Local Cabinet in the interval, but Mr. Mowat still
retains his position, and the result of the elections of the 5th of
June, 1879, would seem to indicate that he is not likely to be ousted,
at least for some, time to come. After forming his Cabinet in the autumn
of 1872, he presented himself to the electors of North Oxford, when he
was returned by acclamation. He was again returned by acclamation at the
general election in 1875; and at the general election in 1879 his
majority was 1157. At the latter election he was also a candidate for
the representation of East Toronto, in opposition to the Hon. Alexander
Morris, but was defeated by a majority of 57 votes.

A brief reference to the legislation effected in Ontario under Mr.
Mowat's _rgime_ will give some idea of the industry of the Government
of which he has been the guiding spirit. He assumed office, as has been
seen, in the month of October, 1872. The ensuing session lasted nearly
three months, during which 163 Acts were passed, 50 of which related to
matters of general concern. Among the most important may be enumerated
the Act for the settlement of the Municipal Loan Fund; the Act
consolidating the Municipal Law; and the Act respecting the
Administration of Justice. Other legislation effected improvements in
the mode of electing members of the Legislature; extended the usefulness
of the Provincial University, and the efficiency of its Senate;
established a school for practical instruction in the arts of mining,
engineering, mechanics and manufactures; made more effectual regulations
respecting the liquor traffic; and established public boards of health
for the prevention or removal of causes of disease.

During the next session, which opened in January, 1874, 103 Acts were
passed, 37 of which were of general utility. Among the most important
legislation effected was the extension of the franchise to income
voters, and the establishment of machinery for the revision of voters'
lists at a moderate expense to each municipality, while the principle of
voting by ballot was introduced. The system of licenses as a preliminary
to the lawful solemnization of marriage was made clear, and all legal
questions, both as to past and future marriages, were removed, and the
Provincial fee abolished. The wages of mechanics under the sum of
twenty-five dollars were exempted from attachment by garnishee. Mr.
Mowat also took a further successful step in removing the anomalies
between matters cognizable at law and in equity, and removed the great
defect which had, up to this time, existed in our judicial system, by
constituting a Court of Appeal as an independent Court. The law relating
to Public and High Schools was consolidated under his supervision, and
the experiment was made of introducing elective members into the Council
of Public Instruction. The advantage of general laws for incorporating
and conferring privileges upon associations of individuals for any
proper or lawful object, such as for benevolent and charitable purposes,
or for any trade, business, or manufacture, was also provided for, and
an expeditious and cheap method of securing incorporation for such
purposes was established. The regulations of the liquor traffic were
improved by taking from municipal inspectors the right of granting
licenses, and placing this right under the control of the police
commissioners in cities, and the municipal councils in other places, and
giving the Government further powers for securing compliance with the
law.

The last session of the then existing Parliament opened on the 12th of
November, 1874, and presented a satisfactory record of its labours, 94
Acts having been passed, 30 of which were for public objects. Among the
latter may be enumerated the Act providing for the increase of the
representation of the Province by six additional members; an Act
imposing additional checks against bribery and corruption at elections,
and facilitating the procedure in election trials; and an Act making
titles to land more secure, and simplifying the proof thereof by
lessening the time required to constitute title by possession. The
ballot was also extended to municipal elections, and the operation of
the Mechanics' Lien Act was made more efficient.

This record of legislation was accepted by the Province as satisfactory,
and at the general election held in January, 1875, Mr. Mowat's
Government was sustained by a considerable majority. The first session
of the new Parliament began on the 25th of November, 1875, and closed on
the 10th of February, 1876, during which 114 Acts were passed, 36 being
of public application. The chief public measures referred to vital
statistics, amendments to the law respecting municipal elections,
amendments to the law suggested by the statute commissioners, the
privileges of the Legislative Assembly, voters' lists, circuits for
County Court Judges, increase of jurisdiction and amendments to the
Division Court Act, security of public officers to the Crown, and the
regulation and licensing of Insurance Companies doing business in
Ontario. Further amendments were made in the law respecting the liquor
traffic, so as to secure proper restraints, and diminish its injurious
effects. Important changes were also effected in the Education
Department of Ontario. A Committee of the Executive Council was
substituted for the Council of Public Instruction, and a Minister of
Education was appointed in lieu of the Chief Superintendent.

During the session of 1877 the most important public legislation related
to escheats and forfeitures, the granting of the franchise to farmers'
sons, the application of voters' lists to municipal elections, and
amendments in the Acts respecting the Education Department, and Public
and High Schools. An Act was passed for the encouragement of
Agriculture, Horticulture, Arts and Manufactures, including Mechanics'
Institutes, and further amendments were made to the law respecting the
liquor traffic. Effect was also given to the revision of the Ontario
Statutes, a task which had been completed under the personal supervision
of Mr. Mowat. During this session also the gratifying results attending
the Canadian exhibit at Philadelphia were formally made known to the
House.

The most important public measures of the session of 1878 were an Act to
establish regulations for the public service of Ontario; an Act for more
clearly defining the rights and powers of Justices of the Peace; an Act
for the winding up of Joint Stock Companies; an Act to establish a fund
of $200,000 in aid of tile drainage operations; and an Act to provide
for the finality of the voters' list. The session of 1879--the last
session of the third Parliament of Ontario--was an especially productive
one. The most important of the public Acts were the following:--to
confirm the determination of the Northerly and Westerly boundaries of
Ontario by the Arbitrators, and to provide for the administration of
justice therein; to provide for the duration of the Legislative
Assembly; to protect candidates at elections when lawful and reasonable
expenses are incurred on their behalf without any corrupt intent; to
improve the system of selecting jurors; to regulate proceedings under
powers of sale in mortgages, and to preserve the right of dower to
wives; to facilitate companies in supplying gas, heat, or steam. Further
amendments were also made respecting Public, Separate and High Schools.
From the Reports presented to the House during the session it appeared
that Ontario, in the nature, extent and excellence of her exhibits at
Paris, had gained as great commendation as she had received at
Philadelphia in 1876, and that a market had been opened for certain
Canadian manufactures.

The most important measures of last session were the Act authorizing the
erection of new Parliament and Departmental Buildings; the Act
extending the jurisdiction and altering the machinery of the Division
Courts; the Act--known as "The Creditors' Relief Act, 1880"--whereby
priority among execution creditors was intended to be abolished; and the
Act amending the law respecting municipal taxation. The Judicature Bill,
which was introduced but not passed, is a measure which also requires
some reference, as it is likely to engage the attention of the
Legislature next session, and to provoke warm discussion all over the
Province. This Act is founded upon the English Law Reform Act of 1873,
but contains a great deal of original matter for which Mr. Mowat is
himself responsible. It contemplates a practical fusion of law and
equity, the abolition of all the Superior Courts, and the substitution
of a general Supreme Court of Judicature for Ontario. By its provisions,
the new Court is to consist of two permanent divisions, one with
original jurisdiction, embracing the judges of the Courts of Chancery,
Queen's Bench, and Common Pleas, to be called the High Court of Justice;
and the other, with appellate jurisdiction, to be called the Court of
Appeal. The High Court of Justice is to consist of three divisions, to
be known as Chancery, Queen's Bench, and Common Pleas, each with a
President of its own. It is to have all the jurisdiction exercised by
the present Superior Courts. The jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal is
to remain unchanged. In all Courts law and equity are to be concurrently
administered, and in matters not specified, where there is any conflict
or variance between the rules of Equity and the rules of Common Law, the
rules of Equity are to prevail. "Terms," as they are called, are
abolished, and the Courts may sit and act at any time and place for the
transaction of business, or for the discharge of any duty which, by
statute or otherwise, is required to be discharged during or after term.
The present system of pleading is materially simplified, and should the
Act come into operation, lawyers will practically have to unlearn many
of the lessons of a lifetime. Instead of the elaborate technical
pleadings in force since the passing of the Common Law Procedure
Act--and these are simplicity itself as compared with the system
previously in vogue--there will be simple brief statements of alleged
facts by the plaintiff, and equally simple denials by the defendant.
That so radical a Bill should meet with opposition from many members of
the profession is what was to be expected. That the discussion
respecting it will be sharp, and that some of its clauses will have to
be modified, it is safe to assume. Such discussions and modifications,
however, are the all but invariable accompaniments of measures equally
radical, and equally far-reaching in their application. The general
principles of the Bill--the simplification of legal practice, and the
reduction of the cost of litigation--are likely to find acceptance with
the public, and in some form or other these principles are likely to
prevail.

Mr. Mowat was a member of the Senate of the University of Toronto, and
is a Bencher _ex officio_ of the Law Society of Ontario. It has been
seen that for some time subsequent to the dissolution of the partnership
existing between Messrs. Mowat, Roaf & Davis, Mr. Mowat carried on
business alone. In 1862 he formed a partnership with Mr. James
Maclennan, under the style of Mowat & Maclennan, which was dissolved on
Mr. Mowat's accepting the Vice-Chancellorship. On his afterwards leaving
the Bench for political life he resumed the practice of his profession,
and again became connected with Mr. Maclennan, who had some years before
admitted as a partner Mr. John Downey, an old student of Mr. Mowat's,
and the style of the firm has ever since been Mowat, Maclennan & Downey.
Of this firm Mr. Mowat is, as its style imports, senior partner.

Notwithstanding the pronounced political stand he has taken ever since
his entrance into public life, Mr. Mowat's personal character has never
been assailed, and now stands as high as that of any man in the
Dominion, not only among the adherents of his own party, but among his
opponents. His most enduring claim to the remembrance of posterity will
be as a law reformer, in which respect none of his contemporaries will
venture to dispute his preeminence. Independently of the Judicature Act,
which has not yet become law--and which, in its present shape, is hardly
likely to become law--his Administration of Justice Acts and other
kindred measures are lasting evidences of his legal acumen,
right-mindedness, and breadth of view. His technical education has not
curtailed his intellect, and he is not wedded to precedent, as is
commonly the case with members of his profession. The work of his life
has been done quietly, and without any parade or ostentation, but it has
left its mark upon our institutions, and the mark is not likely to be
soon effaced.




THE REV. GEORGE DOUGLAS, LL.D.


Dr. Douglas's career furnishes a notable example of the extent to which
genuine manliness and force of character, aided by a strong and earnest
purpose in life, can triumph over depressing and adverse circumstances.
He began his ministerial life with few advantages derived from
education, and with none whatever derived from social standing. Since
reaching manhood he has been subjected to the serious drawbacks
inseparable from various depressing ailments and an uncertain state of
bodily health. His great powers have developed themselves in spite of
hindrances to which a feebler will and a smaller measure of genius would
undoubtedly have succumbed. Undeterred by the various obstacles which
from time to time have arisen in his path, he has long since achieved a
position as a pulpit orator unsurpassed--perhaps unrivalled--in this
country. His reputation is not confined to Canada, or to the religious
Body wherewith he is more immediately connected. The lecture-halls of
New England have echoed to the deep tones of his powerful voice, and his
reputation for eloquence stands as high in Boston as in Montreal, where
the greater part of his ministerial career has been spent. That he has
been able to accomplish so much--handicapped, as he has been, by a late
start in life, and by subsequent ill-health--affords strong proof that,
under more favourable circumstances, his fame would have been
world-wide. His services to the Methodist Church, and to the cause of
Christianity generally, have been very great, and the future historian
of Canadian Methodism must assign to him a place in the front rank among
the pulpit orators of his time.

As is sufficiently indicated by his name, he is of Scottish origin. He
was born on the 14th of October, 1825, at Ashkirk, a beautiful little
village in one of the most picturesque parts of Roxburghshire, about
seven miles from Abbotsford, and in the very centre of the district
consecrated by the genius of Sir Walter Scott, the Ettrick Shepherd, and
John Leyden. "Doubtless," says a writer in the _Methodist Magazine_,
"his young soul was often stirred by the heroic traditions of Flodden
Field and of Dunbar, which were both near by, and by the ballads of
Chevy Chase and of the border wars." His parents were strict
Presbyterians, and of course reared their family in the Presbyterian
doctrines. How extensive the family was, we have no present means of
ascertaining. There were at all events three sons, of whom the subject
of this sketch was the youngest. The family emigrated from Scotland to
Canada in 1832, when George was a child of seven years old, and settled
in the city of Montreal. The parents were in humble circumstances, and
the children seem from the first to have recognized the fact that it
would be necessary for them to make their own way in life. Their
educational advantages, as has been intimated, were not great. George
attended for a short time at a private school at Laprairie, kept by the
Rev. Mr. Black, a Presbyterian minister; but he does not appear to have
acquired much there beyond an elementary knowledge of the three R's.
Upon leaving this school he was for a short time employed as an
assistant in a Montreal book store, after which he was apprenticed to
the trade of a blacksmith. He learned his trade, and entered into
partnership, while still in his teens, with his eldest brother, James,
who was a carpenter and builder. Meanwhile he had become an insatiable
reader, and devoured with eagerness whatever books came in his way. His
faculties would seem to have developed somewhat late, but before he had
reached manhood his friends and acquaintances began to recognize the
fact that he was endowed with unusual powers of mind. Upon any subject
which specially attracted his attention he was wont to express himself
with an eloquence and a wealth of illustration such as is not often
heard from a youth imperfectly educated, and who has not enjoyed the
advantage of association with cultured minds. Erelong he made up his
mind to study medicine, and matriculated in one of the medical schools
of Montreal. Soon after this time, and while his medical studies were
still in progress, a crisis took place in his mental history. He began
to attend the Methodist Church, and was awakened by the preaching of the
late Rev. William Squire, who was then a power in the local Methodist
pulpit. Having experienced the mental phenomena incident to
"conversion," he joined the Methodist Church, and soon afterwards began
to take a conspicuous part as a "class leader," under the direction of
the Rev. John Mattheson. It is said that he was singularly diffident
about his own capacity for speaking before an audience. In a very short
time, however, his thoughts found forcible expression, and it was
observed that his addresses produced a marked effect upon those who
listened to them. In process of time he became a local preacher;
emulating, in this respect, the example of his elder brother John, who
had also undergone spiritual experiences, and who subsequently became a
zealous and effective minister of the Methodist Church. George's sermons
were from the very first marked by a high degree of spiritual fervour.
"It was evident," says the writer already quoted from, "that God had
called this young man to the office of the Christian ministry as his
life-work, and he was not disobedient to the Divine call." In 1848,
being then in his twenty-third year, he was received as a probationer
for the ministry. In 1849, having been recommended by the Lower Canada
District to attend the Wesleyan Theological Institute at Richmond, in
England, he crossed the Atlantic for that purpose, but had scarcely
reached his destination ere he was appointed to missionary work in the
Bahamas District of the West India Mission. He was specially ordained at
St. John's Square, London, in the spring of 1850, by the Rev. Thomas
Jackson, Dr. Alder, and others, and sent to the Bermuda Islands. After
about eighteen months' residence there his health failed, and he began
to suffer from a distressing affection of the nerves, engendered by the
peculiarities of the climate, and augmented, doubtless, by his ceaseless
mental toil. He was accordingly compelled to return to Montreal, and has
ever since resided in Canada, where his reputation has steadily grown
with his increasing years. Of his ministerial life, twenty years have
been spent in Montreal--eleven in pastoral work, seven as head of the
Wesleyan Theological College, and two without a charge, on account of
ill-health. His other fields of toil have been Kingston, Toronto, and
Hamilton, in each of which he laboured with great effect for three
years. Ever since devoting himself to the ministry he has been an
indefatigable student, and has aided his great natural powers of mind by
a wide and various course of reading. He is especially learned in
Metaphysics, and notwithstanding his multifarious duties and frequent
bodily infirmities, he has kept himself fully abreast of the times in
literature, philosophy, and natural science. In 1869, in recognition of
his distinguished abilities, the University of McGill College conferred
upon him the degree of LL.D.

[Illustration: GEORGE DOUGLAS]

To say that Dr. Douglas is highly esteemed by his brother ministers and
Professors, and by Canadian Methodists generally, would be to give very
faint expression to the prevailing sentiment. He is endowed with a
magnetic force of character which impels all his acquaintances to regard
him in the light of a warm personal friend. He has often been deputed to
represent his Church in the great ecclesiastical gatherings of
Christendom, and "right royally has he performed that task, maintaining
the honour of his Church and country in the presence of the foremost
orators of the day. His manly presence, his deep-toned voice, his broad
sweep of thought and majestic flights of eloquence, have stirred the
hearts of listening thousands, and done brave battle for the cause of
God." His oratory has been pronounced by many competent judges to be
even more effective than that of his friend and fellow-labourer, Dr.
Punshon. Possessed of few of the tricks of elocution, his voice has a
peculiar depth and richness of intonation which no mere elocutionary
training can give, and, when roused by a more than usually congenial
theme, his utterances seem to be positively inspired. Among a host of
other important undertakings, he has represented his Church at the Young
Men's Christian Association at the International Conventions at
Washington, Philadelphia, Albany, Indianapolis, and Chicago; at the
Evangelical Alliance in New York; and at the General Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in the Southern States. He has also filled
with eminent ability the offices of Co-Delegate of the old Canada
Conference, President of the Montreal Conference, and Vice-President and
President of the General Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada.
Of late years he has devoted his best powers to the duties incidental to
his position as Principal of the Wesleyan Theological College at
Montreal.




[Illustration: ELGIN of KINCARDINE]


LORD ELGIN.


James Bruce, who afterwards became eighth Earl of Elgin and twelfth Earl
of Kincardine, was born in London, on the 20th of July, 1811. He was the
second son of his father, the seventh Earl, whose embassy to
Constantinople at the beginning of the present century was indirectly
the means of procuring for him a reputation which will probably endure
as long as the English language. All readers of Byron are familiar with
the circumstances under which this reputation was gained. In the year
1799, Lord Elgin was despatched by the British Government as envoy
extraordinary to Constantinople. During his embassy he had occasion to
visit Athens, where he found that the combined influence of time and the
Turks was rapidly destroying the magnificent vestiges of the past
wherewith the city and its neighbourhood abounded. Actuated by a wish to
preserve some of these relics of departed greatness--and probably
wishing to connect his name with their preservation--he conceived the
idea of removing a few of the more interesting of them to England.
Without much difficulty he obtained permission from the Porte to take
away from the ruins of ancient Athens "any stones that might appear
interesting to him." The British Government declined to lend its
assistance to what some members of the Cabinet regarded as an act of
spoliation, and Lord Elgin was thus compelled to carry out the project
at his own expense. He hired a corps of artists, labourers, and other
assistants, most of whom were specially brought from Italy, to aid in
the work. About ten years were spent in detaching from the Parthenon,
and in excavating from the rubbish at its base, numerous specimens of
various sculptures, all or most of which were presumed to have been the
handiwork of Phidias and his pupils. Other valuable sculptures were
disinterred from the ruins about the Acropolis, and elsewhere in the
neighbourhood. Upon the arrival in England of these great works of
ancient art all the world of London went to see and admire them. In 1816
they were purchased for the nation for 35,000, and placed in the
British Museum, where they still remain. Many persons, however, censured
Lord Elgin for what they called his Vandalism in removing the relics
from their native land. Among those who assailed him on this score was
Lord Byron, who hurled anathemas at him both in prose and verse. "The
Curse of Minerva" may fairly be said to have made Lord Elgin's name
immortal. The case made against him in that fierce philippic, however,
is grossly one-sided, as the author himself subsequently acknowledged;
and there is a good deal to be said on the other side. The presence of
these magnificent sculptures in the British Museum gave an impetus to
sculpture not only throughout Great Britain, but to a less extent
throughout the whole of Western Europe. It should also be remembered
that had they been permitted to remain where they were they would most
likely have been totally destroyed long before now in some of the many
violent scenes of which Athens has since been the theatre. Some art
critics have--more especially of late years--decried the workmanship of
these marbles, and have argued that they could not possibly have been
the work of Phidias. It is beyond doubt, however, that they display
Greek art at a splendid and mature stage of development, and their value
to the British nation is simply beyond price.

The subject of this sketch was destined to achieve a higher and less
dubious reputation than that of his father. Being only a second son, he
was not born heir-apparent to the family title and estates, and his
education was completed before--in consequence of the death of his elder
brother and of his father--he succeeded to the peerage. At the age of
fourteen he went to Eton, from which seat of learning he in due time
passed to Christ Church, Oxford. Here he formed one of a group of young
men, many of whom have since attained high distinction in political
life. Among them we find the names of William Ewart Gladstone, the late
Duke of Newcastle (the friend and guardian of the Prince of Wales upon
the occasion of his visit to this country in 1860), Sidney Herbert,
James Ramsay (afterwards Earl of Dalhousie, son of a former
Governor-General of Canada), Lord Canning, Robert Lowe, Edward Cardwell,
and Roundell Palmer--now Lord Selborne. Between young Bruce and two of
these--Ramsay and Canning--an uncommonly warm intimacy prevailed; and it
is a somewhat curious coincidence that they lived to be the three
successive rulers of India during the transition period of British
Government there. Ramsay, then Lord Dalhousie, was the last Governor
before the breaking out of the Mutiny; Canning was Governor during the
Mutiny; and Bruce, as Lord Elgin, was the first who went out as Viceroy
after the Indian Empire was brought under the government of the Crown.

Among the brilliant young men who were his friends and compeers at
college, James Bruce is said to have been as conspicuous as any for the
brilliancy and originality of his speeches at the Union. Mr. Gladstone
himself has said of him, "I well remember placing him, as to the natural
gift of eloquence, at the head of all those I knew, either at Eton or at
the University." But he was not less distinguished by maturity of
judgment, by a love of abstract thought, and by those philosophical
studies which lay the foundation of true reasoning in the mind. In 1834
he published a pamphlet to protest against a monopoly of liberal
sentiment by the Whigs; and in 1841 he went into the House of Commons
for Southampton on Conservative principles, which had, however, a strong
flavour of Whiggism about them. He soon developed a remarkable aptitude
for political life. He seconded the address which turned out Lord
Melbourne and brought in Sir Robert Peel, in a speech prophetically
favourable to free trade, and he would doubtless have been a cordial
supporter of Peel's liberal commercial policy had not his Parliamentary
career speedily come to an end. In 1840, George, Lord Bruce, elder
brother of James, died unmarried, and the latter became heir-apparent to
the family honours. On the 22nd of April, 1841, he married Elizabeth
Mary, daughter of Mr. C. L. Canning Bruce. The death of his father soon
afterwards raised him to the Scottish peerage. He had no seat in either
House of Parliament, and in 1842 he accepted from Lord Stanley the
office of Governor of Jamaica--an appointment which decided his vocation
in life. With his career at Jamaica we have no special concern, and it
need not detain us. It may be remarked, in passing, that he remained
there four years, during which period--owing, doubtless, in some
measure to the sudden death of his wife soon after their arrival in the
island--he led a somewhat secluded life. He quitted his post in 1846,
and returned to England. Almost immediately after his arrival there,
Lord Grey, the Colonial Secretary, offered him the position of
Governor-General of British North America. He accepted it, says his
biographer, not in the mere spirit of selfish ambition, but with a deep
sense of the responsibility attached to it. It was arranged that he
should go to Canada at the beginning of the new year. In the interval,
on November 7th, he married Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the
first Earl of Durham, whose five months' sojourn in this country in the
year 1838 was destined to produce such important and beneficial effects
upon our Constitution. Lord Elgin was wont to say that "The real and
effectual vindication of Lord Durham's memory and proceedings will be
the success of a Governor-General of Canada who works out his views of
government fairly." Thus it happened that the young Conservative Peer,
who had already shaken off his early Tory prepossessions, found himself
called upon to build on the broad foundations laid by the most advanced
member of the Liberal party of that day, and to inaugurate the new
principle of government which Lord Durham and Charles Buller had
conceived, not merely in Canada, but throughout the colonial empire of
Britain. Leaving his bride behind him, to follow at a less inclement
season, he set out for the seat of his new duties early in January, and
reached Montreal on the 29th. He took up his quarters at Monklands, the
suburban residence of the Governor.

Nine years had elapsed since the rebellion of 1837. Lord Durham, Lord
Sydenham, Sir Charles Bagot, Lord Metcalfe, and Lord Cathcart, had
successively governed the North American Provinces in that short
interval, but--except in the case of Lord Durham--with not very
satisfactory results. The method of Responsible Government was new with
us. The smouldering fires of rebellion were only just extinguished. The
repulsion of races was at its strongest. The deposed clique which had
virtually ruled the colony was still furious, and the depressed section
was suspicious and restive. It was just at the time, too, when, between
English and American legislation, we were suffering at once from the
evils of protection and free trade. The principles upon which Lord Elgin
undertook to carry on the administration of the affairs of the colony
were that he should identify himself with no party, but make himself a
mediator and moderator between the influential of all parties; that he
should retain no ministers who did not enjoy the confidence of the
Assembly, or, in the last resort, of the people; and that he should not
refuse his consent to any measure proposed by his Ministry, unless it
should be of an extreme party character, such as the Assembly or the
people would be sure to disapprove of. For some months after his arrival
in this country matters went smoothly enough. The Draper Administration,
never very strong, had for several years been growing gradually weaker
and weaker, and was now tottering towards its fall; but so far it could
command a small majority of votes, and continued to hold the reins of
power. The result of the next general elections, however, which were
held at the close of the year, was the return of a large preponderance
of Reformers, among whom were nearly all the leading spirits of the
Reform Party. Upon the opening of Parliament on the 25th of February,
1848, the Draper Administration resigned, and its leader accepted a seat
on the Judicial Bench. The Governor accordingly summoned the leaders of
the Opposition to his councils, and the Baldwin-Lafontaine Ministry was
formed. After a short session the House was prorogued on the 25th of
March. It did not meet again until the 18th of January following. It is
hardly necessary to inform the Canadian reader that the Canadian
Parliament sat at Montreal at that time. During the session one of the
stormiest episodes in our history occurred. Every Canadian who has
passed middle age remembers that disturbed time. The excitement arose
out of the Rebellion Losses Bill, as it was called--a measure introduced
by Mr. Lafontaine, the object of which was to reimburse such of the
inhabitants of the Lower Province as had sustained loss from the
rebellion of eleven years before. Within a very short time after the
close of that rebellion, the attention of both sections of the colony
was directed to compensating those who had suffered by it. First came
the case of the primary sufferers, if so they may be called; that is,
the loyalists, whose property had been destroyed by rebels. Measures
were at once taken to indemnify all such persons--in Upper Canada, by an
Act passed in the last session of its separate Provincial Parliament; in
Lower Canada, by an ordinance of the Special Council, under which the
Province was at that time administered. But it was felt that this was
not enough; that where property had been wantonly and unnecessarily
destroyed, even though it were by persons acting in support of
authority, some compensation ought to be given; and the Upper Canada Act
above mentioned was amended next year, in the first session of the
United Parliament, so as to extend to all losses occasioned by violence
on the part of persons acting or assuming to act on Her Majesty's
behalf. Nothing was done at this time about Lower Canada; but it was
obviously inevitable that the treatment applied to the one Province
should be extended to the other. Accordingly, in 1845, during Lord
Metcalfe's Government, and under a Conservative Administration, an
Address was adopted unanimously by the Assembly, praying His Excellency
to cause proper measures to be taken "in order to insure to the
inhabitants of that portion of the Province formerly Lower Canada
indemnity for just losses by them sustained during the Rebellion of 1837
and 1838." In pursuance of this Address, a Commission was appointed to
inquire into the claims of persons whose property had been destroyed in
the rebellion; the Commissioners receiving instructions to distinguish
the cases of persons who had abetted the said rebellion from the cases
of those who had not. The Commissioners made their investigations, and
reported that they had recognized, as worthy of further inquiry, claims
representing a sum total of 241,965 10s. 5d.; but they added an
expression of opinion that the losses suffered would be found, on closer
examination, not to exceed the value of 100,000. This report was
rendered in April, 1846; but though Lord Metcalfe's Ministry, which had
issued the Commission avowedly as preliminary to a subsequent and more
minute inquiry, remained in office for nearly two years longer, they
took no steps towards carrying out their declared intentions. So the
matter stood when the Baldwin-Lafontaine Administration was formed. It
was natural that they should take up the work left half done by their
predecessors; and early in the session of 1849, Mr. Lafontaine
introduced the Rebellion Losses Bill. The Opposition contrived to kindle
a flame all over the country. Meetings were held denouncing the measure,
and petitions were presented to the Governor with the obvious design of
producing a collision between him and Parliament. He was strenuously
urged to reserve the Bill for Imperial consideration, in the event of
its receiving the sanction of the Canadian Parliament. The Bill was
finally passed in the Assembly by forty-seven votes to eighteen. Out of
thirty-one members from Upper Canada who voted on the occasion,
seventeen supported and fourteen opposed it; and of ten members for
Lower Canada of British descent, six supported and four opposed it.
"These facts," (wrote Lord Elgin) "seemed altogether irreconcilable with
the allegation that the question was one on which the two races were
arrayed against each other throughout the Province generally. I
considered, therefore, that by reserving the Bill, I should only cast on
Her Majesty and Her Majesty's advisers a responsibility which ought, in
the first instance at least, to rest on my own shoulders, and that I
should awaken in the minds of the people at large, even of those who
were indifferent or hostile to the Bill, doubts as to the sincerity with
which it was intended that constitutional Government should be carried
on in Canada; doubts which it is my firm conviction, if they were to
obtain generally, would be fatal to the connection."

On the 25th of April Lord Elgin went down to the Parliament Buildings
and gave his assent to the Bill. On leaving the House he was insulted by
the crowd, who pelted him with missiles. In the evening a disorderly
mob, intent upon mischief, got together and set fire to the Parliament
Buildings, which were burned to the ground. By this wanton act, public
property of considerable value, including two excellent libraries, was
utterly destroyed. Having achieved their object the crowd dispersed,
apparently satisfied with what they had done. The members were permitted
to retire unmolested, and no resistance was offered to the military, who
appeared on the ground after a brief interval to restore order, and to
aid in extinguishing the flames. During the two following days a good
deal of excitement prevailed in the streets, and some further acts of
incendiarism were perpetrated. Similar scenes, on a somewhat smaller
scale, were enacted in Toronto and elsewhere in the Upper Province. The
houses of Mr. Baldwin and some other prominent members of the Reform
party were attacked, and the owners burned in effigy.

Meanwhile numerously signed addresses came pouring in to the Governor
from all quarters, expressing entire confidence in the Administration,
and unbounded regret for the indignities to which he had been subjected.
Lord Elgin, however, felt bound to tender his resignation to the Home
Government. Meanwhile the Bill which had caused such an explosion in the
colony was running the gauntlet of the British Parliament. On June 14th
it was vehemently attacked in the House of Commons. Mr. Gladstone
himself described it as a "measure for rewarding rebels." The strongest
pressure had already been put upon Lord Elgin to induce him to refuse
the Royal Assent to the Bill. To do so would have been to place himself
in direct collision with his Parliament, and this he steadily refused to
do. The Home Government, represented by Lord Grey, firmly supported him,
approved his policy, and shortly afterwards conferred upon him a British
peerage as an acknowledgment of the unshaken confidence of the Queen.
Being urgently pressed to remain in office as Governor-General, he
consented, and the more readily because the agitation soon quieted down.
From this time we hear no more of such disgraceful scenes, but it was
long before the old "Family Compact" Party forgave the Governor who had
dared to be impartial. By many kinds of detraction they sought to weaken
his influence and damage his popularity. And as the members of this
Party, though they had lost their monopoly of political power, still
remained the dominant class in society, the disparaging tone which they
set was taken up not only in the colony itself, but also by travellers
who visited it, and by them carried back to infect opinion in England.
The result was that persons at home, who had the highest appreciation of
Lord Elgin's capacity as a statesman, sincerely believed him to be
deficient in nerve and vigour; and as the misapprehension was one which
he could not have corrected, even if he had been aware how widely it was
spread, it continued to exist in many quarters until dispelled by the
singular energy and boldness, amounting almost to rashness, which he
subsequently displayed in the East.

Since the session of 1849 no Parliament has ever sat, nor is any ever
again likely to sit, at Montreal. In view of the riots and the burning
of the Parliament Buildings it was determined to remove the Legislature,
which met at Toronto for the next two years. Subsequently it met
alternately at Quebec and Toronto until 1866, since which time Ottawa
has been the permanent capital of the Dominion.

After the storm consequent on the Rebellion Losses Bill, the most
important event by which Lord Elgin's Canadian administration was
characterized was the negotiation of the Reciprocity Treaty with the
United States. The conclusion of this Treaty was a matter requiring much
time and a good deal of prudent negotiation. In 1854, after the
negotiations had dragged on wearily for more than six years, Lord Elgin
himself was sent to Washington, in the hope of bringing the matter to a
successful issue. He was accompanied on his mission by Mr.--now Sir
Francis--Hincks, who was the leader of the Government then in being.
Within a few weeks the terms of a Treaty of Reciprocity were agreed
upon, and they soon afterwards received the sanction of the Governments
concerned. Lord Elgin returned to England at the close of 1854, being
succeeded in the government of Canada by Sir Edmund Walker Head, who had
examined him for a Merton Fellowship at Oxford in 1833. Soon after Lord
Elgin's return home, the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster was
offered him by Lord Palmerston, with a seat in the Cabinet; but he
preferred to take no active part in public affairs, and enjoyed an
interval of two years' rest from official labour. His subsequent career
can only be glanced at very briefly. In 1857 he was sent to China to try
what could be done to repair, or to turn to the best account, the
mischiefs done by Sir John Bowring's course, and by the patronage of it
at home, in the face of the moral reprobation of the people at large. He
was present at the taking of Canton, and in conjunction with the French,
succeeded by prompt and vigorous measures in reducing the Celestial
Empire to terms. After signing a Treaty with the Chinese Commissioners
at Tientsin, on the 26th of July, 1858, the conditions of which were
highly favourable to the British, he sailed for Japan, and boldly
entered the harbour of Jeddo, from which foreigners had always been
rigidly excluded. Here he obtained very important commercial privileges
for the British, and on the 26th of August concluded a treaty with the
Japanese. He returned to England in May, 1859. The merchants of London,
in recognition of his immense services to British commerce, did
themselves honour by the thoroughness of their acknowledgment of Lord
Elgin's services, and presented him with the freedom of the city.

Within a month after his return he accepted the office of
Postmaster-General in the Cabinet then formed by Lord Palmerston. He was
soon afterwards elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. He
held the office of Postmaster-General till the hostile acts of the
Chinese Government towards the English and French Ministers in China
rendered it necessary that he should go out again. The Chinese
Government, untaught by experience, had repened the war, and had fired
upon the British troops. Lord Elgin was accordingly sent out as a
special ambassador, to demand an apology for the attack, and to insist
upon a literal fulfilment of the terms of the Treaty of the previous
year. He was also authorized to demand an indemnity for all naval and
military expenditure incurred in enforcing these terms. He was as
successful on this occasion as on the former one. After opening Pekin to
British diplomacy, he returned to England in April, 1861. Almost
immediately afterwards he was offered the Viceroyalty of India. This
splendid appointment he was not disposed to decline. He accepted, and
went out to the seat of his Government, where, during the brief span of
life which remained to him, he loyally carried out the wise and
equitable policy of Lord Canning, his predecessor in office. He lived
only eighteen months longer--a period, says his biographer, hardly
sufficient for him to master the details of administration of that great
Empire, with which he had no previous acquaintance, and quite
insufficient for him to give to the policy of the Government the stamp
of his own mind. He died of fatty degeneration of the muscular fibres of
the heart, while making a vice-regal excursion through his dominions, on
the 20th of November, 1863. He was buried in the cemetery at Dhurmsala,
"the place of piety," in a spot selected by Lady Elgin. He was the
second British Governor-General of India whose body found a last
resting-place there. The other was Lord Cornwallis, whose remains rest
at Ghazepore.

"Perhaps," says a sympathetic critic of Lord Elgin's career, "the
noblest part of the history of England is to be found in the recorded
lives of those who have been her chosen servants, and who have died in
that service. Self-control, endurance, and an heroic sense of duty, are
more conspicuous in such men than the love of action and fame. But their
lives are the landmarks of our race. Lord Elgin, it is true, can hardly
be ranked with the first of British statesmen, or orators, or
commanders. His services, great as they unquestionably were, had all
been performed under the orders of other men. Even among his own
contemporaries he fills a place in the second rank. But happy are the
country and the age in which such men are to be found in the second
rank, and are content to be there."




THE REV. ROBERT ALEXANDER FYFE, D.D.,

_LATE PRINCIPAL OF THE CANADIAN LITERARY INSTITUTE, WOODSTOCK, ONTARIO_.


It falls to the lot of few persons to be so generally beloved as was the
late Dr. Fyfe. He was known to, and revered by, a very large circle of
friends, and those friends were not confined to adherents of the
particular creed which he himself professed. His character was one of
singular beauty and amiability, and his loss was viewed in the light of
a calamity, not only by those connected with the Institution over which
he presided, but by the entire Baptist denomination in Ontario. By many
persons who had no connection with either the Institute or the Baptist
Church, Dr. Fyfe was regarded with the reverence due to one whose
actions were always marked by thorough conscientiousness of purpose, and
whose life was passed in the exercise of true Christian benevolence.

The facts of his life, so far as they have been published, are few in
number, and we regret our inability to add much to them at the present
time. He was born in the parish of St. Andr, near Montreal, in Lower
Canada, on the 20th of October, 1816. His descent, as indicated by his
name, was Scottish. His parents emigrated from Scotland to Lower Canada
in the year 1809, about seven years prior to the birth of the subject of
this sketch. The boyhood of the latter was passed amid a French Canadian
population of the middle and lower orders, which is equivalent to saying
that there were no good schools in his neighbourhood. His educational
advantages, in those early days were few, and before he had fairly
emerged from childhood he began to earn his own living; so that he grew
up to young-manhood with but little scholastic training. He became a
clerk in a country store, and remained there until several months after
completing his nineteenth year. Notwithstanding his limited education he
had by this time acquired a reputation for more than ordinary
intelligence, and was highly esteemed for the probity and integrity of
his character. It was at this time, too, that he first entered upon his
spiritual experiences. He awoke to new aims and purposes in life, and
resolved to devote himself to the spread of the gospel. In his own
language, he was conscious of "a call to do the Lord's work." With a
view to fitting himself for the ministry, he abandoned commercial
pursuits, and entered as a student at Madison University, in the State
of New York. Here he studied with such persistent zeal that he
undermined his health, and probably laid the foundation of the slow and
wasting disease to which he finally succumbed. He was compelled to
discontinue his studies altogether for a time, and to sever his
connection with Madison University. Upon regaining a fair degree of
health he again betook himself to study, and attended an academy at
Worcester, Massachusetts. During vacations, and perhaps at other times,
he taught school, and thus obtained the means of pursuing his
studies. After leaving the academy at Worcester he attended for some
time at a theological seminary at Newton, near Boston, where he
graduated early in 1842. He received ordination at Brookline,
Massachusetts, on the 25th of August following, and at once entered upon
active work in connection with the ministry of the Baptist Church. His
first pastoral charge was at Perth, in the county of Lanark, Upper
Canada, where he organized a congregation, over which he presided about
a year and a half. At the close of 1843 he consented, at the urgent
request of the authorities of the Montreal Baptist College, to take
charge of that institution until they could secure a successor to the
first president, Dr. Davies, who had removed to Stepney College, London,
England. He remained in Montreal about a year, when he was called to the
pastorate of the old March Street Church, in Toronto, which was the
first Baptist Church established in the city. The congregation had been
organized about fourteen years previously, and it met for worship for a
considerable time in the old Masonic Hall in Market Lane, now called
Colborne Street. A lot was subsequently procured on March Street--a
street which became somewhat notorious under its later title of Stanley
Street, and which is now called Lombard Street. Here a little church was
erected. At that time the street had just been laid out, and there was
no reason for doubting that it would become one of the most respectable
in the city. "But such," to use Dr. Fyfe's own words, "was not to be its
destiny. The chapel itself was very far from being attractive to look
at, besides being very small. It could not seat comfortably more than
one hundred and sixty people. Miserable houses sprang up all around it;
and what was still worse, many of them were inhabited by the most
vicious and miserable kind of people, so that the whole street soon
became extremely unsavoury in every sense of the term. For sixteen long
years the outward condition of the Baptists of this city might be
compared to that of those unhappy criminals who were, by their Tuscan
tyrants, tied hand to hand and face to face with the rotting dead. The
surroundings of the church were constantly growing worse, and thus the
last part of their sojourn there was worse than the first. Often, on
Sabbath evenings, a policeman was secured to patrol the sidewalk in
front of March Street Church, to keep down the uproar which the children
and others would thoughtlessly, or wilfully, make in the neighbourhood."
Under such circumstances it is not surprising that its history should be
unpropitious. The first pastor, the Rev. A. Stewart, resigned his charge
in 1836, and was followed in rapid succession by several others who
filled up the interval between that date and September, 1844, when Dr.
Fyfe was called to the pastorate of the weak and scattered congregation.
At that time the nominal membership amounted to only sixty-four, and the
salary paid was very small. In spite of the discouraging circumstances
by which he found himself surrounded, and the apparently insuperable
obstacles he had to surmount, the new pastor set to work with energy and
enthusiasm, and a few months before his resignation, in the autumn of
1848, he had the satisfaction of seeing the place of worship transferred
from the little chapel in March Street to a much more commodious
building in a better locality. It was mainly to Dr. Fyfe's exertions
that the building of the Bond Street Baptist Church was due, but soon
after it was ready for use he gave up his charge and returned to his
former incumbency in Perth. After remaining there a year, his health
again became precarious, and he was compelled to seek a milder climate.
He spent four years in charge of a congregation in Warren, Rhode Island,
and two in the pastorate of another in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and after
these seven years of absence was recalled to the Bond Street Church in
1855. The congregation had meanwhile made considerable progress under
the ministrations of the Rev. Dr. Pyper, and before the close of Dr.
Fyfe's five years' pastorate a second church was established. In 1860 he
reluctantly resigned his charge once more, to assume control, at the
urgent request of the leading members of the denomination, of the new
college which had been established at Woodstock. The congregation which
he left, notwithstanding several secessions, and the establishment of
new congregations, went on increasing in numbers until the old Bond
Street Church was found to be altogether too limited in capacity, and
the fine edifice now occupied by the congregation on Jarvis Street took
its place. As Dr. Fyfe had been the first occupant of the Bond Street
pulpit it was deemed fitting that he should preach the last sermon to be
delivered to the congregation before it should be abandoned, and from
the survey of the history of the Church which that sermon contains many
of the above particulars have been derived.

[Illustration: R. A. FYFE]

During the remainder of his life--embracing a period of about eighteen
years--he occupied the position of Principal of the Canadian Institute
at Woodstock, a position for which he was in many respects admirably
fitted. The proposal to embark in such an enterprise emanated from
himself, while he was still pastor of the Bond Street Church. The
Institute was incorporated by the Legislature in the Session of 1857-8,
but not opened for instruction until the summer of 1860. With its
subsequent history and development Dr. Fyfe's name must ever be
identified. It was not endowed, but has had to depend for its
establishment and support upon voluntary subscriptions. It had been in
existence only about six months when the building in which it was
carried on was burned down by the act of an incendiary, and the
insurance fell $6,000 short of the debt due upon it. Dr. Fyfe applied
himself to the task of raising subscriptions and reconstructing with
great energy and zeal. The enthusiasm of the Baptist denomination
throughout the country was aroused, and in less than four months a
sufficient amount was raised to set about the work of rebuilding on a
more extended scale. In a short time the main building was erected, and
other buildings have since been added, with ample accommodation for
imparting both a theological and a literary training. With its
subsequent history, and with the contemplated removal of the theological
department to Toronto, we have no present concern. Dr. Fyfe devoted
himself to the duties and responsibilities of his office with great
vigour--a vigour which was never relaxed until failing health compelled
him to desist from the most arduous of his labours. He sympathized
warmly with the personal aspirations of the students, and was always
ready and willing to aid them with his counsel and experience. He was
regarded by them with feelings little short of veneration, and to many
of them he stood almost in the light of a parent. But the seeds of
disease had years before been planted in his frame, and he was subject
to occasional attacks of almost complete physical prostration, which
incapacitated him from either bodily or mental labour. He himself knew
that he held his life by even a frailer tenure than is the common lot of
humanity. For some years before his death he had been gradually sinking
under the ravages of an incurable malady. The end came on Wednesday, the
4th of September, 1878, when he died calmly and peacefully at his home
in Woodstock. His funeral took place at Toronto, two days afterwards.

Dr. Fyfe was twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united on the
17th of February, 1843, was formerly Miss Jane Maclerie Thomson, of
Toronto. By this lady he had two sons, both of whom were taken from him
by death in infancy. In 1847 their mother was also taken from him. On
the 15th of August, 1848, he married his second wife, who still survives
him.

