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Title: Portraits of British Americans (1865-68) Volume 2 of 3
Date of first publication: 1867
Author: Fennings Taylor (1817-1882)
Illustrator: William Notman (1826-1891)
Date first posted: January 8 2013
Date last updated: January 8 2013
Faded Page eBook #20130102

This eBook was produced by: Marcia Brooks, Ron Tolkien
& the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

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Transcriber's Note:

Hyphenation for the most part has been standardised.

The date of the communication "a despatch from the Secretary of State,
on the subject of the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
to Canada" has been amended to read 30th January 1860. The volume is
erroneously printed with 30th February. See page 35.

page 21 able to to say ==> able to say

page 66 it is on exaggeration ==> it is no exaggeration

page 312 then has he had done ==> then as he had done

[Illustration: Bookplate]




  PORTRAITS

  OF

  BRITISH AMERICANS,

  BY

  W. NOTMAN,
  PHOTOGRAPHER TO HER MAJESTY.

  WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

  BY

  FENNINGS TAYLOR,

  DEPUTY CLERK,
  AND CLERK ASSISTANT OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF CANADA.

  VOL. II.

  MONTREAL:
  PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM NOTMAN.
  JOHN LOVELL, PRINTER.
  1867.




LIST OF PORTRAITS

IN VOL. II.


                                                                    PAGE

  HONORABLE THOMAS D'ARCY MCGEE,                                       1

  HONORABLE SIR NARCISSE FORTUNAT BELLEAU,                            29

  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL RHODES,                                          39

  VERY REVEREND JOHN BETHUNE, D.D.,                                   51

  HONORABLE ADAM FERGUSSON,                                           61

  HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR JOHN MICHEL, K.C.B.,          73

  HONORABLE ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT,                                   77

  REVEREND HENRY WILKES, D.D.,                                        95

  COLONEL, THE HONORABLE JOHN HAMILTON GRAY,                         111

  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOSEPH BOUCHETTE,                               117

  SIR WILLIAM EDMOND LOGAN, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.,                   133

  HONORABLE FREDERICK BOWKER TERRINGTON CARTER,                      147

  VERY REVEREND CHARLES FELIX CAZEAU,                                151

  COLONEL, THE HONORABLE JOHN PRINCE,                                159

  HONORABLE SIR DOMINICK DALY,                                       181

  HONORABLE GEORGE BROWN,                                            189

  MAJOR CAMPBELL, C.B.,                                              215

  HONORABLE F. EVANTUREL,                                            223

  HONORABLE JOHN YOUNG,                                              227

  HONORABLE HECTOR LOUIS LANGEVIN,                                   237

  HONORABLE JONATHAN SEWELL,                                         241

  HUGH ALLAN, ESQ.,                                                  267

  HONORABLE JOSEPH ULRIC TESSIER, LL.D.,                             273

  REVEREND ROBERT BURNS, D.D.,                                       279

  HONORABLE WILLIAM HAMILTON MERRITT,                                285

  HONORABLE SIR ALLAN NAPIER MACNAB, BART.,                          297

  CHARLES JOSEPH COURSOL, ESQ.,                                      325

  REVEREND MATTHEW RICHEY, D.D.,                                     329

  T. D. HARINGTON, ESQ.,                                             337

  HONORABLE PETER MCGILL,                                            341

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE THOMAS D'ARCY McGEE]




THE HONORABLE THOMAS D'ARCY McGEE

OF MONTREAL.