One of Dr. Fyfe's contemporaries has thus summed up the various traits
by which he was distinguished:--"His intellectual character was of a
high order. The faculties of his mind were originally strong and active,
and were developed and improved during his collegiate course and his
subsequent life. On all subjects to which he turned his attention,
whether literary, political or religious, he formed clear and
comprehensive views; and whether he undertook to write or speak, he
exhibited the riches of his mind in a diction uniformly natural,
perspicuous and manly. His eloquence was generally impressive, and
sometimes powerful. He was distinguished by patience and fairness in his
investigations, by the clearness and force of his reasoning, by skill in
devising measures, and by uncommon executive ability. He was active in
doing good, and was continually consulting and labouring for the welfare
of others. The affection which predominated in his breast, next to a
supreme love to God, was compassion for the souls of men, and a strong
desire for their salvation. This was the inward power which moved him.
It was not a feverish heat, but the even pulsation and glow of health.
What others might do from sudden excitement or the spur of the occasion,
he did from principle--principle which was strong, uniform and abiding."




MARSHALL SPRING BIDWELL.


In the old ante-rebellion days of Upper Canada, when a Family Compact
still held the reins of government, and jealously guarded every avenue
to power; in the days of a venal judiciary, and a press prostituted to
the will of the ruling oligarchy; when every project for the improvement
of the condition of the people was trodden under foot, and when a few
patriotic and enlightened men were valiantly fighting the battle which
at last brought about Responsible Government, no name was more familiar
in the ears of Upper Canadians than was that of the subject of this
sketch. Local historians have done very inadequate justice to the part
played by him in our history, and his connection with Canada terminated
more than forty years ago, so that during the last two generations he
has quietly passed out of public memory. Yet the name of Marshall Spring
Bidwell is one which deserves to be held in perpetual remembrance by the
people of this country as that of a legislator of singular purity of
character, who struggled and suffered for the national freedom.

He was born at Stockbridge, in the State of Massachusetts, in the month
of February, 1799. His father, Barnabas Bidwell, was a lawyer of
considerable local eminence, who had been engaged in the active practice
of his profession ever since the termination of the War of Independence.
The latter rose in his profession by steady degrees, and before reaching
middle age became Attorney-General of the State. He was afterwards
returned as Member of Congress, and seems to have served in that
capacity during at least one session. Later still, he became Treasurer
of the county of Berkshire, in his native State. He was a man of high
culture and attainments, both in his profession and out of it, and was
distinguished for courtly and agreeable manners, great powers of
conversation, and a high degree of mental activity. He was an ardent
Republican, and took a most pronounced stand in the national politics.
His career as a politician was somewhat stern and uncompromising, and
while it secured him many warm friends, it also brought down upon his
head the fierce enmity of some of his opponents. During the year 1810,
while he continued to be Treasurer of Berkshire County, he was charged
by some of the most virulent of his enemies with certain irregularities
in the discharge of his official duties. The whole truth with regard to
this much-discussed affair will probably never be ascertained. The best
opinion seems to be that Mr. Bidwell's enemies had determined upon his
downfall, and had subtly woven a mesh round him from which exile was the
only escape. An indictment was laid against him, and a warrant issued
for his apprehension. He was very doubtful about obtaining justice, and
resolved not to stand his trial. He came over to Canada before the
warrant could be executed, bringing with him his family, consisting of
his son, Marshall, the subject of this sketch--who was then a bright,
intelligent lad in his twelfth year--and a daughter several years
younger. They settled at the little village of Bath, on the Bay of
Quint, where the father obtained employment as a school teacher. In
1812 the elder Bidwell took the oath of allegiance, and thenceforth
began to take part in the politics of his adopted country, which at that
time groaned under an irresponsible executive and a multitude of evil
counsellors. Upon Robert Gourlay's arrival in the country, Mr. Bidwell
made his acquaintance, and rendered him valuable assistance in the
preparation of his work on Canada. After spending several years at Bath,
the family removed to Kingston, and soon afterwards young Marshall
entered the office of Mr. Washburne as a student-at-law. The youth's
father was proud of the abilities of his son, and devoted much time to
the direction of his studies and the formation of his mind. The latter
was reputed to be one of the most brilliant young men in the country.
The promise of the youth was fully borne out by the performance of the
man. Upon the completion of his term of study he was called to the Bar,
at which, notwithstanding his youth, he at once took a foremost place.
His practice was by no means confined to his own neighbourhood, and his
services as counsel were sought after in important cases from all parts
of the Province.

Early in life, and while yet a student, he married Miss Willcox, a young
lady of great moral and social worth, belonging to a family resident in
the neighbourhood of Bath. Soon after his marriage, and before his call
to the Bar, he united himself with the Presbyterian Church, of which he
continued to be an earnest and devoted member down to the time of his
death.

About the time of his son's call to the Bar, the elder Bidwell offered
himself as a candidate for the Provincial Legislature as Representative
of the United Counties of Lennox and Addington. He was returned by a
large majority, and the members of the Family Compact looked forward
with much anxiety to the ensuing session, for Mr. Bidwell was a Reformer
of the most pronounced type, and endowed with an eloquence, an
aggressiveness, and a keenness in controversy not often found in
Canadian Parliaments in those days. Before the House met, however, the
circumstances under which he had emigrated from Massachusetts became
known, and a petition was at once filed against his election on the
ground that he was an alien and a fugitive from justice. Upon the
opening of the session the matter came on for discussion, and Mr.
Bidwell defended himself in a speech which was long remembered for its
eloquence and vigour. He succeeded in convincing all whose judgments
were not warped by personal or political prejudice that, so far as his
flight from Massachusetts was concerned, he had been the victim of a
powerful clique of enemies. The House, nevertheless, by a majority of
one, decided against him on the ground of his being an alien, and as the
constituency of Lennox and Addington was thus left without a
representative a writ was issued for a new election there. Young
Bidwell, who had by this time attained his majority, offered himself as
a candidate, but his candidature was objected to on the ground that he
also was an alien, and his opponent--a Mr. Clark--was accordingly
returned. In 1824, however, an Act was passed whereby a continuous
residence of seven years in this Province rendered a foreigner eligible
for a seat in the Assembly, except in the case of a person who had held
any of the principal public offices in the United States. Under this Act
Barnabas Bidwell was still ineligible, as he had been Attorney-General
of Massachusetts; but the son's disqualification was removed, and at
the next election the latter was triumphantly returned as member for
Lennox and Addington. He was then twenty-five years of age. He continued
to sit in the House for eleven successive years, during which period he
occupied a foremost place in the ranks of the Reform Party. At the
opening of the session of 1829 he was elected Speaker, and was relected
to that position in the subsequent session of 1835.

His influence began to be felt long before the close of his first
parliamentary session. While not inferior to his father in eloquence,
earnestness and genuine desire for Reform, he held broader and more
statesmanlike views than any man who then sat in the Assembly. He was,
moreover, of a character so amiable, sincere and lovable that he not
only aroused the enthusiasm of his coadjutors, but extorted the respect
of the bitterest of his opponents. To tell at length the story of his
parliamentary career would be to write the political history of Upper
Canada during a period of eleven years. No man contributed more
effectually to the overthrow of the Family Compact. While as zealous for
Reform as was William Lyon Mackenzie himself, Mr. Bidwell was no mere
partisan. He took a prominent part in opposing Mr. Mackenzie's repeated
expulsions from the House for reporting its proceedings and publishing
libels on some of the members. Without justifying, or seeking to
palliate the offence, Mr. Bidwell questioned the power of Parliament to
take cognizance of it. He thought that the question of guilt and
punishment belonged to the courts of law; that it was not wise or proper
for members of the House, however much aggrieved by the publications, to
act both as prosecutors and judges, and that the proceedings were
infractions rather than vindications of parliamentary privilege. He
voted against each of the expulsions. Mr. Boulton, then
Attorney-General, and Mr. Hagerman, Solicitor-General, were members of
the House, and the recognized leaders of the Tory party. They both voted
_for_ those expulsions. The English Ministry not only adopted Mr.
Bidwell's views, but, regarding Mr. Boulton and Mr. Hagerman as
responsible for those violent and ill-advised acts, signified its
disapprobation by dismissing them from office.

As an instance of his moral elevation, some circumstances which occurred
while he was Speaker of the Assembly may be mentioned. During the
administration of Sir John Colborne, and while the Reform Party had a
large majority in the House, Sir John was exhibited in effigy in the
streets of Hamilton. The House appointed a committee of investigation,
with power to send for persons and papers, and Mr. Macnab (who was then
a young lawyer of Hamilton) and Mr. Solicitor-General Boulton were cited
to appear and be examined. They refused to answer certain questions, and
having been reported to the House, were required to attend and answer
for the contempt. Mr. Macnab came first, and not exercising much
discretion, was punished by actual imprisonment. But, as his Party
regarded him as a martyr, the event gave an impetus to his fortunes, and
so it was that, instead of living, as he might have done, an obscure
Hamilton lawyer, he became a member of Parliament, and died Sir Allan
Macnab. When Mr. Solicitor-General Boulton came before the House, he
understood its spirit, and so adroitly explained his offence that, after
debate, it was resolved that he should be let off with a reprimand from
the Speaker. It was believed, however, that this would be no slight
penalty. The Solicitor-General had been a principal opponent of the
elder Mr. Bidwell, had favoured his removal from the House, and the
adoption of the special statute which had closed the doors of Parliament
to him forever. In the language of the newspapers of the day, there was
a deadly feud between the Bidwells and the Boultons. Great concern was
felt on the part of Mr. Boulton's friends lest he should be roughly
handled, for it was feared that the son would pay off all the father's
old debts. Mark the sequel. The occasion when the Solicitor-General was
brought to the Bar of the House was one of great ceremony and solemnity.
In the first part of the reprimand, when the Speaker was vindicating the
power of Parliament, and stating that he could not forget that its power
and dignity had been offended and sought to be impaired by one who was
the legal adviser of the Government--an example most pernicious--Mr.
Boulton appeared calm, if not indifferent; but as the Speaker proceeded,
and administered the required reproof with such magnanimity and
forbearance that a mere observer could not have told whether the
offender was or was not a personal friend of the Speaker, Mr. Boulton,
recognizing the presence of a superior mind and heart, was humbled, and
finally left the House profoundly affected. The London _Times_, in
publishing that reprimand, declared it to be the best paper of the kind
on record. These circumstances are not without present interest as
illustrating how Marshall Spring Bidwell, when charged with the
performance of a great constitutional duty, could rise to the dignity of
the occasion, quite above mere personal and party dissensions, and could
discharge that duty in the spirit of a lofty and high-minded statesman.

The peculiar circumstances under which Mr. Bidwell ceased to reside in
Canada must now be related. All readers of these pages are familiar with
the leading facts in the history of the insurrection of December, 1837,
under the auspices of William Lyon Mackenzie. The rising was quickly
suppressed, and the insurgents dispersed; but among the banners captured
from them was one bearing the inscription, "Bidwell and the Glorious
Minority." This was, in fact, an old political banner which had been
used on an earlier occasion, and had been appropriated by the
insurgents, whose hasty preparation and scanty means compelled them to
adopt and use imperfect ensigns as well as arms. Nothing could be less
compatible with Mr. Bidwell's peaceful and law-loving nature than
violent and insurrectionary measures. His reverence for law and order
was part of his very being, and nothing could be more certain than his
nonconcurrence in the course of the revolutionary party, even had its
movement been less desperate and certain of failure than it was. But he
was a thorn in the flesh of Sir Francis Bond Head, who had succeeded Sir
John Colborne as Governor, and the capture of the flag gave Sir Francis
the opportunity he desired. He notified Mr. Bidwell of the capture;
intimated the existence of letters and other evidence implicating him in
the rebellion, and rendering him liable to prosecution for high treason.
He further stated to Mr. Bidwell that martial law was about to be
declared, and that he could not protect him from arrest; but informed
him that, in consideration of his unblemished private character and high
professional standing, he would not be disturbed if he saw fit to depart
from Canada. Mr. Bidwell, perfectly conscious of his own absolute
innocence of participation in the plans and actions of the insurgents,
at the same time knew that the country was wild with wrath and
excitement--that the exasperated Tories were at such a time likely to
rush to quick judgments, and that he was especially obnoxious to them as
one of the ablest of their constitutional adversaries. Under these
circumstances he foresaw nothing but personal embarrassment, the
possible ruin of some of his friends, and the total interruption,
perhaps for an indefinite and ruinous period, of his peaceful and
professional pursuits. He therefore accepted the Governor's
proposition, and left Canada for New York, where he was at once admitted
to the Bar by courtesy, and where he entered upon the practice of his
profession. This was in the month of January, 1838. He soon became known
as an able and erudite lawyer, a dignified, refined, and accomplished
gentleman; a warm, generous, and noble man. His practice became large
and lucrative, and he devoted himself to his professional duties with
industry and zeal.

Soon after this time Sir Francis Bond Head was recalled. He prorogued
the Legislature, which was then (March, 1838) in session, and his
disastrous administration of Upper Canadian affairs came to an end. He
prepared to return to England by way of Halifax, but upon being informed
that there was a plot to assassinate him before he could embark there,
he determined to return by way of New York. Upon arriving there he took
up his quarters at the City Hotel, where he invited Mr. Bidwell to call
upon him. The invitation was accepted, and at the interview which then
took place, Sir Francis said:--"I think I ought to tell you, Mr.
Bidwell, that you are the cause of my being recalled. I was instructed
by the Colonial Secretary to place your name on the list of Judges of
the Court of Queen's Bench, and was induced to send a remonstrance. That
instruction was renewed, and influenced by my advisers, a further
remonstrance was sent. Afterwards I received notice that my successor
had been appointed." Mr. Bidwell then, perhaps, calling up in review all
that he had lost and suffered, said:--"You may be correct in that, sir,
but I now see why it was desired that I should leave the Province. You
wished to be able to say to your superiors, whom you had disobeyed, that
the man they intended to honour was a rebel, and had left the country."
Mr. Bidwell retired without ceremony. But as an instance of the
gentleness of the man's spirit, a gentleness which could not let the sun
go down upon his wrath, he had not walked more than a block from the
hotel before he felt ashamed of having been in such a temper, and was
inclined to return and say so to Sir Francis, and bid him a respectful
farewell. It is almost consoling to know that though he cherished no
resentment against Sir Francis, he finally determined not to return to
the hotel.

A well-known Canadian historian, while admitting that Sir Francis Head
acted dishonourably in thus forcing Mr. Bidwell into exile, in order to
sustain his own conduct in not raising him to the Bench, remarks, very
unjustly, that there seems to have been a secret consciousness of guilt
on the part of Mr. Bidwell. He adds:--"An innocent man would scarcely
have pronounced a voluntary sentence of expatriation on himself, as he
well knew that the guilty only had anything to dread from British law
and British justice." But it should not be assumed that Mr. Bidwell
tamely accepted the condition imposed as to his leaving the Province. He
was under terrible constraint; an extremity having few precedents. In
the interview to which the Governor had called him he was assured that
martial law was about to be declared; that his actual imprisonment was
inevitable. Sir Francis, in great apparent tribulation, and with tears
in his eyes, assured Mr. Bidwell, whom he called his friend, that he
would not be able to protect him; and that his safety depended upon his
departure from the Province. At that time the popular excitement and
turmoil were very great, and the extent of the rising throughout the
Provinces, and its probable duration, could not be known. However free
Mr. Bidwell may have been from all taint of complicity in the rebellion,
the imminence of martial law, and the prospect of indefinite
imprisonment, might well be sufficient to appal the stoutest heart. A
consciousness of innocence, with no hope of being heard in declaring it
until after long deprivation and suffering, would not have given the
most sanguine man much strength. It has been believed, and perhaps
justly, in view of Sir Francis's character, and of strictures published
by him in England unfriendly to Mr. Bidwell, that the consent thus wrung
from the latter was not unwisely given.

After the first shock of the rebellion was over, Mr. Bidwell's return to
Canada was earnestly desired by many of its best and most prominent
citizens, and he received assurances of the welcome and preferment which
would await his coming. Upon the accession to power of the Reform Party
a seat on the Judicial Bench was offered to him. As his return to this
country, however, was necessarily a condition precedent to the actual
making of the appointment, he felt himself compelled to decline the
proffered honour. He had already found abundant professional occupation
and social sympathies in his new home, where he determined to remain;
though his interest in the home and friends of his earlier life never
failed, and his friendships and intercourse with them continued to the
end. The thirty-four years of his residence in New York were a period of
unbroken, active, distinguished professional labour and usefulness, and
at the same time of devoted service in the great religious and
charitable institutions with which he was connected. Prominent among the
latter were the American Bible Society, of which he was a Director, and
the Bank for Savings, of which he was President. The first case of
importance in the courts in which he was concerned, after his arrival in
New York, was that of James Fenimore Cooper, the well-known novelist,
against William L. Stone, for libel, founded on criticisms by the
defendant on certain literary labours of the plaintiff. Mr. Bidwell
conducted the defence with ability so distinguished as to place him at
once in the front rank of the New York Bar. From that time forward he
was engaged in very many most important cases in the local courts, in
the Court of Errors, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the
United States.

As a professional adviser he was preminent. He was profoundly learned
in the law. Chancellor Walworth said of him, what can be said of few in
these days of Codes and Digests, that he was "a great lawyer." "He had
gone back to the sources and fountains, and had studied and mastered the
principles and rules of law. He knew not only what they were, but he
knew their origin, their history, and the cases in which they had become
shaped, modified and determined. Nothing more delighted him than such
studies. He often said that he found far more entertainment in tracing
some legal principle back through the Reports of the seventeenth century
than in perusing the most attractive work of fiction ever written. Not
only the provisions of the leading statutes, but their political and
legal history were entirely familiar to him. Though he was acquainted
with every branch of his profession, including constitutional,
commercial, and equity law, he had, perhaps given most attention to the
law of real estate, or trusts, and of the construction of wills, and
felt himself most fully at home in their discussion." His name is
identified with the leading cases of this character in the New York
Courts during his time, in the learned arguments of which he bore a
distinguished part. His "Points" and "Briefs" were models of compact,
clear, and close reasoning, and were enriched by full citations of
sustaining authorities and decisions. He argued every question on
principle. He was a legal philosopher and reasoner, and was so familiar
with the principles that when a case was stated to him he rarely
hesitated in pronouncing the law that governed it; and his knowledge of
the leading decisions was so ample that he was generally prepared to
cite them from memory. He loved the law, and he practised it not for
lucre, or even for fame, but as a science of which he was an ardent
votary. He regarded its majesty and sovereignty with reverence. Such was
his sense of the duty of administering it in its exact integrity that
had he been on the Bench he would have made little of that "bad law"
which is said to spring from "hard cases," for he could no more pervert
or warp or misrepresent the law than a mathematician could pervert or
warp or misrepresent a mathematical demonstration. When on an argument
he cited an authority, the Court had no occasion to examine as to the
correctness of its presentation. He was wholly incapable of giving any
colouring to a decision which he cited, other than that which it
properly bore. He was a wise and sagacious counsellor, and possessed
largely the gift of strong common sense. He had great vigour and
clearness of mind, a strong sense of equity, and his whole life was
marked by a purity and truth that knew no shadow of change. His reading
beyond his professional studies was very large and varied, and his
conversation was illuminated and made charming by his familiarity with
science and polite literature. One of his professional associates has
left on record that, during a daily intercourse of thirty-four years,
passed amid the trying cares and worry and annoyances of active
practice, he never heard from Mr. Bidwell one syllable of petulance,
impatience or irritability. He had unbounded faith in the Christian
religion, the beauty and purity of which he illustrated by his daily
life; and he was entirely happy in his reliance on the future which it
held out to him.

It was often his expressed wish, and his often uttered prayer, that he
might be spared an enfeebled condition of mind or body, and a lingering
death. His wish and prayer were granted. On the afternoon of the 24th of
October, 1872, while in the full possession of his faculties, and
apparently in the enjoyment of perfect health, at the close of a
cheerful and varied conversation in his office with one of his
associates, followed by a playful and kind remark to another person, he
instantly, without a struggle or a sigh, ceased to breathe.




[Illustration: JOSEPH HOWE]


THE HON. JOSEPH HOWE.


"During the old times of persecution four brothers, bearing my name,
left the southern counties of England, and settled in four of the old
New England States. Their descendants number thousands, and are
scattered from Maine to California. My father was the only descendant of
that stock who, at the Revolution, adhered to the side of England. His
bones rest in the Halifax churchyard. I am his only surviving son; and,
whatever the future may have in store, I want, when I stand beside his
grave, to feel that I have done my best to preserve the connection he
valued, that the British flag may wave above the soil in which he
sleeps."

Such is the account of his ancestry given by Mr. Howe himself, in the
course of a remarkably eloquent and effective speech delivered by him at
Southampton, in England, on the 14th of January, 1851. The father
referred to in the foregoing extract was Mr. John Howe, a man of high
intelligence and great benevolence of character, who, at the time of the
breaking out of the Revolutionary War, resided at Boston, Massachusetts.
In his boyhood he had learned the trade of a printer, but had
subsequently developed into a newspaper writer, and connected himself
with various enterprises, one of which involved the management and part
proprietorship of a periodical known as the _Massachusetts Gazette_.
Early in life he married a Miss Minns, of Boston, by whom he had a
family of five children. When the war broke out he remained true to the
royal side, and was compelled to seek shelter beyond the limits of the
revolted colonies. Like a host of his loyal compatriots, he repaired to
Nova Scotia, which thenceforward continued to be his home down to the
time of his death in 1835. A few years after his arrival in the Province
his wife died. Some time afterwards he contracted a second marriage,
with a widow, the daughter of a Captain Edes, who, with his wife and two
children, came out to settle and carry on business at the South, but
whose plans and prospects were marred by the breaking out of the
Revolution. By this lady Mr. Howe had two children, a son and daughter.
The daughter died at sea, on a return voyage from Peru, whither she had
gone to join her husband, and was buried in Virginia. The son is the
subject of the present sketch.

Within a short time after taking up his abode in Nova Scotia, Mr. John
Howe was appointed to the offices of King's Printer, and
Postmaster-General of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island,
New Brunswick, and the Bermudas. These offices he subsequently resigned
in favour of Mr. John Howe, jr., his eldest son by his first wife.
During the early years of the present century he resided in a pleasantly
situated cottage on the North West Arm, about two miles from Halifax;
and here, in the month of December, 1804, was born his son Joseph, who
was destined to play a part in the history of his native Province second
to that of no man of his time.

The first thirteen years of Joseph Howe's life were spent at home. His
educational opportunities during this period were few, the nearest
school being at Halifax, fully two miles distant; and it may be said
that he received little or no regular education. For a child, a walk of
two miles over a rough road was only practicable in the summer time, and
even in summer his attendance was frequently interrupted. During the
wild weather which commonly prevailed there in the winter, daily, or
even occasional, attendance was out of the question, and at such times
the little fellow was wholly dependent upon his father for instruction.
He seems to have done a good deal of desultory reading, as to the nature
of which we have no definite information. He was endowed by nature with
a rugged constitution, and with a good deal of poetic feeling. Both
qualifications received much stimulus from the course of his early life,
which was largely spent in the open air. His physical frame was built up
by constant bodily exercise; while his fancy was fed by the wild and
picturesque scenery of the district.

In 1817 he entered upon a term of apprenticeship to the printing
business, in the office of the _Gazette_, at Halifax, which was owned by
his brother, John Howe, jr. He served out his full term, and afterwards
worked for several years as a compositor. During all this period he was
an omnivorous reader, and though he did not devote himself to any
particular line of study, he amassed a great fund of miscellaneous
knowledge. He also trained his mind by the practice of poetic
composition. Before his term of apprenticeship had expired he had
written numerous little poems which were published in the _Gazette_; and
a more ambitious effort, called "Melville Island," seems to have been
published in separate form, when he was seventeen years of age. Melville
Island stands at the head of the North West Arm, in the neighbourhood of
his birthplace, and was used as a receptacle for prisoners during the
wars of the last century. Young Joseph Howe was familiar with its
scenery, and with the poetic incidents in its history. We have not
enjoyed the privilege of reading the poem, and can only pronounce upon
it at second hand, but it is said to have attracted some attention; and
this and several other pieces in prose and verse from the same hand
which almost immediately followed seem to have given the author some
local literary reputation. He also acquired a reputation for general
intelligence and natural ability. He was clever, sprightly, and quick at
repartee. On one occasion, during the early years of his apprenticeship,
he was compelled to attend as a witness in one of the local tribunals.
In the course of his evidence, the nature of his duties in the printing
office was referred to. "So," remarked the judge, "you are _the devil_?"
"Yes, sir," was the reply, "in the office, but not in the Court House."
This, though the first, was not the last occasion in his life when he
was able to turn the laugh from himself to the Judicial Bench. He had
his due share of the hair-breadth escapes incident to an adventurous
boyhood. One evening, while taking a solitary swim in "the Arm," he was
seized with cramp, and felt himself sinking. He cast an agonized look
around, and caught sight of the dearly loved cottage on the hillside,
where his mother was just placing a lighted candle on the window-sill.
The thought of the grief which would overshadow that mother's heart on
the morrow inspired him with strength to give a last despairing kick.
The kick dispelled the cramp, and, hastily swimming ashore, he sank down
exhausted, but thankful for his deliverance. It was long before he could
summon courage to acquaint his parents with the circumstance.

In 1827 he embarked in the newspaper business on his own account.
Conjointly with his friend Mr. James Spike, he purchased the _Weekly
Chronicle_ newspaper, the name of which was changed to that of _The
Acadian_, and he then for the first time came before the public of Nova
Scotia as a general newspaper writer. "If not entirely unknown and
unpractised," says Mr. Annand,[4] "he was, as I have often heard him
acknowledge, ignorant enough of everything that an editor ought to know.
He had a cheerful spirit, however, a ready pen, and tact enough to feel
his way and avoid the premature discussion of topics which he did not
understand." His writings at this time are said to have been jejune and
commonplace enough, and he made no attempt to deal with political
questions. Towards the close of the year he sold his interest in the
_Acadian_ to his partner, and purchased the _Nova Scotian_, for the
exceptionally high price of 1,050. For seven years he worked steadily
on this paper. He at first had to encounter many difficulties, but in
the end achieved a success beyond his hopes. "By dint of unwearied
industry, a sanguine spirit, and great cheerfulness and good humour,"
says Mr. Annand, "all the difficulties which beset Mr. Howe's early
career as a public journalist were met and overcome, and the _Nova
Scotian_ was established on a solid foundation. British, foreign, and
colonial newspapers and periodicals, were daily read. The debates in the
House of Assembly, and important trials in the courts, were reported by
his own hand, and his position naturally brought him into familiar
intercourse with nearly all the public men of the day. The establishment
of agencies, and the transaction of business, in the interior, compelled
him to travel over the inland districts and to visit all the seaport
towns. In these journeys many valuable acquaintances were made, and much
information was acquired. Gradually he became familiar, not only with
the people best worth knowing, and from whom anything could be learnt,
but with the whole face of his native country, and with the political
literature of all countries which expressed their opinions in the
English language. Such leisure as he had was given to more serious
investigations, or to the attractive novelties of the day. I have often
seen him, during this period, worn out with labour, drawing draughts of
refreshment alternately from Bulwer's last novel or from Grotius on
National Law. His constitution was vigorous, his zeal unflagging. It was
no uncommon thing for him to be a month or two in the saddle; or, after
a rubber of racquets, in which he excelled, and of which he was very
fond, to read and write for four or five consecutive days without going
out of his house." Seven years of this kind of mental training, which
preceded his first noticeable display as a public speaker, did much to
repair a very defective education.

On the 2nd of February, 1828, he married. His wife was Catharine Susan
Ann, only daughter of Captain John McNab, of the Nova Scotia Fencibles.
It was a matter of course that a mind constituted like Mr. Howe's should
sooner or later begin to interest itself in the political questions of
the day. To do so, indeed, was an imperative necessity alike of his
position and of his natural temperament. In 1830 he began to publish in
his paper a series of "Legislative Reviews," which were written by
himself, and continued from year to year. They criticized the acts of
public men with great freedom, and their tone was not unlike that of Mr.
William Lyon Mackenzie's contemporary diatribes in the _Colonial
Advocate_. As time passed by, the writer gained confidence. His attacks
upon public abuses became more frequent and more virulent, and he began
to be looked upon as the champion of popular rights. The institutions of
the Province afforded ample scope for the animadversions of such a
writer, and the contempt with which those in authority at first
professed to regard him soon began to be mingled with no inconsiderable
measure of dismay. Responsible Government, in those days, had no place
in the constitution of Nova Scotia, any more than it had in that of
Canada. The cities were not incorporated, but were governed by
magistrates holding their commissions from the Crown, and not subject to
public control. As a corollary to such a state of things, there were
neglect, corruption, and gross mismanagement of municipal affairs. In
Halifax, long impunity had made some of the magistracy exceptionally
culpable and careless of popular rights. Mr. Howe, in his paper, had
several times commented with asperity upon the extortions and
mismanagement of some of the officials. At last, on the 1st of January,
1835, he published an attack so sweeping and exasperating that he was
indicted for libel. The attack was couched in the form of a letter
addressed to Mr. Howe himself, and, though not written by him, he was of
course responsible for its publication. Mr. Howe defended his own cause,
and he did so with such power and acumen that he secured an acquittal at
the hands of the special jury summoned to try him. The libel was so
unmistakable that all the lawyers of Halifax who were consulted on the
matter by Mr. Howe declared that any successful defence was out of the
question. He was advised to make a humble apology, and to throw himself
upon the mercy of the court. He was informed that his rejection of this
advice would result in a heavy fine, and perhaps in a long term of
imprisonment. "I asked the lawyers to lend me their books," said Mr.
Howe, in describing the episode; "I gathered an armful, threw myself on
a sofa, and read libel law for a week. By that time I had convinced
myself that they were wrong, and that there was a good defence if the
case were properly presented to the court and jury. Another week was
spent in arranging the facts and public documents on which I relied. I
did not get through before a late hour of the evening before the trial,
having only had time to write out and commit to memory the two opening
paragraphs of the speech. All the rest was to be improvised as I went
along. I was very tired, but took a walk with Mrs. Howe, telling her as
we strolled to Fort Massey that if I could only get out of my head what
I had got into it, the Magistrates could not get a verdict. I was
hopeful of the case, but fearful of breaking down, from the novelty of
the situation and from want of practice. I slept soundly and went at it
in the morning, still harassed with doubts and fears, which passed off,
however, as I became conscious that I was commanding the attention of
the court and jury. I was much cheered when I saw the tears rolling down
one old gentleman's cheek. I thought he would not convict me if he could
help it. I scarcely expected an unanimous verdict, as two or three of
the jurors were connections, more or less remote, of some of the
justices, but I thought they would not agree. The lawyers were all very
civil, but laughed at me a good deal, quoting the old maxim, that 'he
who pleads his own case has a fool for a client.' But the laugh was
against them when all was over." The trial took place before Chief
Justice Sir Brenton Halliburton. His Lordship's charge to the jury
embodied a luminous exposition of the law of libel, but necessarily bore
somewhat hardly upon Mr. Howe. But all was of no avail. Ill would it
have been for the liberties of the people of Nova Scotia if Joseph Howe
had been convicted of libel. His address to the jury occupied six hours
and a quarter. The jury were out only ten minutes, and returned with a
verdict of "Not Guilty." On leaving the Province Building Mr. Howe was
borne by the crowd to his home, amidst deafening acclamations.
Throughout the city there was high carnival, and that night, speaking
from the window of his house, Mr. Howe struck the popular chord when he
enjoined upon his audience to teach their children the names of those
jurymen who had established the Freedom of the Press.

Mr. Howe's triumphant acquittal was immediately followed by the
resignation of all the Halifax magistrates; but the old system, though
it had received its death-blow, was not yet quite dead. Other
magistrates were selected, and a gentleman learned in the law was
appointed Custos. In this way irresponsibility was kept up for several
years longer; but it was easy to see that its reign was practically at
an end. The people clamoured for an Act of Incorporation; and the
clamour was augmented by the intelligence brought across the Atlantic by
every mail of the growing agitation for municipal reform in England. We
may here anticipate the course of events by saying that in 1840 Mr. Howe
accepted office in the Provincial Cabinet, and that next year he had the
satisfaction of seeing the old system swept away. Halifax became an
incorporated city, and has ever since been ruled by its own elected
Mayor and Aldermen.

From the time of his triumphant acquittal on the charge of libel, in
1838, down to the day of his death, in 1873, Joseph Howe, the somewhile
printer's boy, was the most noteworthy citizen of his native Province.
In recognition of his public-spirited and fearless conduct, his
fellow-countrymen resident in New York presented him with a handsome
silver pitcher, bearing an inscription suited to the occasion. His
popularity steadily increased, and soon extended far beyond the limits
of Nova Scotia. Towards the close of the year which was signalized by
the trial for libel, his father, Mr. John Howe, already mentioned, died,
at the advanced age of eighty-three. The affection which had subsisted
between father and son was exceptionally deep and lasting, and the
latter, both in his public speeches and in private conversation, made
frequent tender references to it in after life. "For thirty years," said
he, on one occasion, "my father was my instructor, my playfellow, almost
my daily companion. To him I owe my fondness for reading, my familiarity
with the Bible, my knowledge of old Colonial and American incidents and
characteristics. He left me nothing but his example and the memory of
his many virtues, for all that he ever earned was given to the poor. He
was too good for this world; but the remembrance of his high principle,
his cheerfulness, his child-like simplicity and truly Christian
character is never absent from my mind."

In the month of November, 1836, Mr. Howe was for the first time elected
to a seat in Parliament, having been returned, along with his friend and
relative, Mr. William Annand, for the county of Halifax. He continued to
sit in the Assembly, almost without interruption, until 1863, when he
was appointed Fishery Commissioner. He from the first took a conspicuous
part in the proceedings, and surprised all who heard him by the
readiness he displayed in debate, and by the tact and boldness with
which he encountered those who, up to his advent were the acknowledged
leaders of the Assembly. He laboured unceasingly on behalf of
Responsible Government, and contributed more than any other man in Nova
Scotia to bring it about. For the acquisition of Responsible Government,
municipal institutions, and freedom of expression of public opinions,
Nova Scotia must ever owe a deep debt of gratitude to the memory of
Joseph Howe. But, though a thorough-paced reformer, his zeal for reform
was tempered by patriotism and discretion. With the insurrectionary
movements in the sister Provinces he had no sympathy; and, though
urgently importuned to ally himself with similar projects in his own
Province, he declined to fight for freedom otherwise than by legitimate
and constitutional means. He had faith in the mollifying influences of
time, and frequently entered his protest against what he called attempts
to "bully the British Government." He did not approve of accomplishing
beneficent reforms by physical force; more especially where, as in the
Canadas, there never was even a remote hope of accomplishing more than a
temporary success by such means.

In 1838 he visited Great Britain and the continent, and in company with
Judge Haliburton[5] travelled over a large portion of Europe. During
their passage across the Atlantic, having arrived within a few hundred
miles of the Irish coast, the vessel on which they were embarked was
overtaken by the _Sirius_, the pioneer trans-Atlantic steamship, which
was then returning from her trial trip to America. There was no wind,
and their brig could make but little headway. The mails were transferred
to the _Sirius_, which steamed off in spite of the dead calm, and was
soon lost to sight. This little episode was very suggestive to the minds
of Mr. Howe and Judge Haliburton. They discussed the subject of ocean
steam navigation daily until their arrival in England, by which time
they had formed a plan upon which they at once acted. In concert with
other colonists whom they encountered in London, they made strong
representations to the Home Office in favour of a subsidy for the
conveyance of the mails across the Atlantic by steam. These
representations were taken under consideration, and in due time tenders
were invited. A few months later Mr.--afterwards Sir Samuel--Cunard, a
native of Nova Scotia, secured the contract, and established the
magnificent line of mail steamers which bears his name.

Mr. Howe returned home in November, 1838, and at once plunged into hard
work. He devoted himself to obtaining the concession of Responsible
Government, with what success has already been stated. The fight was a
hard one, and was waged with fierceness on both sides. The
Lieutenant-Governor was Sir Colin Campbell, an old soldier who, by the
strange perversity of Canadian historians, has been identified with the
great man who was subsequently raised to the peerage by the title of
Lord Clyde. As matter of fact the whilome Lieutenant-Governor of Nova
Scotia came of a different family, and, so far as can be ascertained,
had no affinity whatever with the hero of the Alma, Balaklava and
Lucknow. The Sir Colin Campbell known to Nova Scotian history, previous
to his arrival in the Province, had had a sufficiently creditable
military career, and had seen gallant service in Spain and elsewhere;
but his military training, and the natural bent of his mind, had been
such as to unfit him for the post of a Civil ruler. As ruler of a
country where despotism prevailed, he would have been a just-minded and
most beneficent despot. He could never understand what "the common
people" meant by talking about their "rights." What Sir Charles Metcalfe
was in Upper Canada, such was Sir Colin Campbell in Nova Scotia--the
obstructor of liberty, and the foe to constitutional progress. He knew
nothing and cared nothing for politics. His statesmanship was on a par
with that of Sir Francis Bond Head, and it was an absurd mistake on the
part of the Home Government to appoint him to the position in which he
now found himself. The history of his Nova Scotian Administration is
simply a chapter in his life which every one would wish to see
obliterated. Between him and Joseph Howe it was impossible that there
should be much community of sentiment, and an antagonism arose between
them immediately after the assumption of the Lieutenant-Governorship by
the former. Sir Colin was wont to sneer at Responsible Government and
its promoters, just as Sir Charles Metcalfe did in Upper Canada a few
years later. The Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, however, steadily
increased in number and influence, and won important concessions. The
publication of Lord Durham's "Report" inspired them with high hopes.
During the session of 1840 Mr. Howe introduced into the Assembly four
resolutions directed against the Executive Council, and declaring that
that Body, as then constituted, did not enjoy the confidence of the
country. These resolutions, after a long debate, were sustained by a
vote of thirty to twelve, and were then submitted to the
Lieutenant-Governor, who, however, declined to take any steps towards
remodelling the Council, and persisted in ordering matters after his own
fashion. The Assembly accordingly, on motion of Mr. Howe, adopted an
address to the Crown petitioning for the Lieutenant-Governor's removal.
He was soon afterwards recalled, and Viscount Falkland, a Lord of the
Royal Bedchamber, and a son of William the Fourth by Mrs. Jordan, was
appointed his successor. Soon after Lord Falkland's arrival, four
members of the Executive Council who held no seats in either branch of
the Legislature were informed that their services could no longer be
retained, as their places were required in order that gentlemen who
could bring to the support of Government popular qualities and influence
might be called round the Queen's representative. Mr. Howe and another
representative Reformer--Mr. McNab--were invited to accept seats in the
Council, and the invitation was complied with. It was evident that
Responsible Government would now become an accomplished fact.

Sir Colin Campbell, though his statesmanship was not of a high order,
was personally popular with all classes in the Province; and just before
his departure he gave a signal proof that rancour and littleness had no
place in his heart. He and Mr. Howe encountered each other at Lord
Falkland's first levee. Many of the prominent public men of the Province
availed themselves of the opportunity to bid a final farewell to the
retiring Lieutenant-Governor, and to shake him warmly by the hand. Mr.
Howe's opposition had been so unceasing, and so productive of important
results, that he did not presume to personally address the man whom he
had so signally worsted. He merely bowed to the latter, and was passing
out. But Sir Colin was not the man to cherish ill-feeling against an
honourable foe whose genuine manhood he was well able to appreciate. He
called out to Mr. Howe, and extended his hand, saying, "We must not part
in that way, Mr. Howe. We fought out our differences of opinion
honestly. You have acted like a man of honour. There is my hand." Mr.
Howe was not backward in accepting the tendered reconciliation, and thus
was buried an enmity which, in smaller minds, would have rankled for
years.

At the ensuing elections Mr. Howe and his friend Mr. Annand were again
returned for the county of Halifax, the former making the declaration
from the hustings that he and Mr. McNab, his colleague in the Council,
held their places by the tenure of public confidence, and would tender
their resignations to the Governor the moment that the support of the
people's representatives was withdrawn. The contest, under the old law,
lasted a fortnight, and four Reformers were triumphantly returned for
the metropolitan town and county. On the meeting of the House Mr. Howe
was elected to the Speakership. It was during this session that the Act
incorporating Halifax was passed. At the close of the session Mr. Howe
paid his first visit to Canada, and was present at the opening of the
first session of Parliament under the Union. He was cordially received
by Lord Sydenham, and by the prominent politicians on both sides. He was
very favourably impressed by what he saw of the country, and formed
sanguine anticipations as to its future.

During the session of 1843, Mr. Howe, having accepted the appointment of
Collector of Colonial Revenue, vacated by the death of the previous
incumbent, resigned the office of Speaker of the Assembly, and was
succeeded by Mr.--now Sir--William Young, the present Chief Justice of
Nova Scotia. He retained his seat in the Assembly, and took a
conspicuous part in the debates of the session. The most important of
these, in consideration of its ultimate results, was on the subject of
granting endowments to denominational colleges. Petitions were presented
to the House asking for two such endowments. A series of resolutions was
introduced by Mr. Annand, setting out that four denominational colleges
already existed, all of which were largely dependent upon Government
aid; that one good college, free from sectarian control, and open to all
denominations, maintained by a common fund, and rallying around it the
affections of the whole people, would be adequate to the requirements of
the population, and sufficiently burthensome to the revenue; and that
such an institution would elevate the Provincial character, remove
existing difficulties, provide the youth with the blessings of a
collegiate education, and attract students to its classes from the
surrounding colonies. These resolutions received cordial support from
Mr. Howe, and were carried by a majority of five; whereupon a committee
was appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill for the purpose of carrying
them into effect. Mr. Johnston, the Attorney-General, who was the leader
of the Tory Party, favoured the continuance of sectarian colleges, and
he and Mr. Howe were thus brought into direct antagonism. Meetings,
largely favourable to the Attorney-General's cause, were held throughout
the Province, and, without consultation with Mr. Howe, Lord Falkland was
induced by the other members of the Cabinet to dissolve the House. This
proceeding on the part of the Lieutenant-Governor was not unnaturally
regarded by the Reform Party as an unwarrantable exercise of the
prerogative. Mr. Howe was relected by acclamation. Soon afterwards, the
Attorney-General's brother-in-law, who had no seat in either branch of
the Legislature, and who was an unknown and untried man, was appointed a
Member of Council, and this without any consultation with Mr. Howe or
his Reform colleagues, Messrs. Uniacke and McNab. Those three gentlemen
accordingly promptly resigned their seats in the Council, giving formal
reasons, in writing, for doing so. An unseemly quarrel, provoked by the
arbitrary conduct of the Lieutenant-Governor, followed. The House of
Assembly discussed the situation for fourteen days, and when a vote was
taken, mildly censuring the Governor for his departure from the
principles of Responsible Government, Mr. Johnston found himself
sustained by a very small majority. Later in the session, Mr. Howe moved
a vote of want of confidence in the Executive, but the motion was
defeated by a majority of three. Overtures were made to him and his two
former colleagues to resume their seats in the Council, which they
declined to do. The controversy running high, Mr. Howe, who had sold the
_Nova Scotian_ in 1841, returned to the editorial chair, having
undertaken the charge of the _Nova Scotian_ and also of the
_Chronicle_, which was owned by his friend Mr. Annand. Then began a
newspaper war of almost unparalleled ferocity, which was kept up without
intermission until the Lieutenant-Governor's influence in the Province
was totally destroyed. Among the hundred or more lampoons hurled at him,
the one which obtained the greatest notoriety was a doggerel effusion
from the pen of Mr. Howe himself, which appeared in the columns of the
_Nova Scotian_, and which was called "The Lord of the Bedchamber."
Perusing it at this distance of time, it seems inconceivable that so
contemptible a production should have wrought such an effect. The
opening verse will give some idea of its tone and spirit:

    "The Lord of the Bedchamber sat in his shirt
       (And D----dy the pliant was there),
     And his feelings appeared to be very much hurt,
       And his brow overclouded with care."

This probably does not strike the critical reader as being of
excruciating keenness, yet it is a fair sample of the composition as a
whole. Indeed, the crushing severity of this first stanza was
particularly enlarged upon by the Attorney-General during a grave
discussion of this weighty matter by a committee of the House. In
replying to the Attorney-General, Mr. Howe said that it was the first
time he had suspected that to hint that noblemen wore shirts was a grave
offence, to be prosecuted in the High Court of Parliament by an
Attorney-General. Had the author said that the Lord of the Bedchamber
had no shirt, or that it stuck through his pantaloons, there might have
been good ground of complaint. Such was Mr. Howe's method of defending
himself before the potent, grave and reverend seigniors of Nova Scotia.
We are insensibly reminded of Shakspeare's aphorism that

    "Oftentimes, excusing of a fault
     Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse."

This, indeed, will apply to the general tone of Mr. Howe's reply, which
was very long and exhaustive, without being overpoweringly convincing.
It must be confessed that in such banter as this the critical eye
discerns more of rude horseplay than of serious statesmanship.
Allowance, however, must be made for the time and occasion when it was
indulged in. Mr. Howe was smarting under a sense of injustice, and he
was taunted by his well-bred opponents, for whom there was much less
excuse, in language as rude and gross as ever fell from his own lips.
Nothing came of the discussion before the committee. The
Lieutenant-Governor being unable to fill up the vacant seats in the
Cabinet, Mr. Johnston struggled on with much difficulty. Public feeling
ran very high. Mr. Howe continued to worry the Government both in and
out of the House, and continued to stir up a general distrust of their
policy. In July, 1844, the Provincial Secretary addressed a circular to
Messrs. Uniacke, McNab, Huntington, Brennan and Smith, inviting them to
accept seats in the Council, and informing them that Lord Falkland found
it impossible to include Mr. Howe in the proposed arrangement. The
invitation was not accepted, and a long and fierce debate followed, in
the course of which Mr. Howe delivered two very able speeches. At the
close of the session he moved his family into the interior, where they
spent two years upon the head waters of the Musquodoboit. This removal
was due to motives of economy. Mr. Howe possessed the power to make
money, but very little power to keep what he had made. He was openhanded
and lavish in his expenditure, and no impecunious friend ever applied to
him in vain, either for money or money's worth. Being ever ready to
confer benefits upon others, and being imprudent both in his style of
living and in his general expenditure, he was frequently reduced to
serious pecuniary straits. He did not scruple to contract debts, and
was often unable to meet his obligations. At the time of his removal to
the head waters of the Musquodoboit he was, to use his own expressive
but inelegant phraseology, "strapped." He was not in the least
discouraged, however, by the state of his affairs. Referring to his two
years' sojourn in the country at this time, he says: "They were two of
the happiest years of my life. I had been, for a long time, overworking
my brains and underworking my body. Here I worked my body and rested my
brains. We rose at daylight, breakfasted at seven, dined at twelve, took
tea at six, and then assembled in the library, where we read four or
five hours almost every evening. I learned to plough, to mow, to reap,
to cradle. I knew how to chop and pitch hay before. Constant exercise in
the open air made me as hard as iron. My head was clear and my spirits
buoyant. My girls learned to do everything that the daughters of our
peasants learn, and got a knowledge of books which, amidst the endless
frivolities and gossipping of city life, they never could have acquired.
My boys got an insight into what goes on in the interior of their own
country, which should be of service to them all their lives. I read the
_Edinburgh Review_ from the commencement, and all the poets over again;
wrote a good deal, and yet spent the best part of every fine day in the
fields or in the woods. My children were all around me, and in health;
and, although I had cares enough, as God knows, I shall never, perhaps,
be so happy again."

In the month of August, 1846, Mr. Howe had the pleasure of seeing the
last of Lord Falkland as Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. The
position of this somewhile Lord of the Bedchamber had long been a most
unenviable one, and the Home Ministry recognized the impropriety of
continuing him in an office where he would reflect no credit either on
himself or them. He was recalled, and was soon afterwards appointed to
the Government of Bombay. He was succeeded in Nova Scotia by Sir John
Harvey, who had been Lieutenant-Governor respectively of Prince Edward
Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. During the following autumn an
abortive attempt was made by the Government to form a Coalition
Ministry, in which a portfolio was to be offered to Mr. Howe. The
Opposition knew that their day of triumph was not far distant, and
preferred a short delay to a coalition with men who were daily losing
ground in public estimation. The day of triumph came early in 1848. On
the 26th of January in that year a vote of want of confidence in the
Ministry was passed by a majority of seven. Next day the Executive
Council resigned, and Mr. Uniacke was applied to form a Government.
This he succeeded in accomplishing, and on the 2nd of February the names
of the members were announced. Among them was that of Mr. Howe, who
became Provincial Secretary. Upon returning to his constituents in the
county of Halifax for relection he was returned by a majority of 832
votes.

Responsible Government being now established, the new Government devoted
itself to the development of the resources of the Province. The railway
era set in, and the building of a road from Halifax to Quebec was
adopted by the Government as part of their policy, but the scheme fell
through for the time, owing to the refusal of the Imperial Government to
contribute towards the cost of carrying it out. The railway from Halifax
to Windsor--an enterprise which Mr. Howe had for years had at heart--was
undertaken wholly as a Provincial work. In 1850 Mr. Howe was sent to
England, chiefly on railway matters, distinguishing himself there by
several speeches, the most noteworthy of which was that delivered at
Southampton, and already quoted from in the opening paragraph of this
sketch. In the following year, accompanied by Mr. Chandler, in the
interest of New Brunswick, he paid another visit to Canada, and
delivered speeches in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, and elsewhere, in which
he dwelt strongly upon the necessity of the several Provinces uniting in
one Government and constructing the Intercolonial Railway.

Among all his multifarious pursuits, Mr. Howe's turn for poetry never
wholly deserted him. He loved his native Province with a fervour and
devotion such as the mere politician never knows, and some of his best
poetical effusions were poured out in her honour. His compositions were
always more noticeable for their genuine poetic inspiration than for
elegance of diction. Many of them found an echo in the hearts of his
countrymen, and are still sung by the rustic fireside on long winter
evenings. One of the best known is his "Song for the Centenary,"
published in June, 1849, and written for the centennial celebration of
the settlement of Halifax by Governor Cornwallis a century before. It
was forthwith set to appropriate music, and has ever since been honoured
as the natal song of Nova Scotia.

During the session of 1850 Mr. Howe introduced and successfully carried
through the House a Bill entitled "An Act to authorize Her Majesty's
subjects to plead and reason for themselves or others in all Her
Majesty's Courts within this Province." It was in effect a Bill enabling
any layman to act as counsel at the Bar, whether he had ever studied law
or not. The introduction of such a measure caused no little excitement
among the lawyers in the House, and a good deal of amusement to the
country at large. Various opinions were held at the time as to its
origin. Some believed that Mr. Howe had been annoyed by the intrigues,
jealousies, or unsteady support of some of the professional adherents of
the Government, and wished to teach them a lesson and reduce them to
discipline; while others thought that the Bill was brought in from a
sincere conviction of its utility. Whatever the motive may have been,
the measure was introduced, advocated, and fought through, with becoming
gravity, and became the law of the land, though it was subsequently
repealed. We have referred to it for the express purpose of making some
random quotations from Mr. Howe's remarks in its defence--remarks in
which horseplay and sound argument are curiously intermingled, and which
are as characteristic of the man as any utterances that ever fell from
his lips. They will give the reader a better idea of one phase of Mr.
Howe's oratory than the most laboured descriptive analysis could
possibly afford. It was urged by professional members in the House that
no man is fit to conduct a forensic argument until he has undergone a
long and severe mental discipline, and until he has spent a more or less
prolonged term in a lawyer's office. To this argument Mr. Howe replied:
"I could point to six or seven barristers, who have gone through this
ordeal, and have been admitted to the Bar of Nova Scotia, who are hardly
a grade above the idiot, or fit to herd geese upon a common.... It will
be admitted that Demosthenes was a pretty good lawyer, and one of the
best orators known in the annals of history. At the age of seventeen, he
walked into the courts of his country, and won back his inheritance from
the guardians who were mismanaging his estate. But Demosthenes was never
cooped up in an attorney's office for five years, poring over old musty
volumes of almost forgotten lore.... There was Cicero. Nobody will deny
that he was nearly as great a lawyer and orator as any we have in Nova
Scotia.... But it is said, a layman can never study and comprehend the
laws. Why not? What is there so abstruse and difficult in our common
and statute law? Take the laws of nations, which have to form the basis
of all diplomacy. These are handed over generally to a body of men who
are not lawyers, but yet who arrange and manage treaties, with all their
mighty interests, and infinity of detail, to the satisfaction of their
respective nations. So, take commercial law. Merchants master but cannot
practise it. I need not go out of this street to find a man who
understands commercial law as well as any lawyer in the country, and
whose opinion I would rather take; but I cannot ask his opinion; he
cannot go into our courts and plead a case. Now take, again, the divine
law. Any blockhead may go into a pulpit, shatter the nerves of a whole
congregation, discourse of things temporal and things eternal, and
dispose not of our estates, but of our souls; and yet the most
accomplished statesman, who is not a lawyer, cannot go into one of Her
Majesty's courts and sue for a ten-pound note, or seek restitution of a
poor widow's rights. I sustain this Bill then because I believe all
monopolies are bad. Suppose we were to secure in this city to-morrow a
monopoly of commercial business, that we should take a hundred men and
confide to them the whole foreign commerce of the country, and let no
others send ships to sea. Enterprise would be cramped, trade would
languish, our mercantile character would be lowered, and the community
much less prosperous and contented. Take the sciences of chemistry,
astronomy, are they not as abstruse, as perplexing, as law? Like law,
they are progressive sciences. Why have they improved so much and law so
little? How is it that we can measure Jupiter, but cannot frame a
reliable plea or indictment? Take Mrs. Somerville's mechanism of the
heavens. Put it into the hands of the lawyers of Nova Scotia, and I
doubt if five of them will understand it.... The honourable member from
Sydney told me that I went into court once and made a pretty long
speech.[6] And so I did. I got then a pretty good idea of how things are
done. The lawyers do not take three meals a day of law with perfect
gusto. They study a little when young, and after that they jostle about
in the profession and take their chance. Now and then, there is a fellow
who studies very deeply, and he drops off before his time. Our present
venerable Chief Justice stepped out of the ranks of the army, and I
believe that all his books might have been carried on a wheelbarrow when
he was elevated to the Bench; he devoted but a short time to the study
of law, and a capital judge he has made ever since. It was my fortune to
study the law of libel once, and in three weeks I think I read more of
it than any lawyer ever did in Nova Scotia. The Speaker laughs; but,
sir, the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it. And while my law
was accepted as sound, the law of the Bar, and of the judges too, was
voted absurd by the jury. I ask any man to go into our courts of law,
and ask himself if he could not take from a dozen different walks of
life those who would shed more honour and intelligence than many of
those who sit behind the Bar?... I was amused with an argument of the
honourable member for Cumberland. He says, the Bill ought to go farther
and admit the ladies into the courts of justice. Why not? They would
make eloquent pleaders. Does he remember that celebrated scene where two
females rushed into court with a case, reported in an imperishable
volume--a cause, where a layman was the judge, and ladies the only
orators? With their maternal feelings excited, the mothers rushed into
court without being accompanied by two lawyers who had studied for five
years, and both claimed the child! King Solomon, who was, perhaps,
nearly as wise as the judges in Nova Scotia, repelled them by no forms,
asked for the aid of no counsel learned in the law. But he had studied
the laws of nature, and sounded the depths of the human heart. With a
glance he detected the rightful owner, and gave a judgment which has
never been reversed."

A minute record of Mr. Howe's proceedings during the next few years
would involve the writing of hundreds of pages. This was probably the
busiest interval of a life that was never idle. In July, 1851, he
retired from the representation of the metropolitan county of Halifax,
finding the burden of such representation, in conjunction with his
position as a member of the Government, too heavy for his shoulders. It
was necessary that he should find a constituency less exacting, and
having fewer and less important local interests requiring attention. He
offered himself as a candidate for the county of Cumberland, and was
returned. A year or two later he was again sent to England, and
coperated with Mr. Hincks and Mr. Chandler in carrying out important
railway negotiations. In 1854, having been appointed Chairman of the
Railway Board, he resigned the office of Provincial Secretary, and a
reconstruction of the Administration followed. During the session of
1855 he vehemently opposed a measure introduced by the Hon. J. W.
Johnston for the prohibition of the importation, manufacture and sale of
intoxicating liquors. His speech on the second reading of the Bill was
singularly illogical, but it was humorous and eloquent, and the measure
was defeated. In 1855 there was a general election. The heaviest contest
of the campaign took place in Mr. Howe's constituency in Cumberland. Mr.
Howe was opposed by a young man who then for the first time offered
himself as a candidate for Parliamentary honours, and who subsequently
won a wide reputation--the present Sir Charles Tupper. Sir Charles was
then a medicial practitioner at Amherst, and was both then and for many
years afterwards known as "Doctor" Tupper. The contest was one of almost
unexampled keenness, and resulted in the defeat of both Mr. Howe and his
coadjutor in the representation of Cumberland. This was a serious blow
to the Government, which had already begun to exhibit signs of weakness.
Next year, on the promotion to the Bench of Mr. Wilkins, the member for
Windsor, Mr. Howe was returned for that constituency by acclamation. The
Government, however, had only a small working majority, and the position
was not improved by the publication of a letter from Mr. Howe's pen
which appeared in the Halifax _Chronicle_ towards the close of the
following December, and which gave great offence to the Roman Catholics.
Next March the Government was defeated, and Mr. Howe resigned his
position as Chairman of the Railway Board. A Conservative Government
succeeded, under the leadership of Mr. Johnston, in which Dr. Tupper
became Provincial Secretary. It remained in power until 1860, when it
was once more displaced by a Liberal Government under Mr. Young, in
which Mr. Howe succeeded to Dr. Tupper's portfolio. Upon Mr. Young's
elevation to the Bench during the same year Mr. Howe became Premier, and
so continued until 1863, when the Liberal Government was once more
defeated. Twice during his tenure of office as Premier he visited
England on railway matters. Soon after the resignation of his Government
in 1863 he was appointed Imperial Fishery Commissioner, and was thus
debarred from taking a very active part in the Union movement until the
abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty in 1866 put an end to his official
duties. There had been a steady and persistent hostility between him and
Dr. Tupper, who had been a rising politician ever since his first entry
into public life in 1855. It is not impossible that Mr. Howe's
opposition to Dr. Tupper may have prompted the former to take the stand
he did on the question of Confederation. To that project he was utterly
opposed, and the dogged resistance he displayed in opposing it was truly
formidable. When the result of the Quebec Conference of 1864 was
published to the world, the Maritime Provinces, alone among the colonies
of British America, expressed opposition to Confederation. For a few
days there was much speculation as to which side of the controversy Mr.
Howe would espouse. "At first," says Principal Grant, "it was taken for
granted that he who had spoken so many eloquent words, all pointing to
the magnificent future of British America, all tending to inspire its
youth with love of country as something far higher than mere
Provincialism, would now be among the advocates of Confederation, and
the wise and loving critic of the scheme to be submitted to the
Legislatures. But by-and-by it was rumoured that he was talking and
writing against it, and before long he came forth as the crowned head of
the Opposition."[7] He "stumped" the Province from end to end,
delivering telling speeches wherever he went, and with such success,
that of the whole number of Nova Scotia candidates favourable to
Confederation, the only one returned to Parliament was Dr. Tupper
himself.

The author above quoted from is of opinion that if Mr. Howe had gone
to Charlottetown and Quebec, as one of the delegates, he would have
thrown himself heartily into the project, and made his mark on the
proposed constitution. He was ready to go, it appears, but his duties
as Fishery Commissioner took him away for two months just at the
critical moment. The Admiral declared that he could not give him a
vessel at any other time, and the other delegates did not dream that
his presence was indispensable. The next thing he heard was that the
Quebec scheme had been completed to the minutest detail and published
to the world. "The egg had been hatched, not by the hen that laid it,
but by some fancy steam process. The ship had been launched without
the presence of the designer." From that moment he resolved to oppose
Confederation, and never in the whole course of his active life did he
fight with more vigour and resolution. He made two more journeys to
England, but failed wholly in obtaining encouragement from the
Imperial Government. During his stay in London he wrote a pamphlet
entitled "Confederation considered in relation to the interests of the
Empire," in which the opinions expressed were widely at variance with
the views formerly advocated by the author. The arguments employed
were evidently the result of a great strain on the writer's
conscience, and they lacked logical coherence. Dr. Tupper, who, with
several other gentlemen, had gone to England to advocate the scheme to
which Mr. Howe was so much opposed, wrote a reply to this pamphlet, in
which the many and serious inconsistencies were clearly pointed out,
and this in a calm and statesmanlike spirit. So that, as Principal
Grant says, in the article already quoted from, "he had to fight Howe
as well as Tupper." The contest was unequal, and Mr. Howe had to
yield. At the first general election after Confederation he was
returned to the Commons for the county of Hants. He then set himself
to work to get the best terms he could for his Province; and having
obtained a readjustment of the terms agreed upon at the London
conference, he accepted the situation, and subsequently, on the 19th
of January, 1869, took office in the Dominion Government as President
of the Council. Upon presenting himself to his constituents for
relection he was returned by acclamation. He retained his position as
President of the Council exactly ten months, when (on the 19th of
November) he was appointed Secretary of State for the Provinces and
Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs. His visit to Manitoba, and
his unfortunate utterances while there, took place during his tenure
of office as President of the Council.

Several years before this time Mr. Howe's health had begun to fail. He
was subject to repeated attacks of bronchitis; and his life of turmoil
and excitement had seriously unhinged his nervous system. It is fairly
conjecturable, however, that his infirm health was due as much to
disappointment, and the consciousness of not having been true to
himself, as to any bodily ailment. He was no longer universally popular
among Nova Scotians, and he felt this very keenly. During the progress
of the session of 1872 he was compelled to leave his work and take a
trip southward, with a view to regaining his strength. He spoke but
little during that session and the following one; and when he did speak
it was evident that his physical powers had been very much weakened. In
May, 1873, he was appointed to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Nova
Scotia, and it was hoped that rest would do much for his failing powers.
For a short time previous to his appointment he had been suffering from
a complication of disorders--among others from an affection of the
liver. On the day when he was sworn into office he took up his residence
at Government House, Halifax, where he was destined to spend the short
span of life that yet remained to him. He had not been many hours in
residence when an old supporter, and a former friend of his father's,
called to pay his respects. "Well, Joseph," said Mr. Howe's
interlocutor, "what would your old father have thought of this?" "Well,"
was the answer, "it would have pleased the old man. I have had a long
fight for it, and have stormed the castle at last. But now that I have
it, what does it all amount to? I shall be here but a few days; and
instead of playing Governor, I feel like saying with Wolsey, to the
Abbot of Leicester--

     'An old man, broken with the storms of State,
     Is come to lay his weary bones among ye;
     Give him a little earth for charity.'"

The quotation was prophetic; though for several weeks afterwards his
health seemed to be improving, his only inconvenience arising from a
severe pain in the chest, which occasionally troubled him. The weather
was fine, and tempted him to take frequent carriage drives. On Thursday,
the 29th of May, he took a longer drive than usual, going seven miles
eastward of the city, to a well-known wayside inn. When he returned he
was a little fatigued, but otherwise appeared well. The pain in the
chest troubled him, and he did not go out. On Friday and Saturday the
pain continued. He got little rest and suffered much; yet he had often
before had such attacks, and his friends did not think him in danger.
The opinion of eminent physicians, and his apparent enjoyment of the
rest and recreation his new position afforded him, encouraged the hopes
entertained by his friends of an improvement in his condition. On
Saturday, the 31st, he appeared nervous, and would not allow his wife or
his son William, his private Secretary, to be absent from his side for a
moment. On Saturday night he remained with them in his study, and being
unable to lie down he paced the room, evidently suffering great pain.
All this, however, was a not uncommon state of affairs, and excited no
alarm. About half-past four o'clock on the morning of Sunday, the 1st of
June, Mrs. Howe induced him to rise from the chair in which he had been
sitting for a little while, and to try to sleep in his bed. He passed
out of the study and entered his room. Before he reached the bedside he
staggered, and would have fallen to the floor, but for his son, who
caught him in his arms. Even yet his life was not thought to be in
danger. His wife and son remained by his side, and he conversed with
them a little. He complained of intense pain. After a few minutes his
voice became weaker. Ten minutes after he entered the room he was dead.
He was quite conscious to the last, and from the few words he spoke
before he died, it seemed that he believed the end was at hand.

The announcement of his death caused a profound feeling in the city, and
it was referred to in most of the churches. The shipping in port, the
public and many private buildings displayed flags at half-mast.
Everything indicated a consciousness on the part of the people of the
city that a great man had passed away. Indications of a still gentler
nature were not wanting. On the morning following the
Lieutenant-Governor's death, a Halifax merchant who had been a warm
friend of the deceased was entering his place of business, when he saw a
farmer or drover, one well known for "homespun without, and a warm heart
within," sitting on a box outside near the door, his head leaning on his
hand, his foot monotonously swinging to and fro, looking as if he had
sat there for hours, and had no intention of getting up in a hurry.
"Well, Stephen, what's the matter?" "Oh, nauthin'," was the dull
response. "Is it Howe?" was the next question, and in a softer tone. The
sound of the name unsealed the fountain. "Yes, it's Howe." The words
came with a gulp, and then followed tears, dropping on the pavement
large and fast. He did not weep alone. And in many a hamlet, in many a
fishing village, in many a nook and corner of Nova Scotia, as the news
went over the land, Joseph Howe had the same tribute of tears.[8]

Mr. Howe was a many-sided man, and it is not easy to sum up his
character in few words. Perhaps the most conspicuous things about him
were his genuine earnestness, his ardent love for Nova Scotia, and his
largeness of heart. That he was sometimes earnest on the wrong side may
be admitted; but he was no mere politician, and on more than one
occasion in his public life he demonstrated himself to be the possessor
of a high measure of statesmanship. Towards Responsible Government he
bears the same relation in the history of Nova Scotia that Robert
Baldwin bears in that of Upper Canada. His patriotism, and more
especially his devotion to his own Province, are proved by every
important act alike of his public and private life. As a natural orator
it is no exaggeration to say that he has never had his peer among the
public speakers of this Dominion. Those who remember his famous speech
before the International Commercial Convention at Detroit, in 1865, are
still accustomed to speak of it as one of the most wonderful orations
ever called forth by such an occasion. Whatever he felt, he felt
intensely, and whatever he did, he did with all his might. His language,
when he was fairly in earnest, literally carried everything before it.
In nothing was his greatness more signally displayed than in his power
of bending others to his own will. "Men followed him against their own
interests, against their own Church, against their own prejudices and
convictions. Episcopalians fought by his side against the Church of
England; Baptists fought with him against the demands of the
denomination; Roman Catholics stood by him when he assailed the
pretensions of their Church." One who could exercise such magnetism as
this, and who never seriously abused his power, is entitled to a verdict
in his favour from posterity; and such a verdict, in so far as we are
capable of pronouncing it, is hereby rendered on behalf of the
Honourable Joseph Howe.




THE HON. FRANCOIS GEORGE BABY,

_MINISTER OF INLAND REVENUE_.


Mr. Baby is descended from one of the oldest French families on this
continent. Its first Canadian representative was Jacques Baby de
Rainville, an officer in the celebrated regiment of Carignan-Sallires,
who first settled in what is now the Province of Quebec more than two
hundred years ago. Various descendants of the Seigneur de Rainville have
figured conspicuously in our history, and some of them have rendered
distinguished services to the State. At the present day the family name
is creditably represented in every Province of the Dominion. The
paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was the Hon. Francois
Baby, an Executive and Legislative Councillor and Adjutant-General for
the Province of Quebec. His father, the late Mr. Joseph Baby, was also a
well-known Member of Parliament, who early in life married Miss Caroline
Guy, a daughter of the late Hon. Louis Guy, King's Notary, and a
Legislative Councillor for the old Province of Quebec. The present
representative is one of the fruits of that marriage, and was born in
the city of Montreal, on the 26th of August, 1834. After some time spent
at St. Sulpice College, Montreal, where he diligently prosecuted his
studies, Mr. Baby was sent to the College of Joliette, to finish his
education. Here he soon made a name for himself as a student of good
attainments, and succeeded in carrying off several of the higher prizes
in the various departments of learning. At the conclusion of his college
career, he chose the profession which peculiarly suited the bent of his
mind, and set himself vigorously to the study of the law. When
twenty-three years of age he was called to the Bar of Lower Canada. In
1873 he was created a Queen's Counsel, an honour which attested the
quality of his legal acquirements. For several years he was a clerk in
the Civil Service of Canada, a position which provided him with the
means of gathering a vast amount of information which has proved of
incalculable value to him in later life. He has frequently been elected
Mayor of the town of Joliette, is one of the founders of the Historical
Society of Montreal, an associate of the Montreal Antiquarian and
Numismatic Society, and an honorary member of _L'Institut Canadien de
Quebec_. In July, 1873, he married Marie Hlne Adelaide Berthelet,
daughter of the late Dr. Berthelet. His political career dates from
1867, when, at the general election of that year, he was a candidate for
the House of Commons for Joliette county. He was defeated on that
occasion, however, but at the general elections of 1872, he was returned
to Parliament by acclamation for Joliette. He seconded the reply to the
address at the second session of Parliament on the 27th October,
1873--that famous short session which opened on the 23rd of October and
rose from its labours on the 7th of November. The address was rejected
in the Lower House, but adopted as it stood in the Senate. The Macdonald
administration resigned without allowing the question at issue to come
to a vote. Mr. Mackenzie formed a new Government, and an appeal was made
to the people in 1874. Mr. Baby was relected by his constituency, but
was unseated on petition on the 28th of October. On the 10th of December
he was again returned, and also at the last general election of the 17th
of September, 1878. The Mackenzie Government on that occasion
experienced defeat, and on the new Administration of Sir John A.
Macdonald being formed, Mr. Baby was invited to take a portfolio. He
complied with the request, and on the 26th of October he was sworn of
the Canadian Privy Council, and appointed Minister of Inland Revenue. On
going back to his county for relection, in November, he was returned
without opposition. In the same month he was entertained at a public
banquet by the leading citizens of Joliette, on the occasion of his
elevation to a seat in the Executive. He is a ready and effective
debater, and an efficient departmental officer.




[Illustration: J. W. DAWSON]


JOHN WILLIAM DAWSON, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., &c.,

_PRINCIPAL OF McGILL COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL_.


We have other names in Canada of more or less eminence in the scientific
world, but Principal Dawson is one of the very few living Canadian
scientists who can justly claim a place in the front rank. As a
naturalist, and more especially as a geologist, his reputation has long
been established on two continents, and at the present day is as wide as
civilization itself. The works embodying the results of his patient
labours are in the hands of every scholar who pretends to keep abreast
of the scientific thought of his time. They have done much to stimulate
and sustain original inquiry, and have opened up new fields of thought
in quarters which once were barren. They have made the author's name
known to and respected by persons who know nothing of Canada beyond the
fact that it is the abode of Professor Dawson. It is noteworthy, too,
that Professor Dawson is one of the few scientific men of universally
acknowledged eminence who find no necessary antagonism between the
teachings of science and the teachings of the Bible. Since the death of
Professor Agassiz, he is one of the most formidable opponents of the
doctrine of evolution, as propounded by Darwin and Herbert Spencer. The
great facts of geology, according to Professor Dawson, furnish no
argument for the rejection by the scientific world of the Mosaic account
of the Creation. The conflict between religion and science, of which we
have heard so much during the last few years, is, in the Professor's
opinion, rather a conflict between opposing schools of thought, and is
no necessary or legitimate result of conscientious scientific inquiry.
The Bible, he tells us, has nothing to dread from the revelations of
geology, but much to hope, in the way of elucidation of its meaning, and
confirmation of its truth. That a scholar whose training has been
exceptionally thorough and comprehensive, and whose natural powers of
mind are confessedly of a very high order; whose original researches in
his own particular department have been second to those of no
investigator of his time; and whose purpose has always been to arrive at
the truth: these facts afford sufficient proof that the doctrine of
evolution is not, as many of its votaries claim for it, a demonstrable
proposition. The Professor's arguments on this important question were
first given to the world many years ago. They have been sharply
criticised, but it may at least be said that they have not yet been
demolished. They have since been repeatedly reiterated and enlarged
upon, and have lost none of their force by repetition. It is a good sign
when a man's mind continues to grow after he has passed middle life, and
Professor Dawson's most recent works furnish abundant evidence that
their author's mind has never been more keenly progressive than now.

His life has been one of remarkable diligence and mental activity. He is
of Scottish origin. His father, the late Mr. James Dawson, was a
younger son of a Scottish farmer in comfortable circumstances, who
emigrated to Nova Scotia during the early years of the present century,
and embarked in business at the seaport town of Pictou. Here the subject
of this sketch was born on the 13th of October, 1820. His father was a
man of cultured mind, with a taste for scientific pursuits, and to this
predilection the Professor is doubtless in some measure indebted for the
direction given to his own studies. The latter received his primary
education at the Grammar School and College of his native town. The
latter institution enjoyed a deservedly high reputation throughout the
Maritime Provinces, and was then under the direction of the late
Principal McCulloch. The boy was father to the man, and was an
indefatigable student of natural history. When he was only twelve years
of age he began to make a collection of fossil plants of the coal
period. From the College at Pictou he proceeded to the University of
Edinburgh, where he devoted special attention to natural history and
practical chemistry. After a winter's study he returned to his native
Province, and devoted himself with ardour to geological research. He was
the companion of Sir Charles Lyell during that eminent man's tour in
Nova Scotia, in 1842, and followed up his researches by studies of the
Carboniferous rocks of Nova Scotia, on which he contributed two
important papers to the Geological Society of London. In the autumn of
1846 he returned to Edinburgh, and remained there until he had completed
his University course. On returning he pursued his geological
investigations with renewed energy. The results of these investigations
were from time to time published in scientific periodicals, and
attention soon began to be directed towards the author. He was requested
by the authorities of Dalhousie College, Halifax, to deliver a course of
lectures on natural history in the Nova Scotian capital. His compliance
was the means of establishing his reputation as a lecturer, and from
that time forward he has been pretty constantly before the public in
that capacity. Of his platform style, it has been said that "Language,
with him, seems to wait upon thought; and no matter whether the occasion
be trivial or important, the right word always appears to be ready to
fill the right place."

In 1850 he was appointed by the Government of Nova Scotia to the then
newly-created office of Superintendent of Education for that Province,
an office which he held for over three years, during which he rendered
valuable service to the Province at a time of special interest in the
history of its schools and educational institutions. He also took an
active part in the establishment of a Normal School in Nova Scotia, and
in the regulation of the affairs of the University of New Brunswick, as
a member of the commission appointed by Sir Edmund Head. In connection
with these educational labours he published several elaborate Reports on
the Schools of Nova Scotia, and a work on Agricultural Education
entitled "Scientific Contributions toward the improvement of
Agriculture," which went through two editions, and was of much practical
utility. His special work in connection with the University and the
Normal School took up much of the time which would otherwise have been
devoted to his favourite pursuits.

In 1855 he was called to the position of Principal and Professor of
Natural History in McGill College and University, which he has ever
since retained. At the time of his appointment the affairs of the
University were in a state of much confusion. Its Medical Faculty was
the only one which could be said to be in a flourishing condition. The
Faculties of Arts and of Law were in their infancy. There were,
however, a number of enterprising and influential men in Montreal, who,
by their efforts and their wealth, nobly aided in raising the University
to a position of assured usefulness. It has prospered under his
management amazingly, and has long since outgrown the effect of the
depressing influences under which it laboured at the time of his
appointment. He from the first laboured to secure in the University that
recognition of Science as an element of liberal culture which its own
essential character and the needs of modern life demand. "His lucid and
interesting lectures," says a contemporary writer, "as well as his
personal popularity, have won for Natural History a place and an
importance in McGill not usually accorded to it in University culture."
A School of Civil Engineering was established in 1858, which, after a
struggling existence of five years, succumbed to unfriendly legislation.
This school was resuscitated and placed on a more comprehensive basis in
1871 as the Department of Practical and Applied Science. In this portion
of his work Principal Dawson has taken deep interest, and it must be a
matter of great satisfaction to him to see that its increased efficiency
attracts year by year an increasing number of students, and that its
success is now fully assured. Those who are most intimately acquainted
with the history of the University during the past twenty-five years
feel most strongly the importance of the wise and arduous labours of
Principal Dawson.

At the time of his appointment to the position of Principal of the
University, one of the great drawbacks to its success was the want of
efficient elementary and superior schools to prepare pupils for
matriculation. In co-operation with the Superintendent of Public
Instruction for the Province of Quebec, and aided by the influence of
Sir Edmund Head, then Governor-General, Dr. Dawson secured the
establishment, in 1857, of the McGill Normal School, a training school
for Protestant teachers. In addition to his arduous and engrossing
duties in the University, he assumed the position of Principal of this
institution, and continued for thirteen years to preside over its work,
and to lecture to its pupils. Though compelled to withdraw from his
position in 1870, he has ever since maintained an active supervision of
its affairs as Chairman of the Normal School Committee of the
Corporation of the University.

During the last eight years, Dr. Dawson has been a valued member of the
Protestant Board of School Commissioners of the city of Montreal. He is
also a member of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public
Instruction of the Province of Quebec, and took an active part in
devising the measures adopted by that body several years since, with a
view to securing an effective inspection of the schools of the Province.
He is an M.A. of the University of Edinburgh, and an LL.D. of the
University with which he is immediately connected. He is also a Fellow
of the Geological Society of London (since 1854), and of the Royal
Society (since 1862), and is a member of an exceptionally large number
of learned societies, both at home and abroad.

Dr. Dawson is perhaps best known to the general public of this country
through his success in the organization and management of educational
institutions. His reputation abroad, however, rests mainly on his
geological investigations and discoveries, more especially in relation
to the Carboniferous and Post-pliocene formations, to fossil plants and
the fossils of the Laurentian rocks. On these subjects he is the author
of a number of memoirs in the proceedings of various learned societies,
in scientific journals, and in official reports. He is also the author
of a number of standard works, covering a large field of scientific
elucidation, and more especially relating to the earliest known fossil
remains, and to the discovery and nature of the now celebrated _Eozoon
Canadense_.

A review of his more important scientific labours proves how much may be
done even in the midst of engrossing educational occupations, by a man
of active mind, when his heart is in his work. In 1841 he contributed to
the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh his first scientific paper, on the
species of field-mice found in Nova Scotia. In 1843 he communicated a
paper on the rocks of Eastern Nova Scotia to the Geological Society of
London; and this was followed in 1844 by a paper on the newer coal
formation. In 1845, besides exploring and reporting on the iron mines of
Londonderry, Nova Scotia, he published a paper on the coal formation
plants of that Province. During the winter of 1846-'47, while studying
in Edinburgh, he contributed to the Royal Society of that city papers on
the "Formation of Gypsum," and on the "Boulder Formation," and an
article to Jameson's _Edinburgh Philosophical Journal_, on the "Renewal
of Forests destroyed by Fire." From 1847 to 1849 we find him pursuing
his geological researches, and giving the results to the world in
frequent papers. The most important of these are: "On the Triassic Red
Sandstones of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island;" "On the Colouring
Matters of Red Sandstones;" "On Erect Calamites found near Pictou;" and
"On the Metamorphic Rocks of Nova Scotia." He also published his
"Handbook of the Geography and Natural History of Nova Scotia," and
delivered courses of lectures on Natural History and Geology in the
Pictou Academy, and in Dalhousie College, Halifax, and reported to the
Nova Scotia Government on the coal-fields of Southern Cape Breton.

In 1852, in company with Sir Charles Lyell, he made a rexamination of
the "Joggins" section, and visited the remarkable deposit of Albertite
at Hillsborough, New Brunswick. A memoir soon appeared on the former
district, giving a full exposition of the structure and mode of
formation of a coal-field. The Albert Mine was also made the subject of
a paper. In the further study of the "Joggins" section, microscopic
examinations were made of coal from all its beds, as well as of coal
from other sources, the results being published in papers on the
"Structures in Coal," and on the "Mode of Accumulation of Coal." It was
during the visit to the "Joggins," just referred to, that the remains of
_Dendrerpeton Acadianum_ and _Pupa vetusta_ were found. With the
exception of _Baphetes planiceps_, which Dr. Dawson had discovered in
the previous year at Pictou, but had not described, _Dendrerpeton
Acadianum_ was the first reptile found in the coal formation of America;
and _Pupa vetusta_ was the first known Palaeozoic land snail. These
discoveries were followed by the finding and describing of several other
reptiles, and of the first carboniferous millipede (_Xylobias
sigillaria_). About this time, also, a second report on the Acadia Iron
Mine was prepared, and an elaborate series of assays of coal made for
the General Mining Association.

In 1855 he published the first edition of his "Acadian Geology," a
complete account, up to that date, of the geology of the Maritime
Provinces of British North America. In 1856, though trammelled by the
arduous duties incumbent upon the Principal of a University, he still
continued his geological work in his native Province, and prepared a
description of the Silurian and Devonian rocks. During the same summer
he visited Lake Superior, and wrote a paper and report on the
copper-regions of Maimanse and Georgian Bay, in which he discussed the
geological relations of the then little known copper-bearing rocks of
the North Shore of Lake Superior, and the origin of the deposits of
native copper. In the two following years he made a number of
contributions to the _Canadian Naturalist_ and the _Journal of the
Geological Society_, and commenced the study of the Post-pliocene
deposits of Canada. In 1859 his "Archaia, or Studies of Creation in
Genesis," appeared, a work showing not only a thorough knowledge of
Natural History, but also considerable familiarity with the Hebrew
language and with Biblical Literature. In 1860 he issued a supplementary
chapter to his "Acadian Geology." He also continued his work in fossil
botany and in the Post-pliocene, publishing several papers on these
subjects, as well as desultory researches on such subjects as the "Flora
of Mount Washington," "Indian Antiquities at Montreal," "Marine Animals
of the St. Lawrence," "Earthquakes in Canada," "Classification of
Animals," etc.

In 1863 he issued his "Air-Breathers of the Coal Period," a complete
account of the fossil reptiles and other land animals of the coal of
Nova Scotia. This publication was followed, in 1864, by a "Handbook of
Scientific Agriculture." It was in 1864, also, that Dr. Dawson made what
may be considered as one of the most important of his scientific
discoveries--that of _Eozoon Canadense_. This fossil had already been
noticed by Sir William Logan, but Dr. Dawson, to whom Sir William
submitted his specimens, was the first to recognize its Foraminiferal
affinities, and to describe its structure. Previous to this time the
rocks of the Laurentian age were looked upon as devoid of animal
remains, and called "Azoic." Dr. Dawson now substituted the term
"Eozoic." In 1865, at the meeting of the British Association at
Birmingham, he gave illustrations of his researches on the "Succession
of Palaeozoic Floras," the "Post-pliocene of Canada," and the "Structure
of Eozoon."

In 1868 appeared the second edition of "Acadian Geology," enlarged to
nearly 700 octavo pages, with a great number of illustrations from the
author's drawings. This still remains the standard work on the geology
of the Maritime Provinces, while it also treats of many of the more
difficult problems of geology generally.

While in England, in 1870, Dr. Dawson lectured at the Royal Institution.
He also read a paper on the "Affinities of Coal Plants" before the
Geological Society, and one on the "Devonian Flora" before the Royal
Society. The same year his "Handbook of Canadian Zoology" appeared,
being followed in 1871 by a "Report on the Silurian and Devonian Flora
of Canada," and a "Report on the Geological Structure of Prince Edward
Island." His studies of the Devonian plants were begun as early as 1858,
and Gasp, St. John's, and Perry in Maine, were twice visited in order
to collect material to aid in their prosecution.

His "Notes on the Post-pliocene of Canada" were published in 1873. From
them we learn that the number of known species of Post-pliocene fossils
had been raised, principally by his labours, from about thirty to over
two hundred. We also find that Dr. Dawson is still what he has always
been, a staunch opponent of the theory of general land glaciation. "The
Story of the Earth and Man," issued in 1873, was a republication of
papers published in the _Leisure Hour_ in 1871 and 1872. It gives a
popular view of the whole of the Geological ages, presented in a series
of word-pictures, and with discussions of the theories as to the origin
of mountains, the introduction and succession of life, the glacial
period, and other controverted topics. A report on the "Fossil Flora of
the Lower Carboniferous Coal Measures of Canada," and communications to
the Geological Society of London, on the probable Permian age of beds
overlying the coal-measures of Nova Scotia, and also occurring in Prince
Edward Island; on recent facts as to the mode of occurrence of Eozoon
in the Laurentian rocks, and on the Phosphates in the Laurentian rocks,
are still more recent labours. A course of six lectures delivered in New
York in the winter of 1874-'75 has been largely circulated both in
America and England, under the title "Science and the Bible;" and in
1875 there also appeared in London and New York, a popular illustrated
_rsum_ of the facts relating to Eozoon and other ancient fossils,
entitled "The Dawn of Life." At the Detroit meeting of the American
Association, Prof. Dawson, as Vice-President of Section B, delivered an
address in which he vigorously combated the doctrine of evolution as
held by its more extreme supporters.

In 1877 appeared his "Origin of the World," which may be regarded as a
modernized and in great part re-written edition of his former work
"Archaia." A still more recent work, "Fossil Men," applies the history,
manners and customs of the aborigines of America in illustration of the
questions agitated respecting prehistoric man in Europe; and a popular
work, intended to give a clear view of the actual succession of life as
known to geologists, is to appear in London in the present year with the
title "The Chain of Life."

Dr. Dawson married on the 19th of March, 1847, Miss Margaret A. Y.
Mercer, of Edinburgh. They have five surviving children, the eldest of
whom, Dr. George M. Dawson, has followed up his father's pursuits. He
graduated as Associate of the Royal School of Mines, London, in 1872,
taking the highest distinction, as Edward Forbes Medallist, and after
spending two years as geologist of the Boundary Commission, and
preparing an elaborate Report on the Geology of the 49th Parallel, was
appointed on the geological survey of Canada. Of this he is now one of
the Assistant Directors, with special charge of the survey of British
Columbia, on the geology and resources of which he has issued several
reports, besides occasional papers in the _Journal of the Geological
Society_ and the _Canadian Naturalist_. He is a Fellow of the Geological
Society, and has received the Degree of Doctor of Science from the
University of Princeton. Professor Dawson's second son, Mr. W. B.
Dawson, after graduating in honours at McGill, entered the celebrated
Ecole des Parts et Chaumes in Paris, and after studying for three
years, had the honour of graduating at the head of his class. He is now
in practice as a civil engineer.




[Illustration: ADAM CROOKS]


THE HON. ADAM CROOKS.


The present Minister of Education for Ontario was born at "The
Homestead," in the Township of West Flamboro', in the County of
Wentworth, on the 11th of December, 1827. His father, the Hon. James
Crooks, was a well-known resident of this Province, who, during the
greater part of his long and useful life, took a prominent part in
public affairs, and enjoyed the highest confidence and respect. A few
facts relating to the career of the late Mr. Crooks will form a suitable
prologue to a more extended notice of the life of his son. The family is
of Scottish origin, and has been connected with various branches of
industry in Ayrshire ever since the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The late Mr. Crooks was born at Kilmarnock, in 1778, and well remembered
the publication, by an obscure printer of that town, of a little book
which was destined to make the name of Kilmarnock more widely known than
all its other manufactures, from the time of Robert Bruce downwards.
This volume made its appearance in 1786, when James Crooks was only
eight years old. Its title was "Poems, chiefly in the Scottish Dialect,"
and its author was a thriftless young fellow named Robert Burns, upon
whom the well-conducted folk of that neighbourhood were wont to look
with no favourable eyes. Mr. Crooks and his parents emigrated from
Scotland to Western Canada in 1794, when James was just emerging from
boyhood. He settled at Niagara, and embarked in the fur-trade and such
other commercial enterprises as those times afforded. He established a
grist mill, and purchased grain from the settlers in the district.
Things prospered with him. He became a man of substance, and one of the
leading merchants of the Niagara peninsula. He is reported to have
despatched the first load of wheat and the first load of flour which
ever found their way from Upper Canada to Montreal. Early in the present
century he married a daughter of James Cummings, of Chippewa, a U. E.
Loyalist, who had emigrated to Canada from Cherry Valley, in the State
of New York, shortly before the massacre which has unjustly been
attributed to Captain Joseph Brant. Upon the breaking out of the war of
1812 James Crooks promptly responded to his country's call, and took the
command of a flank company of Lincoln militia, at the head of which he
fought at Queenston Heights and elsewhere along the Niagara frontier.
His company formed part of the reinforcement to General Brock which
proceeded under General Sheaffe from Niagara to the scene of action on
the news of the crossing of the enemy at Queenston. The enemy were
completely defeated, and the American Generals, with officers and nine
hundred men, surrendered to General Sheaffe, in whose despatch Captain
James Crooks was named with other Militia officers as having "led their
men into action with great spirit." Soon after the cessation of
hostilities he removed to West Flamboro', where he continued to reside
down to the time of his death. He also took his share in the putting
down of the rebellion of 1837-8. He was a member of the Legislative
Council of Upper Canada and Canada respectively for more than a quarter
of a century, and occupied that position at the time of his death. As a
politician he was a man of moderate and consistent views, who discussed
public measures on their merits, and not from a partisan point of view.
During his residence in West Flamboro' he established the first paper
mill in this Province, and for many years the supply from this source,
small as it must necessarily have been, was found quite equal to the
demand. He had retired from business of every kind for some time before
his death, which took place at his residence on the 2nd of March, 1860,
when he was in the eighty-second year of his age. He left behind him a
numerous family, of whom the fourth son, Adam, is the subject of this
memoir.

After attending the public schools in the neighbourhood of his home, and
afterwards at Hamilton, Adam Crooks, when in his twelfth year, entered
as a student at Upper Canada College. He entered the preparatory school,
and passed through the usual collegiate course with much credit, gaining
the examination prize, and standing first in each form from the first to
the seventh. He was highly commended by his tutors, alike for his
diligence and for the quickness of his parts. When eighteen years of age
he matriculated at King's College, now the University of Toronto,
standing first in Classics. The institution was then under the control
of the Church of England, and students were compelled to attend chapel
and denominational lectures under Dr. Beaven, who was then the
Theological Professor. Mr. Crooks had been brought up as a Presbyterian,
and a dispensation was granted which relieved him from the necessity of
taking part in them. His whole University career was one of exceptional
brilliancy. At the second year's examination he won the Wellington
scholarship. In 1849 he passed the B.A. examination, taking the gold
medal in Classics and the first silver medal in Metaphysics, for which
latter branch no gold medal was awarded in those days. His close
application to his studies had affected his health, and, although all
his examinations had been passed, he did not present himself for, and
did not actually receive his bachelor's degree until 1850. When the
change effected by Mr. Baldwin's Act came into operation: that is to
say, when the University became a Provincial, instead of a sectarian
institution: Mr. Crooks, by virtue of his degree of B.C.L., became a
member of the convocation, and was elected Pro-Vice-Chancellor. He had
studied law concurrently with his course at the University, and he was
called to the Bar of Upper Canada during Trinity Term, 1851, before he
had completed his twenty-fourth year. He opened an office in Toronto,
where his abilities and connexions soon won for him an excellent
practice and a prominent position at the Equity Bar. The degree of M.A.
was conferred upon him by the University in 1852. On the 4th of
December, 1856, he married Emily, youngest daughter of the late General
Thomas Evans, C.B., of Montreal, a distinguished officer who fought at
Lundy's Lane and elsewhere in this Province during the war of 1812. This
lady died at Toronto on the 5th of November, 1868. In 1863 Mr. Crooks
obtained the degree of LL.B. His interest in his _alma mater_ has by no
means been confined to the period of his actual attendance there as a
student. He was one of the founders of the Literary and Scientific
Society, and was elected its first President. In 1864 he was elected
Vice-Chancellor of the University, and by means of four successive
biennial relections continued to occupy that position until his
resignation in 1872.

Mr. Crooks's professional career has been as brilliant as might have
been anticipated from his successes at college and at the University. At
the outset he devoted his attention both to the Common Law and Equity
branches of jurisprudence, but he found the latter more congenial as
well as more remunerative, and for many years past his practice has been
almost wholly confined to Equity. His clients have been chiefly drawn
from the wealthier classes and corporations, and he has been engaged in
many of the most important suits which have ever come before the Court
of Chancery and the Court of Appeal in this Province. In 1863 he was
created a Queen's Counsel. During the years 1864 and 1865 he spent much
of his time in England in connection with the appeal to the Privy
Council there, arising out of the case of _The Commercial Bank_ vs. _The
Great Western Railway Company_. The points involved in this important
suit, involving a million of dollars, are too abstruse to possess much
interest for the general public. It will be sufficient to say that after
long and elaborate arguments Mr. Crooks's contention was fully
sustained, and he was successful in obtaining for his clients--the
Commercial Bank--security for the full amount claimed.

For some years Mr. Crooks was one of the Examiners to the Law Society of
Ontario, and was also Lecturer on Commercial Law and Equity. He had been
appointed a Bencher of the Society, and had periodically acted in that
capacity for many years, but, owing to certain ill-advised proceedings
of the College of Benchers he resigned. The constitution of the College
at that time permitted it to elect its own members, without reference to
the legal profession generally. It was wont to exercise its rights
somewhat capriciously, and not always with due regard to the merits of
candidates. Mr. Crooks's resignation was due to the rejection by the
College of one of the most eminent professional men in the country, a
personal friend of his own, and a gentleman well fitted for the highest
honours in the power of the Society to bestow. Several other gentlemen
whose position at the Bar was manifestly inferior to that of the
rejected candidate were at the same time elected by the College. Mr.
Crooks promptly signified his disapprobation of this proceeding by
tendering his resignation. As will hereafter be seen, an Act, which is
largely due to Mr. Crooks himself, has since been passed, whereby the
constitution of the Society has been remodelled, and Benchers are now
elected by the profession at large. The first election under the new
order of things took place in 1871, when Mr. Crooks and the candidate
who had previously been rejected were both elected by a large majority
of votes. It may be noted that Mr. Crooks is now also a Bencher _ex
officio_, from his having been Attorney-General of Ontario.

Mr. Crooks belongs to the Liberal side in politics. In the sketch of the
life of the Hon. Edward Blake, we have seen that after the establishment
of Confederation the Reform Party, by reason of the defection of some of
its members, stood in need of reorganization and reinforcement. In the
summer of 1867 the leading members of that party made overtures to Mr.
Crooks to enter Parliament. In response to these overtures, and after
due consideration, he allowed himself to be nominated as the Reform
candidate for the West Riding of Toronto, in the Legislative Assembly,
in opposition to the late Mr. John Wallis. His candidature on this
occasion was unsuccessful, but four years later, in 1871, he again
entered the field in the same Riding, and against the same candidate.
Public opinion had meanwhile undergone a change, and he was returned by
a large majority. Upon the meeting of the House in December, the result
of the debate was the downfall of the Ministry, and upon the formation
of the new Cabinet, under Mr. Edward Blake, Mr. Crooks became
Attorney-General. Upon returning to his constituents for relection he
was returned against Mr. Harman, the Opposition candidate. During the
whole of the following session he retained the Attorney-Generalship.
While holding that position he introduced and successfully carried
through a measure which enables a subject to sue and obtain redress
against the Crown in the same manner as against a private subject. A
brief reference to several of the other important Acts for which he is
responsible, will not be out of place here. The Act respecting Liens
affords additional security for unpaid wages to mechanics employed in
building operations; and a subsequent amendment makes the claims of such
mechanics preferential, when the value of the property has been enhanced
by the work done. The Act to extend the legal capacity of married women
enables the latter to hold their individual property in their own right,
and free from the control of their husbands. The Act respecting debts
and choses in action makes such assets assignable at Law, as they
previously were in Equity. Upon the reconstruction of the Cabinet under
Mr. Mowat, in October, 1872, Mr. Crooks accepted the office of
Provincial Treasurer, to which was added in 1876 that of Minister of
Education. In the session of 1873 he introduced the University Amendment
Act, whereby great changes were effected in the constitution of the
Senate of the University of Toronto, and a share in the government of
the establishment was conferred upon the graduates.

At the general election of 1875 he was an unsuccessful candidate for
East Toronto, in opposition to the Hon. Matthew Crooks Cameron. He was
soon after elected for South Oxford, the member-elect, Mr. Adam Oliver,
having been unseated on petition, and a new writ having been issued. He
ceased to be Provincial Treasurer in 1877, surrendering that position to
the Hon. S. C. Wood, the present incumbent, and has since found ample
employment for his energies as Minister of Education. The duties in
connection with that important department have for some years past been
steadily increasing. Besides the large interests involved in the
administration of the Public and High School system of the Province, the
Minister of Education is responsible for all those duties which the
Government has to discharge in relation to the Provincial University,
comprising the University of Toronto and University College; also Upper
Canada College, the various Mechanics' Institutes throughout the
Province, the School of Art and Design, and the School of Practical
Science. The reforms set on foot during his tenure of office have been
many and important, and there is good ground for hoping that the
Educational Department of Ontario, under his management, will not only
meet the requirements of the Province, but ensure general satisfaction.
He has not escaped criticism, but he has nevertheless pursued his course
of reform with energy and consistency. His increasing reputation and
influence as a public man afford the best reply to those who have
disapproved of his policy.

The success achieved by the Canadian educational exhibit at the
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, and at the Paris
Exposition of 1878, is something of which we, as Canadians, may justly
feel proud, and to Mr. Crooks, as actual head of the Education
Department, the result must have been a matter peculiarly gratifying. It
is undeniable that to the excellent system inaugurated by him, and to
the care, prudence and good management of himself and his coadjutors,
the result was largely due. At Paris the Education Department of Ontario
exhibited in five different classes, and received an award in each
class. It received, in short, a greater number of awards than Great
Britain and all her other colonies put together. In addition to these,
decorations of the Order of the Palm Leaf were conferred upon the
Honourable Adam Crooks, the Reverend Dr. Ryerson, and Dr. Hodgins, as
officers of Public Instruction; and upon Dr. May, as an officer of the
Academy. Academic honours were not conferred on representatives of
England or her other Colonies, and only two of these decorations were
given to the United States. The Department may feel justly proud of the
decorations, which are only conferred after a minute examination of
those who have rendered real services to science, literature and fine
arts, and are worn by the most illustrious members of the Institute of
France. In the same manner as the Emperor Napoleon I. replaced the
ancient order of St. Louis by the Cross of the Legion of Honour, he also
replaced the ancient order of St. Michael by that of the Palm Leaves.
The decorations were bestowed upon the above named gentlemen for actual
benefit derived by the French from the excellence of the school system
of Ontario. The city of Paris is now founding a Museum on the same plan,
and in imitation of the Museum of the Education Department of Ontario at
Toronto.

To Mr. Crooks belongs the distinction of being the first Canadian who
was ever elected a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, and of
reading the first paper on a Canadian subject ever read before that
body. This paper was read at a meeting of the Society held on the 31st
of May, 1869, and was entitled: "On the Characteristics of the Canadian
Community." It was regarded by the Society as a most important
contribution, and was printed for general circulation.

Mr. Crooks is a member, _ex officio_, of the Association of Agriculture
and Arts, and of the Senate of the University; and also an honorary
member of the Ontario Society of Artists.




TECUMSEH.


Most writers on the early history of the Western Continent have
exercised their ingenuity in finding parallels between the singular
mythologies of the aboriginal tribes of America and those of the
Egyptians, the Tartars, the Israelites, and other Eastern nations of
antiquity. That such parallels are to be found--nay, that they are
numerous--is not to be denied; and the many ingenious hypotheses which
have been advanced as to a common origin are less fanciful than are some
other historical parallels of more modern date. In the customs and
traditions of the Aztecs there were many features of resemblance to
those of the Children of Israel, and the analogy is sometimes
wonderfully exact. The Toltecs also seem to have had certain usages
marvellously akin to those of the Egyptians. Some of the rites of the
ancient Ghebers were perpetuated in Peru at the time of Pizarro's
invasion in the sixteenth century. Looking farther north, we find that
the Narragansetts and Mohegans had their legends about a faraway time
when their ancestors dwelt in a distant country beyond the salt water,
and where the Great Spirit used to commune with their sachems on the top
of a high mountain which belched forth fire, and smoke. The Shawnees,
with whom this sketch is more immediately concerned, cherished a
tradition that their forefathers once dwelt in a foreign land where they
were subjected to cruel persecutions at the hands of a more powerful
tribe; that their forefathers assembled their people together and
marched to the seashore with a view to abandoning the country; that upon
their arrival at the shore the water parted, leaving the bed of the
ocean dry; that they passed westward along the bottom of the sea until
they reached the land known to us by the name of America; and that
immediately upon the completion of their journey the waters came
together again. Indeed there was scarcely a tribe but had its legendary
lore, an examination of which opens a wide and fruitful field of inquiry
for those who are enthusiastic about such matters. Such inquiry,
however, has its limits, and must perforce be unsatisfactory to those
unlearned in mythic lore. The pursuits of the nineteenth century are too
busy and practical to admit of general readers paying much attention to
mythic history. For most of us, authentic history suffices; and those
who carefully peruse the authentic histories of the struggle of the
American red men with the pale-faces will be able to understand the
feelings of that unhappy clergyman who, when reading the Old Testament
account of the battles of the Israelites with their less favoured
adversaries, was shocked to find that his sympathies invariably went
with the Philistines. The poor Indian, like the Philistine, had to
struggle with an invincible foe; with a foe whose invincibility was not
entirely due to his own innate merits. Struggle as valiantly as he
would, the fate of the red man, like that of the Philistine, was a
foregone conclusion. The fiat had gone forth, and the most that he could
do was to expend his valour and his life in a hopeless cause.

The Shawnees, of whom mention has been made, were from time immemorial
an active, a warlike and a wandering race. Almost every habitable part
of North America has at one time or another been their temporary place
of abode. There is authority for believing that they were represented
beneath the spreading branches of the celebrated Kensington elm, a few
miles above the present site of Philadelphia, when that memorable treaty
between William Penn and the Indians was made in the year 1682; that
treaty which, as Voltaire said, was the first treaty made between Pagans
and Christians which was not ratified by an oath, and which was also the
first that was never broken. Inhabitiveness would seem to have been but
slenderly developed in the Shawnee organization. They never remained
long in any one place, and when any pretext could be found for
quarrelling with their neighbours they were ever ready to avail
themselves of it. Notwithstanding these facts--perhaps in consequence of
them--no aboriginal race has produced so many men famous in history.
Eminent among these stand the names of Blue Jacket, Cornstalk, and
Logan. Towering far above all predecessors and competitors stands the
subject of this sketch, whose name, according to strict Indian
orthography, was Tecumtha, but who is much better known to
English-speaking people by the name of Tecumseh.

The exact time and place of birth, as well as the parentage of Tecumseh,
are involved in some obscurity. The precise date of his birth cannot now
be ascertained. The most that can be said with certainty is that he was
born sometime in 1768 or within three years afterwards--the date
generally assigned being 1771--in the Miami Valley, not far from
Springfield, Ohio, and within the limits of Clark County. He was one of
seven children, two of which were brought into the world
contemporaneously with himself. Even the significance of his name is a
matter as to which there is a diversity of authority. "Tecumseh" is
variously translated "The Shooting Star," "The Flying Tiger," and "The
Wild-Cat Springing Upon His Prey." The first translation is the one most
commonly accepted, and is probably the correct one. It is claimed by
some that his paternal grandfather was a white man, and that his mother
was a squaw belonging to one of the southern tribes, who had become
domesticated with the Shawnees. Others represent him as being a
full-blood Shawnee. All that can be definitely ascertained about his
parentage is that his father was a Shawnee chief called Puckeshinwa, who
was killed in battle when Tecumseh was a mere child; and that his mother
was an Indian woman named Methoataske. Of the two brothers who were born
at the same time, one, Kumskaukau, did nothing to distinguish himself.
The other, Elskwatawa the Prophet, was destined to exert an
extraordinary influence over the varying fortunes of his tribe, and to
acquire a notoriety second only to that of Tecumseh himself.

Tecumseh went out on his first war-path at a very tender age, and took
part in a battle between the Shawnees and a party of Kentuckians, on the
banks of the Mad River, near the site where Dayton now stands. In our
sketch of the life of Brant we have seen that great warrior was so
terrified at the first battle in which he took part that he was
compelled to sieze hold of a sapling to preserve himself from falling
down in sheer terror. Tecumseh's first passage of arms was equally
trying to his nerves. It is said, and we believe with truth, that he
wheeled about and ran at the first fire of the enemy. As in the case of
Brant, however, it was only the first step that was difficult. The
number of battles and skirmishes in which Tecumseh subsequently took
part may be numbered by hundreds. And from that day when he fled in
childish fear from the banks of the Mad River, to that disastrous fifth
of October when he fell, covered with glory and wounds, at the battle of
the Thames, no enemy ever saw his back.

Not long after the skirmish at Mad River he began to devote himself with
great assiduity to the chase, and soon became known throughout the
hunting-grounds of the west as a marksman of uncommon skill. On one
occasion a number of young Shawnee hunters proposed to him a three-days'
hunting expedition for a wager. Tecumseh readily accepted the proposal,
and the contestants all took to the woods in different directions. At
sunset of the third day they returned to their headquarters almost
simultaneously. One of them exhibited twelve deerskins as the result of
his expedition. None of the others--save one--could produce more than
ten. Tecumseh quietly unfolded thirty-three; and from that time his
supremacy as the greatest hunter of his tribe was universally admitted.
But graver pursuits soon claimed his attention, and in conjunction with
his brother Elskwatawa he gradually began to mature the scheme with
which both their names are inseparably identified. It is not our purpose
to follow him through the numerous marauding expeditions and petty
campaigns in which he figured in his youthful days. We may mention
however, that he took part in the battle between the combined Indian
forces and the Americans under General Wayne, on the 24th of August,
1794; and that in the summer of the following year he began to style
himself a chief, and to organize a party on his own account. But the
series of events which have transmitted his name to posterity may be
said to have commenced about the year 1805, when he first began to
devote himself to what he doubtless regarded as his "mission."

This mission, as most readers are aware, had for its object the uniting
of the various Indian tribes into one grand confederacy for the purpose
of resisting the steady encroachments of the whites. The inception of
the scheme did not originate with Tecumseh. Pontiac, the great Ottawa
sachem, had conceived a similar design more than forty years before,
which design had been frustrated by the battle of Bloody Run and by the
subsequent vigilance of General Bradstreet. The scheme of Tecumseh and
his brother, however, was much more comprehensive in its details; and
though its success was of course utterly out of the question, it
furnished for some years a formidable problem for the solution of the
Government of the United States. Its details comprehended, first, the
recovery of the entire valley of the Mississippi; second an advance
eastward, and the subjugation of the white races settled on this
continent; and third, the utter extermination of the latter by driving
them into the Atlantic.

To bring about a general confederation of the western tribes was, as
both Tecumseh and his brother well knew, a task of extreme difficulty.
The concurrence of those tribes in so gigantic a scheme was not to be
secured by arguments addressed simply to their reason. The most
effective and certain method of gaining their coperation was evidently
to appeal to the highly-developed superstitious element within them; and
this course it was determined to adopt. Tecumseh himself was of a
vigorous constitution, capable of enduring great hardships. He was
enthusiastic, ambitious, eloquent, and of great mental and physical
activity. These qualifications admirably fitted him for the part which
he now undertook to play. Upon him devolved the task of going about from
place to place for the purpose of arousing in the hearts of the chiefs
of the scattered tribes an enthusiasm in some measure corresponding with
that which fired his own. To this occupation he imparted all the
indomitable energy for which, whether in the council or the field, he
was always so eminently distinguished. He seemed almost to be endowed
with the power of ubiquity, and by the rapidity of his movements seemed
to annihilate time and space. One day he would be found in conference
with the Wyandots. In an inconceivably short space of time thereafter
his eloquence would be heard at the camp-fires of the Pottawatomies. He
was familiar with the contents of the various treaties which from time
to time had been made between the whites and the tribes of the
northwest; and one of his primary objects was to prove to those whom he
hoped to convert into his allies that these treaties, one and all, had
been procured by fraudulent representations on the part of the whites,
and assented to by native chiefs who had never been properly authorized
to do so on behalf of all the tribes. There was doubtless a considerable
substratum of truth in these assertions; and the aggressions of the
whites, if justifiable at all, can only be justified on the ground of
utility. Wherever he went, he reviewed these various treaties with all
the unsparing bitterness and scorn which, in enthusiastic natures, like
his, are the result of honest and inborn convictions; and he never
ceased to enlarge upon the marvellous mission which had been entrusted
to his brother Elskwatawa, the Prophet, of whom it is now time to give
some account.

We have seen that Elskwatawa was born contemporaneously with his more
celebrated brother. In his childhood and early youth he did nothing to
distinguish him from other youths of his tribe, and had it not been for
the vaulting ambition of Tecumseh he would probably have gone down to
his grave unhonoured and unsung. He is said to have been so timid by
nature as to have brought upon himself the imputation of positive
cowardice; and it is certain that before he reached maturity he had
seriously impaired his constitution by continued indulgence in the cup
that cheers--and likewise inebriates. Contrary to what more than one
American writer has said of him, however, he possessed mental endowments
of a high order, with a ready wit, and a command of language that
occasionally rose to eloquence. He seems to have been ambitious, in a
listless, indolent sort of way; but his ambition was not supported by
the fire and earnestness which characterized his brother. He was,
moreover, cruel, relentless in his revenge, and utterly unscrupulous. A
more shameless and abandoned liar does not figure even in the history of
Indian warfare. His countenance and demeanour were singularly
unprepossessing, and the loss of his right eye by an accident from an
arrow in the early years of his life did not tend to beautify an
expression of face which no art or disguise could have rendered other
than diabolical. He had, withal, an innate love for whatever smacks of
the marvellous, and was much given to tricks of legerdemain and sleight
of hand. Notwithstanding his unpromising exterior, and the various other
disadvantages under which he laboured, he was cunning and plausible
enough to impress all with whom he came in contact with the idea that he
possessed extraordinary powers of mind; and it is said that he seldom
came out of any discussion without having risen in the estimation of
others who had taken part in it.

In a character so peculiarly constituted as was that of Elskwatawa,
Tecumseh discerned a powerful engine wherewith to work upon the
superstitious credulity and untutored minds of the western barbarians.
Accordingly, early in the year 1805, the "Open Door" (the English
equivalent of "Elskwatawa") began to be a dreamer of strange dreams,
and a seer of uncanny visions. The first exhibition of his occult powers
was given under the following circumstances: One day, while engaged in
quietly lighting his pipe, his one eye suddenly became transfixed, and
in another moment he fell down upon the ground. The medicine man of the
tribe was called, who, after examining him carefully, pronounced him
dead. It would have been as well for western mankind if the leech's
opinion had been borne out by fact. Just when his friends were about to
remove him for burial, however, his stiffened muscles relaxed, and he
rose to his feet. He then told a long and ingenious story about how he
had been in the Land of the Blessed, and had had a personal conference
with the Master of Life, who had delegated him to expound the true faith
to the benighted Indians of the West. The true faith, as then expounded
by the Prophet, was right and reasonable enough, and was such as no
Christian minister could have found fault with. It simply inculcated
sobriety, truthfulness, and honest dealing; and threatened grave
penalties in case these injunctions should be disobeyed. Having got in
the thin end of the wedge, however, the Prophet began to give more rein
to his imagination. He began to see constant visions, and to hold almost
daily intercourse with the Master of Life, whose budget of reform ere
long assumed portentous dimensions. The Indians were enjoined to
relinquish all the customs which they had learned from the pale-faces.
They were to refrain from eating swine's flesh, beef, and mutton; the
deer and the buffalo having been provided expressly for their food. They
were to eat no more wheaten bread, but bread made from maize. They were
not to wear linen or woollen garments, but were to clothe themselves
with the skins and furs of animals, after the fashion of their
ancestors. They were to abstain wholly from the pernicious fire-water of
the pale-faces. They were to unite for the rescue of the Western land
from the power of the white men, who had cheated them out of it, and had
caused them to forsake in a great measure the habits to which their
forefathers had been accustomed. Above all things they were to hold no
further communion with the pale-faces, and were to take no part in the
religion, arts, or appliances of the latter, all of which were unsavoury
to the nostrils of the Master of Life. In the event of all these
precepts being strictly adhered to, he promised that the Indians should
soon be the only inhabitants left on this continent, and that they
should be restored to the comforts and happiness which they had enjoyed
before they had become debased by contact with the intruders upon their
rightful domain.

Such being the most noteworthy features of the new gospel according to
Elskwatawa, what wonder if he succeeded in imposing upon the credulity
of the untutored barbarians to whom it was expounded; more especially
when his pretensions were backed by the great influence and unflagging
zeal of his brother Tecumseh, in whose brain the scheme of imposture
probably originated! From this time forward Elskwatawa devoted himself
exclusively to the prophetic calling. His own intemperate habits were
abandoned at once and forever, and by his constant diatribes against
drunkenness he actually succeeded for a time in restraining that vice
among his disciples. All the people of his tribe, except two or three
chiefs who quietly held their tongues, had implicit faith in his
visions; and the consequence of that faith soon began to be startlingly
apparent. The white settlers in the West gradually became aware of the
danger by which they were menaced, and began to emigrate eastward.
Meanwhile Tecumseh was scouring the country from north to south and from
east to west, haranguing the tribes to bestir themselves in the common
cause. The Indians began to move hither and thither in considerable
numbers, and it was evident that mischief was brewing. It will be
understood that the most important features of the intrigues of Tecumseh
and the Prophet had not yet been fully made known, even to the Indians
themselves; but by the spring of the year 1806 a sufficient inkling of
their plans had got bruited abroad to create terror among the whites.
About this time William Henry Harrison, who was then Governor of Indiana
Territory, and who subsequently became President of the United States,
deemed it advisable to interfere. He despatched a message to the leading
Shawnee chiefs, warning them that the course they were pursuing would
bring calamity upon them. The following extract from his letter will
give an idea of its general tenor:

    "Who is this pretended prophet who dares to speak in the name of the
    Great Creator? Examine him. Is he more wise or virtuous than
    yourselves, that he should be selected to convey to you the orders
    of your God? Demand of him some proofs, at least, of his being the
    messenger of the Deity. If God has really employed him He has
    doubtless authorized him to perform miracles that he may be known
    and received as a prophet. Ask of him to cause the sun to stand
    still, the moon to alter its course, the rivers to cease to flow, or
    the dead to rise from their graves. If he does these things you may
    then believe that he has been sent from God. . . Clear your eyes, I
    beseech you, from the mist which surrounds them. No longer be
    imposed upon by the arts of an impostor. Drive him from your town,
    and let peace and harmony once more prevail among you."

No answer seems to have been vouchsafed to this missive. Meanwhile the
Prophet continued to dream wonderful dreams, and to be made the medium
of many supernatural communications from the Master of Life to the
Indian tribes. During the summer of the year 1806 there was an eclipse
of the sun. The Prophet contrived to obtain a knowledge of this
beforehand, and announced that on that day he would spread darkness over
the face of the earth.

    "O, what authority and show of truth,
     Can cunning sin cover itself withal."

The day arrived, and the sun was eclipsed at mid-day. Even those who had
been disposed to be sceptical were convinced by this occurrence, and the
fame of the Prophet waxed greater and greater. The activity among the
Indians continued unabated, and the air was electric with rumours of
impending massacres. Tecumseh continued to carry on his crusade, and in
April, 1807, assembled a great body of his adherents at Greenville. Red
messengers ran hither and thither with pipes and belts of wampum, and it
was evident that the plot was approaching its _denouement_. Governor
Harrison accordingly sent another message to the chiefs, denouncing the
Prophet in still stronger terms than before, and enjoining them to
disperse. To this message a conciliatory reply was dictated by the
Prophet himself, and forwarded to Governor Harrison. All intention of
creating a disturbance was distinctly repudiated, and it was claimed
that the Indians had merely assembled together to hear the words of the
Great Spirit.

In the spring of 1808 Tecumseh and the Prophet removed to a tract of
land on the Tippecanoe River. Not long afterwards the Prophet personally
visited the Governor at Vincennes, and so emphatically disclaimed any
views hostile to the whites that he succeeded in convincing the Governor
that his suspicions had been unfounded. In the latter part of April,
1810, however, it became known beyond doubt that the Prophet was
instigating the tribes to acts of open hostility against the United
States, and that the frontiers were no longer safe as places of
residence for the whites. After repeated messages to and fro, Tecumseh
finally visited Governor Harrison at Vincennes, accompanied by four
hundred armed warriors. A stormy conference, extending over several
days, was the result. Tecumseh insisted on certain concessions being
made--concessions for which he had always contended, and which involved
the relinquishment by the United States of all claims to the territory
claimed by Tecumseh on behalf of the Indians. The Governor finally
promised to submit the matter to the judgment of the President at
Washington. "Well," replied Tecumseh, "as the Great Chief is to
determine this matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough
into his head to induce him to give up this land. It is true he is so
far off that he will not be injured by the war; he may sit still and
drink his wine, whilst you and I will have to fight it out." At the
Governor's request Tecumseh promised that in case of open war breaking
out between his people and the United States, he would do his utmost to
prevent the massacring of women, children and prisoners; and this
promise he faithfully kept.

Further conferences followed in the course of the same year, but all to
no purpose, as neither side would concede much to the claims of the
other. The battle, so long delayed, took place at last at Tippecanoe, on
the 7th of November, 1811. The victory was on the side of the United
States, who, however, lost more men in the battle than did the Indians.
It is to be remarked that this battle was brought about by the Prophet
without Tecumseh's knowledge or consent, and that at the time when it
took place the latter was far away from the scene of action. He was in
the South, stirring up disaffection among the tribes there, and his
scheme was not sufficiently matured to justify him in hazarding a
battle. When intelligence of the defeat came to his ears be was greatly
cast down, and for a time almost yielded to despair. His hopes soon
revived, however, and from that moment he became a firm ally of Great
Britain. It may further be remarked that with the battle of Tippecanoe
the influence of the Prophet received its death-blow. He had confidently
promised success to the Indian arms. He had assured the warriors that
the Great Spirit would paralyze the American soldiery, whose bullets
would fall harmless at the feet of their foes, and that the Indians
would have the advantage of the light of the sun, while the Americans
would grope in thick darkness. He experienced the fate of all pretenders
who "protest too much." His sacred character was gone forever, and the
part subsequently played by him in history was insignificant.

Then followed the war of 1812, between Great Britain and the United
States. Tecumseh, having cast in his lot with the former, proved a
potent ally, and played the part previously enacted by Brant in the war
of the Revolution. It is not to be supposed, however, that Tecumseh
coperated with us on account of any special love which he bore us. He
chose us as the least of two evils, and assisted us in fighting his old
enemies merely because he hated the latter with all the venom which long
and bitter feuds had engendered within his breast. He did us good
service, and died bravely fighting for our cause. Such being the case,
he has deserved well at our hands; but those enthusiastic
hero-worshippers who have so persistently held him up to our admiration
as the warm and affectionate friend of British ascendancy on this
continent know little of the man and his motives. The simple truth is
that Tecumseh would cheerfully have tomahawked every white man in
America with his own hand had any opportunity of doing so been afforded
him. It would be most unjust, however, were we either to blame him for
feeling as he undoubtedly did feel, or to undervalue the great services
which he rendered us. Any true Indian, trained in the school in which
Tecumseh was trained, and believing as he believed, would have been
either a fool or a mean-spirited craven if he had felt otherwise. As for
his zeal in our cause, it deserves a fitting tribute; and the fact that
no monumental stone has been erected to mark the spot where he fell, is
a standing reproach upon our national character; a reproach, however,
which we hope to see removed.

It is neither necessary nor desirable that we should chronicle every
event of his career from the time when he enlisted in our service. A
very brief outline of the events intervening between the outbreak of
hostilities and the battle of the Thames will suffice. On the 18th of
June, 1812, the American Congress declared war against Great Britain,
and in the following month of July, General Hull passed over the Detroit
River into Canada. Tecumseh was then at Malden, on the eastern side of
the river, together with a handful of his warriors. At Brownstown, on
the opposite side, were a number of Indians resolved upon standing aloof
from the conflict altogether. These latter sent a deputation to the
great Shawnee, inviting him to join them. His reply was terse, emphatic,
and to the point. "No," said he, indignantly, "I have taken sides with
my father the King, and my bones shall bleach upon this shore before I
will re-cross that stream to join in any council of neutrality." A few
days afterwards he and his followers assisted the British in frightening
Hull back into Michigan. Upon the surrender of Detroit, on the 16th of
August, General Brock requested Tecumseh, who was in command of the
Indians, not to permit his men to injure the prisoners. "No," was the
reply; "I despise them too much to meddle with them."

Before crossing the Detroit river, General Brock, who was not familiar
with the country thereabouts, asked Tecumseh to give him some account of
it. Tecumseh knew the whole of the country much better than he knew his
alphabet. He took a piece of elm bark, stretched it out upon the ground,
and with the point of his scalping-knife rapidly traced upon the bark a
rough but accurate plan, showing the whole face of the surrounding
country. Brock was much pleased at this unexpected display of skill on
the part of his brave ally, and forthwith divested himself of his
crimson sash, which he placed with his own hands around Tecumseh's spare
and athletic frame. Next day, seeing the warrior walking about without
this adornment, the General asked for an explanation. Tecumseh replied
that he had transferred the sash to one more deserving to wear it, and
that he had himself placed it around the waist of Roundhead, a valiant
chief of the Wyandots. General Brock approved of the transfer, and
commended Tecumseh for his magnanimity. The General's estimate of
Tecumseh's character was very high, in proof of which he has left the
following record: "A more sagacious and gallant warrior does not, I
believe, exist. He is the admiration of every one who converses with
him. From a life of dissipation he has not only become in every respect
abstemious, but he has likewise prevailed on all his native, and many of
the other tribes, to follow his example." General Brock had been
misinformed about Tecumseh's dissipation. There is no evidence that he
was ever intoxicated in his life, except once, and that was when he was
a very young man, before he had begun to devote himself to his great
project. The General had probably confused Tecumseh with his brother,
the Prophet, who before he commenced his prophetic career was more often
drunk than sober.

Passing over the siege of Fort Meigs in the following year, where
Tecumseh bore himself with his customary intrepidity, and where by his
firmness and vigilance he prevented a massacre of prisoners by the
Indians, we come to the closing scenes of the life of this enterprising
and dauntless warrior. General Proctor, who was in command of the
British fortress at Malden, purposely concealed from Tecumseh the fact
of Perry's victory on Lake Erie, which victory encouraged Harrison to
invade Canada. The reason assigned by Proctor for this concealment was
his fear lest the Indians might withdraw their support. The suspicion
was worthy of Proctor, but did great injustice to Tecumseh, who had
little in common with the proverbial rat that deserts the sinking ship.
Of this man, Proctor, it is difficult for a British subject to write
with a cool hand. A more arrant coward and poltroon never, it is to be
hoped, wore the uniform of a British officer. Tecumseh had seen enough
of Proctor's generalship to satisfy him that that officer was
incompetent, and a coward to boot. He moreover detected Proctor in
numerous falsehoods, and reasonably enough came to the conclusion that
he was not to be trusted. He continued to fight under his wing, but
there were several occasions when the impetuous Indian could not
restrain his contempt. When he saw that Proctor was preparing for a
retreat from Malden, he asked for an explanation. Proctor replied that
he was merely about to send their valuable property up the Thames for
safety. Tecumseh was not to be deceived by such a shallow
representation, and could no longer refrain from speaking his mind. It
was then that he made his celebrated speech, the authenticity of which
is beyond question, for Proctor had it translated and exhibited to his
officers for the purpose of showing up Tecumseh's insolence. The
translation was found stowed away among Proctor's baggage, after his
inglorious retreat from the battle of the Thames. It has been often
quoted, but a part of it will bear quoting again:

    "_Father, listen!_ Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought;
    we have heard the great guns; but we know nothing of what has
    happened to our father with the one arm (Captain Barclay). Our ships
    have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father
    tying up everything and preparing to run the other way, without
    letting his red children know what his intentions are. You always
    told us to remain here to take care of the lands. You always told us
    you would never draw your foot off British ground; but now, father,
    we see you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father do
    so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to
    a fat dog that carries its tail upon its back, but when affrighted
    it drops it between its legs and runs off. The Americans have not
    yet defeated us by land, neither are we sure that they have done so
    by water. We therefore wish to remain here and fight our enemy
    should he make his appearance. If they defeat us, then we will
    retreat with our father. . . You have got the arms and ammunition
    which our great father, the King, sent for his children. If you have
    an idea of going away, give them to us, and you may go and welcome
    for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are
    determined to defend our lands, and if it be His will, we wish to
    leave our bones upon them."

Proctor, however, was not to be deterred. He commenced his retreat
northward and along the Thames; General Harrison, who had crossed over
into Canada, following rapidly in pursuit. On the 4th of October the
latter came up with the rear guard of the British, and captured the
stores and ammunition, together with about a hundred prisoners. It was
evident that a conflict could no longer he delayed, and on the 5th
Proctor very reluctantly took up his position at Moravian village, on
the right bank of the Thames. The river, along the north bank of which
runs the road to Detroit, forms the southern boundary of the
battlefield. Several hundred yards to the north of the river was a
morass, which has long since been drained and brought under cultivation.
Beyond this was a narrow strip of solid ground flanked on the north by a
large swamp. Along the edge of this latter, extending in a long line
from east to west, and concealed behind trees and bushes, was posted the
main body of Indians, under the leadership of Tecumseh. The British
line, composed of a part of the Forty-first regiment, was posted in a
broken semicircle round the east end of the small swamp, and extended
all the way from the large swamp to the Detroit road, in the centre of
which was the artillery. The American forces were posted to the
northwest, west, and south of the small swamp. A body of Indians, who
had espoused the American side of the quarrel, together with some
regulars under Colonel Paul, were stationed between the river and the
Detroit road, with a view to capturing the British artillery. Proctor's
idea was to entrap the Americans into an ambush, so that when the
engagement between the British and Americans had fairly commenced,
Tecumseh and his Indians might swoop down upon the latter in their rear.

In consequence of the conflicting statements, official and otherwise, it
is impossible to do more than approximate the number of men engaged in
the battle of the Thames. It is probable, however, that the Americans
had between three and four thousand regulars, besides the small body of
Indians under Colonel Paul, while Proctor had not more than seven
hundred British troops--worn out by fatigue--in addition to about five
or six hundred Indians under Tecumseh. The signal for attack was given
by General Harrison. There is no need for going into the minutiae of the
conflict, the result of which, with such odds, and under such
generalship, might easily have been foreseen. The Kentucky riflemen,
used to fighting in the bush, saw the dark eyes of the Indians gleaming
through the trees which skirted the edge of the large swamp. They
charged impetuously through the smaller morass, sprang from their
saddles, and engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict with the
barbarians. At the same moment the American cavalry charged the British
line, and a few minutes sufficed to fix the fortunes of the day. The
British troops were thrown into a disorder from which they were unable
to rally.

Tecumseh seems to have had a prevision that this would be the last
engagement in which he would take part. When he had posted his Indians
along the edge of the swamp, a few hours before active operations began,
he turned to the native chiefs beside him and said: "Brother warriors!
we are now about to enter into an engagement from which I shall never
come out. My body will remain upon the field." Then, unbuckling his
sword, he delivered it to Wasegoboah, his brother-in-law, saying: "When
my son becomes a noted warrior, and able to wield a sword, give this to
him." He then laid aside his military dress as a Brigadier-General of
the British army, and took his place among his men, dressed in the
ordinary deer-skin hunting shirt which he had been accustomed to wear
before allying himself with the British. His military garb had never sat
comfortably on his shoulders. It added nothing to the dignity of his
appearance, and in wearing it he had always felt like a daw in borrowed
plumes. There was no room in his great heart for anything so petty as
that fondness for tawdry finery which most Indian natures are wont to
exhibit. When the Kentuckians rushed to the charge against the Indian
line, Tecumseh sprang out upon the solid ground, and grandly cheered his
men to stand firm, and to show themselves worthy of the brave sires from
whose loins they had sprung.

Of personal danger to himself he seemed to have no thought. He ran
hither and thither along the line, inspiriting his men, and doing his
utmost to infuse into their hearts a measure of that unflagging
resolution which animated his own. Wherever the battle raged hottest,
his own dauntless breast was seen in the van. Whatever human intrepidity
and human intelligence could do to decide the fortunes of that day in
favour of the British arms, Tecumseh did with all his might. The battle
had not lasted more than five minutes, however, when he fell dead upon
the turf. While he lived, the Indians gallantly seconded his efforts.
And even when his voice was hushed forever; when it was no longer heard
above the clash of arms, animating them to deeds of valour; when he had
fallen, pierced by the bullets of his enemies; even then they continued
to fight with the frenzy of despair, until they learned that the British
had surrendered to their foes, and that further efforts on their part
would be a simple throwing away of their lives. Then, and not until
then, they abandoned all hope of success; and, moody and disheartened,
flung down their arms and fled.

Meanwhile, where was Proctor? Had he, too, fallen at the head of his
men, fighting gallantly in the cause of his king and country? Had he,
too, left a sword behind him to be worn by his successor in remembrance
of his valorous deeds? Alas, that the answers to these questions should
be such that irony is utterly thrown away! The miserable story is well
known, and presents too few attractions to induce us to linger over it.
Suffice it to say that almost before Tecumseh had ceased to breathe,
Proctor had skulked from the field, clambered into his carriage, and
fled like the dastard that he was, as fast as his horses could draw him.
Within twenty-four hours he was more than sixty miles on his road, and
in full retreat. Being hotly pursued by Major Payne, an American
officer, he then abandoned his carriage, containing his wife's letters
to her "dear Henry," and continued his flight on foot. When tried by a
court-martial for his disgraceful conduct he added to his infamy by
endeavouring to throw the blame upon his soldiers. In this ruse he for a
short time succeeded; but for a short time only. He was finally
sentenced to be publicly reprimanded, and suspended from rank and pay
for six months. The court that pronounced this inadequate sentence was
very properly censured by the Prince Regent for its mistaken lenity. The
Prince at the same time expressed his regret that a British officer
should have shown himself to be so wanting in professional knowledge,
and so deficient in those qualities which are required of every officer.
It was directed that the finding of the court should be entered in the
general order book, and read at the head of every regiment in His
Majesty's service. Such a sentence, and such a censure, added to the
consciousness that both were richly deserved, would have killed some
men. Proctor, however, survived them both for nearly half a century, and
died in Liverpool in 1859. Better, far better, had he fallen manfully at
the head of his troops by the side of his brave ally, instead of living
to drag out a dishonoured old age, and to blast the name of his
descendants for all time to come.

The question, "Who killed Tecumseh?" has given rise to much controversy,
and still remains unsettled. A great many aspirants have from time to
time put forward their claims to that distinction, which claims have
been carefully weighed by more than one authority without any definite
decision as the result. All that can be said on the subject with
absolute certainty is that the great Shawnee warrior was really killed
at the battle of the Thames, on the 5th of October, 1813. A strong claim
has been put forward on behalf of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, whose
monument in the cemetery at Frankfort, Kentucky, chronicles the
circumstance that he was the slayer of Tecumseh as an undisputed fact.
Claims equally strong, however, have been advanced on behalf of Colonel
Whitley and a Mr. David King. The matter is of little historical
importance; but those who are desirous of investigating the evidence for
themselves will find a careful analysis of it in the fifteenth chapter
of Drake's "Life of Tecumseh."

The scene of the battle of the Thames is now a cultivated farm, the
owner of which is a Mr. Dickson. The swamp through which Colonel Johnson
charged on his way to the Indians was long ago drained of its moisture,
and grain is annually grown on or very near the exact spot where
Tecumseh fell. There are numerous indentations marking the graves of
some of those who were slain in the battle. The County Council of Kent
several years ago granted a small sum towards the cost of erecting a
monument to the memory of Tecumseh, and there have been a few private
subscriptions for the same purpose, but a sufficient sum has not yet
been raised to carry out the project, which seems to have temporarily
fallen to the ground. Our local Government might do worse than take the
matter in hand. Although we cannot blind our eyes to the fact that
Tecumseh cared little or nothing for the British, except in so far as
they could be made subservient to his own designs, we cannot help
remembering that he died like a brave man upon our soil, fighting in
defence of our freedom, while our own officer in command skulked away in
secret like a thief in the night. The actions of many of us, too, are
apt to be influenced by our sympathies rather than by our settled
convictions; and the name of Tecumseh is one which we have always
delighted to honour. We are not ashamed to own that the name of that
western barbarian who fought for us so bravely casts a glamour over our
judgment to this day, and we should be much gratified if we could feel
assured that this sketch might do something towards promoting the
erection of a monument to his memory. We are even disposed to look with
some degree of charitable complacency upon the proceeding of those
over-zealous enthusiasts who made the supposed discovery of the great
warrior's remains about four years ago, and whose explanations resulted
in such a pitiful fiasco when the remains where subjected to the
merciless scientific scrutiny of Professor Wilson and his
collaborateurs. The Professor, it will be remembered, after establishing
that the "remains" consisted of a miscellaneous hodge-podge of bones of
dogs and other animals, together with portions of several human
skeletons, gravely concluded his report by expressing his belief that
the said remains were not those of Tecumseh. What really became of
Tecumseh's body after the battle will probably never be known. Some one
of the Indian corpses, from the thighs whereof the Kentuckians cut
strips of skin which were afterwards converted into razor-strops, may or
may not have been his. We fondly cherish the hope that old Pheasant's
story was true, and that the Shawnee braves stole to the battle ground
after nightfall and conveyed Tecumseh's body to the depths of the
neighbouring forest, where they "buried it darkly at dead of night." The
spot where he fell, however, can be easily ascertained, and that spot
would be the most appropriate site for a monument. His memory at least
deserves so much at our hands.

The character of Tecumseh is one eminently calculated to arouse the
enthusiasm of all who make themselves acquainted with its many-sided
features. It embodied all the most marked characteristics of his race,
prominent among which were indomitable courage and fortitude. But it
also embodied much more. Unlike Brant, he enjoyed no advantages of
early education or association with cultivated Europeans; and any
particulars in which he differed for the better from an untutored savage
are due to his innate moral and intellectual greatness alone. Regarded
simply as a man of genius, there is no name among the Indians of North
America worthy of being brought into comparison with his. His natural
mental endowments, indeed, were such as would have made him a
distinguished man in any age or nation. Those who have been accustomed
to regard him as a mere barbarian have not read those impassioned and
lofty flights of eloquence which Dechouset found so much difficulty in
translating, and but a few of which have been preserved. The oratory of
Tecumseh must have been something wonderful. Mr. Cass--himself an orator
not unknown to fame--has pronounced the following eulogium upon it:--"It
was the utterance of a great mind roused by the strongest motives of
which human nature is susceptible, and developing a power and a labour
of reason which commanded the admiration of the civilized, as justly as
the confidence and pride of the savage. When he spoke to his brethren on
the glorious theme that animated all his actions, his fine countenance
lighted up, his firm and erect frame swelled with deep emotion which his
own stern dignity could scarcely repress; every feature and gesture had
its meaning, and language flowed tumultuously and swiftly from the
fountain of his soul."

Long before his name was known beyond the limits of his own tribe,
Tecumseh's generosity and humanity were such as to render him
conspicuous among his young companions. He devoted much of his time to
bestowing kindness and attention upon the aged and infirm, repairing
their wigwams upon the approach of winter, and providing them with food
and clothing. These qualities grew up with him in his youth, and
accompanied him through his manhood. His humanity, even to the whites,
whom he hated, was so well known that the women of the frontier had no
fears for themselves or their children when Tecumseh was in the
neighbourhood. Repeated instances might be given in which he interfered
to prevent the massacre of prisoners; but, so far as we are aware, no
charge of cruelty has been made against him by any modern writer. He
never mingled with the whites when he could avoid it, and never acquired
sufficient knowledge of their language to carry on a conversation with
Europeans without the aid of an interpreter. The name of "The Napoleon
of the West," which has frequently been applied to him, is by no means
so absurd as a superficial acquaintance with his character and history
might lead one to suppose. Unless our estimate of him is erroneous, his
natural genius was at least upon a par with that of the great Corsican,
while his ambition was far higher and nobler. He was in the strictest
sense of the word a patriot, who desired to save his people from the
destruction that threatened them. He saw his race humbled and
down-trodden, driven from the land which their forefathers had occupied,
and scattered hither and thither, "like withered leaves in an autumnal
blast." He saw their morals corrupted and their humanity debased. Who
shall blame him for his hatred of the white man, who had brought this
ruin and desolation upon his people, and whose gradual encroachments
threatened at no distant day to leave the red men "Lords of their
presence, and no land beside?" Who shall blame him for forming his grand
scheme of a confederacy which should restore his race to their former
state, and should drive the pale-faces into the sea? What matter that
his project was unsuccessful? From its very inception there was never
even a remote possibility of its success; but the idea was itself none
the less grand and patriotic. Indeed the utter impracticability of the
scheme constitutes one of its most chivalrous elements. We have never
been accustomed to abate one jot of our admiration of Leonidas because
he was unsuccessful at Thermopylae. Light lie the ground over thee, thou
matchless Indian!

In height, Tecumseh was nearly six feet. His frame was lithe, sinewy,
and muscular, and was capable of enduring great bodily fatigue with
impunity. His forehead was full, high, and rather narrow. His general
appearance was grand and imposing, even when his face was not lighted up
with enthusiasm. His strong prejudices against the customs of the
pale-faces prevented his ever sitting to have his portrait painted. The
portrait by which he is best known may be found in Lossing's "Field Book
of the War of 1812." It is engraved from a pencil-sketch made by Pierre
Le Dru, a young French trader, in the year 1808. The dress, which has
been substituted for that of the original sketch, is that of a
Brigadier-General, which was the rank held by Tecumseh in the British
army at the time of his death. The medallion on his breast, exhibiting
the head of George III., was presented to Tecumseh's father by Lord
Dorchester, when that nobleman was Governor-General of Canada.

As it is impossible to fix the precise date of Tecumseh's birth, it is
of course impossible to give his exact age at the time of his death.
Historians are in the habit of saying that he died in his forty-fifth
year. We have seen that he was born either in 1768 or within three years
thereafter, so that the age commonly assigned to him is not far wide of
the mark. In his twenty-ninth year, in compliance with the wishes of his
relatives, who desired the propagation of his race, he married a woman
called Mamate, who was several years older than himself. She bore him a
son, upon whom was bestowed the name of Pugeshashenwa. Not long after
the birth of this son his mother died, and Tecumseh never contracted a
second alliance. A few years ago the son was living with his tribe
beyond the Mississippi, and was in receipt of a yearly pension from the
British Government. His habits were dissipated, and no act of his life
ever proved that he was worthy to wear the sword bequeathed to him by
his valiant sire. We have never heard of his death; but he must have
been born before the advent of the present century, and if still living,
he has reached a more patriarchal age than persons of his dissipated
habits generally attain. The Prophet Elskwatawa is also said to have
enjoyed a pension from the British Government up to the time of his
death, which took place many years ago in one of the western
territories.




THE HON. GEORGE ANTHONY WALKEM,

_PREMIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA_.


Mr. Walkem was born in November, 1834, in that part of the town of Newry
which lies within the county of Armagh, Ireland. He is of English
descent on the paternal side. His father, Mr. Charles Walkem, belongs to
a family which has for several generations been settled near Saltash, at
the head of Plymouth Sound, on the borders of Devon and Cornwall. The
latter, who is still living, is by profession a surveyor, and at the
time of the birth of the subject of this sketch was attached to the
Royal Engineers' staff engaged in prosecuting the Royal survey of
Ireland. While so attached he married Miss Boomer, a daughter of the
late Mr. George Boomer, of Lisburn, County Down, by whom he has had a
family of ten children, of which the subject of this sketch is the
eldest. This lady's brother, the Very Rev. M. Boomer, is the present
Dean of Huron. Another brother, the late Mr. A. K. Boomer, was a
well-known merchant of Toronto until his death a few years ago. In the
spring of 1844 the family emigrated from England to Canada, and after
residing a short time at St. Catharines, and afterwards at Quebec,
settled at Montreal. Mr. Walkem the elder, whose profession and military
service rendered him liable to frequent changes of residence, came to
this country with the late Colonel Estcourt, R.E., to assist in fixing
the boundary between Canada and the United States under the Ashburton
Treaty. He subsequently became Chief Draughtsman on the Royal
Engineering Staff in Canada, and is at the present time connected with
the Militia Department at Ottawa.

Prior to his arrival in this country, and while he was a mere lad,
George Anthony Walkem attended the Grammar School at Preston, in
Lancashire, where his parents then resided. The stay of the family in
St. Catharines was too brief to admit of his attending any school there
with advantage. The removal to Quebec took place in the spring of 1845,
and he at once began to attend the High School of that city. He
continued his attendance until the autumn of 1846, when Mr. Walkem,
senior, having become Surveyor of the Royal Engineering Staff, was
ordered to Montreal. The family having become settled in Montreal,
George attended for some time at Belden's Academy, an educational
establishment which enjoyed a high reputation in those days. He
afterwards attended the High School, and finally completed his
education--so far as it can be said to have been completed at school--at
McGill College. Concurrently with his attendance at the two institutions
last named he was also engaged in the study of the law. In 1848, when he
was only fourteen years of age, he entered the law office of Mr. George
Futvoye, late Deputy Minister of Militia. In that office he remained
about three years. In 1851 his articles were transferred to Mr.--now
Sir--John Rose, of the firm of Rose & Monk. In the office of that
firm he completed his term of service, but upon such completion he was
still under age, and could not be admitted to practice. He accordingly
entered the mercantile establishment of his uncle, the late Mr. A. K.
Boomer, of Toronto, with a view to gaining a practical experience of the
routine of mercantile business. He remained in his uncle's establishment
about a year, when (in 1856) he repaired to Montreal, and passed the Bar
of Lower Canada as an advocate. During his residence in Toronto,
however, he had formed a preference for the Upper Province, and soon
after passing as an advocate in Montreal he returned to Toronto, and
became a student in the office of Mr. George Morphy. In 1861 he was
called to the Bar of Upper Canada, and practised for a short time with
his former principal, under the style of Morphy & Walkem, but the firm
was not long in existence. Mr. Walkem having become convinced that
British Columbia afforded excellent opportunities for the rapid
advancement of a capable man, resolved to repair thither. He left
Toronto early in 1862 for Vancouver's Island. Upon reaching his
destination he found that he was unable to practise his profession, as
no barristers except those who had been called to the Bar of England or
Ireland were recognized there. After much delay and difficulty he was
admitted, in 1864, under a special order issued by the Duke of
Newcastle, who then held the post of Colonial Secretary in the Imperial
Government. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession, and
achieved both fame and pecuniary success. He became a Queen's Counsel
and one of the most prominent citizens in the Province. He also entered
public life and became a member of the Legislative Council of the
Province. On the 5th of July, 1871, British Columbia became a
constituent part of the Dominion. On the 12th of January following, Mr.
Walkem was appointed a member of the Executive Council, and was Chief
Commissioner of Lands and Works from that date until the 23rd of
December, when he accepted office in the DeCosmos Administration, and
became Attorney-General. About seven weeks afterwards (11th February,
1874), in consequence of the passage of the Act respecting Dual
Representation, Mr. DeCosmos, the Premier, resigned his office. A
reconstruction of the Government followed, and Mr. Walkem became
Premier, retaining the portfolio of Attorney-General. Within a month
afterwards, and during Mr. Walkem's tenure of office as Premier, Mr.
James D. Edgar reached Victoria from Toronto as the emissary of the
Dominion Government. During the previous November, Mr. Mackenzie, the
Premier of the Dominion, had, in a speech delivered at Sarnia, announced
the Government policy with reference to the construction of the Canada
Pacific Railway. That policy contemplated delay in the construction of
this great public work, and the announcement was very disappointing to
British Columbians. Mr. Edgar was sent out to discuss the question with
the Local Government at Victoria, and to remove, if possible, the
popular disappointment which existed there. The situation of affairs was
fully discussed between him and Mr. Walkem, but the discussion came to
nothing, and after Mr. Edgar's return the people of British Columbia
were in a more dissatisfied state than ever. In the month of June
following Mr. Walkem repaired to England, to urge upon the Colonial
Secretary that the Dominion should at once proceed with the work of
constructing the railway, and should carry out the terms upon which
British Columbia had entered the Union. The result of his mission, as
everybody knows, was the "Carnarvon Terms," as they are called. By thus
bringing about an amicable adjustment of a dispute which threatened,
for a time, to interfere with the smooth working of Confederation, if
not to break it up, so far as British Columbia is concerned, Mr. Walkem
won golden opinions. It is said that his mission was discharged with
great tact and judgment, and that he produced a very favourable
impression on the British statesmen with whom he was brought into
contact. His reception in London was very cordial and flattering, and
before his departure a banquet was given in his honour at Willis's
Rooms, at which Sir John Rose, his former principal, presided.

[Illustration: GEORGE A. WALKEM]

On the 27th of January, 1876, Mr Walkem's Ministry resigned, and was
succeeded by a new Administration formed under the leadership of the
Hon. Andrew C. Elliott. Mr. Walkem was unanimously elected leader of the
Opposition, and continued to act as such until the spring of 1878, when
he succeeded in defeating the Government. At the general election which
followed, Mr. Elliott's Ministry were placed in a very decided minority,
the Premier himself suffering personal defeat in the city of Victoria.
The Ministry resigned in July, and Mr. Walkem was called on to form a
new one, which he soon succeeded in accomplishing. He called to his
assistance Mr. T. B. Humphreys as Provincial Secretary, and Mr. Robert
Beaven as Minister of Finance, he himself undertaking the duties of
Attorney-General and Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works. By this
means the membership of the Executive was reduced from four to three,
and the salary of a minister was saved to the Province. Upon returning
to his constituents[9] after accepting office he was elected by
acclamation. His Government still remains in power. The principal
legislative enactments by which his tenure of office has been
characterized are an Act providing for the re-distribution of
Parliamentary seats on the Mainland; an Act excluding judges,
magistrates, sheriffs, police-officers, and employees of the Dominion
Government to whose offices annual salaries are attached (except Post
Office officials), from exercising the franchise at Provincial
elections; an Act respecting the Crown Lands of the Province; an Act
amending the License Law; an Act authorizing the employment of prisoners
outside the walls of gaols; and an Act authorizing the Benchers of the
Law Society to admit barristers and attorneys called to the Bar of Great
Britain in the other Provinces of Canada, and certain other persons, to
the practice of the legal profession in British Columbia. An Act was
also passed in the session of 1878 whereby every Chinese resident of
British Columbia over twelve years of age was required to take out a
license every three months, for which license he was to be charged a sum
of ten dollars, payable in advance. This Act was the subject of much
discussion by the Canadian and United States press, but the Provincial
courts pronounced it unconstitutional, and it has therefore become
inoperative.

Mr. Walkem is a man of many friends, being endowed with a bright and
cheery disposition which makes him a general favourite. He is a good
descriptive writer, and some published letters of his on the scenery of
California have won high encomiums from the press. He is also an
accomplished artist, and at several Provincial Exhibitions his pictures
have obtained prizes in the professional class. He is President of the
Law Society of British Columbia; Gold Commissioner, under the Gold
Mining Ordinance of 1867, and the Acts amending the same; a Fellow of
the Royal Geographical Society; and a member of the Special Committee of
the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

On the 29th of December, 1879, Mr. Walkem married Sophie Edith, fifth
daughter of the late Hon. Henry Rhodes, of Victoria, British Columbia.




[Illustration: ARTHUR SWEATMAN signed as ARTHUR TORONTO]


THE RIGHT REV. ARTHUR SWEATMAN, D.D.,

_BISHOP OF TORONTO_.


Dr. Sweatman, Bishop Bethune's successor in the Diocese of Toronto, was
born in London, England, on the 19th of November, 1834. He is a son of
the late Dr. John Sweatman, who was a London physician of some eminence
in his profession half a century ago. The latter was for many years
attached to the staff of Middlesex Hospital, Charles Street, Berners
Street, where he had for a friend and contemporary the eminent
anatomist, Sir Charles Bell. He died in 1839. The subject of this sketch
was early distinguished by his piety, and by his love for sacred themes
and pursuits. From his youth he was destined for the Church, and his
education was conducted with a special view to that end. Like many other
pious and useful men, his life has not been marked by great variety of
incident, and offers a somewhat narrow field to the biographer. While
still a mere child he was placed at a small private boarding school kept
by a lady at Blackheath, where he received his rudimentary education.
When he was about eleven years of age he was removed to a more advanced
school kept by a Mr. A. G. Ray, at Heathmount, Hampstead. From there he
was transferred to London University College, Upper Gower Street, where
he spent several years, and where he made rapid progress in learning. In
the year 1849 he began to teach a Sunday School in connection with
Christ Church, Marylebone, and continued to discharge the functions
incidental to that position for a period of about six years. In 1855,
after an interval of private study, and having just completed his
nineteenth year, he entered as a student at Christ's College, Cambridge,
an institution at which a greater number of eminent divines have been
educated than any other college of equal magnitude at Cambridge. It was
here also that the illustrious author of "Paradise Lost" graduated, and
a mulberry tree said to have been planted by the poet's own hands in the
College garden is still tended with affectionate care. Here, in 1856,
Mr. Sweatman obtained a scholarship. His collegiate career, without
being characterized by unusual brilliancy or attainments, was marked by
a rapid development of his faculties, by the acquirement of an excellent
classical education, and by a reputation for zealous piety and high
moral worth. On the 5th of December, 1856, he was elected as
Superintendent of the Jesus Lane, or Gownsmen's Sunday School--a
remarkable institution founded more than half a century ago, which is
conducted entirely by students and graduates of the University of
Cambridge. Mr. Sweatman held this position for somewhat more than two
years, as successor to the present Bishop of Sierra Leone. While in
residence at the University he also belonged to other organizations of a
kindred nature, among which may be mentioned the Cambridge Prayer Union
and the Cambridge Undergraduates' Tract Society. In 1859 he graduated
with mathematical honours as Senior Optime. At Christmas of the same
year he was ordained Deacon in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, by Bishop
Tait; and Priest at Christmas, 1860, in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. In
1859 he became curate of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Cloudesley
Square, Islington. During the following year he founded an establishment
which has since become well known as the Islington Youth's Institute, an
evening club for working boys and young people employed in offices and
shops. At this institution, which at once became, and still continues to
be, a remarkable success, he spent most of his evenings during his
residence at Islington, conducting it himself, and taking a zealous part
in the instruction of the classes which were formed in connection with
it. Its establishment supplied a want which had long been felt. The
youth of the neighbourhood resorted to it in great numbers, and the
opportunity was afforded to them of spending their evenings with equal
pleasure and profit. The method of instruction was carefully adapted to
meet the wants of those in attendance, by whom it was, and has ever
since been, fully appreciated. The Archbishop of Canterbury became an
active patron of this Institute, and it has been the forerunner of many
institutions of a similar character in various parts of the kingdom.

In 1862 he took his degree of M.A., and during the following year he was
appointed to the curacy of St. Stephen's, Canonbury, and to the
mastership of the Modern Department of the Islington Proprietary School.
On the invitation of Archdeacon (now Bishop) Hellmuth, he came out to
this country in 1865, to be the first Head Master of the London
Collegiate Institute, which had just been established. In 1871, in
compliance with a pressing invitation, he became Assistant Mathematical
and Scientific Master in Upper Canada College, Toronto.

In 1872 he was appointed Rector of Grace Church, Brantford, as successor
to the Rev. J. C. Usher, and was also appointed Examining Chaplain to
the Bishop of Huron. The latter post he continued to occupy from the
time of his receiving the appointment down to the time of his election,
in 1879, to the high position which he now occupies. Subsequent to 1873
he acted as Clerical Secretary to the Synod of the Diocese of Huron, and
also as Secretary to the House of Bishops. In 1874, at Bishop Hellmuth's
request, he returned to London as Head Master of Hellmuth College, and
in 1875 became Canon of the Cathedral there. He also became Assistant
Rector of St. Paul's, Woodstock, and Archdeacon of Brant in 1876; and on
the Bishop of Huron's visit to England, he was appointed by his Lordship
as his Commissary from June, 1878, to February, 1879; during which time
he conducted the affairs of the Diocese with marked ability and success.
The circumstances under which he came to be elected, in the month of
March, 1879, to the Bishopric rendered vacant by the death of the late
Bishop Bethune are still fresh in the public memory. It will be
remembered that the contest between the High and Low Church parties was
both keen and protracted. At first the rival candidates were Archdeacon
Whitaker, as the exponent of the opinions of the former party, and the
Rev. Dr. Sullivan as the nominee of the other. When the Synod had been
in session for some days it began to be apparent that there was little
probability of the election of either of those gentlemen, and votes
began to be cast for various other candidates, including Principal
Lobley, the Rev. John Pearson, the Rev. James Carmichael, and others.
Day after day passed, and ballot after ballot was taken, but owing to
the peculiar method of voting, and the double majority required for the
successful candidate, any definite result still seemed as far off as
ever. At last, on the 5th of March, a conference between the leading
spirits of the Church Association and those of the High Church party was
held, and a compromise arrived at. It was agreed that Mr. Sweatman,
whose moderate views, and whose peculiar qualifications for the
episcopal chair, were well known, should be the new Bishop, and that the
Church Association should be dissolved. At the next ballot
accordingly--which was the twenty-fourth ballot taken--the vote was
almost unanimous in the present Bishop's favour, and he was declared to
have been duly elected. The labours of the Synod were formally brought
to a close on the following morning. Bishop Sweatman's consecration took
place at St. James's Cathedral, Toronto, with the prescribed ceremonies,
on the 1st of May following.

Bishop Sweatman is an admirable writer of English, and his pulpit
utterances are marked by ripe scholarship and elegance of diction. His
election to the bishopric has been productive of the happiest results to
the Diocese, where his moderation and excellent sense have already won
for him many warm friends. He devotes himself assiduously to the duties
of his sacred office. His wife, by whom he has a family, was formerly
Miss Susannah Garland, of London, England.

On the 30th of October, 1879, Bishop Sweatman received the degree of
D.D., "_jure dignitatis_," from the University of Cambridge.




THE HON. HECTOR LOUIS LANGEVIN, C.B.,

_MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS_.


Since the death of Sir George Cartier no French Canadian statesman has
enjoyed a wider popularity among his Conservative fellow-countrymen than
the present Minister of Public Works. He is of French Canadian descent
on both sides of his house. His father, the late Mr. John Langevin, was
formerly Assistant Civil Secretary under Lords Gosford and Sydenham. His
mother was Sophia Scholastique, a daughter of Major La Force, who served
his country loyally during the American invasion of 1812-13, and -14.
Major La Force's father--who was the great grandfather of the subject of
this sketch--is said to have been an acting Commodore of the British
fleet on Lake Ontario during the American War of Independence.

He was born at the city of Quebec, on the 25th of August, 1826, and
received his education at the Quebec Seminary. He is said to have been a
proficient student, more especially in the department of Mathematics. He
left school in 1846, and became a law student in the office of the late
Hon. A. N. Morin, at Montreal. He had not long been so employed when he
began to write for the press. In the autumn of 1847 he became editor of
the _Mlanges Religieux_, a paper devoted to politics and theology, and
published in Montreal. He afterwards became editor of the _Journal of
Agriculture_, also published in Montreal, and contributed occasional
editorial articles to one of the daily papers of that city. Upon Mr.
Morin's retirement from practice, young Langevin entered the office of
the late George E. Cartier, where he remained until the completion of
his legal studies. In the month of October, 1850, he was called to the
Bar of his native Province, and began practice in Montreal. A year later
he removed to Quebec, which has ever since been his home.

Soon after taking up his abode at Quebec he began to interest himself in
the promotion of railway enterprises, and was elected to the position of
Secretary-Treasurer of the North Shore Railway Company. He subsequently
became Vice-President of the Company. In 1854 he married Justine, eldest
daughter of the late Lieutenant-Colonel, Charles H. Tetu, J.P. During
the following year he wrote an essay on Canada for circulation at the
Paris Exhibition. To this essay, which extended to 186 printed pages,
the Exhibition Committee awarded the first of three extra prizes. In
1856 he was elected as the representative of Palace Ward in the City
Council of Quebec, and became chairman of the local Water Works
Committee. Next year (1857) he assumed the editorship of the _Courrier
du Canada_, and acted as Mayor of Quebec during the absence of the
Mayor-elect--the late Dr. Morrin--in England. At the elections held in
the following December he was himself returned as Mayor, and continued
to fill that position for the three succeeding years. During his term of
office he visited England on a mission connected with the financial
affairs of the city, and also on business relating to the North Shore
Railway Company.

[Illustration: HECTOR L. LANGEVIN]

The same month which witnessed his first election to the dignity of
Mayor of Quebec also witnessed his advent into political life. At the
general elections held in December, 1857, he offered himself as a
candidate in the Conservative interest for the representation of the
county of Dorchester in Parliament. He was returned at the head of the
poll, and continued to represent that constituency in the Assembly until
Confederation. After Confederation he represented it in the House of
Commons until 1874. His first Parliamentary session was a somewhat
notable one. He took his seat in the House as a supporter of the
Macdonald-Cartier Administration, which was defeated in the course of
the session on the seat of Government question, and was succeeded by the
brief administration under Messrs. Brown and Dorion. It was Mr. Langevin
who moved the resolution of want of confidence which accomplished the
defeat of that short-lived administration, and for this he has been
accused of violating the rules of Parliamentary courtesy by his undue
haste. "There can be no doubt," says Mr. Fennings Taylor, "that the
resolution exactly expressed the sentiment of Parliament, but it is by
no means as clear that the time of submitting it was well chosen. Less
haste would not, in all probability, have altered the vote; perhaps it
might have increased the majority by which it was affirmed. In any case
it would have placed the proceeding beyond the reproach of unfairness,
and have effectually removed it from the grave imputation, which has
been affixed to it by many, of being wanting in Parliamentary courtesy.
In affairs of state the means as well as the end should be considered.
The proceeding appeared to lack generosity, and though it offended no
rule, it was not, so far as we are aware, supported by any example of
Parliament." After the perpetration of the "Double Shuffle" Mr. Langevin
was a zealous supporter of the Cartier-Macdonald Administration, and
indeed continued to support Mr. Cartier's policy so long as that
gentleman continued in active political life.

During the years 1861 and 1862 Mr. Langevin was President of the St.
Jean Baptiste Society of Quebec; and during the two following years he
was President of the _Institut Canadien_. In 1862 he published a work
entitled _Droit Administratif, ou Manuel des Paroisses et Fabriques_,
which received high commendation from the Lower Canadian press. On the
30th of March, 1864, he was created a Queen's Counsel, and on the same
date he became Solicitor-General for Lower Canada in the Tach-Macdonald
Government, and a member of the Executive Council. During the month of
November, 1866, he became Postmaster-General in the Coalition
Government, and retained that office until the Union.

In the proceedings which resulted in Confederation Mr. Langevin took a
prominent part. A speech made by him in the course of the debates was
regarded at the time as displaying remarkable powers of argument. He was
one of the delegates on behalf of Lower Canada to the Charlottetown
Conference of 1864; and also represented his Province at the Quebec
Convention held later in the same year. He also attended the Conference
held in London, England, two years afterwards, when the terms of union
were finally settled.

When Confederation had been accomplished, Mr. Langevin accepted office
as Secretary of State for the Dominion in the Government formed on the
1st of July, 1867. He was at the same time sworn of the Privy Council;
and during the following year he was created a C.B. (Civil.) Dual
Representation being then permissible, he successfully contested the
representation of the county of Dorchester in the Local Legislature at
the general elections of 1867. He sat in the Local House for Dorchester
until 1872, when he was returned by acclamation for Quebec Centre, which
constituency he thenceforward represented until 1874, when he retired.
He retained the portfolio of Secretary of State in the Dominion Cabinet
until the 8th of December, 1869, when he was transferred to the
Department of Public Works. During his Secretaryship he was _ex officio_
Registrar-General of Canada, and Superintendent-General of Indian
affairs. He was also a Commissioner to assist the Speaker in the
management of the interior economy of the House of Commons, and Chairman
of the Railway Committee of the Privy Council. In 1870 he was created a
Knight Commander of the Roman Order of Pope St. Gregory the Great.

In 1871 Mr. Langevin visited British Columbia at the desire of the Privy
Council, for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of that Province, in
relation to the western terminus of the Canada Pacific Railway, and for
the purpose of ascertaining what public works were needed there. On his
return he published a report showing the result of his observations.

In the session of 1873, during the absence in England of Sir George
Cartier, Mr. Langevin acted as Conservative leader in the Province of
Quebec; and after Sir George's death he was permanently appointed to
that position. He retired from office with his colleagues in November,
1873, in consequence of the Pacific Scandal disclosures.

In 1876 Mr. Langevin was returned to Parliament by the electors of
Charlevoix. His election was contested, and subsequently cancelled by
the Supreme Court, but he was again returned by the same constituency in
April, 1877. At the general elections held on the 17th of September,
1878, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the representation of
Rimouski. In the Conservative Cabinet, formed by Sir John Macdonald on
the 18th of October following, Mr. Langevin accepted the portfolio of
Postmaster-General. Having been defeated in Rimouski he was without a
seat in Parliament. Mr. William Macdougall, however, the member-elect
for Three Rivers, made way for him by nominally accepting an assistant
postmastership. On the 21st of November, Mr. Langevin was returned for
Three Rivers by acclamation, and now represents that constituency in the
House. He retained the portfolio of Postmaster-General until the 20th of
May, 1879, when he was appointed Minister of Public Works.

Mr. Langevin is a man of active mind, and is attentive to the duties of
his office. In the early days of his Parliamentary career his speeches
were marked by diffuseness; but practice and criticism have cured him of
this drawback. He now speaks with coolness and precision, and is not
easily disturbed by hostile interruptions.




THE REV. ALBERT CARMAN, D.D.,

_BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CANADA_.


Dr. Carman comes of U. E. Loyalist stock on both the paternal and
maternal sides. His father is Mr. Philip Carman, fifth son of the late
Captain Michael Carman, who had charge of a company of militia in the
Upper Province during the war of 1812-13 and -14. The family has been
settled in the county of Dundas for nearly a century, and during the
whole of that period they have been prominent and highly-respected
citizens. The Bishop's father, Mr. Philip Carman abovementioned, has
held various high municipal offices, and has occupied the position of
Warden of the united counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry. He has
always been an earnest promoter of schools, and of the cause of popular
education generally, and has taken an especial pride in affording to the
numerous members of his own family the best educational advantages to be
obtained in the country. He is a zealous member and supporter of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, in which his son has risen to a foremost
place. His first wife, who was the mother of the subject of this sketch,
was Emmeline Shaver, a daughter of Colonel Peter Shaver, who also fought
at the head of a company of militia during the American invasion.
Colonel Shaver was a well-known resident of Dundas county, which he
represented for many years in the old Legislative Assembly of Upper
Canada.

The father of Bishop Carman has always been a pronounced Reformer in
politics, and a vigorous upholder of popular rights. The parents of
Captain Carman and Colonel Shaver were among the band of Loyalists who
came over to this country immediately after the close of the
Revolutionary War, under the auspices of Sir John Johnson, son of the
celebrated Sir William Johnson. They both received grants of land in the
neighbourhood where their descendants have ever since resided, and they
both added greatly to their patrimony. They acquired considerable
estates, and became the heads of large and prosperous families, of which
there are many surviving branches at the present day. The subject of
this sketch, who is the eldest of a family of nine children, was born on
the 27th of June, 1833, at the family homestead, in the township of
Matilda, in the county of Dundas, Upper Canada, on a farm within the
limits of what is now the pretty village of Iroquois, on the St.
Lawrence, a few miles east of Prescott. He received his preparatory
education at the Dundas county Grammar School, and graduated in Arts at
Victoria College, Cobourg, in 1854. He was immediately afterwards
appointed head master of the Dundas county Grammar School, where he had
formerly been a student. He retained this position for three years,
whence was appointed to the chair of Mathematics in the Belleville
Seminary, an educational institution which was then opened at Belleville
under the auspices of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He was soon afterwards appointed President of the Seminary,
which was incorporated in May, 1857. After a few years it was found
desirable to affiliate the institution to the Provincial University, in
order that its progress might keep pace with the growing interests of
the Province. After a brief existence as an affiliated college, an Act
was obtained whereby the name of the institution was changed to Albert
College, and limited university powers were attached to it. By this Act
a Senate was created, with power to make statutes for conferring degrees
in Arts. The Senate continued to grant degrees and honours until 1871,
when an Act was obtained from the Ontario Legislature making it a body
corporate, with the full powers and privileges of a university.
Subsequently the present course of study in Arts was established, and
provision has since been made for other Faculties.

During the eighteen years ending in August, 1875, the subject of this
sketch continued to preside over the institution, and to his ability and
perseverance much of its prosperity is fairly attributable. In the
interval he had received ordination in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and had become known as an eloquent and effective preacher of the
gospel. He was admitted into the Bay of Quint Annual Conference of the
Church as early as 1857. In 1860 he was ordained a deacon by the late
Bishop Richardson, and an elder in 1864 by Bishop Smith. He obtained his
Master's degree in 1860, and that of Doctor of Divinity in 1874. During
the last named year he was elected and consecrated Bishop at the General
Conference of the body held at Napanee. He is still Chancellor of the
University, and takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to
the cause of popular education. He is at the present time engaged in a
canvass in the interests of the new Ladies' College, at St. Thomas--an
institution the foundation whereof is largely due to his energy and
influence.

Dr. Carman has written much for the _Canada Christian Advocate_, the
connexional journal, and has contributed to various other periodicals
throughout the country. He has published several pamphlets, the best
known of which is his rejoinder to Dr. Young, of the University of
Toronto, on "Necessity and Free Will." He is also the author of the
Introduction to Dr. Thomas Webster's "Life of Rev. James Richardson, a
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada," published in
Toronto several years ago. In 1860 he married Mary, daughter of Mr.
James Sisk, by whom he has a family of four children.




[Illustration: F. B. HEAD]

SIR FRANCIS BOND HEAD.


In studying the annals of this country during the last half century we
become acquainted with many greater names than that of Sir Francis Bond
Head, but we meet with scarcely one that has been more widely known in
its day and generation, or upon which the verdict of history has been
more definitely and emphatically pronounced. It fell to the lot of Sir
Francis to occupy a high and important position in Upper Canada at a
very critical period of her history--at a period when a born statesman
and a thoroughly trained diplomatist of the greatest conceivable
foresight and sagacity would have found the position a sufficiently
trying one. Sir Francis was endowed by nature with few or none of the
qualities which go to the making of a statesman or diplomatist; and of
political knowledge or training he had, at the time of his appointment
to the Lieutenant-Governorship of this Province, as little as any
Englishman of decent education could possibly have. The result of an
appointment made under such circumstances was disaster to the Province,
and something nearly approaching ignominy to himself. As a civil
administrator in a disturbed and grievance-ridden colony, he was
altogether out of his proper element, and furnished a signal instance of
the round peg in the square hole. His administration extended over
little more than two years, but during that brief period he contrived to
embroil himself with his own Executive, with the Home Government from
which he had received his appointment, and with pretty nearly every one
who was desirous of promoting the cause of political liberty in Upper
Canada. He also contrived to do an amount of mischief which left traces
behind it for many years after he had ceased to have any control over
Canadian affairs. And yet it would be most unjust to represent him as a
deliberately bad or ill-intentioned man. He was simply a weak man out of
his proper sphere, who--in the quasi-philosophic jargon of the present
day--was unable to bring himself into harmony with his environment.
Rash, inconsiderate, and fond of producing strong effects, he was
constantly doing uncommon things with an eye to theatrical display.
Later in life a certain measure of wisdom came to him, but at the time
of his arrival in this country he was not only destitute of political
knowledge, but was absolutely without deliberate political convictions
of any kind. On this subject his own words are sufficiently clear. In
his "Narrative"--one of the most extraordinary contributions to history
in the English language--he tells us, with charming frankness, that at
the time of his first entrance into Toronto, in January, 1836, he was no
more connected with human politics than the horses that drew him; that
he had never joined any political party; never attended a political
discussion; never even voted at an election, or taken any part in one.
What wonder that a man so destitute of experience should have found
himself in a false position when required to satisfy the demands of such
earnest, uncompromising zealots as William Lyon Mackenzie and his
following--men who were undoubtedly in the right as to the main
questions at issue, but whose natural element was opposition; who were
wont to discuss politics in the spirit of hot-gospellers; and who would
have been reduced to the lowest depths of despair if they had had no
"grievances" to complain of!

The life of Sir Francis Head was extended considerably beyond the
allotted term of three score years and ten. Only five years have elapsed
since his death, at the ripe age of eighty-two, and no record of his
career has as yet been given to the world. At the time of his first
arrival in this Province he had barely reached what for him was middle
age, having only just completed his forty-third year. His previous life
had been one of unusual activity, and he had neither leisure nor
inclination to familiarize himself with high affairs of State. He had
already attained to some reputation as an author, having written several
lively and interesting books, to which further reference will be made in
the course of the present sketch. He was descended from an ancient and
honourable family. During the early days of the Restoration one Fernando
Mendez, a learned Portuguese physician, took up his abode in London,
where he rose to eminence in his profession, and was installed as one of
the physicians in ordinary to King Charles II. He married an English
lady, and upon his death, towards the close of the century, was
succeeded by his son Moses Mendez, who was an Englishman in everything
but his name. In process of time the son became as English in the latter
particular as he was in everything else, for he also married an English
wife, and thenceforth assumed her name instead of conferring his foreign
patronymic upon her. This lady was Anna Gabriella Head, second daughter
and co-heiress of a clerical baronet, the Reverend Francis Head, of the
Hermitage, near the quaint old city of Rochester, in the county of Kent.
Upon his marriage, Moses Mendez became Moses Head. To him succeeded his
eldest son, James Roper Head, who married Miss Frances Anne Burges,
daughter of Mr. George Burges, of Bath, and granddaughter maternally of
James, thirteenth Lord Somerville, in the peerage of Scotland. By this
lady James Roper Head had five sons, the fourth of whom, christened
Francis Bond, is the subject of this memoir.

He was born on the 1st of January, 1793, at the Hermitage, where his
early years were passed. He was educated at the Military Academy at
Woolwich, and obtained his first commission in the Royal Engineers in
1811. He saw some active service in Spain, and was present at Quatre
Bras and Waterloo. In June, 1816, he married Miss Julia Valenza
Somerville (daughter of the Hon. Hugh Somerville), who still lives in
the memory of a few of the oldest inhabitants of Toronto. In 1825 he was
a Captain in a corps of Engineers on duty at Edinburgh, and while there
it was proposed to him to go out to South America in charge of an
association then lately formed for the working of some gold and silver
mines in the provinces of Rio de la Plata. It was the first year in
which such speculations were rife, and it was probably with high hopes
and expectations that he set sail with his party from Falmouth. Arriving
in due course of time at Buenos Ayres, accompanied by a surveyor, an
assayer, and several miners from Cornwall, he lost no time in procuring
the necessary means of conveyance, and pushed on to the gold mines of
San Luis, and thence to the silver mines of Upsallata, beyond Mendoza,
about one thousand miles from Buenos Ayres. Leaving his party at
Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, he returned on horseback across the
Pampas to Buenos Ayres by himself, performing the distance in eight
days. Letters which he found awaiting him at Buenos Ayres made it
necessary that he should go immediately to Chili. He accordingly again
crossed the Pampas, and gathering his party at Mendoza, led them across
the Andes to Santiago, whence they proceeded in various directions to
"prospect" the country and inspect the mines, travelling over twelve
hundred miles. When he had concluded his report on the several mines of
which he was in quest, the party recrossed the Andes, and Captain Head
again rode across the Pampas to Buenos Ayres, leaving the rest of his
companions to follow at their leisure. On their arrival he dismissed
some of his miners and brought the rest back with him to England. In
this rapid manner he traversed about six thousand miles, living
meanwhile on dried beef and water, and sleeping upon the ground, on
horseback, or any other way that he could. On his return home he
published a narrative of his South American adventures, under the title
of "Rough Notes taken during some rapid journeys across the Pampas and
among the Andes." This lively and graphic narrative has far more of
interest than an ordinary novel, and was eagerly devoured by all classes
of readers. The rapidity with which he had scoured across the Pampas
gained for him the sobriquet of "Galloping Head"--a name by which he is
often referred to in the current literature of those days. From the fact
that in 1827 he published a "Report on the failure of the Rio Plata
Mining Association," it may be inferred that the chief success of the
expedition lay in the acquisition of literary fame for its leader, and
that the wealth of the mines, if any, was left for others to gain. At
the end of the year 1828 he obtained his majority, and retired from the
military service on half-pay. In 1830 he came once more before the
English public as an author, with "The Life of Bruce, the Abyssinian
Traveller," which appeared in the "Family Library." This he followed up
in 1833 by an amusing volume, just suited for the pocket of Rhine
travellers, under the title of "Bubbles from the Brunnen of Nassau, by
an Old Man." During the next year (1834) he was appointed an Assistant
Poor Law Commissioner for one of the Kentish districts, at a salary of
500 per annum. He seems to have devoted himself to the duties of this
position with a good deal of assiduity, and to have brought about
several useful and much-needed reforms. The office of a Poor Law
Commissioner, indeed, was one for which he was admirably fitted. There
were no broad questions of policy to be considered, and there were
innumerable little details with which such minds as his love to occupy
themselves. True, there were many grievances to be redressed, but the
experience of several generations had fully proved them to be
grievances. They were of such a nature that all the philanthropists of
that age were agreed as to the just method of dealing with them. Major
Head's time was fully taken up with his duties, in the discharge of
which he gave abundant satisfaction. He found himself in a most
congenial and by no means an undignified position. Writing on this
subject five years later he says:--"Never had I been engaged in a
service the duties of which so completely engrossed my mind. Rightly or
wrongly it now matters not, I fancied that, against prejudices and
clamour I should eventually succeed in the noblest, and to my mind the
most interesting, of all services, that of reviving the character and
condition of the English labourer; and as, notwithstanding the
unpopularity of the new Act, I had, thanks to the magistrates, yeomanry,
and farmers of the county of Kent, carried it into effect by
acclamation, the pleasure as well as the interest of the task was daily
increasing." It was while he was thus occupied that, towards the close
of 1835, he received from Lord Glenelg, then Secretary of State for the
Colonies, the offer of the Lieutenant-Governorship of Upper Canada as
successor to General Sir John Colborne afterwards Lord Seaton. How such
an extraordinary offer came to be made is shrouded in mystery, and is
one of those official secrets which will probably never be disclosed. It
was an insoluble riddle to the Major himself, and has since puzzled many
wiser heads than his. Whispers have been heard to the effect that the
offer was due to an official mistake, and that the person for whom the
appointment was intended was his kinsman, afterwards Sir Edmund Walker
Head, Governor-General of Canada. It is said that at a meeting of
Cabinet Ministers the question was asked, "Who _shall_ we send out as
Lieutenant-Governor to conciliate the discontented inhabitants of Upper
Canada?" To this question it is said some one replied, "You cannot do
better than send out young Head"--the person meant being Edmund Walker
Head. Lord Glenelg being slightly acquainted with Major Head, the Poor
Law Commissioner, and believing him to be the person meant, acted on the
suggestion, and the mistake was never discovered until after the offer
had been made to the gallant Major. Such is the story, for the truth of
which the historian cannot vouch. If true, it certainly proves that high
appointments are sometimes made with culpable want of care. The only
thing certain about the whole affair is that the appointment was
actually offered to, and after mature deliberation accepted by the
Major, who has told the story in so picturesque and inimitable a fashion
that we extract the account of it from his "Narrative." Thus it
runs:--"It had blown almost a hurricane from the S.S.W. The sheep in
Romney Marsh had huddled together in groups--the cattle, afraid to feed,
were still standing with their tails to the storm--I had been all day
immured in New Romney with the Board of Guardians of the March Union;
and though several times my horse had been nearly blown off the road, I
had managed to return to Cranbrook; and with my head full of the unions,
parishes, magistrates, guardians, relieving officers, and paupers of the
county of Kent, like Abou Hassan, I had retired to rest, and for several
hours had been fast asleep, when, about midnight, I was suddenly
awakened by the servant of my lodging, who, with a letter in one hand,
and in the other a tallow candle, illuminating an honest countenance,
not altogether free from alarm, hurriedly informed me that a King's
messenger had come after me! What could possibly be the matter in the
workhouse of this busy world I could not clearly conceive. However,
sitting up in my bed, I opened the letter, which, to my utter
astonishment, was from the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
expressing a wish that I should accept the government of Upper Canada,
and that, if possible, I would call upon him with my answer at half-past
eight the following morning, as at nine o'clock he was to set out for
Brighton, to see the King. As I was totally unconnected with every
member of the Government, and had never had the honour even of seeing
Lord Glenelg in my life, I was altogether at a loss to conceive why this
appointment should have been offered to me. However, as it appeared
there was no time to be lost, I immediately got up, and returning to
London in the chaise of the King's messenger who had brought me the
communication, I reached my own house in Kensington at six o'clock, and
having consulted with my family, whose opinions on the subject of the
appointment I found completely coincided with my own, I waited upon Lord
Glenelg, when I most respectfully and very gratefully declined the
appointment. To this determination Lord Glenelg very obligingly replied,
by repeating to me his wish to be enabled to submit my name to the King
for so important and difficult a trust; he begged me to reconsider the
subject; and in order that I might be enabled to do so, he requested me
to go and converse with his under-secretary, Mr. Stephen, who, his
Lordship said, would give me every information on the subject."

The result of the interview with Mr. Stephen was the acceptance of the
position by Major Head. A letter was forthwith despatched to Brighton to
Lord Glenelg, who on receiving it submitted Major Head's answer to the
King, who approved of the appointment, and the business was complete.

Complications arose at the very outset of his official career. It was
intimated to him that it was necessary to exercise a most rigid economy;
that his salary would be 500 lower than that of his predecessor, and
that he was expected to dispense with the services of an aide-de-camp.
He was further informed that his half-pay as a major in the army would
be discontinued. "With respect to these arrangements," says the
"Narrative," "I at once very distinctly observed to Mr. Stephen that
although it was, of course, utterly impossible for me even to imagine
what would be the official expenses to which I should be subjected, yet
that, as so many Governors, one after another, were supposed to have
failed in their missions, and as the difficulties which had overcome
them were declared to have increased rather than to have diminished, I
considered it was unreasonable as well as imprudent in the Government to
ask me to encounter them with diminished means. I told Mr. Stephen that
to go out without an aide-de-camp to a disturbed colony, where the
Governor had always been seen to have one, would in my opinion be
impolitic; and I added that, as I was altogether below my predecessors
(Sir Peregrine Maitland and Sir John Colborne) in military rank, and
that as I was to be divested of the command of the troops, I thought the
civil elevation of a baronetcy ought to be conferred upon me." It will
thus be seen that the Major was by no means so greatly overpowered by
the new and unexpected dignity which had been conferred upon him as to
render him backward in asserting himself. Mr. Stephen was, on the whole,
disposed to agree with him in the matter of the aide-de-camp, and as to
official expenses. With regard to the baronetcy, Mr. Stephen kept his
countenance as well as he could, and temporised. There were, he said, so
many applications for the distinction, that he thought Lord Melbourne
might feel that he would create jealousy by a single appointment. When
the Major urged his claim personally upon Lord Glenelg, that nobleman
quietly promised to give the project his careful consideration, and
added: "There is much truth in what you say." And then Major Head went
down to Brighton and was presented to the King, upon whom he personally
urged his claims. The result of it all was that the aide-de-camp was
conceded, and that the project of the baronetcy was "taken into
consideration" for the present. There were subsequent difficulties about
the payment of the aide-de-camp's salary. At last everything was
arranged, and the new Lieutenant-Governor, with his suite, set sail from
Liverpool. The journey to his seat of Government was made by way of New
York, and he improved the time during the ocean voyage by a careful
study of a certain blue book containing a report of the "Committee of
Grievances." This blue book, and the instructions addressed to himself
from the Colonial Office, contained the basis of all his knowledge of
Canadian affairs. He reached his destination--namely, Toronto--on the
23rd of January, 1836. Commenting, in his "Narrative," on his
"simplicity of mind, ill-naturedly called ignorance," at this time, he
says:--"With Mr. Mackenzie's heavy book of lamentations in my
portmanteau, and with my remedial instructions in my writing-case, I
considered myself as a political physician, who, whether regularly
educated or not, was about to effect a surprising cure; for, as I never
doubted for a moment either the existence of the 533 pages of
grievances, or that I would mercilessly destroy them root and branch, I
felt perfectly confident that I should very soon be able proudly to
report that the grievances of Upper Canada were defunct--in fact, that I
had veni-ed, vidi-ed, and vici-ed them. As, however, I was no more
connected with human politics than the horses that were drawing me--as I
had never joined any political party, had never attended a political
discussion, and had never even voted at an election, or taken any part
in one--it was with no little surprise that, as I drove into Toronto, I
observed the walls placarded in large letters which designated me as
'Sir Francis Head, a tried Reformer.'" The foregoing remarks on the
"Grievances" are themselves sufficient to show what an inadequate grasp
Sir Francis had of the situation. He seems to have really believed--in
so far as he believed anything about the matter--that the violent and
bitter animosities which had been accumulating for many years could be
summarily disposed of by the magnetism of his personal presence, and
with a single wave of his hand. With his book of grievances and his
instructions he conceived himself to be fully prepared to argue down all
opposition. He fancied that he was to be another Caesar, and that his
first despatch would announce that he had, in his own language,
"veni-ed, vidi-ed, and vici-ed" all difficulties. In extenuation of this
opinion, Sir Francis in after days pleaded that it was formed in
ignorance of the exact circumstances of the case. But it also indicated
something more than this. It indicated that his mind was of too petty an
order to deal with serious and complicated questions relating to public
affairs. The manifold grievances of the people of Canada were not to be
allayed in the same brusque, _ad captandum_ fashion as the differences
of a few parishes with regard to the manner of parochial assessment for
the relief of the poor. The country laboured under evils which required
a broad and statesmanlike treatment. There were both municipal and
fiscal grievances without number, and the Crown nominees in the
Legislative and Executive Councils practically ruled the land, utterly
regardless of the wishes of the people as expressed in the House of
Assembly. The Reform Party, as a body, had for years been doing their
utmost to remove, by constitutional and legislative means, the many
disabilities under which the people laboured. The extreme Radical
section--the head and front of which was Mr. Mackenzie--had long
clamoured loudly for redress. Mr. Mackenzie himself, several years
before Sir Francis Head's appointment, had gone over to Great Britain
with his famous "Petition of Grievances," which had had the effect of
convincing the officials in Downing Street that Upper Canadians had
really many just grounds of complaint. As to finding a proper remedy,
that was reserved for Lord Durham. Meanwhile a policy of conciliation
was resolved upon. In other words, Canadian affairs were shelved from
time to time; and at last the crowning folly was committed of sending
over this "tried Reformer" as Lieutenant-Governor.

Sir Francis had not been many days at his seat of Government before he
had a private interview with Mr. Marshall Spring Bidwell, Speaker of the
House of Assembly, from whom he learned for the first time that the
Grievance Report, which he had so laboriously studied during his voyage
across the Atlantic did not contain a complete record of the grievances
of the Canadian people. During a subsequent interview with Mr.
Mackenzie himself he received an abundant confirmation of this fact. He
accordingly jumped to the conclusion that the Grievance Petition was a
mere pretext, and that there was a fixed determination on the part of
the radicals to rebel. That this conclusion was erroneous there can now
be no doubt whatever. A large majority, even of the most
ultra-reformers, were loyal subjects of Great Britain, and had no
sympathy with any projects of rebellion. Indeed, it is doubtful whether
such projects were at that time seriously entertained by any one in the
Upper Province. It seems more than probable that Mr. Mackenzie himself
might easily have been conciliated, and that a wise and prudent Governor
might have averted the worst of the disastrous consequences that
followed. Sir Francis, however, though he for some time kept his
convictions to himself, was fully persuaded that the whole population
were tinged with disloyalty, and this impression had an important
bearing upon his future policy. This "tried Reformer" at once passed, in
the language of a Canadian historian, "from presumed Whiggism into
old-fashioned Toryism," though he "shrank from the indecency of at once
running counter to every principle of his appointment, and allying
himself with the remnant of the Family Compact." He accordingly made a
show of moderation, and of an apparent desire to show respect to the
opinions of the majority in the Assembly. Three places were vacant in
the Executive Council, owing to three of the old members having recently
been dismissed. The vacancies were offered respectively to Robert
Baldwin, John Rolph, and John Henry Dunn, all of whom stood high in the
confidence and esteem of the Reform Party throughout the country. A
conference followed between Mr. Baldwin and Sir Francis, during which
the position of affairs was pretty fully discussed. The nature of the
discussion has already been given in this work, in the sketch of Mr.
Baldwin's life. Its result was that Mr. Baldwin and the two other
gentlemen above named accepted office. They were not long in discovering
that the Governor had merely induced them to accept office for his own
purposes, and that he had no intention of permitting them to have any
voice in the direction of public affairs. They were kept in total
ignorance of the Governor's policy, and their functions were restricted
to insignificant matters of detail. Hangers-on of the Family Compact
were appointed to offices by Sir Francis without any conference with the
Reform members of the Council. He turned a deaf ear to all their
remonstrances, and they accordingly resigned their seats in the Council.
The vacancies were filled by more complaisant members, in whom the House
of Assembly could place no reliance. A vote of want of confidence was
passed, and the supplies were stopped. Then followed the dissolution of
Parliament, a new general election, and a packed House of Assembly.
Nearly all the prominent members of the Reform Party were defeated at
the polls, and thus excluded from the House. To bring about this state
of things the grossest corruption was practised, and the most outrageous
misrepresentations were made. Lord Durham's Report gives a faithful
picture of the false issues raised, and of the state of political
feeling in the Province at the time. The contest, which appeared to be
thus commenced on the question of the responsibility of the Executive
Council, was really decided on very different grounds. Sir F. Head, who
appears to have thought that the maintenance of the connection with
Britain depended upon his triumph over the majority of the Assembly,
embarked in the contest with a determination to use every influence in
his power in order to bring it to a successful issue. He succeeded, in
fact, in putting the issue in such a light before the Province that a
great portion of the people really imagined that they were called upon
to decide the question of separation by their votes. The dissolution, on
which he ventured when he thought the public mind sufficiently ripe,
completely answered his expectations. The British, in particular, were
roused by the proclaimed danger to the connection with the Mother
Country; they were indignant at some portions of the speeches of certain
members of the late majority which seemed to mark a determined
preference to American over British institutions. They were irritated by
indications of hostility to British immigration which they saw, or
fancied they saw, in some recent proceedings of the Assembly. Above all,
not only they, but a great many others, had marked with envy the
stupendous public works which were at that period producing their effect
in the almost marvellous growth of the wealth of the neighbouring State
of New York; and they reproached the Assembly with what they considered
an unwise economy, in preventing the undertaking or completion of
similar works, that might, as they fancied, have produced a similar
development of the resources of Upper Canada. The general support of the
British determined the elections in favour of the Government; and though
very large and close minorities, which in many cases supported the
defeated candidates, marked the force which the Reformers could bring
into the field, even in spite of the disadvantages under which they
laboured from the momentary prejudices against them, and the unusual
manner in which the Crown, by its representative, appeared to make
itself a party in an electioneering contest, the result was the return
of a very large majority hostile in politics to that of the late
Assembly. Intelligence of Sir Francis's doings, however, soon reached
the Colonial Office in London. The officials there, as we have seen,
were not very well informed as to Canadian affairs, but they were wise
enough to see the gross impropriety of their emissary's proceedings.
Their remonstrances, at first very mild, by degrees became emphatic, and
Sir Francis, in a despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated 1st June, expressed
his willingness to resign office. The Colonial Secretary, however, was
at a loss to find any one to supply his place, and did not act upon the
suggestion. Time passed by, and Sir Francis continued to pursue what he
was pleased to call his "policy." The breach between himself and the
Canadian people, as well as between himself and the Colonial Office,
gradually became wider and wider. His principal differences with the
Colonial Office, apart from his general misgovernment, arose out of his
positive refusal to obey the instructions of the Colonial Secretary with
reference to Mr. Bidwell and Mr. George Ridout. Mr. Bidwell was a lawyer
in high standing, who, notwithstanding his strong political opinions,
enjoyed the respect and esteem of every one. A vacancy occurred on the
Judicial Bench, and Lord Glenelg instructed Sir Francis to elevate Mr.
Bidwell to the vacant judgeship. Mr. Ridout had been Judge of the
District Court of Niagara, but had been improperly dismissed from that
post by Sir Francis. Notwithstanding the most emphatic instructions from
the Colonial Office, the Governor positively declined either to elevate
Mr. Bidwell to the Bench or to reinstate Mr. Ridout in the position of
which he had been unjustly deprived. About this time the Executive
Council also proved refractory, and Sir Francis found himself without
support in the country. The troops had been withdrawn from Toronto by
Sir John Colborne in order to assist in opposing Mr. Papineau's
movements in the Lower Province. Sir John offered to leave two companies
as a guard, but Sir Francis declined the offer, and professed unbounded
confidence in the "moral power" which he was able to exercise. His
excuse, when he suddenly found himself attacked by armed rebels, was
that he had all along foreseen and desired the insurrection, and even
pretended unconsciousness, in order to tempt an outbreak. To avoid the
imputation of negligence, Sir Francis's vanity sought refuge in one of
the most detestable practices of the most unscrupulous tyranny. He
endeavoured to load himself with the crime of having trepanned a number
of ignorant and heated political opponents into the guilt and peril of
treason; of having given facilities to crime, in order that he might
find a pretext for punishment. But the simple fact is that Sir Francis,
misled by his own vanity and carelessness, and the representations of
the Family Compact, either totally disbelieved in the existence of
danger, or thought that the magic of his rhodomontade would be as
successful in a civil war as in an election. Accordingly he turned a
deaf ear to all prudent overtures, and not only took no precaution but
tried to prevent others from taking any. If Mr. Mackenzie and his
adherents had been properly organized they might have invested Toronto
without any difficulty whatever--though, of course, they could not have
retained permanent possession of it. The withdrawal of the troops gave
an impetus to the insurrection, and the drilling and other preparations
for a rising produced a pretty general alarm throughout the Province.
This was more especially the case in and near Toronto, where, in
consequence of the strongest pressure, the Governor, with apparent
reluctance, gave directions for the calling out of the militia. Even up
to the beginning of December, 1837, he professed the utmost scepticism
as to the impending outbreak, and did not believe such a small matter to
be worthy of his august attention. Meanwhile Mackenzie had matured his
plans for a descent on Toronto on the 7th of December. He scoured
through the country hither and thither, making arrangements which he
believed would insure the success of his project. The history of that
project falls more properly within the life of Mr. Mackenzie, where it
is given in sufficient detail. Every Canadian knows how, through Sir
Francis's hare-brained supineness, Toronto came very near being captured
by the insurgents. The rebellion was crushed, not by him, nor even by
his directions, but by the promptitude and efficiency of others. At its
close he had scarcely a friend left in Upper Canada. He once more
tendered his resignation, which was accepted, and Sir George Arthur was
appointed as his successor. Early in the following spring Sir Francis
bade adieu to the country which had been the scene of his disastrous
administration, and in due course reached London. In consideration of
his "great public services" he was created a baronet, and thenceforward
retired into private life. Towards the close of 1839 he published the
"Narrative" from which we have made several extracts in the course of
this sketch. It was lauded to the skies by the _Quarterly_ and other
Conservative organs, but it was diametrically opposed to Lord Durham's
version of affairs in Canada, and soon came to be rated at its true
value.

With the close of his Canadian administration the public career of Sir
Francis Head may be said to have come to an end. He devoted the greater
part of his subsequent life to literary pursuits, and became a frequent
contributor to the _Quarterly_ and other periodicals. For many years
before his death he enjoyed an annual pension of 100, "for his services
in the cause of literature." One of the best known of his works is "The
Emigrant," published several years after his return to England. Like
most of his writings, it is sprightly and entertaining, but is too much
mixed up with his own experiences to be safely trusted. In 1850 he
published his "Stokers and Pokers," which had originally appeared in the
_Quarterly Review_. This is a clever and effective, though hasty and
somewhat careless, sketch of the difficulties attendant on the
construction, maintenance, and working of a great railway, with
illustrations from scenes of "life along the line." In the same year,
just after the elevation of Louis Napoleon to the Presidency of the
French Republic, and when vague rumours of a possible invasion of
Britain were abroad, he gave to the world a pamphlet on "The Defenceless
State of Great Britain," a work which, with a little that was true,
mixed up much that was false and erroneous, and to say the least, was so
exaggerated that some critics professed to doubt whether it should be
regarded as serious or imaginative. In May, 1851, after a visit to the
land of his alarms, he published an interesting and amusing description
of the places, scenes, and modes of life in Paris, under the title of "A
Faggot of French Sticks," which soon became as great a favourite as his
"Bubbles from the Brunnen," already mentioned, had been. In 1852, after
a visit to Dublin, Galway, and other places in a rapid tour through
Ireland, he published his "Fortnight in Ireland," which showed, as might
have been expected, that he possessed a very slight knowledge of his
subject, and that it was less easy to scamper profitably across Irish
bogs than across South American mountains. Besides the works already
mentioned, Sir Francis was the author of a pamphlet entitled "Practical
Hints against the Theory of Emigration" (1828), a work which was
scarcely up to the thought of the time when it was written, and which is
now quite out of date; another on "English Charity" (1853); "An Address
to the House of Lords against the Union of the Canadas," commenting in
no mild manner on the "improper means" by which the consent of the Upper
Province had been obtained to that measure (1840); "High Ways and Dry
Ways" (1849); "Comments on Mr. A. W. Kinglake's 'History of the
Expedition to the Crimea'" (1863); two volumes of "Descriptive Essays
contributed to the _Quarterly Review_" (1857); "The Royal Engineer"
(1869); "The Horse and his Rider" (1860); and "Sketch of the Life of
Field Marshal Sir John Burgoyne" (1872). Some of the statements made in
his "Stokers and Pokers" respecting the London and North-western
Railway, and more particularly with relation to the Britannia and Conway
Tubular Bridges, were controverted by Mr. Thomas Fairbairn, soon after
their first appearance in print.

Sir Francis Head, in addition to his English title, was a Knight of the
Prussian Military Order of Merit. He was nominated a Knight Commander of
the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order in 1835; and was sworn a member of
Her Majesty's Privy Council in 1867. Upon his death, on the 20th of
July, 1875, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Mr. Francis Somerville
Head, who is now second Baronet, and who was formerly an officer in the
Indian Civil Service. He is a magistrate for the county of Surrey. The
late Baronet's other sons are Mr. Henry Bond Head, late captain in the
2nd Dragoon Guards, and the Rev. George Head, rector of Aston
Somerville, Gloucestershire. His daughter Julia Maria, married in 1843
Mr. Robert Williamson Ramsay, formerly captain in the 42nd Foot. The
family seat is at Duppas Hall, Croydon, a few miles south of London.




THE HON. SAMUEL HENRY STRONG.


Mr. Justice Strong is a son of the Rev. Samuel T. Strong, formerly
Rector of Bytown, Upper Canada, and now of Brockton, near Toronto. He
was born in Dorsetshire, England, in 1825, but accompanied his family to
this country in his early boyhood, and was for a short time resident at
Kingston. Upon his father's appointment to the Rectory of Bytown the
family removed thither. Young Samuel was educated at various public and
private schools in Bytown--now called Ottawa--and when about seventeen
years of age became a student at law in the office of Mr. Augustus
Keefer, who was then one of the leading practitioners in that part of
Canada. He completed his legal studies in Toronto, in the office of the
late Mr. Henry Eccles, one of the most distinguished counsel that ever
practised at the Canadian Bar. In 1848 he was admitted to practise as an
attorney and solicitor, and in Hilary Term, 1849, he was called to the
Bar. He began practice in Toronto, and from the outset devoted himself
chiefly to the Equity Branch of his profession. He had not been long at
the Equity Bar before he occupied a place in the front rank with Oliver
Mowat, John Roaf, and others. He displayed extraordinary quickness in
grasping the salient points of the cases which came within his purview,
and in this respect has probably never had an equal either at the Bar or
on the Bench of this country. After he had been some time in practice he
formed a partnership with Mr. William Marshall Matheson, the present
Master and Deputy Registrar in Chancery at Ottawa, under the style of
Strong & Matheson. Mr. Thomas Wardlaw Taylor, the present Master in
Ordinary of the Court of Chancery, was subsequently admitted to the
firm, the style of which thenceforward became Strong, Matheson & Taylor.
This firm existed for some years, and did a very large and successful
Equity business until 1858, when it was dissolved. Mr. Strong
subsequently practised alone for several years, after which he formed a
partnership with Mr. John Hoskin, of Toronto. Upon Mr. Hoskin's
withdrawal from the firm, and for some years prior to his elevation to
the Bench, Mr. Strong was without a partner.

In 1856 he was appointed a member of the Commission for the
consolidation of the Statutes of Canada and of Upper Canada, and took
part in the labours of that Commission until the task was fully
accomplished towards the close of 1859. In 1860 he was elected a Bencher
of the Law Society of Upper Canada; and in 1863 he received a silk gown.
On the 27th of December, 1869, he was appointed to the Bench of the
Court of Chancery, as one of its Vice-Chancellors. In 1871 he became a
member of the Commission to inquire into the constitution and
jurisdiction of the courts, with a view to the effecting of important
legal reforms, and a possible fusion of the Law and Equity Courts.
Finally, on the 8th of October, 1875, he was appointed one of the
Justices of the Supreme Court of the Dominion, which necessitated his
removal from Toronto to Ottawa.

Mr. Strong has never taken any decided part in politics, and his honours
have been won by his professional attainments alone. Though by no means
a recluse or a bookworm in his habits, his legal erudition is very
great, and his memory for judicial decisions is almost miraculous. There
is no keener intellect on the Canadian Bench, and great deference is
paid to his judgments, not only by the profession at large, but by his
brethren on the Bench of the Supreme Court. He is specially
distinguished for his knowledge of Law as a science, and of the
principles of Jurisprudence generally. His faculty for legal expression
and exact phraseology is most conspicuous, and by contrast to the loose
and popular modes of pleading now prevalent the younger practitioners
can find excellent models in those drawn by Mr. Strong, which well
illustrate his learning and logical acumen, and the influence of that
study and training which has produced so many distinguished judges.




[Illustration: A. GALT]

THE HON. SIR ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT.


Sir Alexander Galt is the youngest son of the late Mr. John Galt, a
gentleman who once enjoyed a fair share of popularity as an author, but
who is better known in this country from his connection with the Canada
Company. As the scheme of the present work does not include a separate
sketch of the life of this gentleman, and as his career is not without
interest to Canadians, a few particulars respecting it may as well be
inserted here. He was born at Irvine, in Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 2nd
of May, 1799. He was originally intended for a mercantile career, but
did not devote much time to commercial pursuits, which he abandoned in
order to occupy himself with literature. He repaired to London, and
published several poems. His literary pursuits, however, were checked by
ill health, and he started on a prolonged tour through Southern Europe,
in the course of which he formed a friendship with Lord Byron, of whom
he subsequently wrote a biography. After his return to England he again
embarked in literature, and published an account of his travels, as well
as several novels, which were received with much favour. He was a man of
varied accomplishments, and shone in London society at a time when that
society was exceptionally brilliant. He also acquired a high reputation
for shrewdness and worldly wisdom, which circumstance eventually led to
his removal to Canada. In the year 1823, a company called "The Canada
Land Company," chiefly composed of members of the London Stock Exchange,
was projected in England. The design of its projectors was to buy up
large tracts of wild land in Canada, and to dispose of the same in small
lots to emigrants, or to any one else who might think proper to
purchase. From its first inception it was a mere commercial enterprise,
and whatever opinion may be entertained as to its having retarded the
settlement of this country, its operations have undoubtedly been very
profitable to the stockholders. Mr. Galt was an active promoter of this
Company, and indeed was chiefly instrumental in originating it. One of
the first proceedings of the gentlemen composing it was to appoint
commissioners to go out to Canada in order to ascertain from personal
inspection what lands it would be most advantageous to purchase. Mr.
Galt was one of the commissioners appointed for this purpose, and in the
spring of the year 1824 he and his coadjutors sailed for America. They
travelled over a great part of the Upper Province, and returned to
England the same year. They presented a report embodying the results of
their observation, and recommending the purchase of various large tracts
in different parts of the Province. After all preliminaries had been
arranged, a charter was granted to the Company, and Mr. Galt was again
despatched to Canada to negotiate on its behalf. He entered into
contracts whereby the Company became possessed of about two and a half
millions of acres of land in Upper Canada. One of the earliest of his
negotiations consisted of the purchase of the entire township of Guelph,
containing about forty thousand acres, of which he directed an immediate
survey. In the course of his travels through the township in the winter
of 1826-7, Mr. Galt fixed upon the present site of Guelph as a suitable
spot for the erection of a town. He conceived that the location
possessed many advantages, and having engaged a number of "slashers" he
directed them to repair to the appointed place on the 23rd of April
following. His behests were obeyed, and on the 23rd of April, 1827, the
town of Guelph was "inaugurated" with imposing ceremonies by Mr. Galt,
Dr. Dunlop, and a Mr. Prior, all of whom were in the service of the
Company. Mr. Galt also took part in the acquisition and settlement of
the Huron Tract. Soon afterwards serious difficulties began to arise
between him and the English directors. Though Mr. Galt was eminently
successful in founding settlements, and partially so in his efforts to
induce a tide of emigration to Canada, these results were not brought
about without a large expenditure of money. The outlay was not only
prodigiously in excess of what had been contemplated by the directors,
but there can be no doubt that it was much more lavish than was either
necessary or expedient for the Company's interests. Mr. Galt was not a
practical man, and was in many instances subjected by his agents to
gross imposition. He entertained enthusiastic theories on the subject of
emigration, with which the directors had but little sympathy. The first
consideration with them was large dividends; and it soon became apparent
that large dividends were not to be looked for while Mr. Galt was
permitted to direct the operations of the Company in Canada. The
differences became wider and wider, until there was no hope of
reconciliation; and in the summer of 1828 a Mr. Smith was sent over from
England to look after the expenditure. Within a few months thereafter
Mr. Galt withdrew from the service of the Company and returned to
England. He was at this time almost entirely without means, and was
compelled to pass through the Insolvent Debtors' Court, and to devote
himself to literature as a means of earning his daily bread. For about
ten years afterwards he continued to pour out volume after volume of
fiction, together with one or two works of a more solid character. A
certain measure of success attended most of his publications, but they
may now be said to have had their day. After sustaining repeated attacks
of paralysis, he died at Greenock, in Scotland, on the 11th of April,
1839. Personally, he was a man of high character and of a most pleasant
and genial disposition. He was held in high esteem by a wide circle of
friends on both sides of the Atlantic. Several of his sons have figured
conspicuously in Canadian affairs. Sir Alexander T. Galt's career is
outlined in the present sketch. Thomas, another son, was for more than a
quarter of a century one of the foremost lawyers at the Upper Canadian
Bar, and now occupies a seat on the Bench. An account of his life will
also be found in this work. John, the eldest son, was for many years
Registrar of the county of Huron, and resided at Goderich down to the
time of his death a few years since.

Alexander, the subject of this sketch, was born at his father's house,
in Chelsea, London, England, on the 6th of September, 1817. He received
his education at various English schools, and is said to have been
somewhat of a favourite with the literary lions who occasionally
assembled at his father's house. Like his father, he early manifested a
fondness for literary pursuits, and is said to have contributed to
magazines when he was only fourteen years of age. When he was sixteen,
a situation was procured for him in the employ of the British America
Land Company, which rendered it necessary that he should take up his
abode on this side of the Atlantic. The Eastern Townships were the scene
of some of the chief operations of the Company, and in 1835 young
Alexander Galt settled down at Sherbrooke. He displayed much ability as
an accountant, as well as a general aptitude for business, and steadily
rose in the service until 1844, when he attained the position of Chief
Commissioner. He occupied that position for twelve years, during which
his financial abilities were signally displayed, to the great benefit of
the Company. At the time of his appointment the Company's affairs were
in a state of great confusion, and the enterprise was believed to be
upon the verge of insolvency. In the course of a few years Mr. Galt
restored order where all had been disorder, and placed the affairs of
the Company upon a sound and prosperous footing.

In 1849 he for the first time entered Parliament, as Member for the
county of Sherbrooke. As a politician he has always been remarkable for
the moderation of his views, and has had little sympathy with the
violent party measures of either side. From the outset he has always
professed Liberal opinions, though, upon entering Parliament he opposed
the Liberal Administration of Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine, and voted
against the Rebellion Losses Bill. He took part in the annexation
movement of that troubled period, and was one of the signatories to the
famous "Manifesto." Upon the removal of the seat of Government from
Montreal to Toronto, consequent upon the destruction of the Parliament
Buildings in the former city, Mr. Galt retired from public life, and
returned to his duties in connection with the Land Company. He also
engaged largely in the promotion of other public enterprises, more
especially in the construction of railways, and became President of the
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad Company. In conjunction with the late
Hon. John Young, he succeeded in extricating that enterprise from the
many difficulties which nearly submerged it, and brought about its
amalgamation with the Grand Trunk Line. He about the same time entered
into partnership with Messrs. C. S. Gzowski, D. L. Macpherson and L. H.
Holton, under the style of Gzowski & Co., and was a member of that firm
during the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway westward from Toronto
to Sarnia. In 1853 he again entered the political arena, and was
returned to the Assembly for the town of Sherbrooke, which he
thenceforward continued to represent in that Body until Confederation.
He at once took a prominent part in the debates, and was recognized as a
very high authority on all matters relating to finance, trade, and
commerce generally. He opposed the Hincks-Morin Administration, and
continued to support the succeeding Government under its various
modifications until its fall in 1858. His support, however, was not
unqualified, and on many public measures which seemed to him to require
independence of action he voted without fear or favour. After the
collapse of the short-lived Brown-Dorion Government, Sir Edmund Head
applied to Mr. Galt to form a new Cabinet. Mr. Galt, however, is a
Protestant, and, though he represented a Lower Canadian constituency, he
was not regarded with enthusiasm by the French-Canadian element in the
Legislature. His political views, moreover, were of too moderate a stamp
to enable him to count upon enthusiastic support from either of the
political parties in the country. He had no confidence in his power to
form a Government which would receive public support, and declined to
make the attempt; whereupon the "Double-Shuffle" took place, and the
Cartier-Macdonald Administration succeeded to power. In this
Administration Mr. Galt accepted the post of Minister of Finance, as
successor to Mr. Cayley, and from that time forward he was identified
with the politics of his colleagues.

His tenure of office was no sinecure, for he succeeded to an embarrassed
exchequer and a confused state of the public accounts. Extraordinary
methods of raising money had been resorted to, and there was a
discrepancy between the real and apparent expenditure of between three
and four millions of dollars. An increase in the customs and excise
duties was contemplated, and aroused a great deal of angry discussion,
both within the walls of Parliament and elsewhere throughout the
country. The cry for retrenchment in the public expenditure was both
loud and persistent. Such being the state of affairs, it is not to be
wondered at that the accession to office of a Minister of Finance who
enjoyed the reputation of being a clear-headed man of business, and an
adept in dealing with confused and complicated accounts; who was
moderate in his politics, and whose personal integrity was untarnished,
should have proved a great source of strength to the Administration. Mr.
Galt entered upon his duties with a full determination that he would
prove himself equal to the emergency. During the ensuing session an
additional impost was added to the customs duties, and the decimal
system of currency was introduced. The combined influence of the new
tariff, an abundant harvest, and a restoration of public confidence,
produced a visible effect. The Finance Minister was able to report a
surplus. There was, however, a large increase in the public debt, owing,
in great measure, to profuse expenditure in the construction of railways
during the preceding ten years. To say that Mr. Galt's financial policy
was an immediate and unmixed success would be to say that he was a
greater financial genius than Colbert. Such a result could not have been
accomplished by any Minister of Finance. The consequences of the
recklessness and incompetence of many years could not be wiped out of
existence at a moment's notice. His career as a Finance Minister,
however, was highly honourable to him. A consolidation of the public
debt was effected, and a Canadian loan was successfully negotiated in
England. The collection and administration of the finances were reduced
to system, and many important reforms were effected in the public
service by his authority. In May, 1862, the Government sustained a
defeat on the Militia Bill, and the members went into Opposition. During
the two short Administrations which succeeded, Mr. Galt was not called
upon to take any conspicuous part in public affairs; but upon the
formation of the Tach-Macdonald Ministry in March, 1864, he again
became Minister of Finance. Parties, however, were too easily balanced
to admit of any Government's being secure, and before the existing one
had been in office three months it experienced disaster through one of
Mr. Galt's own acts. On the 14th of June, Mr. Dorion moved a resolution,
as an amendment to the motion to go into Committee of Supply, censuring
the Government for having advanced $100,000 from the public chest
without the authority of Parliament for the redemption of bonds of a
like amount of the City of Montreal, which bonds were redeemable by the
Grand Trunk Railway Company. This resolution was carried by a majority
of two, and the defeat of the Ministry was followed by the negotiations
which led to the formation of the Coalition Government under the
auspices whereof the scheme of Confederation was carried out.

Mr. Galt had long favoured the idea of a Federal Union of the Provinces,
and six years before had accompanied Sir George Cartier and the Hon.
John Ross to England to urge the project upon the Imperial Government.
In the negotiations which now ensued, and which finally resulted in the
accomplishment of Confederation, he took a foremost part. He was a
delegate to both the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences in 1864, and
to the London Conference in 1867, when the terms of Union were finally
settled. In 1866 he repaired to Washington on behalf of the Canadian
Government for the purpose of obtaining a renewal of the reciprocity
treaty with the United States. The attempt failed, and not long
afterwards Mr. Galt resigned his place in the Cabinet, owing to his
dissatisfaction with the educational policy. He, however, proceeded to
England during the following year, as we have seen, as a delegate from
Lower Canada to the London Conference; and after Confederation had been
brought about he accepted office as Minister of Finance in the first
Dominion Government, under Sir John A. Macdonald as Premier. He
presented himself for election to his old constituents in the town of
Sherbrooke, which place he had represented in the Canadian Assembly for
a continuous period of twenty-three years. He was once more returned,
and represented the constituency in the House of Commons for five years.
On the occasion of his accepting office at this time he was sworn of Her
Majesty's Privy Council of Canada. He did not long retain his portfolio,
and the reasons which induced him to resign it have never been made
public, though they have given rise to much profitless speculation. He
continued to sit in the House as a private member, untrammelled by any
ties of party, and voted on all measures according to his personal
estimation of their respective merits. On several occasions he
criticized the policy of the Administration, more especially with
respect to measures affecting the financial policy of the country, and
on one occasion he moved a resolution condemning the increase of
expenditure. He opposed Sir John A. Macdonald's mission to Washington in
1871, as a Joint High Commissioner, upon the ground that there should
first be some expression of opinion as to the policy of Canada by the
House of Commons. He subsequently voted in favour of the Government
measure affirming the principle of the Treaty. He opposed the pledge to
construct the Pacific Railway within ten years, but supported the
Government Railway Bill a year afterwards. It would be unfair, however,
for any one unacquainted with all the motives by which he was actuated
to describe his Parliamentary career as vacillating. The conditions were
undergoing constant changes, and it might have been quite consistent
with mental stability for a man to oppose in December a measure which he
had supported in the previous February.

In 1869 Mr. Galt was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St.
Michael and St. George. At the general elections of 1872 he declined to
allow himself to be nominated for relection, and retired to private
life. Three years later some of the Montreal newspapers referred to him
as a probable candidate for the representation of that city, which had
been his home for many years previously. These references brought out a
letter addressed by Sir Alexander to the Hon. James Ferrier, expressing
his views upon some of the leading topics of the day. In this letter he
expressed much anxiety at the increase of the financial obligations of
the Dominion, and suggested an abandonment, by arrangement with British
Columbia, of the Pacific Railway, and the adoption of a hostile or
retaliatory tariff towards the United States. He has not since rentered
political life, unless his recent appointment is to be so characterized.
In 1875 he began to emulate, in this country, the example set by Mr.
Gladstone in England, and published a pamphlet on the alleged
encroachments of Ultramontanism. Both in Montreal and in Toronto he
delivered public speeches to the same purport, and thereby rendered
himself not a little obnoxious to the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

The latest important event in Sir Alexander Galt's career was his
appointment, a few months ago, to the position of High Commissioner from
the Dominion to Great Britain, with official residence in London. The
nature of his duties do not seem to be very clearly defined, but they
are presumably partly financial, partly diplomatic, and partly connected
with the promotion of emigration from Great Britain to Canada. The
appointment has evoked a good deal of criticism on the part of the
Opposition press, and the creation of the office of High Commissioner
has been pronounced to have been unnecessary. Into the discussion of
that question it is not our purpose to enter; but it is on all hands
admitted that if there is to be such an office, no more eligible
candidate could be found than the subject of this sketch. The leading
organ of the Opposition, in referring to the subject some time since,
indulged in some remarks which are worth quoting, as reflecting the
opinion of those who entertain the least favourable opinion of Sir
Alexander's qualities. "The hope that Sir Alexander Galt will perform
the duties of Minister to England more efficiently than any other
eligible Canadian politician is founded on his unlikeness to most or all
of our prominent public men. Those who believe that a facile disposition
fits a man to be a diplomatist, and conceive a diplomatist's to be the
highest type of character, may properly say that Sir Alexander is almost
a great man. From nature he received a mind which forbade him to belong
to any party or to hold fast by any principles. Not that he can be
called unprincipled in the usual acceptation of the term. He is in fact
a man of opinions formed with reference solely to what he considers
expedient.... His manners are more than agreeable--they are charming;
familiar without inducing to familiarity, dignified without a trace of
restraint. His qualities are indeed such that Canada may be proud of her
representative. In fact his mind fits him to be a social success,
inasmuch as he always has plenty of ideas big and little, none of which
he entertains long enough to make them obtrusive. What he agrees to from
courtesy to-day he may hold by reasoning to-morrow, and drop the day
after for the pleasure of making a change. In business we cannot imagine
him doing anything which he believes to be evil, but he has remarkable
facility in assuring himself that nothing is wrong which appears to be
expedient." There is nothing to be added on this subject, except to say
that Sir Alexander has taken up his residence in the British capital,
and that he is already a prominent and popular member of London society.

Sir Alexander has been connected with numerous important public
undertakings in addition to those already mentioned, and was for many
years Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sherbrooke Reserve Militia. He has been
twice married--first to Elliott, daughter of the late Mr. John Torrance,
of Montreal; second to Amy, sister of his first wife.




THE REV. MICHAEL STAFFORD.


This gentleman, who is better known by his priestly title of "Father"
Stafford, has for more than twelve years past occupied the position of
Roman Catholic parish priest of Lindsay, Ontario. Though acting in so
comparatively humble a sphere, he has become known throughout the
country as a man of genuine philanthropy, earnest zeal, and practical
piety. His exertions in the cause of temperance, or--to speak more
accurately--of total abstinence, have been attended with great benefits,
and have by no means been restricted to those who profess his own
theological creed. He was born in the township of Drummond, in the
county of Lanark, Ontario, on the 1st of March, 1832. The homestead was
on the banks of the Mississippi, about eight miles from the town of
Perth. His parents came originally from Wexford, in Ireland, and made a
home for themselves in the Canadian forest. A mile distant from their
abode was the early home of the late Hon. Malcolm Cameron, and
entertaining incidents are still told of the election campaign when
young Malcolm ran as "the barefooted boy" against a scion of the Family
Compact, receiving the hearty support of Stafford _pre_, who was an
earnest Reformer, and who worked with special zeal in this election,
although the general influence of his Church was put forward on the
other side. Young Stafford went to the county school until he was
fourteen, and then spent two years at the Perth High School. He
afterwards spent a year at Chambly College, where he acquired a
knowledge of the French language. The six succeeding years were passed
at Ste. Thrse, where his course in arts was finished. He then entered
Regiopolis College, Kingston, and studied theology under the Venerable
Vicar-General McDonnell, Professor of Languages and Theology, with whom
he was a great favourite, and who always manifested the deepest interest
in his welfare. During the latter part of his course at this institution
he acted as assistant-chaplain at the Penitentiary, and in the discharge
of this duty observed that liquor-drinking had a great deal to do with
filling the cells of the establishment; but it was not till some years
afterwards that he became a total abstainer, and a determined and
effective foe to intemperance. He was ordained priest in 1858, by Bishop
Horan, and was immediately appointed director of Regiopolis College, and
Professor of Philosophy and Metaphysics. The young priest's preference
was at this time decidedly for a life within the college walls as an
educator, rather than for the missionary and parish work in which he was
subsequently to win substantial success and celebrity. As boy and young
man he had always been somewhat delicate, and the severity of his
studies and devotion to his professorial and other duties induced
pulmonary disease, to which four of the best physicians of the country
predicted he must shortly succumb. The Vicar-General resolved to try and
save the life of his favourite student, and together they started in
January, 1859, for Cuba. On reaching Charleston, S.C., the Vicar-General
found that his patient could not stand the increasing heat, and they
accordingly went up to the "hill country"--the Pine Ridge on the Pedee
River--where the winter was spent with advantage to the health of the
invalid. Here he saw slavery perhaps under its most advantageous forms,
but it did not reconcile him to it, and Father Stafford, while at an
auction sale of slaves at Richmond, having expressed his disapprobation
somewhat strongly, though unobtrusively, was "warned" by a peace
officer, who supposed he was from the Northern States. The statement
that he was a British subject changed the warning to friendly advice and
hospitable treatment. The summer was spent in a trip to Ireland, England
and France, and he came back in September completely restored to health.
He went back to his duties in the College as Professor of Logic,
Metaphysics and Ethics, and remained for the scholastic year. About nine
months were spent at Picton and six at Kemptville in the place of
priests absent through ill-health. In October he was appointed to the
parish of Wolfe Island. Here he had an opportunity of seeing what was
not then to be seen in any other part of Upper Canada--a congregation of
Roman Catholics who were total abstainers, and who had been total
abstainers for twelve years. There was no fighting, no quarrelling, no
begging; the schools were all flourishing, and all in consequence of
total abstinence, which had been established by the Rev. Father Foley.
Father Stafford had there an opportunity of seeing Calvin & Breck's
industry carried on. They would sometimes have from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred raftsmen employed in rafting square timber and
staves; and though these men had to work in the water all day, they took
no liquor, and as Father Stafford has stated in his public addresses, to
his knowledge they never became ill. In May, 1868, he was appointed to
the parish of Lindsay, and settled there with some regret, as he found a
perceptible difference between the state of things there and on the
island. The schools were behind, and the people were not so comfortable,
not so well lodged, and not so well educated as on the island. There
were then eight taverns, or liquor houses, in the township of Ops. He
found out, on inquiry, the enormous amount spent in liquor, and set
himself diligently to work to remedy the evil. A considerable number of
the members of his congregation had lost their farms through drinking
and the consequences of drinking. He was forced to the conclusion that
the only way to stop the drinking was to organize a total abstinence
society. This was done, and at the end of the first year nine hundred
persons had taken the pledge. Within two years most of the members of
the congregation had followed their example. The _shebeens_ gradually
disappeared; the farms and farm-houses improved; comfortable and
well-appointed brick schoolhouses took the places of the old log
buildings, and the township advanced to the rank of one of the best in
the county and Province. It is curious to note that, as the taverns were
closed, new brick schoolhouses sprang up; then there were eight
liquor-selling houses and only two brick schoolhouses; now the number of
the latter edifices is twelve--being one for each section in the
township. The Separate School in Lindsay was then one of inferior
character, but is now a very fine building, erected in 1869. The average
attendance then was one hundred; the new school afforded accommodation
for twice that number, and within a year after it was opened all the
accommodation was taken up. The competitive examination established in
Ops showed that in the school sections where most drinking had been
done the education was inferior, but in the sections where total
abstinence prevailed the reverse was the case. Father Stafford has
always taken a deep interest in education. Some years ago he gave twenty
dollars a year in prizes for the Ops competitive examination, and the
results were very gratifying. His efforts to improve the educational
facilities of Ops and Lindsay are well known. As an instance of this, we
may mention that he supplied several Public Schools of Ops with maps and
apparatus, and that the trustees put up brick school buildings in
accordance with his plans as to architecture and ventilation. In
addition to the fine Separate School building erected in Lindsay, the
handsome Loretto Convent is a substantial testimony to his enterprise
and zeal, as well as to the liberal manner in which he was supported by
his fellow citizens. The ventilation of the convent has some special
merits, and has been highly recommended by the Provincial Architect, Mr.
Kivas Tully, and has been adopted for the Normal School at Ottawa and
the Female College at Duffin's Creek; while several farmers of the
county of Victoria have adopted the same principle for their private
dwellings. With the approval of the Archbishop of Toronto, and of his
own bishop, Father Stafford succeeded in 1860 in getting the Education
Department to introduce into their Depository a supply of books for
Roman Catholic schools, school libraries and prize books--an arrangement
that was greatly appreciated by the Catholics of the Province. It was
fitting that the Government should offer so active an educationist the
appointment of Head Master of the Ottawa Normal School, when it was
opened several years ago; but he declined the offer, as he felt
satisfied that the sedentary work would not agree with his health. In
the summer of 1876 he paid a visit to England and Ireland, and
frequently addressed large meetings in advocacy of total abstinence,
while he said everywhere a good word for Canada. In London he lectured
at the request of Cardinal Manning, and had very large audiences. Father
Stafford's bold and statesmanlike utterances on the occasion of the 12th
of July disturbances in Montreal in 1877, are still fresh in the public
memory, and are worthy of preservation in a permanent form, more
especially in a land where there is a perpetually-recurring liability to
such contingencies.

As a speaker, Father Stafford does not strive to produce striking effect
by "brilliant" oratory. He is concise and simple, but speaks with an
energy and earnestness that make a deep impression. He depends more upon
facts and experiences than upon glittering generalities, and his
arguments and appeals have the greater power over his audience. Being
still in the prime of life, this social reformer has before him a career
of great usefulness to the country, and his field of work promises to
become greatly widened as time rolls on. He is much beloved and esteemed
by his people, who have more than once testified their appreciation of
his labours. He has on his part evinced commendable generosity,
especially in promoting the educational interests of the parish, and on
one occasion he contributed out of his own resources the large sum of
$7,500. His interest in social reform and sanitary matters has also been
very active and useful, and his career as a whole is one which we should
be glad to see imitated by many of his contemporaries in this country,
both clerical and lay.




THE REV. WILLIAM CAVEN, D.D.,

PRINCIPAL OF KNOX COLLEGE, TORONTO.


Principal Caven was born in the parish of Kirkcolm, Wigtonshire,
Scotland, on the 26th of December, 1830. His ancestors on both sides had
been settled in that neighbourhood for centuries, and several of them
figure conspicuously in the local annals. They were in their day
strenuous supporters of the Solemn League and Covenant, and the names of
some of them are enshrined on the roll of the "Wigton Martyrs." One of
the most cherished traditions of the family on the mother's side relates
how one of them, for refusing to abjure his faith, suffered grievous
bodily mutilation at the hands of the dragoons of "Bloody
Claverse"--known to history as John Graham, Viscount Dundee. A less
accurately authenticated tradition identifies Margaret Wilson, who
suffered martyrdom in 1685, along with Margaret Maclachlan,[10] as a
member of the family from which Principal Caven's mother is descended.

His father was the late Mr. John Caven, a sound scholar and a very
worthy man, who was by profession a school teacher. The late Mr. Caven
was a member of the United Secession Church, which, by its union, in
1840, with the "Relief" Church, as it was called, formed the United
Presbyterian Church--an organization which still retains a separate
corporate existence in Scotland and the United States, though it has
long since lost it in Canada and some of the other colonies, owing to
successive unions between it and other Presbyterian bodies. Not being a
member of the Established Church of Scotland, Mr. Caven was in those
days ineligible for the position of a parish schoolmaster, but he had no
difficulty in obtaining pupils, and enjoyed a creditable reputation
alike as a sound scholar and a successful instructor. He emigrated from
Wigtonshire to Canada in the summer of 1847, and for a short time took
up his abode near Galt, Ontario, in the township of North Dumfries.
After a time he removed to the neighbourhood of St. Mary's, where he
continued to reside down to the time of his death a few months since. He
resumed his labours in the work of education after his arrival in
Canada, first as a teacher, and afterwards as a school superintendent,
and was greatly beloved for his amiability and uprightness of character.

[Illustration: W. CAVEN]

His son, the subject of this memoir, received his early education at the
school kept by his father, in the parish of Kirkcolm. He was a diligent
student, and did full justice to his father's instructions. He chose the
ministry as his profession, and when the family emigrated and settled in
Dumfries, he began his studies under the auspices of the United
Presbyterian Church, which had been planted in Western Canada,
largely through the instrumentality of the Rev. William Fraser, of
Bondhead, and the Rev. Alexander Mackenzie, of Goderich, both of whom
came as missionaries from Nova Scotia. The educational institutions of
the country were not in a very forward state in those days. The
Presbyterian body had at that time no regular collegiate institution of
its own, and candidates for the ministry were forced to content
themselves with such appliances as could be provided. The training of
students was entrusted to the late Rev. William Proudfoot, of
London--father of the present Vice-Chancellor--and the Rev. Mr.
Mackenzie above mentioned. Mr. Caven devoted himself assiduously to the
prescribed literary and theological course under the direction of those
venerable men. During the academical year of 1850-51 he studied in
Toronto, and completed his course by reading for another year. He was
licensed to preach in the early part of 1852, by the old Flamboro'
Presbytery, and in October of the same year he was ordained and inducted
into the pastorate of the charge known as St. Mary's and Downie. At one
period in his career as a student he was engaged for a short time in the
work of teaching, and during 1855 and 1856 he spent nearly a year in
Scotland for the benefit of his health, without, however, surrendering
his pastoral charge. These were the only interruptions which occurred in
his work as a student and minister until 1865, when the Synod appointed
him and his present colleague, Professor Gregg, to fill, during
alternate terms, the chair of Exegetical Theology and Biblical
Criticism, which had been vacated by Professor Young in the previous
year. The appointment of Professor of the same Department was
permanently conferred upon him in 1866, and from that time to the
present he has continued to occupy that position. As a teacher of
Exegetics, he has from the commencement of his incumbency been noted for
his great moderation and candour in stating the opinions which he feels
bound to controvert, not less than by his firm adhesion to views of
Biblical interpretation held in common by all Evangelical churches, as
well as those which are more distinctively characteristic of his own.
The truth, as he holds it, and as the Presbyterian Church holds it, has
no more fearless and uncompromising defender, and few more efficient.

In 1870, Dr. Willis, who was Principal of the college, resigned that
position, and was succeeded by Professor Caven, under the title of
Chairman of the College Board. This title, in 1873, was abandoned for
that of Principal, which position and title he still holds by
appointment of the General Assembly. When an effort was made to procure
a new edifice for the college he was chosen chairman of the committee
appointed to canvass for funds, and in this capacity he, in company with
his colleague, Professor Gregg, spent two summers in making a tour
through the Province of Ontario. Mainly through their exertions the
building fund had by the end of that time risen to nearly $100,000, all
of which, together with about $30,000 since raised, has been expended on
the new building, the cornerstone of which was laid in April, 1874. The
college was occupied for the first time during the academical year of
1875-76. There is also in existence in connection with the college the
nucleus of an endowment fund, the principal part of which consists of a
bequest of $40,000 from the late Mr. William Hall, of Peterboro', who
died intestate, but whose well-known intentions in the matter were
carried out by his heirs-at-law in a manner as creditable to them as it
will doubtless prove beneficial to the institution. The endowment fund
at the present time amounts to about $52,000.

Principal Caven has always been a zealous advocate of the union of the
various branches of the Presbyterian Church. By the amalgamation of the
Free and United Presbyterian Churches of Canada in 1861 he became a
minister of what was for the next fourteen years known as the Canada
Presbyterian Church. He was appointed a member of the Union Committee of
that body when an amalgamation between it and the Presbyterian Church of
Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland was first projected,
and no one person did more to bring the negotiations to a successful
termination than he. He was Moderator of the Canada Presbyterian Church
in 1875, and at the Union it devolved upon him, in his official
capacity, to sign the Articles of Union in the name of the Church.

Though not past middle age, and though neither a brilliant nor a showy
orator, Principal Caven has won a high reputation, not only as Principal
of one of the most important of our educational institutions, but as a
preacher, a member of church courts, a scholar and a thinker. Persons
thoroughly capable of forming an unbiassed opinion have declared that as
a debater he is unrivalled in the Presbyterian Church. It is said that
"Having first clearly thought out his own view of the matter in hand, he
has the faculty of presenting it in a singularly effective way for the
consideration of others. His arguments are invariably characterized by
an amount of lucidity and a freedom from sophistry which are well
calculated to give weight to his utterances, and which, combined with a
considerable amount of forensic skill, and the well-known intellectual
sincerity of the speaker, seldom fail to win a substantial victory for
the side which is so fortunate as to secure his advocacy. Although one
of the most immovable and uncompromising of ecclesiastics in all matters
where a principle is at stake, Principal Caven is at the same time one
of the gentlest, most retiring, and most unassuming of men, his great
influence being the result of no conscious striving after it on his
part; while his manner is the perfect embodiment of quiet power."

Principal Caven takes a deep, if unobtrusive interest in all questions
affecting the public welfare, and is specially interested in educational
matters. In 1877 he was elected to the Presidency of the Ontario
Teachers' Association, as successor to Professor Goldwin Smith. This
position he still retains. He was appointed Chairman of one of the
sederunts of the General Presbyterian Council, which met in Edinburgh,
Scotland, in July, 1877.

In July, 1856, he married Miss Goldie, of Greenfields, near Ayr, in the
county of Waterloo, Ontario. He has a family of seven children.




[Illustration: L. H. HOLTON]

THE HON. LUTHER HAMILTON HOLTON.


No man who has taken an equally conspicuous part in public life in this
country during the last quarter of a century has succeeded in retaining
a larger share of the personal friendship and respect of politicians of
every phase of opinion than the late Mr. Holton. Though a sufficiently
pronounced party man, who took his full share in the stirring debates of
his time, and who had always the courage of his opinions, he was no mere
factionist, and always regarded the interests of his country as
paramount to those of any party whatsoever. He possessed an uncommonly
well-balanced mind, and was never led into the errors into which extreme
partisans on both sides are tolerably certain to fall. Persons who are
entitled to speak with authority have declared that, throughout the long
course of his political life, though he was frequently engaged in the
bitter conflicts engendered by the times, he never discussed questions
in such a manner as to be unable to meet his adversaries the next hour,
and give them a cordial grasp of the hand. His antagonism was confined
to matters affecting the public welfare, and, so far as is known and
believed, he left not a single personal enemy behind him. He was
sensitive to public opinion, and proud of the popularity which he
enjoyed; but he was wise enough to know that no man can ever be
permanently popular who ceases to be true to himself. He fought the
battles of Parliamentary and Constitutional freedom with unflinching
courage, and with a firmness and tenacity which knew no shadow of
turning; but his breast was intolerant of rancour, and he could do
justice to the sincerity of purpose of those who honestly differed from
him. We have had more impassioned and effective orators in our Canadian
Parliament; we have had statesmen of stronger individuality, and more
comprehensive grasp; we have had Cabinet Ministers more brilliant and
more showy, but we have had none more truly honourable and useful, none
more truly respected, more sincerely desirous for the public good, or
who worked for that end with more unswerving singleness of mind; none
with a higher sense of duty to the public which he served; none better
adapted by nature and training for a trustworthy and serviceable member
of Parliament. His sudden and unexpected death at the age of sixty-two
years has left a gap in the ranks of his Party, and indeed in the ranks
of Parliament, which will not soon be filled. At the time of his death
he was, with the single exception of the Premier, Sir John A. Macdonald,
the oldest member of the House of Commons.

He was born in the township of Lansdowne, in the county of Leeds, Upper
Canada, in the month of October, 1817. Concerning his early life we have
but slight information. In 1826, just before the completion of his ninth
year, the family of which he was a member removed to Montreal, which
thenceforward continued to be his home. In early youth he embarked in
commercial pursuits, in which, though he began low down on the ladder,
he was destined to attain to affluence and distinction. In or about the
year 1830 he entered as a clerk in the office of Messrs. Hooker & Co.,
one of the great forwarding establishments of Montreal in those days.
This firm, in addition to carrying on a general mercantile business, was
largely engaged in the transportation of merchandise from the chief
ports of entry to the various cities and towns of Canada. The business
connection was very large and profitable. Railways had no existence in
those times, and the canal system of Canada was yet in its infancy.
Transportation was chiefly carried on by means of Durham boats,
batteaux, and wagons. Young Holton manifested great aptitude for a
commercial life, and was not long in making his way to a front rank
among his fellow-employees. He took a keen interest in the pursuits in
which he was engaged; his industry was great, and his integrity
unimpeachable. His position erelong became one of great responsibility,
and there can be no doubt that his individual exertions were the means
of greatly extending the business of the firm. In process of time he was
admitted to a partnership, and the style of the firm became Hooker,
Holton & Co. The business continued to prosper until the era of railways
arrived, when it soon became apparent that the old methods of
transportation would have to be abandoned. Mr. Holton readily grasped
the main points of the situation, and formed his plans in accordance
with the new order of things. He associated himself with the principal
contractors of the country, including the present Sir Alexander Galt,
and Messrs. Gzowski and Macpherson. A company was incorporated, which
undertook to construct a line of railway from Montreal to Kingston, and
Mr. Holton and his partners endeavoured to obtain the contracts for its
construction. The contract for the construction of the whole Grand Trunk
system, however, from Montreal to Toronto, was placed in the hands of
the great English contracting firm of Peto, Brassey & Co. Soon
afterwards the firm of Gzowski & Co., in which Mr. Holton was a partner,
obtained the contract for the construction of the road from Toronto
westward. The contract was faithfully carried out, and the firm netted a
handsome profit. From that time forward Mr. Holton was pecuniarily
independent of the world, and though he engaged in other large and
profitable enterprises he began to devote more attention to political
affairs than he had previously found leisure for doing. He had always
entertained strong Liberal views, and already occupied a seat in
Parliament. His advent into active political life dates from the general
elections of 1854, when, in conjunction with the present Chief Justice
Dorion and the late Hon. John Young, he presented himself as a candidate
for the representation of the city of Montreal. He and his two
coadjutors were all returned, and for the next three years Mr. Holton
was a hardworking member of Parliament. He from the first applied
himself to the task of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the rules and
modes of procedure, and to a study of the business before the House. He
was a constant attendant at the meetings of Committees, and familiarized
himself with practical details. He worked steadily from session to
session, and by degrees gained a very comprehensive knowledge of
Parliamentary practice. He was even then an enthusiastic advocate of the
British system of Parliamentary Government, and few of his
contemporaries in the Canadian Assembly could boast, of so intimate a
knowledge of the practice of Parliament, and of the principles
underlying and governing it. Alike as a partisan and a Parliamentary
member he was above suspicion, and never allowed his personal bias to
interfere with his public conduct. He was a warm friend of the Hon.--now
Sir--Francis Hincks, but his first vote was against the then-existing
Ministry, of which Mr. Hincks was the Premier and leading spirit.

At the general election of 1857 Mr. Holton once more presented himself
to his constituents in Centre Montreal as a candidate for Parliament.
His opponent was the present Sir John Rose, who was successful in the
contest. A petition was filed by Mr. Holton against Mr. Rose's return,
but was unsuccessful, owing to a trivial technical defect in the jurat
of the affidavit accompanying it. For several years subsequent to this
time Mr. Holton was without a seat in Parliament. He accepted the
portfolio of Commissioner of Public Works in the short-lived
Brown-Dorion Administration formed in the month of August, 1858, and
became a Member of the Executive Council, but resigned, with his
colleagues, without entering upon the departmental duties. It was thus
not necessary that he should seek election by any constituency, and he
remained in private life. The Legislative Council, however, was then an
elective body, and in 1862, a vacancy having occurred in the Victoria
division--embracing three-fourths of the city of Montreal--he offered
himself for that division, and was returned by acclamation. In May,
1863, he resigned his position in the Council, and offered himself as a
candidate for a seat in the Assembly, as Representative for the county
of Chateauguay. He was elected for that constituency, and thenceforward
continued to represent it in Parliament down to the time of his death,
embracing a period of seventeen years. No man not of French-Canadian
stock ever won so large a measure of the confidence of the inhabitants
of the Lower Province, and that confidence was never betrayed.

In the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion Administration, formed in 1863, Mr.
Holton accepted the portfolio of Minister of Finance. This office he
held until the resignation of the Government in February of the
following year. In the subsequent proceedings which resulted in the
Confederation of the Provinces Mr. Holton for the first time in his life
found himself out of sympathy with the leading spirits of his Party on
an important public question. The scheme of Confederation, and the
coalition formed for the purpose of carrying it into effect, were
projects which did not commend themselves to his judgment, and he did
not display any hesitation in speaking his mind, both from his place in
Parliament and elsewhere. His position at this time was one of much
difficulty, but his genuine sincerity and manliness were never more
signally displayed in the whole course of his legislative career. It is
worthy of note that the stand taken by him at this time did not have the
effect of alienating from him a single member of the Liberal Party. His
hostility to Confederation was based not so much on the general
principles of the scheme itself as on the nature of some of its details,
and on the method pursued for securing its adoption. This was rendered
sufficiently apparent from a speech delivered by him early in the course
of the debates in the House on the subject. "It is quite manifest," he
said, "that a union, even if generally desirable, may become undesirable
from the bad or inconvenient arrangements incident to the adoption of
that union; and that explains the position of many honourable gentlemen
who, like myself, are not opposed to the Federal principle, but who find
themselves obliged to go counter, apparently, to their own convictions,
because they cannot accept a union clogged with such conditions as this
union is." He continued to oppose the scheme so long as opposition
seemed to promise any useful result. His conduct, however, was
characterized by nothing approaching to factiousness, and no one ever
presumed to doubt that he was actuated from first to last by a high
sense of duty. No sooner had Confederation become an accomplished fact
than he bowed to the popular will, and once more took his place in the
Liberal ranks of the Dominion. In 1871 he once more found himself at
issue with the members of his Party generally with respect to the Treaty
effected through the agency of the Joint High Commission which met at
Washington in that year. In the course of the debate in the Commons he
explained the reasons which led him to acquiesce in the measure. Having
alluded to the painful necessity of separating himself on the question
before the House from those friends from Ontario with whom he usually
acted, he remarked that among the members who had addressed the House on
the Opposition side, he stood almost alone as an original friend of the
Treaty; not that he considered it a perfect instrument, for it contained
many things he would gladly have seen omitted, and many things were
omitted which he would gladly have seen inserted; but it constituted, in
his judgment, an earnest and hopeful effort to settle the long
outstanding difficulties between the Empire and the Government of the
neighbouring Republic. Holding that view, in spite of the objection to
details, he accepted the Treaty. "This is not," he remarked, "a Treaty
to which Canada would have become a party as an independent country, and
not one that England would have become a party to if she had not these
Provinces as part of her Empire. That consideration elevates the whole
question at once into the domain of Imperial policy." But while
declaring his intention on these grounds to vote for the second reading
of the Bill giving effect to the fishery clauses, he criticised with
great severity the conduct of the Prime Minister of Canada in accepting
a position which prevented him from acting solely in the interest of
Canada. He accordingly voted against the Ministry, and afterwards
supported the second reading of the Bill.

In 1871, in deference to a very general demand from the electors of
Montreal Centre, he allowed himself to be put into nomination for that
constituency as a candidate for the Local Legislature, and after a sharp
contest he carried the election against Mr. Carter. He held the seat
three years, when he resigned it, and restricted his labours to the
House of Commons at Ottawa, where he accorded a steady and consistent
support to Mr. Mackenzie's Administration. He declined to accept a place
in that Administration, owing to a disinclination to encumber himself
with the cares of office, but he was in full sympathy with the
Ministerial policy, and promoted it to the utmost of his great ability,
filling, in addition to other important positions, that of Chairman of
the Committee on Banking and Commerce. He was not a verbose or frequent
speaker, and when he addressed the House his utterances were more
remarkable for terseness and relevance than for volubility or
elocutionary display. "He was," says a contemporary writer, "independent
in circumstances and more independent in character. No profitable
transaction in which the House was asked to intervene, even to the
extent of granting a charter of incorporation, found his name connected
with it. His intimate personal friends who knew how careful he was to
have no considerable interest in Joint Stock Companies which were likely
to come to Parliament as petitioners, even for changes in their
corporate powers, were sometimes disposed to believe that he pushed this
principle to an extreme." As a member of Committees Mr. Holton's
services were simply invaluable, and in this respect he has not left his
equal behind him.

His death, which took place early on the morning of Sunday, the 14th of
March last, was very sudden and unexpected. He was at Ottawa, in the
discharge of his Parliamentary duties, when the end came. On Saturday,
the 13th, he was apparently in good health and spirits, engaging freely
in conversation with the members generally, and discussing topics with
many of his Liberal friends. During the evening he dined at the Rideau
Club as the guest of the Hon. Mr. Mackenzie Bowell, Minister of Customs.
Shortly before midnight he returned to his hotel and retired to rest,
but soon afterwards left his room, complaining of being unwell. After
remaining up for a short time he again retired to his apartment, but
about one o'clock rang his bell for the attendant, whom he despatched
for medical assistance. In the temporary absence of Doctors Brouse and
Bergin from the hotel, Dr. Grant was sent for, but a few minutes before
he arrived Mr. Holton had breathed his last, in the presence of the Hon.
Isaac Burpee and Sir Albert Smith, who on their arrival had found him in
a state of unconsciousness, from which he never recovered. His death was
by some attributed to apoplexy, and by others to disease of the heart.

Upon the opening of the House on the following day, Sir John A.
Macdonald, the Premier, moved an adjournment in token of respect to the
memory of the deceased statesman. His touching and eloquent remarks were
evidently dictated by sincere and deep feeling, and produced a very
visible effect upon those who heard them. He stated that although he had
mingled in the strife of politics with Mr. Holton, almost since the
commencement of his political life, there had never ceased to exist the
warmest personal friendship between them. "I had most intimate business
relations with him," remarked Sir John, "and I can vouch, as all the
world can vouch, for the unswerving honesty and uprightness of purpose
which characterized his actions and his conduct in every relation of
life--private, social, commercial and political. He held a unique
position in the Parliament of Canada. Though a strong party man, and
sometimes, from my point of view, too strongly actuated by partisan
motives, still from the uprightness of his mind, the soundness of his
judgment, and the warmth of his devotion to his country, he held himself
aloof from the more bitter struggles of his party, and we on this side
of the House always looked with confidence to him in matters in which
the honour, the dignity, or the prosperity of this Dominion--or of this
Province before it was connected with the Dominion--were concerned. If I
may be permitted to say so, he held a position in this House in which
his disinterested usefulness to the country was more distinguished than
at any other period of his life. He had survived much of the ardent
bitterness of party conflict, and thought only of the good of his
country; and he prided himself, and justly prided himself, on being a
great Parliamentary authority. His utility to the House, and to every
member of the House, and his usefulness to the country in that regard,
were almost, if not quite, unequalled in either branch of the
Legislature. I speak, of course, not in a party sense when I say that
his mind was exceedingly conservative, and that in all legislation, and
especially legislation affecting vested interests or private rights, he
was always found protecting those interests and those rights, and
resisting any attempt to override them by revolutionary or hasty
action.... I know what must be the regrets of his political friends. I
know how useful he was to them, and what a great loss he will be to his
party; but I say from the sincerity of my heart that I think that the
loss to the whole House is as great as the loss to his own political
friends. But, sir, if he be a loss to this House, how serious must be
the considerations which press upon my own mind. I have known him so
long--knowing him from youth upwards, and seeing him one of the last of
the old party I used to meet years and years ago--I feel, to use the
words of Burke with regard to the death of his son, 'What shadows we are
and what shadows we pursue.' I feel, sir, that no member would have the
heart to rise to-day to enter upon any discussion of importance, but
that all who see that empty chair and think of that kindly countenance
will feel with me that we ought to show our last respect to his memory
by adjourning." Sir John's remarks were followed by a few words from Mr.
Mackenzie, the leader of the Opposition, standing beside the empty chair
of his late friend, and he was so overcome that he utterly broke down.
Mr. Mackenzie was followed by Mr. Laurier and several others, all of
whom echoed the tone of the speech just quoted from. The funeral, which
took place at Montreal on the following Wednesday, was an imposing
demonstration of respect. It was attended by statesmen and prominent
citizens from all parts of the Dominion, who assembled to pay a last
tribute to the memory of a man of stainless honour, and to express
sympathy with those who have been left to mourn his loss.

Mr. Holton, early in life, married Miss Forbes, of Montreal, who
survives him. Besides the Parliamentary functions conferred upon him by
his fellow-citizens, Mr. Holton occupied many of those positions of
trust which depend upon the confidence of the business communities. He
was an Honorary President of the Reform Association of the _Parti
National_ of Montreal, and a Governor of McGill University. He was
President of the Board of Trade, and of the City and District Savings
Bank; Vice-President of the Free Trade Association; Harbour
Commissioner; Director of the City Bank; and a member of the Corporation
of Montreal.




THE HON. LOUIS JOSEPH PAPINEAU.


The development of the fur trade of New France, and the general progress
made by the colony during the seventeenth century, gave rise to a
considerable emigration of enterprising adventurers from the Old World
to the New. Many of the emigrants were younger members of illustrious
French families, whose chief allurement to abandon civilization had its
origin in a mere love of adventure. Others were impelled by the hope of
gain, and by the scarcity of suitable employment in their native land.
The marvellous stories of Champlain, of Maisonneuve, of Frontenac, and
of those Reverend Fathers whose _Relations_ form so enthralling a
chapter in our early colonial history, were eminently calculated to stir
the blood of ardent and adventurous youths who had no particular
inducement to remain at home, and who beheld in the boundless wilds of
the Great West an excellent market for their surplus energy and
enthusiasm. Among these voluntary exiles was a youth named Papineau,
who, towards the close of the century, abandoned the pleasant vineyards
of Southern France, and sought a field for the exercise of his talents
in the less genial climate of Canada. He settled at Montreal, and
founded the Canadian branch of the family of Papineau. We have no means
at hand for minutely tracing the line of descent. Suffice it to say that
the father of the subject of this sketch was born at Montreal on the
16th of October, 1752, and that he lived long enough to be familiarly
known to many persons who are still living. He was a notary-public, and
was for many years a member of the Provincial Assembly. He was wise
enough to see that he and his fellow-colonists had been gainers, rather
than losers, by the Conquest, and became a loyal subject of Great
Britain. In an address to the electors of Montreal delivered by him in
1810 he professed a strong attachment to the King, and declared his
readiness to expose his life and property for the preservation of the
Union. After a long and useful career he died in his native city in
1840. His son, the subject of the present sketch, was born at Montreal
on the 7th of October, 1789, two years before the division of the colony
into the two Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. The son received his
scholastic training at the Seminary of Quebec, and at an early age
entered upon the study of the law. Like other aspiring French Canadian
youths, he early manifested a deep interest in the national politics,
and long before reaching manhood he was known as a brilliant and
effective declaimer against what he believed to be unwise public
measures. In 1809, while yet a student and a minor, he was elected to
Parliament as representative of the Lower Canadian constituency of
Kent--now Chambly. Notwithstanding his minority, he continued for nearly
two years to sit in the Assembly for this constituency. It is no
disparagement to him to say that he was at this time totally unfit to
take part in the proceedings of a grave deliberative assembly. A
judicious writer, commenting upon this part of his life, very sensibly
says:--"While we cannot but admire the aggressive force of character
which prompted a young man of twenty to enter the field of legislative
strife, we cannot help thinking that the gifts, natural or acquired, of
the average young man of that age would scarcely compensate for
inexperience, political childishness, crudity of thought, and a tendency
to intemperance in action." Young Papineau, however, was not one to
underrate his own merits, and the unwise compliments of his admirers led
him to regard himself as a heaven-born legislator, and as the destined
saviour of his country. In 1811, having attained his majority, he was
called to the Bar, and was immediately afterwards elected to Parliament
as representative of the West Ward of Montreal--a position which he
continued to hold for twenty successive years. Most of the "burning
questions" of those days are now dead issues, and nothing is to be
gained by closely following his legislative career. As every student of
Canadian history knows, differences were constantly arising between the
Assembly and the successive Governors sent out from the Mother Country
to direct the administration of affairs. There was much tyranny on one
side, and there was too often unreasonable opposition on the other. The
bitter question of nationality was constantly obtruding itself, and
young Papineau worked upon the prejudices of his fellow-countrymen in
such a fashion that public harmony was out of the question. He soon
found himself the leader of an enthusiastic minority of Nationalists in
the Assembly. Upon the breaking out of the War of 1812, however, he took
the command of a volunteer company, and served in that capacity until
peace was restored. In 1817 he was elected Speaker of the House, a
position which he continued to occupy from that time until 1837, except
during the period of his absence in England as a delegate to oppose the
union of the Provinces, as will presently be mentioned. Soon after the
arrival of the Earl of Dalhousie as Governor, in 1820, that nobleman, at
the instigation of the Home Office, offered Mr. Papineau a seat at the
Executive Council Board. The offer was accepted, but, owing to a
misunderstanding with the Governor, Mr. Papineau declined to take his
seat. The misunderstanding soon became a serious rupture, and in 1823
the supplementary seat was abolished. Meanwhile, Mr. Papineau's
opposition was positively ferocious, and his influence in the House was
altogether out of proportion to his abilities. The public supplies were
stopped, and the royal instructions were treated with contempt. The
project for reuniting the Provinces was urged at this time with great
prospects of success, and a Bill providing for the union was actually
introduced into the British Parliament. The French Canadian populace
were almost to a man averse to this measure, which they regarded as
being subversive of their privileges. It must be admitted that their
aversion was not quite groundless. The Bill affected the disposal by the
Assembly of taxes levied for State purposes, and prohibited the use of
the French language in the debates and public Acts of Parliament. When
intelligence of the contents of this Bill reached Lower Canada the
French population of that Province were roused to a high pitch of
excitement. They determined to send delegates to England to oppose the
measure. The delegates fixed upon were Mr. Papineau and Mr.--afterwards
the Hon. John--Neilson, who sat in the Assembly as member for the county
of Quebec. In the spring of the year 1822 these gentlemen crossed the
Atlantic, carrying with them a numerously-signed petition to the
Imperial Parliament, praying that the proposed measure might not
receive its sanction. The delegates were well received in London, and
made such good use of their time that the Union project was defeated.
Sir James Mackintosh, Sir Francis Burdett, and the leaders of the
Liberal Party in the House of Commons opposed it so strenuously that it
was abandoned on its second reading. It was owing to the exertions of
these Lower Canadian delegates that the Union of the Provinces was
postponed until 1841. Mr. Neilson returned to this country after a stay
of a few months. His colleague remained for some time longer "to guard
against surprises." During Mr. Papineau's absence in England on this
mission the Speaker's chair in the Lower Canadian Assembly was occupied
by M. Vallires de St. Real. This gentleman retired immediately after
Mr. Papineau's return, and the latter was again elected to the position;
but the rupture between him and the Governor had by this time become
active hostility, and the treatment which each of them received at the
hands of the other was utterly unworthy of both. During the session of
1827 the Assembly, at Mr. Papineau's instigation, made an
unconstitutional demand upon the Governor, who was asked to lay before
the House certain private correspondence between himself and the Home
Office. The Governor courteously, but firmly, declined to accede to this
unreasonable request. The Assembly, instead of bowing to this decision,
set themselves seriously to question its legality, and when they found
that no exception could be taken to it on that score, they devoted
themselves to annoying the Governor by hampering him at every point.
Days were frittered away in puerile and fruitless discussions, and
legislation was completely arrested. Reviewing the matter calmly at this
distance of time, there can be no doubt that there was blame on both
sides. The Governor was petulant and tyrannical; and the Assembly
trifled with its duties in a manner altogether unbecoming. Lord
Dalhousie, irritated almost beyond endurance, prorogued the House.
Parliament was soon afterwards dissolved, and the result of the
following elections was a decisive majority for the Papineau faction. On
Wednesday, the 20th of November, 1827, the new House met, and forthwith
proceeded to elect a Speaker. The almost universal choice of the House
fell upon Mr. Papineau, who received forty-four votes, his opponent
receiving only five. The Governor, upon this result being communicated
to him, was so unwise as to refuse to ratify the election, and directed
them to proceed to the election of another Speaker. Such an act was not
likely to be tamely submitted to by so boisterous a stickler for the
privileges of the House as Mr. Papineau, whose word was law to a large
majority in the Assembly. The House refused to be dictated to in such a
matter, and asserted their independence by passing a resolution
confirming their choice of Mr. Papineau. Having proceeded this length,
they began to examine the Constitution, and to search in the proceedings
of the English House of Commons for precedents. After finding two
obsolete cases, neither of which was precisely in point, they proceeded
to vote five resolutions. The first of these declared that the Speaker
ought to be freely chosen. The second declared that Mr. Papineau had
been so chosen. The third and fourth were to the effect that the
Governor's ratification of their choice was not legally necessary. The
fifth reaffirmed their choice. Mr. Papineau was again seated in the
Speaker's chair, and the five members who had voted for his opponent, M.
Vallires de St. Real, left their seats and retired from the House. An
address was then sent in to the Governor, setting forth the House's
proceedings. His Excellency promised to reply in two days. Instead of
delivering a formal reply, Lord Dalhousie prorogued Parliament. Before
it met next year Sir James Kempt had succeeded to the Governor's
office. Upon the assembling of Parliament Sir James ratified the
Assembly's choice, and so ended one of the many struggles between the
Lower Canadian Assembly and the Governor.

The result of this contest tended to unduly exalt Mr. Papineau in the
estimation of French Canadians, and to give him a prominence to which
his parts scarcely entitled him. A Canadian writer, commenting upon this
episode in the Arch-agitator's career, says:--"It is with races
numerically weak and politically simple that a reputation is most easy
to achieve and most difficult to fulfil." Mr. Papineau's successful
opposition to Lord Dalhousie made him eager to engage in fresh conflicts
with that Governor's successor. During Sir James Kempt's short
administration the disputes in the Assembly respecting the control of
the finances were renewed with almost as much vigour as under Lord
Dalhousie; and the excitement continued to be kept up during Lord
Aylmer's tenure of office. "Governor succeeded Governor," says one of
Mr. Papineau's biographers, "but the change of representatives was
unattended with any essential change of policy. Each party dwelt on its
special rights, and overlooked its general duties--exaggerated its
powers, and lost sight of its responsibilities. Doubtless there was some
excuse, for Parliamentary government, as it is now interpreted, was
neither understood by those who advocated nor by those who opposed it.
The national party had studied English history in its fiercest passages,
and the British Constitution in its most trying struggles. Moreover,
they had done so irreverently, after the manner of impatient students,
and they applied it angrily, like irascible professors, when they
reduced their knowledge to practice. They examined the subject
theoretically, as it is described in books, but they did not observe it
practically, as it is applied by statesmen. They seemed but feebly to
perceive that the three estates of our mixed monarchy are not absolutely
fashioned in cast-iron moulds, unyielding in their forms and inflexible
in their substance. They overlooked the elasticity, the compensating
powers, the balance movements, the expanding and contracting forces by
which those estates control and regulate one another. Neither did they
take sufficient account of the traditional and hereditary elements, the
custom and usage with which their existence is intermingled.
Consequently they missed the human elements which temper and qualify the
whole; the consideration, the forbearance, the patriotism and the common
sense, which in the English system go far towards reconciling seeming
contradictions, and towards avoiding mere abstract difficulties." Mr.
Papineau himself seems to have had very little genuine statesmanship. He
knew that there were many grievances which needed removal, but he does
not seem to have had any conception of the true remedy. He could not
avoid seeing that the acts of the Assembly were nullified by an
irresponsible set of officials, but his only method of correcting this
evil in the body politic was to make the Legislative Council elective.
This plan he was never tired of advocating. It did not occur to him that
the true remedy, was to make the Council responsible to the Assembly,
and when that idea was suggested to him he pronounced it impracticable.
Yet in less than ten years from the time when he pronounced this
judgment Responsible Government was a reality. Meanwhile he continued to
inflame the French Canadian populace with harangues about liberty,
equality, and fraternity. Some of the older and wiser began to suspect
that their Louis Joseph was not the great statesman they had fondly
believed him to be, and that his passionate rhapsodies might possibly
get him into trouble some day. He had still, however, a large and
enthusiastic following, more especially of young men, to whom his
burning invective had all the significance of an oracle. He began to
preach Republicanism, and on one occasion proclaimed that Republican
institutions would eventually prevail throughout the whole of the
American continent--nay, that America was destined to furnish Republics
to the Old World. In an old and well-established community, where people
are educated to think for themselves, such vapourings are harmless, and
at the present day such language as this, addressed to a Canadian
audience, would be its own antidote. But the audiences before which Mr.
Papineau's harangues were delivered were for the most part composed of
illiterate people, entirely devoid of political discrimination, and
ready to be led hither and thither at the will of any one who could for
the time gain their ear. Mr. Papineau had very little true political
sagacity, but as compared with those whom he addressed his knowledge was
wide and various. It is only necessary, however, in order to show how
little he had learned in the course of his legislative experience, to
refer to his addresses to his constituents. In one of these he enjoined
the electors to purchase no article whatever which had been imported
from Great Britain. In another he referred to the British proclivities
of the Bank officials throughout the Province, and advised his hearers
to take no bank notes for the future, and to demand specie for such as
they then had on hand. Then came the famous Ninety-two Resolutions--a
document which has justly been characterized as more famous by reason of
the debate and the passions to which it gave rise than for any inherent
excellence, or for any convincing exposition of the duties of
statesmanship. As matter of fact, these resolutions were conceived by
feeble and unpractical minds. They bristled with alleged grievances, but
foreshadowed no plan whereby those grievances might be redressed. They
were passed by the Assembly, however, and transmitted to Great Britain,
where the Imperial Parliament was also prayed to impeach the Governor,
Lord Aylmer. The supplies were not voted, and the Governor prorogued the
House. Then followed a series of foolish demonstrations organized by Mr.
Papineau, by which the public peace was several times seriously menaced.
Lord Aylmer was succeeded by Lord Gosford, who tried to conciliate Mr.
Papineau and his adherents, but without success. It was evident that
there would be a rebellion. In the autumn of 1837 the crisis arrived.
Risings took place simultaneously in several parts of the Province. A
central committee, with Papineau at its head, was formed in Montreal,
where the "Sons of Liberty" paraded the streets and contemned British
authority. Then Papineau for the first time perceived what a dangerous
game he had been playing. He had lighted a fire which he could not
extinguish, and which bade fair to consume him. The Government roused
itself, and arrested nine of the ringleaders. The head and front of the
rebellion, however, made good his escape to the United States, where he
is said to have made an unsuccessful attempt to enlist the sympathies of
the American Congress in the rebellion. After spending two years in the
Republic he repaired to France, where he remained eight years, passing
most of his time in Paris. On the proclamation of an amnesty, in 1847,
he returned to Canada, where he was soon afterwards elected to a seat in
the United Parliament. He again appeared in the House as leader of the
Opposition, but it was soon apparent that he was no longer dangerous.
Mr. Lafontaine, the head of the Lower Canadian Administration, had
nothing to fear from an opponent to whom age and experience had brought
but scant access of political wisdom. "His countrymen," says the writer
already quoted from, "had learned, in a different school, under a wiser
teacher, the way to combine the two great principles of constitutional
government, loyalty to the throne and responsibility to the people, and
to utilize the peace, welfare, and happiness of the state. The
embittered incidents of less happy times were gradually moving towards
the grave of perished recollections. Politic men declined to recall
them, and patriotic men cared not to dim the brightness of hope with the
vapours of memory. Contented with what the present promised, they could
speak philosophically of the past, and mingle a great deal of charity
with their criticism. For the fire of adversity which had devastated the
Province was also a fire of purification, and though it destroyed much
that merciful men would have spared, it destroyed more that wise men
would have got rid of; and thus it may have been that the life of the
Province was saved by the blood which it lost. It was under such
circumstances, when former things were passing or had passed away, that
Mr. Papineau reappeared on the familiar stage of public affairs. Time
had dealt gently with him. His eye was apparently undimmed, his figure
unbent, and his intellect unclouded by the encroachments of age. If,
politically speaking, he had learned nothing new, at least he had
forgotten nothing that he had learned. The fond conceits of other days
were as loyally cherished by him as if their wisdom had not been
discredited by experience, and their fallacy established by events. Thus
when 'the old man eloquent' swept those chords of passion which in less
happy days had thrilled the hearts, fired the imaginations, and moved
the minds of men to madness, he found either that his hand had lost its
cunning or the instrument its charm--or else that the audience had lost
its sympathy. The music, though eloquent in persuasive power, fell upon
unheeding ears, or perchance on hearts from which the evil spirit had
been exorcised by influences which derived their strength from deeds
rather than from words."

In 1854 Mr. Papineau retired from public life, and spent the remaining
years allotted to him in scholarly seclusion at his home on the banks of
the Ottawa. He died on the 22nd of September, 1871.

In conclusion, it may be said that Mr. Papineau was a brilliant, albeit
somewhat shallow, orator; an enthusiastic and most energetic member of
Parliament; and the greatest political agitator that his Province has
produced. He had read much, and possessed a great deal of acquired
knowledge. It is reasonable to suppose that he meant well by his
country, and that he believed himself to be a patriot. In urging his
followers to engage in open rebellion he probably did not realize the
magnitude of his offence, and that he was luring his best friends to
their ruin. He was ever governed by his sympathies and prejudices rather
than by his judgment, and was in no proper sense of the word a
statesman. He has left a name on the pages of our national history, but
the name is one which even at this day awakens few sympathies, and the
political reputation which attaches to it is one which few will care
strenuously to defend.




THE HON. WILLIAM ALEXANDER HENRY.


Judge Henry was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the 30th of December,
1816. His father was the late Mr. Robert N. Henry, merchant, formerly of
Antigonish, but during the closing years of his life a resident of
Halifax, where he held various public offices. The son was educated at
the Government High School at Halifax, which he attended for many years.
Upon leaving school he chose the legal profession as his future calling
in life, and studied law in the office of the Hon. Alexander McDougall.
He was called to the Bar of his native Province in November, 1840, and
entered upon the practice of his profession at Antigonish, but soon
afterwards removed to the capital. He took a warm interest in the
political questions of the day, and had not been long at the Bar before
he was elected to represent his native county in the Legislative
Assembly. He sat in the House, as representative of that constituency,
for a continuous period of about twenty-six years. He espoused the
Liberal side, and was a strenuous supporter of the late Mr. Howe, in
whose efforts to secure Responsible Government he warmly participated.
He soon won a high position at the Bar, and was engaged in many of the
most important causes which came before the courts of Nova Scotia in
those days. Upon the meeting of Parliament early in 1848 he seconded a
motion of the late Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, as an amendment to the
Address, expressive of a want of confidence in the Executive Council.
The amendment was carried, the Council resigned, and a new
Administration was formed. Next year Mr. Henry accepted a seat in the
Executive Council, and was created a Q.C. He took a foremost part in
shaping the legislation of the next two sessions, voting as an
independent member. Upon the reorganization of the Government on the 3rd
of April, 1854, under the auspices of the Hon.--now Sir--William Young,
the present Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, Mr. Henry became
Solicitor-General, and held that position about three years, when he
succeeded the late Hon. J. W. Johnston as Provincial Secretary. He held
the Secretaryship only a little more than a year, when he resigned his
post, owing to his want of sympathy with his leader on the Roman
Catholic question. He thenceforward arrayed himself on the side of the
Opposition, and during the rest of his political career was practically
identified with the Conservative Party. He again became
Solicitor-General upon the accession to power of the Johnston-Tupper
Administration; and held the same office in Mr. Johnston's Cabinet from
1863 to 1864, when he succeeded Mr. Johnston as Attorney-General. He
retained the latter position until the accomplishment of Confederation
in 1867. In the Confederation movement he heartily sympathized, and was
one of the delegates on behalf of his native Province at the
Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences held in 1864. He also attended the
final Convention in London, England, in 1866, when the terms of Union of
the Provinces were definitively settled.

His espousal of Confederation was destined to be the means of severing
his political connection with his native county of Antigonish, which he
had represented ever since 1841. Upon presenting himself to his old
constituents for election to the House of Commons in 1867, he, for the
first time in his life, sustained a defeat at the polls. He was also an
unsuccessful candidate for the representation of Richmond in 1869.
During the following six years he did not take any active part in
politics, but devoted himself to his profession. Various judicial
appointments in his native Province were offered to him, and declined.
His business was large and profitable, and his income must have been
considerably larger than it would have been had he accepted a seat on
the Provincial Bench. On the 8th of October, 1875, he was offered a seat
on the Bench as one of the Puisn Judges of the newly constituted
Supreme Court of the Dominion. He accepted this offer, and removed to
Ottawa, where he has ever since resided.

In 1841, immediately after his call to the Bar of Nova Scotia, he
married Miss Sophia Caroline McDonald, who survived her marriage about
four years. In 1850 he married his second wife, who was Miss Christiana
Macdonald, daughter of Mr. Hugh Macdonald, of Antigonish.

Judge Henry's name is identified with various important measures of Law
Reform in Nova Scotia, and has always been regarded as a high authority
on constitutional questions. He took a conspicuous part in the revision
of the Provincial Statutes. In 1865 he was sent by the Province to
England, in connection with important railway negotiations; and in 1866
he was sent to Washington to assist in the negotiations which were then
pending for the renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty. He was several times
Mayor of Halifax.




LORD SYDENHAM.


Towards the close of last century there was in the city of London,
England, a prominent mercantile house which carried on business under
the style of "J. Thomson, T. Bonar & Co." The branch of commerce to
which this house chiefly devoted its attention was the Russian trade. It
had existed, under various styles, for more than a hundred years, and
had built up so extensive a trade as to have a branch establishment at
the Russian capital. The senior partner of the firm was John Thomson of
Waverley Abbey and Roehampton, in the county of Surrey. In the year 1820
this gentleman assumed the name of Poulett--in remembrance of his
mother, who was heiress of a branch of the family of that name--and he
was afterwards known as John Poulett Thomson. In 1871 he married Miss
Charlotte Jacob, daughter of a physician at Salisbury. By this lady he
had a numerous family, consisting of nine children. The youngest of
these, Charles Edward Poulett Thomson, destined to be the first governor
of United Canada, and to be raised to the peerage under the title of
Baron Sydenham, was born on the 13th of September, 1799, at the family
seat in Surrey--Waverley Abbey, above mentioned. His mother had long
been in delicate health, and at the time of his birth was so feeble as
to give rise to much solicitude as to her chances of recovery. She
finally rallied, but for some months she led the life of an invalid. Her
feebleness reflected itself in the constitution of her son, who never
attained to much physical strength. The feebleness of his body was
doubtless increased by the nervous activity of his intellect, which
constantly impelled him to mental feats incompatible with his delicate
frame. It may be said that he passed through the forty-two years which
made up the measure of his life in a chronic state of bodily infirmity.
The fret and worry incidental to an ambitious parliamentary and official
career doubtless also contributed their share to the shortening of his
life.

His childhood was marked by a sprightly grace and beauty which made him
a general favourite. In his fourth year he was for a time the especial
pet of His Majesty King George III. He made the King's acquaintance at
Weymouth, where, with other members of his family, he spent part of the
summer of 1803. While walking on the Parade, in charge of his nurse, his
beauty and sprightliness attracted the notice of His Majesty, who was
also spending the season there, in the hope of regaining that physical
and mental vigour which never returned to him. The King was much taken
with the vivacity and pert replies of the handsome little fellow, and
insisted on a daily visit from him. The child's conquest over the royal
heart was complete, and His Majesty seemed to be never so well pleased
as when he had little Master Thomson in his arms, carrying him about,
and showing him whatever amusing sights the place afforded. On one
occasion the King was standing on the shore near the pier-head, in
conversation with Mr. Pitt, who had come down from London to confer with
His Majesty about affairs of State. His Majesty was about to embark in
the royal yacht for a short cruise, and, as was usual at that time of
the day, he had Master Thomson in his arms. When just on the point of
embarking, he suddenly placed the child in the arms of Mr. Pitt, saying
hurriedly, "Is not this a fine boy, Pitt? Take him in your arms,
Pitt--take him in your arms. Charming boy, isn't he?" Pitt complied with
the royal request with the best grace he could, and carried the child in
his arms to the door of his lodgings.

At the age of seven, Master Thomson was sent to a private school at
Hanwell, whence, three years afterwards, he was transferred to the
charge of the Rev. Mr. Wooley, at Middleton. After spending a short time
there, he became a pupil of the Rev. Mr. Church, at Hampton, where he
remained until he had nearly completed his sixteenth year. He then left
school--his education, of course, being far from complete--and entered
the service of his father's firm. It was determined that he should begin
his mercantile career in the St. Petersburg branch, and in the summer of
1815 he was despatched to Russia. His fine manners and address, combined
with the wealth and influence of the firm to which he was allied,
obtained him access to the best society of St. Petersburg, where he
spent more than two years. In the autumn of 1817, upon his recovery from
a rather serious illness, it was thought desirable that he should spend
the coming winter in a milder climate than that of St. Petersburg, and
he returned to his native land. The next two or three years were spent
in travelling on the Continent with other members of his family. He then
entered the counting-house in London, where he spent about eighteen
months. This brings us down to the year 1821. In the spring of that year
he was admitted as a partner in the firm, and once more went out to St.
Petersburg, where he again remained nearly two years. He then entered
upon a somewhat prolonged tour through central and southern Russia, and
thence across to Vienna, where he spent the winter of 1823-4, and part
of the following spring. Towards the end of April he set out for Paris,
where his mother was confined by illness, and where she breathed her
last almost immediately after her son's arrival. Mr. Thomson soon
afterwards returned to London, where he settled down as one of the
managing partners of the commercial establishment. In this capacity he
displayed the same energy which subsequently distinguished his political
and diplomatic career. He took a lively interest in the political
questions of the day; more especially in those relating to commercial
matters. He was a pronounced Liberal, and a strenuous advocate of
free-trade. In the summer of 1825 advances were made to him to become
the Liberal candidate for Dover at the next election. He responded
favourably to these advances, and was in due course returned by a
considerable majority. One of his earliest votes in the House of Commons
was in favour of free-trade. He soon became known as a ready and
effective speaker, and as one whose judgment on commercial questions was
entitled to respect. His zeal for the principles of his Party was also
conspicuous, and when Earl Grey formed his Administration in November,
1830, the office of Vice-President of the Board of Trade, together with
the Treasurership of the Navy, was offered to and accepted by Mr.
Thomson. He was at the same time sworn in as a member of the Privy
Council. The acceptance of the former office rendered it necessary for
him to sever his connection with the commercial firm of which he had up
to this time been a member, and he never again engaged in mercantile
business of any kind. By this time, indeed, he had established for
himself a reputation of no common order. The part he had taken in the
debates of the House, and in the proceedings of its Committees, on
questions connected with commerce and finance, had proved him to possess
not only a clear practical acquaintance with the details of these
subjects, but also principles of an enlarged and liberal character, and
powers of generalization and a comprehensiveness of view rarely found
combined in so young a man. The next three or four years were busy ones
with him. It will be remembered that this was the era of the Reform
Bill. Mr. Thomson did not take a prominent part in the discussions on
that measure, his time being fully occupied with the financial and
fiscal policy, but he put forth the weight of his influence in favour of
the Bill. His principal efforts, during his tenure of office, were
directed to the simplification and amendment of the Customs Act, and to
an ineffectual attempt to negotiate a commercial treaty with France.
After the dissolution in 1831 he was re-elected for Dover. He was,
however, also elected--without any canvass or solicitation on his
part--for Manchester, the most important manufacturing constituency in
the kingdom; and he chose to sit for the latter. In 1834 he succeeded to
the Presidency of the Board of Trade, as successor to Lord Auckland.
Then followed Earl Grey's resignation and Lord Melbourne's accession. On
the dismissal of the Ministry in November, Mr. Thomson was, of course,
left without office, but on Lord Melbourne's re-accession in the
following spring he was reinstated in the Presidency of the Board of
Trade--an office which he continued to hold until his appointment as
Governor-General of Canada.

Early in 1836 his health had become so seriously affected by his
official labours that he began to recognize the necessity of resigning
his office, and of accepting some post which would not so severely tax
his energies. He continued to discharge his official duties, however,
until the reconstruction of Lord Melbourne's Administration in 1839,
when he signified his wish to be relieved. He was offered a choice
between the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer and that of
Governor-General of Canada. He chose the latter, and having received his
appointment and been sworn in before the Privy Council, he set sail from
Portsmouth for Quebec on the 13th of September, which was the fortieth
anniversary of his birth. He reached his destination after a tedious,
stormy voyage, and assumed the reins of government on the 19th of
October. He was well received in this country. The mercantile community
of Canada were especially disposed to favour the appointment of a man
who had himself been bred to commercial pursuits, and who would be
likely to feel a more than ordinary interest in promoting commercial
interests.

Canada was at this time in a state of transition. Owing to the strenuous
exertions of the Reform Party in this country, seconded by Lord Durham's
famous "Report," the concession of Responsible Government and the Union
of the Provinces had been determined upon by the Home Ministry. It was
Mr. Thomson's mission to see these two most desirable objects carried
out. He had a most difficult part to play. As a pronounced Liberal, he
naturally had the confidence of the Reform Party, but there were a few
prominent members of that Party who did not approve of the Union
project, and he felt that he could not count upon their cordial support.
True, the opponents of the measure constituted a very small minority of
the Reform Party generally; but there was another Party from whom the
strongest opposition was to be expected--the Family Compact. This
faction was not yet extinct, though its days were numbered. It still
controlled the Legislative Council, which body had already recorded a
vote hostile to the Union. The situation was one calling for the
exercise of great tact, and the new Governor-General proved himself
equal to the occasion. He made no changes in the composition either of
the Special Council of the Lower Province--a body formed under Imperial
sanction by Sir John Colborne--or in that of the Legislative Council of
Upper Canada. After a short stay at Quebec he proceeded to Montreal, and
convoked the Special Council on the 11th of November. He laid before
this body the views of the Imperial Ministry relating to the Union of
the Provinces and the concession of Responsible Government. By the time
the Council had been in session two days the majority of the members
were fully in accord with the Governor's views, and a series of
resolutions were passed as a basis of Union. This disposed of the
question, so far as the Lower Province was concerned, and after
discharging the Council from further attendance, Mr. Thomson proceeded
to Toronto to gain the assent of the Upper Canadian Legislature. With
the Assembly no difficulty was anticipated, but to gain the assent of
the Tory majority in the Legislative Council would evidently be no easy
matter, for the success of the Governor's policy involved the triumph of
Reform principles, and the inevitable downfall of the Family Compact.
The Governor's tact, however, placed the latter faction in an anomalous
position. For several years past the Tory Party had been boasting of
their success in putting down the Rebellion, and had raised a loud and
senseless howl of loyalty. They were never weary of proclaiming their
devotion to the Imperial will, irrespective of selfish considerations.
This cry, which had been perpetually resounding throughout the Province
during the last three years, supplied the Governor with the means of
bending to his pleasure those who had raised it. He delivered a message
to the Legislature in which he defined the Imperial policy, and appealed
in the strongest terms to those professions of loyalty which the Tory
majority in the Council were constantly proclaiming. He also published a
circular despatch from Lord John Russell, the tone of which was an echo
of that of his own message. The Tory majority were thus placed on the
horns of a dilemma. They must either display their much-vaunted loyalty
by acceding to the Imperial will, or they must admit that their blatant
professions had been mere party-cries to deceive the electors. Their
opposition, moreover, would render necessary the resignation of their
offices. With the best grace they could, they announced their intention
to support the Imperial policy. The Assembly passed resolutions in
accordance with the spirit of the Governor's message. Nothing further
was necessary to render the Union an accomplished fact, except the
sanction of the Imperial Parliament. A Union Bill, framed under the
supervision of Sir James Stuart, Chief Justice of Lower Canada, was
forwarded to England, where, in a slightly modified form, it was passed
by both Houses, and received the royal assent. Owing to a suspending
clause in the Bill, it did not come into operation until the 10th of
February, 1841, when, by virtue of the Governor-General's proclamation,
the measure took effect, and the Union of the Canadas was complete.

Soon after the close of the session of the Upper Canadian Legislature,
Mr. Thomson was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Sydenham, of
Sydenham in Kent, and Toronto in Canada. The greater part of the
following autumn was spent by him in travelling about through the Upper
Province. He seems to have been greatly pleased both with the country
and the people. The following extract from a private letter, written
from the shores of the Bay of Quint on the 18th of September, is worth
quoting, as showing the impressions of an intelligent observer at that
time:--"Amherstburg, Sandwich, River St. Clair, Lake Huron, Goderich,
Chatham, London, Woodstock, Brantford, Simcoe, the Talbot Road and
Settlement, Hamilton, Dundas, and so back to Toronto--you can follow me
on a map. From Toronto across Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene on Lake
Huron again, and back to Toronto, which I left again last night for the
Bay of Quint, all parties uniting in addresses at every place, full of
confidence in my Government, and of a determination to forget their
former disputes. Escorts of two and three hundred farmers on horseback
at every place from township to township, with all the etceteras of
guns, music, and flags. What is of more importance, my candidates
everywhere taken for the ensuing elections. In short, such unanimity and
confidence I never saw, and it augurs well for the future.... The fact
is that the truth of my original notion of the people of this country is
now confirmed. The mass only wanted the vigorous interference of a
well-intentioned Government, strong enough to control both the extreme
parties, and to proclaim wholesome truths and act for the benefit of the
country at large, in defiance of ultras on either side. But, apart from
all this political effort, I am delighted to have seen this part of the
country--I mean the great district, nearly as large as Ireland, placed
between the three lakes, Erie, Ontario, and Huron. You can conceive
nothing finer. The most magnificent soil in the world; four feet of
vegetable mould; a climate, certainly the best in North America. The
greater part of it admirably watered. In a word, there is land enough
and capabilities enough for some millions of people, and for one of the
finest Provinces in the world. The most perfect contrast to that
miserable strip of land along the St. Lawrence called Lower Canada,
which has given so much trouble. I shall fix the capital of the United
Provinces in this one, of course. Kingston will most probably be the
place. But there is everything to be done there yet, to provide
accommodation for the meeting of the Assembly in the spring."

As suggested in the foregoing extract, Kingston was fixed upon as the
seat of Government of the United Provinces, and the Legislature
assembled there on the 13th of June, 1841. The Governor-General's speech
at the opening of the session was marked by tact, moderation, and good
sense. A strong Opposition, however, soon began to manifest itself, and
Mr. Neilson, of Quebec, moved an amendment to the Address directly
condemnatory of the Union. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 50 to
25. Throughout the session nearly all the Government measures received
the support of the House, an important exception being the French
Election Bill. Meanwhile the state of Lord Sydenham's health was such as
to render his duties very difficult for him, and as the great object of
his mission to Canada had been successfully accomplished, he resolved to
return home at the close of the session. He forwarded his resignation to
the Home Secretary, having already received leave of absence which would
obviate the necessity of his remaining at his post until the acceptance
of his resignation. Of this leave, however, he was not destined to avail
himself. On the 4th of September he felt himself well enough to ride out
on horseback. While returning homeward he put his horse to a canter,
just as he began to ascend a little hill not far from Alwington House,
his residence, near the lake shore. When about half way up the hill, the
horse stumbled and fell, crushing his rider's right leg beneath his
weight. The animal rose to its feet and dragged Lord Sydenham--whose
right foot was fast in the stirrup--for a short distance. One of his
aides, who just then rode up, rescued the Governor from his perilous
position and conveyed him home, when it was found that the principal
bone of his right leg, above the knee, had sustained an oblique
fracture, and that the limb had also received a severe wound from being
bruised against a sharp stone, which had cut deeply, and lacerated the
flesh and sinews. Notwithstanding these serious injuries, and the shock
which his nervous system had sustained, his medical attendants did not
at first anticipate danger to his life. He continued free from fever,
and his wounds seemed to be going on satisfactorily; but he was
debilitated by perpetual sleeplessness and inability to rest long in one
position. On the ninth day after his injury dangerous symptoms began to
manifest themselves, and it soon became apparent that he would not
recover. After a fortnight of great suffering, he breathed his last on
Sunday, the 19th, having completed his forty-second year six days
previously.

"His fame," says his biographer, "must rest not so much on what he did
or said in Parliament as on what he did and proposed to do out of it--on
his consistent and to a great degree successful efforts to expose the
fallacy of the miscalled Protective system, and gradually, but
effectively, to root it out of the statute-book, and thereby to free the
universal industry of Britain from the mischievous shackles imposed by
an ignorant and mistaken selfishness."

His Canadian administration may be looked upon as a brief and brilliant
episode in his public career. In private life he was much loved and
highly esteemed. His amiable disposition and pleasing manner excited the
warmest attachment among those who were admitted to his intimacy, and in
every circumstance that affected their happiness he always appeared to
take a lively personal interest. In the midst of his occupations he
always had time for works of kindness and charity. In a letter to an
idle friend who had been remiss in correspondence, he once said, "Of
course you have no time. No one ever has who has nothing to do." His
assistance was always promptly and eagerly afforded whenever he could
serve his friends, or confer a favour on a deserving object. His
integrity and sense of honour were high, and his disinterestedness was
almost carried to excess. The remuneration for his official services was
lower than that of any other official of equal standing, and far below
his deserts. Never having married, however, owing to an early
disappointment, his needs were moderate, and his private fortune
considerable. His person and manner were very prepossessing, and his
aptitude and acquired knowledge great. He was very popular in the social
circle, and his death left a void among his friends which was never
filled.




[Illustration: ISAAC HELLMUTH, signed as I. HURON]


THE RIGHT REV. ISAAC HELLMUTH, D.D., D.C.L.,

_BISHOP OF HURON_.


Bishop Hellmuth is the son of Jewish parents, and was born near Warsaw,
the former capital of Poland, on the 14th of December, 1817. He received
his collegiate training at the famous University of Breslau, which was
originally founded in 1702 as a Jesuit College. While in attendance at
this seat of learning he became seriously impressed upon the subject of
religion, and, after much self-communing, abandoned the faith of his
ancestors. In order to avoid the obloquy which would inevitably attach
to him at home in consequence of his relinquishment of Judaism, he
repaired to England, where, in 1841, he made a public profession of
Christianity. He embraced the doctrines of the Church of England, and
entered upon a course of study with a view to taking holy orders. He won
golden opinions from many eminent ecclesiastics, and was highly esteemed
for his evident sincerity and earnestness. The late Dr. Sumner,
Archbishop of Canterbury, advised him to go to Canada, and upon his
professing his willingness to act upon the advice, the Doctor furnished
him with very flattering testimonials as to his character and ability.
Similar testimonials were voluntarily furnished by other eminent
persons, both in the Church and out of it; and in 1844 Mr. Hellmuth,
then in his 27th year, crossed the Atlantic, and took up his abode in
this country. In 1846 he was ordained Deacon, and, later on, Priest, by
the Bishop of Quebec. The first eight years of his life in Canada were
spent in the discharge of his duties as one of the professors in the
University of Bishop's College, Lennoxville, and as incumbent of St.
Peter's Church, Sherbrooke. He was then appointed General Superintendent
for the Colonial and Continental Church Society in the British North
American Colonies. While occupying this position, in 1861, he was chosen
by the late Dr. Cronyn, Bishop of Huron, to proceed to England to
collect funds for the establishment and endowment of a theological
college in the Diocese of Huron. The establishment of such an
institution was undertaken by Dr. Cronyn with a view to counteracting
what he deemed the mischievous teaching in Trinity College, Toronto. So
strongly did he feel on the subject that he openly formulated charges of
false doctrine, which were tried before the assembled Canadian Bishops.
Though the decision of the majority of his fellow-dignitaries was
against him, Bishop Cronyn determined to do what he could to keep his
own diocese as free as possible from influences which he believed to be
pernicious. He conceived the idea of establishing a college wherein
candidates for the ministry in his own diocese might receive a purely
evangelical training. He fixed upon the subject of this sketch as a
suitable emissary to Great Britain, to solicit pecuniary aid. Having
been created Archdeacon of Huron, Dr. Hellmuth set forth on his
mission, which was entirely successful, the necessary funds having been
collected in a very short time. On his return, in 1862, Dr. Hellmuth was
appointed Principal and Professor of Divinity in the new institution,
which owes so much to his energy, promptitude, and liberality. It was
opened in 1863 as the Huron Theological College. To Dr. Hellmuth and a
few of his friends the diocese is chiefly indebted for the erection of a
chapel in connection with the college, built as a memorial to the late
General Thomas Evans, whose daughter Catharine Dr. Hellmuth married in
1847.

When Bishop Cronyn retired from duty as Rector of St. Paul's Cathedral,
London, Dr. Hellmuth was appointed Dean and Rector. He laboured
assiduously for the public good, and was soon universally beloved. He
established the Church of England Young Men's Christian Association, and
took an active part in various charitable, religious, and educational
undertakings. The foundation of Hellmuth College, which was opened in
1865, is mainly due to his energy and liberality, as is also the scheme
which resulted in the Hellmuth Ladies' College, which was inaugurated by
Prince Arthur on the 23rd of September, 1869. Of the latter institution
he is himself President, and his assiduous labours on its behalf, aided
by the efforts of a large and accomplished staff of teachers, have
raised it to a high pitch of efficiency, and it enjoys an enviable
reputation among the educational establishments of the Dominion.

In July, 1871, owing to Bishop Cronyn's advancing years and somewhat
feeble state of health, it was considered desirable to elect a Coadjutor
Bishop. Dr. Hellmuth's great services in the cause of religion and
education, no less than his personal popularity, pointed him out as the
most suitable candidate for the position, and he was elected by a large
majority over all other candidates for the office. He received the title
of Bishop of Norfolk, and was consecrated by the Metropolitan in the
presence of the Bishops of Toronto, Ontario, Ohio, and Michigan. On the
death of Bishop Cronyn a few months later, Dr. Hellmuth succeeded him as
Bishop of Huron, and has ever since continued to direct the affairs of
the diocese. His tenure of office has been marked by the same
earnestness which he has ever been wont to display in the discharge of
his sacred functions. His efforts for the promotion of advanced
education have been vigorous and unceasing, and it is as a zealous
worker in the cause of education that he will be best known to
posterity. Soon after his consecration he began to interest himself in
the establishment of a Western University at London, to which he
personally contributed the sum of ten thousand dollars. The project has
been prosecuted with vigour and success, and promises to be the crowning
work of his useful life. As a theologian, his views are liberal and
enlightened, and he enjoys a great measure of popularity with the
ministry of other denominations than his own.

Notwithstanding his multifarious occupations, he has found time to write
several theological works which are highly esteemed by writers on
kindred subjects. In 1862 he published a reply to a letter of the Bishop
of Montreal and Metropolitan of Canada, addressed to the Bishops and
clergy of the United Church of England and Ireland in Canada. Several
years later he published, under the title of "The Divine Dispensations,"
a series of exegetical and controversial lectures which had previously
been delivered by him to the students of Huron College. These lectures,
which treat of the genuineness and authenticity of the Pentateuch, and
are directed against the teachings of Bishop Colenso, have been widely
read, and are said to be characterized by great learning and depth of
thought.




[Illustration: ARTHUR S. HARDY]


THE HON. ARTHUR STURGIS HARDY,

_PROVINCIAL SECRETARY AND REGISTRAR FOR ONTARIO_.


Mr. Hardy was born in the little village of Mount Pleasant--known to the
Post Office authorities as "Mohawk"--in what is now the county of Brant,
Ontario, on the 14th of December, 1837. His father, Mr. Russell Hardy, a
gentleman of American lineage, cultivated a farm in the village at that
time, but subsequently removed to Brantford, the county town, where he
engaged in commercial pursuits. Young Arthur's childhood and early youth
were passed in Mount Pleasant, and it was there that he received his
first educational training. The local schools in the village enjoyed a
deservedly high reputation in those days, and there was probably no
other village in Canada so well provided in that respect. As a scholar,
Arthur Hardy displayed much quickness of perception, and an ardent
desire for knowledge. He was distinguished above most of his
fellow-scholars by his fondness for, and proficiency in, elocutionary
exercises. After his removal from Mount Pleasant he attended school in
Brantford, and, later still, spent several terms at Rockwood Academy.
Having chosen the legal profession as his career in life, he entered the
office of his uncle, Mr. Henry A. Hardy, of Brantford, and began the
study of the law. The last two years of his clerkship were passed in the
office of Messrs. Patterson & Harrison, in Toronto. He was admitted as
an attorney in Trinity Term, 1861, and he immediately afterwards formed
a partnership with his uncle, and began the practice of his profession
in Brantford. Four years later, in Easter Term, 1865, he was called to
the Bar, where he soon began to take a prominent place.

For more than ten years before this time, Mr. E. B. Wood, the present
Chief-Justice of Manitoba, had been the one man of real weight and power
at the Brantford Bar. He was all-powerful with juries, and it may almost
be said that he could lead them whithersoever he would. It is a simple
fact that, by the mere force of his advocacy, he obtained many a verdict
which was not justified by the evidence. He was personally known to
almost every juryman in the county. The influence exercised by him was
the legitimate outcome of a master-mind and a determined will acting
upon weaker ones; and the weaker ones included pretty nearly every man
who came within his purview. He knew and felt his power, and was rather
proud of it. Without any premeditated intention to be offensive, his
demeanour at the Bar, more especially towards his local contemporaries,
sometimes seemed to savour of patronage and superciliousness. He
affected the _de haut en bas_. This demeanour had long been resented, in
a weak, desultory, ineffective fashion, by the members of the local Bar;
but it cannot be said that his supremacy was ever disputed with any
approach to success until Arthur Hardy entered the forensic arena. It
is no disparagement to Mr. Hardy to say that he has never manifested
powers of mind or legal capacity equal to those of Mr. Wood, because as
much might truthfully be said of pretty nearly every young, man in the
Dominion. But Mr. Hardy has always possessed a good deal of independence
of mind, and from the outset was not disposed to submit tamely to what
he doubtless regarded as professional arrogance on the part of his
senior. He was conscious of possessing a fair knowledge of his
profession, and of the ability to conduct a case with justice to his
client. It so happened that the first brief held by him was in a case
which had attracted a good deal of public attention before it came to
trial. Mr. Wood was arrayed against him, and, with the self-confidence
begotten of his large professional experience and almost uninterrupted
success, had not thoroughly mastered the details of his case. Mr. Hardy,
on the other hand, had gone into his brief with youthful enthusiasm and
a determination to win. It was precisely one of those cases, the success
of which depend not so much upon their intrinsic merits as upon their
manipulation by counsel. A great many witnesses were examined, and the
trial extended over several days. The result was a verdict for Mr.
Hardy's client, and an established local reputation for Mr. Hardy
himself. From this time forward the latter had no lack of clients. His
knowledge increased, his intellect expanded, and he settled down to
steady, hard work. His confidence in himself was great, and was
generally borne out by results. For several years he and Mr. Wood were
constantly pitted against each other, and Mr. Hardy continued to fully
hold his own. In course of time the Nestor of the Brantford Bar came to
recognize his youthful opponent as a foeman worthy of his steel. Much of
the latter's success was doubtless due to his strict attention to
details, and to a pleasing manner of address which conciliated juries.
Disdaining the ponderousness of his rival, the prevailing tone of his
efforts at the Bar is light and airy, and he can contrive to press a
humorous story into his client's service with remarkably telling effect.
In his more serious efforts, however, he has shewn that he can rise with
an occasion, and can impart to his addresses a tone of genuine
earnestness which are none the less effective from being charily
employed. His practice has grown with his increasing years, and, like
that of most country practitioners, has included every department of his
profession, both civil and criminal. As a criminal counsel it fell to
his lot to defend no fewer than sixteen prisoners during the two years
from 1865 to 1867, all of whom were charged with capital offences. Of
these sixteen, only one was convicted, and even he escaped the extreme
penalty of the law. Such an experience we believe to be altogether
exceptional in the career of professional men; and when it is borne in
mind that Mr. Hardy is not a criminal lawyer _par excellence_, the only
conclusion to be arrived at is that such success must be in a great
measure attributable to his own abilities. His position at the Bar has
long been fully assured. In 1876, when thirty-nine years of age, he
attained the dignity of a silk gown, and he has since represented the
Crown at assizes in various parts of this Province.

Mr. Hardy has always taken a keen interest in political questions, but
for some years after his call to the Bar he was too busily employed in
building up a successful professional business to admit of his taking
any very active part in politics. He was, both by training and
predilection, a Reformer. He had served on several election committees,
even in his student days; but he seemed to be in no hurry to embrace a
political life, feeling assured, probably, that his time must come. The
truth seems to be that in politics, as well as in his professional
career, he was somewhat overshadowed by the massive figure of Mr. Wood,
who was also on the Reform side. When Mr. Wood joined the Sandfield
Macdonald Coalition Government, in 1867, it was believed that Arthur
Hardy's time had come. Mr. Hardy, however, felt that he was still young,
and that his professional status was not sufficiently assured to justify
him in giving up the greater part of his time to public life. He wisely
rejected the pressing overtures made to him to enter Parliament, and
continued to devote himself to the duties of his profession. He took a
very active part in the canvass during the summer, however, and his
exertions did much to reduce Mr. Wood's majority. Nearly six years more
were to elapse before he was to conduct an election campaign on his own
account. In the month of March, 1873, Mr. Wood, the sitting member, was
appointed to the position which he now occupies, and the constituency of
South Brant was thus left without a representative. Mr. Hardy felt that
he could now afford to follow the bent of his inclinations, and allowed
himself to be put in nomination. His opponent was Mr. J. J. Hawkins, who
was, like himself, a local candidate. The contest which followed was
marked by strong exhibitions of political feeling on both sides, for
there were several grave public questions under discussion, and the
Local Government was on its trial. There had been a recent increase in
official salaries, and a considerable increase in the estimates. These,
also, were the days of the Canoe-Couch scandal, and there were various
small matters which answered admirably to serve the purpose of a hostile
party cry during a rural election campaign. Mr. Hardy's canvass was
rendered all the more arduous from the fact that many of the leaders on
the opposite side went up to the county to assist his opponent, whereas
the weight of the contest on his own side had to be borne by his own
shoulders. Those shoulders, however, were broad, and fitted for the
burden. At the close of a contest which was conducted with unusual
acrimony, Mr. Hardy was elected by a majority of 189 votes. Upon the
assembling of the Legislature in the following year he took his seat,
and all through the session afforded a vigorous support to Mr. Mowat's
Government. At the general election in January, 1875, no candidate was
found with sufficient temerity to oppose him, and he was elected by
acclamation. After his acceptance of office, in March, 1877, he enjoyed
a similar triumph upon returning to his constituents for relection. At
the last general election, in June, 1879, he was again opposed by a
local candidate, but the latter never had any prospect of success, and
Mr. Hardy was returned by a majority of 392.

Among the principal official measures inaugurated by Mr. Hardy, and
successfully carried through the House during his tenure of office, may
be enumerated the Civil Service and License Amendment Acts of 1878; the
Jurors' Amendment Act, and the Municipal Act of 1879; and the Division
Courts Amendment Act of last session.

Mr. Hardy's characteristics as a speaker have been sufficiently
indicated in the remarks on his professional career. As to the sincerity
of his political convictions, no one, so far as we know, has ever
ventured to express any doubt. He is endowed with great industry, and
has given the highest satisfaction in the discharge of his official
duties. It may be added that he makes few or no personal enemies, and
that he has an ingratiating manner which greatly conduces to his
popularity. With a fine constitution, a laudable ambition, and an
intellect which has not yet ceased to grow, Mr. Hardy may look forward
with some confidence to a highly successful public career.

On the 19th of January, 1870, Mr. Hardy married Mary, daughter of Mr.
Justice Morrison, of Toronto.




THE HON. SIR ALBERT JAMES SMITH.


Sir Albert James Smith, one of the most eminent lawyers in the Maritime
Provinces, was born at the village of Shediac, in the county of
Westmoreland, New Brunswick, in the year 1824. He was educated at the
County Grammar School, and upon leaving that institution became a
student at law in the office of the late Edward Barron Chandler, who
subsequently became Lieutenant-Governor of the Province. Having
completed his studies, he was called to the Bar of New Brunswick in
February, 1847, and settled down to the practice of his profession. He
was successful with juries, and gained a large practice, which his
friends advised him not to neglect for the uncertain pursuit of
politics. In politics, however, he took a warm interest. The tone of his
mind was that of a Liberal, and he allied himself with that Party, but
neither then nor at any time subsequently was he a bitter or unsparing
partisan, like many of his contemporaries in the Maritime Provinces in
those days. He first entered public life in 1852, when he was elected to
the Local Assembly as representative of his native county of
Westmoreland, and in 1854, on the overthrow of the Conservative
Government, he assisted Mr. Charles Fisher (now a Puisn Judge of the
Supreme Court of New Brunswick), Mr. W. J. Ritchie (now Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of the Dominion), and Mr.--now the Hon. Sir
Samuel--Tilley, in forming the first Liberal Administration in that
Province. The Administration so formed, however, did not long retain
power. A prohibitory liquor law was passed in 1855, which proved very
distasteful to the people generally, and petitions on the subject were
sent in to the Lieutenant-Governor from all parts of the Province. The
Lieutenant-Governor remonstrated with the Administration, and threatened
a dissolution. The Administration accordingly resigned, and at the next
general election they experienced a defeat. They were defeated, however,
almost solely on the prohibition question, which was the direct issue
put before the electors during the campaign; and the Conservative
Government which succeeded received but a frail support. The division of
parties was so nearly equal that in 1857 a dead-lock ensued. For this
state of things another general election was the only remedy. The result
of the election was that the Government were defeated, and another
Liberal Cabinet, of which Messrs. Smith, Fisher, and Tilley were
members, was formed. In 1862 Mr. Smith, who had meantime attained to the
professional rank of a Queen's Counsel, became Attorney-General, and
held that office till 1863, when he resigned his seat in the Cabinet
owing to a disagreement with his colleagues respecting the Intercolonial
Railway. Five years previously (in 1858) he had been a co-delegate to
England with the present Judge Fisher, on matters connected with
that line of road, the proposed construction of which had given rise to
much negotiation and debate. A time was at hand, however, when all other
questions were to give way to the one great question of Confederation.
Mr. Smith opposed the scheme of the Quebec Conference with great energy,
and on a dissolution taking place, in order to submit the proposition to
the people, he addressed meetings in various parts of the country with
considerable effect. The anti-Confederates triumphed at the polls, and
the Government, which was favourable to Confederation, resigned, Mr.
Smith being called upon to form a new Administration. This duty he
discharged, and himself assumed the office of Attorney-General, which
position he held about a year, when he retired, and his official career
in connection with the affairs of New Brunswick terminated. In 1865 he
went on a second public mission to England, his associate being the
present Chief Justice Allen. In 1866 he was also a delegate to
Washington, in conjunction with Messrs. Galt, Howland, and Henry, for
the purpose of obtaining a renewal of reciprocity with the United
States. The mission was a fruitless one, owing to the excessive demands
made on behalf of the United States. During the same year Mr. Smith was
offered the position of Chief Justice of New Brunswick, but did not see
fit to accept it.

[Illustration: A. J. SMITH]

Mr. Smith, ever since his first entry into public life, had represented
his native county of Westmoreland in the Local Assembly. Confederation
having been accomplished, he now offered himself to his old constituents
as a candidate for the Dominion House of Commons. He was elected by a
large majority, and has sat in the House of Commons for Westmoreland
ever since. We may anticipate the course of events for a moment to
briefly chronicle the fact that at the last general election, held on
the 17th of September, 1878, he was returned by his constituents for the
fourteenth time consecutively. On four occasions he has been returned by
acclamation, and he has never sustained defeat. It is believed that his
hold upon the sympathies of the electors is as strong at the present
time as it has ever been, and that no candidate whatever could oppose
him in Westmoreland with any prospect of success. His opponent at the
last election was Mr. R. A. Chapman, upon whose behalf 1,928 votes were
polled, as against 2,572 for Sir Albert.

During his career in the Local Assembly of New Brunswick, Mr. Smith was
always distinguished as a Liberal. On entering the House of Commons,
however, he came unpledged to either Party, and acted, until he took
office in 1873, as a strictly independent member. The fact that he
frequently voted with the Conservatives led to his antecedents being
occasionally overlooked. When the Pacific scandal disclosures took place
in 1873 Mr. Smith withdrew his confidence from the then-existing
Government; and on their resignation taking place, Mr. Smith's political
record marked him out as one of the two most fitting representatives of
New Brunswick in the Cabinet formed by Mr. Mackenzie on the 7th of
November following. He was sworn of the Privy Council, and he accepted
the position of Minister of Marine and Fisheries. He continued at the
head of that department during the five years' tenure of office of that
Administration. While holding office he introduced and successfully
carried through the House some important legislation respecting the
Merchant Shipping Act. He was also the author of an amendment to the
Deck Loads Act, whereby cattle are permitted to be carried as a
deck-load, notwithstanding the provisions to the contrary contained in
the Statute, 36 Victoria, chapter 56. He proved a very efficient
Minister, and was highly esteemed by his colleagues. His affability of
manner and readiness at all times to meet, so far as practicable, the
views of those with whom he had official relations, secured for him a
large share of popularity. He is a ready speaker, and on many occasions
proved himself well able to defend the policy of his own department and
of the Government. Although he has been so many years in public life,
and has been engaged during a large portion of that time in active
political controversies, his speeches betray no tinge of bitterness,
even towards those who are least scrupulous in their methods of assault.
It may also be recorded that in 1873 he was offered the dignified
position of Lieutenant-Governor of his native Province, but thought
proper to decline that high honour.

Mr. Smith represented the Dominion Government before the arbitrators at
the Fisheries Commission, which sat at Halifax from the 15th of June to
the 23rd of November, 1877. The arbitration, as is well known, resulted
in an award of five and a half millions of dollars to be paid by the
United States Government to that of Great Britain, as compensation for
the use of the Fisheries for a period of twelve years, six of which had
then expired. This award gave great dissatisfaction to the people of the
United States, and the American Government protested against it; but the
money was finally paid over, after a great deal of delay. In
consideration of his eminent services on this occasion, Mr. Smith was,
on the 25th of May, 1878, created a Knight Commander of the Order of St.
Michael and St. George. The Secretary of State for the Colonies in the
Imperial Government, in a despatch announcing that Her Majesty had seen
fit to confer this dignity upon him and Sir Alexander Galt, remarked
that he "had much satisfaction in bringing under the special notice of
Her Majesty the valuable assistance rendered by these gentlemen to the
Imperial Government, and to that of the Dominion, in connexion with the
Halifax Fisheries Commission;" and expressed his confidence that this
recognition of their services would be highly appreciated by their
fellow-subjects in Canada.




THE REV. EDWARD HARTLEY DEWART, D.D.


The Reverend Edward Hartley Dewart, although not a native of Canada, is
a thorough Canadian by early adoption and hearty sympathy. For upwards
of forty years he has been associated with her interests and identified
with her fortunes; and for more than a quarter of a century few men have
devoted themselves more actively than he to foster her rising
institutions and to promote her prosperity. He was born in the county of
Cavan, Ireland, in the year 1828. He is of mingled Scottish and English
descent, his father's ancestors having come originally from Scotland,
and his mother's from England. In 1834 he came with his parents to this
country. The family settled in the county of Peterborough, Ontario,
where he passed his boyhood and youth. His early opportunities for
obtaining an education were few and unfavourable as compared with those
of the present day, when first-class schools, provided with experienced
and efficient teachers, may be found in all parts of the Province. This
deprivation was sorely felt by him at the time, but the effects were
largely counterbalanced by his incessant study, and by his fondness,
amounting almost to a passion, for books. From his earliest years his
love of reading attracted the attention of all who knew him. He had
naturally an inquiring mind, and possessed an insatiable thirst for
learning. Notwithstanding a tolerably good supply of useful literature
with which his home was always stocked, he read in addition nearly all
the books that he could borrow from the neighbours for miles around.
Possessing also a remarkably retentive memory, when but a mere boy he
had acquired a more accurate knowledge of Scripture History, and had
read and digested more books--many of them requiring close study and
attentive thought--than the majority of young men with much better
opportunities for mental improvement. In the year 1848 he resolved to
avail himself of greater educational advantages, and to qualify himself
for a broader sphere of usefulness. He started from his secluded forest
home to become a student at the Normal School in Toronto, which had been
opened a few months previously for public instruction. With
characteristic energy and determination he travelled the whole of the
distance, one hundred and twenty miles, on foot. After prosecuting his
studies with remarkable success, he returned home at the end of the
academic year, taught school for about fourteen months, and came back
again to attend lectures for another session. His ability and assiduity
as a student soon rendered his proficiency so marked in all his studies
that he was frequently employed by the professors to assist them in
teaching classes. Before quitting the institution that session, on the
recommendation of the late Mr. Thomas Jaffray Robertson, he engaged as
teacher of the school at Dunnville, Ontario, where he taught for two
years. In 1851 he was called to the work of the Christian ministry in
connection with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, of which he had been a
member since 1843. He commenced his ministerial labours on the St.
Thomas circuit, some months after the meeting of the Conference, as
junior preacher under the direction of the Chairman of the London
District. After remaining a second year on this circuit, he travelled
respectively for one year the Port Hope and Thorold circuits. On
completing his four years' probation, he was ordained at London in June,
1855, and sent to Dundas. The next year he married, and was appointed
superintendent of the St. Andrew's circuit, on the Ottawa River. He
laboured here for two years, when he was sent to the Odelltown circuit.
In 1860 he was stationed by the Conference in Montreal West. Very
shortly afterwards he was compelled, owing to enfeebled health, caused
by protracted overwork before coming to the city, to resign his charge,
and to retire temporarily from the pastorate. In the course of a few
months he became sufficiently restored to undertake the superintendence
of the St. John's circuit, where he laboured for a term of three years.
He was next stationed in Collingwood, Ontario; but at the end of a year
was removed to Toronto, having accepted an invitation from the
congregation of Elm Street Church to become their pastor. At the end of
his three years' term he received an invitation to go to Belleville; but
feeling his health again giving way, he requested the Conference to
appoint him to a lighter field of labour, and was sent to Ingersoll,
Ontario. At the Conference which was held in Toronto in 1869 he was
elected editor of the _Christian Guardian_, as successor to Dr. Jeffers,
a position which he still retains, and which he has now occupied for a
longer period than any of his predecessors. For five years consecutively
he was relected to this office, each time by a large majority of the
ministers attending the annual Conference. At the first General
Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada, held in Toronto, in
September, 1874, when the Wesleyan and New Connexion bodies became
amalgamated, he was again elected Connexional editor for a term of four
years; and at the second General Conference, which assembled in Montreal
in 1878, he was once more relected by an almost unanimous vote to the
same important office for another quadrennial term. For this position,
which he has occupied for such a length of time with so much credit to
himself and satisfaction to the Church, he has in an eminent degree the
essential qualifications. Literary composition, both in prose and verse,
has always been Dr. Dewart's favourite employment; and although he has
laboured at a great disadvantage in the field of literature, owing to
the constant pressure of pastoral and ministerial duties, he has by dint
of hard toil and great exertion accomplished a good deal in the way of
authorship. The productions of his pen first brought him into prominence
as a thinker of more than ordinary mental power; and by his writings he
has earned his widest and most lasting reputation. Not only has he been
highly successful as a prose writer, but he has written and published a
volume of poems which evince poetic ability of no mean order, and
entitle him to a prominent place among the bards of Canada. His stirring
lyrics on a great variety of subjects--patriotic, domestic, and
religious--are characterized by elevated thought, graceful diction, and
almost faultless metre. The poems on "Niagara Falls," "John Milton," and
"Voices of the Past," and others, reveal true poetic imagination, and
are not unworthy to be ranked with the productions of authors of greater
distinction. A brief enumeration of his works, with their
distinguishing features and the dates of their publication, will show
how much he has done in the department of literature, and will also
indicate how busy he has been with his pen amidst all his other
engagements. His first literary effort of any importance was an essay,
written in 1858, against the use of tobacco, which won for him out of a
large number of competitors a valuable prize. In 1861 he published a
thoughtful pamphlet on "The Children of the Church," in which he
presents a somewhat original view of that important subject. In 1863,
after considerable time spent in collecting the materials, he published
a volume entitled "Selections from Canadian Poets," with critical and
biographical notes, and a valuable introductory essay on Canadian
poetry, which by its wide circulation brought into public notice a
number of our country's poets theretofore unknown to fame, and rescued
from oblivion a great many waifs of the imagination well worthy of being
preserved in permanent form. In 1865 he wrote his "Waymarks," and the
following year he wrote an able article on F. W. Robertson, of Brighton,
which appeared in the _Methodist Quarterly Review_, of New York, and
attracted a good deal of attention at the time. The same year he edited
and compiled "The Canadian Speaker," an elocutionary reader for teachers
and students, containing useful introductory remarks on the principles
of elocution. In 1869 he published his "Broken Reeds," and his
collection of original poems entitled "Songs of Life." In 1873 he
published a pamphlet entitled "Priestly Pretensions Disproved." In 1877
he published a scholarly pamphlet entitled "Spurious Catholicity," being
a trenchant reply to a pamphlet entitled "Catholicity and Methodism," by
the Rev. James Roy, M.A. In 1878 he published his most important work, a
timely and unsectarian volume, replete with thoughtful arguments and
practical suggestions for promoting vital godliness, entitled "Living
Epistles; or, Christ's Witnesses in the World," with an appreciative
introduction by the Rev. William Ormiston, D.D., and containing also a
concise essay on "Christianity and Scepticism." In the spring of 1878 he
was appointed to deliver the annual lecture before the Theological Union
of Victoria College, at the closing of the institution the following
year. He took for his subject "The Development of Doctrine," an
important theme, hitherto scarcely touched by Methodist theologians; and
his lecture, which was delivered in Cobourg, during the Convocation week
in May, 1879, and has since been published in pamphlet form, is a
comprehensive, liberal, and seasonable discussion of this interesting
theological question. As a just and fitting recognition of his versatile
talents, his unwearied industry, and his literary and theological
attainments, the University of Victoria College at that time conferred
upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

Dr. Dewart is a man of great natural ability and force of character. He
is, in the true sense of the term, a self-made man, and his success is
largely attributable to his indomitable perseverance and unwearied
application. He has always been a diligent and laborious student, and a
close observer of human nature. Thrown upon his own resources before he
had attained his majority, he, without any special patronage, rapidly
made his way to positions of prominence. Since he has occupied the
editorial chair of the _Christian Guardian_ his sphere of usefulness has
been greatly enlarged, embracing as it does the whole of Canadian
Methodism. Being a forcible speaker and a vigorous writer, few men in
the Church during that time have done more than he to determine the
future character of Methodism in this country. He is a firm believer in
true Christian union, and has for years desired to see, and striven to
bring about, a united Methodism. The amalgamation of the two bodies
which took place in 1874 was in no small degree due to his persistent
advocacy and powerful defence, both through the columns of the
_Guardian_ and in the discussions of the Conference. In connection with
the movement for the consolidation of Canadian Methodism, he took a
leading part in advocating lay delegation and union principles; and at
the London Conference in 1873, when a plan of union had been agreed upon
by the Wesleyan, Eastern, British American, and New Connexion
Conferences, he, in conjunction with Dr. Nelles, was appointed a
delegate to the British Conference to represent the relations arising
out of the proposed union, and to arrange the terms of settlement with
the parent Body. As a member of Church Courts and Conference Committees,
he displays sagacity and decision of character. As a preacher he is
earnest, practical, and at times eloquent; his sermons are calculated to
quicken the intellect as well as the spirit. He is a man of strong
convictions, tenacious of his opinions, and fearless and outspoken in
expressing and maintaining them. He is also a man of broad views, of
progressive principles, and of advanced ideas upon all subjects, whether
civil or ecclesiastical. Although thoroughly liberal in mere matters of
opinion, whenever a principle is at stake he shows that he has the moral
courage to act in accordance with his conscientious convictions, and
resolutely to adhere to his purpose in spite of opposition, or
prejudice, or the loss of popular favour. He has always taken a deep
interest in everything that concerns the well-being of society, and has
heartily sympathized and coperated with all evangelical and
non-sectarian institutions. His earliest attempts at public speaking
were made while he was teaching school, in behalf of the great cause of
temperance. He has ever since been a steady and earnest advocate of
Prohibition, and is at the present time the President of the Ontario
branch of the Dominion Temperance Alliance.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See "Macmullen's History of Canada," chap. xxvi.

[2] This son and heir was painted by the celebrated Sir Thomas Lawrence,
and the portrait is one of the greatest of that artist's successes. It
has often been engraved. Canadian readers who feel an interest in the
matter will find a very faithful reproduction of it in Cassell's
"Magazine of Art," for 1879.

[3] The date of her birth is erroneously given in nearly all the
authorities as May 19th, 1797. The correct year is given in the life of
Mrs. Jameson by her niece, Gerardine Macpherson, published about two
years ago; but that biographer does not profess to give either the day
or the month, and the gravestone in Kensal Green Cemetery is equally
silent on the subject.

[4] See "The Speeches and Public Letters of the Hon. Joseph Howe;"
edited by William Annand, M.P.P. Boston, 1858.

[5] Not Sir Brenton Halliburton, who had presided at the trial for libel
in 1835, but Thomas Chandler Haliburton, better known to the literary
world by his pseudonym of "Sam Slick." The papers which made him famous
first appeared in the _Nova Scotian_, during Mr. Howe's editorship of
that periodical. Mr. Howe also published Mr. Haliburton's "Historical
and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia," at considerable loss to
himself.

[6] The reference here is doubtless to the trial for libel in 1835.

[7] See a remarkably well written paper on Mr. Howe in the _Canadian
Monthly_ for August, 1875.

[8] See the _Canadian Monthly_, _ubi supra_.

[9] In Cariboo, the constituency for which he has sat ever since his
first entry into public life.

[10] This conspicuous event in the history of the Covenanters will be
found at length in the pages of Wodrow. The general reader, who may not
happen to have a copy of Wodrow at his elbow, will find a sufficiently
graphic account of it in the fourth chapter of Macaulay's "History of
England."

ERRATA:

pg. 36 -- ^ denotes a superscript letter.

pg. 127 -- typo corrected: medicial has been changed to medical.



[End of _The Canadian Portrait Gallery: Volume II_ by John Charles Dent]