Had the Honorable Thomas D'Arcy McGee lived in the middle of the sixth
century he would very probably have been a member, and a very
distinguished one too, of that all-powerful "Bardic Order," before
whose awful anger, Mr. McGee informs us in his History of Ireland,
"Kings trembled and warriors succumbed in superstitious dread." This
influential order, we are elsewhere told, were "the Editors,
Professors, Registrars, and Record Keepers" of those early days, the
makers and masters of public opinion, whose number in the Provinces of
Meath and Ulster alone, in the reign of King Hugh the second, exceeded
twelve hundred. Although the subject of our sketch may neither be a
prophet, nor the son of a prophet, it is not improbable that, could we
trace his genealogy aright, we might discover that the trunk of his
family tree is rooted and grounded in poetic earth; for his
intellectual life derives no slight nourishment from the poet's
heritage,--imagination and fancy. Mr. McGee's ancestors hailed
originally from Ulster. It is therefore probable he descends through
them from the imposing commonwealth of bards to which we have
referred, and that his scholar-like forefathers must be looked for
among the twelve hundred whom King Hugh impeached, but who were upheld
and defended by that illustrious travel-stained saint, who, moved by a
love of letters, and a schoolman's sympathies, had to that end,
expressly journeyed from his sea-girt home at Icolumkill. On referring
to one of the larger and more perfect maps of Ireland, and looking
closely along the north-eastern coast, we shall perceive situated
seaward off the shore of Antrim, in the province of Ulster, and within
the ancient Barony of Belfast, a small islet which bears the name of
"Island Magee." This little sea-washed speck contained, according to
one of the latest, if not the latest topographical survey, about seven
thousand acres of the finest land in the northern part of the kingdom.
Moreover, in 1837 it was peopled by no less than two thousand six
hundred and ten inhabitants. In the early times, the lordship of the
Island was vested in the great Ulster family of O'Neill, from whom it
passed in the sixteenth century to the Macdonalds of the Antrim Glens,
and in the seventeenth, by the fortune of arms, to the Chichesters,
Earls of Belfast and Marquises of Donegal. From this small Island, for
which the original tenants are said to have paid the annual rental of
"two goshawks and a pair of gloves," (which, by the way, may have been
considered enough, since, to an incredibly recent period, the Island
was imagined by its inhabitants to be a theatre of sorcery,)--their
descendants were almost exterminated, and wholly expelled by a force
of covenanters at the time when the memorable Munroe was commander of
the Parliamentary armies in Ireland. Three only of those who bore the
name of Magee were said to have escaped to the mainland, and from one
of those three, who we suspect must have appropriated more than his
share of the sorcery, the subject of our sketch accounts himself to
have directly descended.

Without dwelling further on the facts and incidents of his remote
ancestry, we may mention that the Honorable Thomas D'Arcy McGee is the
second son of the late Mr. James McGee, of Wexford, and of Dorcas
Morgan, his wife. He was born at Carlingford, in the County of Louth,
and we are enabled to add, on the 13th of April, 1825. The name of
"D'Arcy," by which Mr. McGee is conventionally known, is, we have
understood, derived from his godfather Mr. Thomas D'Arcy, a gentleman
who resided in the neighborhood of Carlingford, and, as we may infer,
a personal friend of the family. Of his parents Mr. McGee is
accustomed to speak with filial affection and becoming reverence, for
he was early taught to "honour his father and his mother." But for the
memory of the latter, whom he lost at a very early age, if we may
publish in this place the observations of his most cherished friends,
he entertains feelings of tender and enthusiastic admiration. Such
feelings appear to be almost divinely wrought, and, like threads of
gold, they beautify as well as strengthen the purest fibres of our
nature. On the mind of Mr. McGee they have exerted the gentle
influence of poetry as well as the holy one of love. Separate
qualities, such as duty and pride, obedience and devotion, when looked
at through the lens of his memory, cease to be distinct. All his
recollections of his mother, though differently colored, nevertheless
meet and blend harmoniously, like the soft hues of the rainbow, as in
the hush of evening they silently melt in a sea of light.

No doubt there were strong intellectual affinities between the mother
and her son; and this sympathetic attraction created an indelible
impression on the heart of the latter. The intellectual charts of the
two minds were, we are inclined to think, marked with not dissimilar
lines; bold and deeply drawn in the case of the son, they were
sketchily traced and delicately shaded in the instance of the mother.
The subtle charm of divine poesy seems to have pervaded both; and this
spell of fancy and feeling, of imagination and truth, may, in some
sort, account for the magnetic attractions which governed the
intercourse of the parent and child.

To talk about his mother is, as we have had occasion to observe, a
source of unalloyed happiness to her son. As in a holiday in his
boyhood, the acids of controversy and the sharp edges of strife give
place to expressions tipped with sunshine, when his lips can be
beguiled into speaking of what his heart never ceases to feel.

  "My mother! at that holy name
  Within my bosom there's a gush
  Of feeling, which no time can tame,
  A feeling which for years of fame
  I would not, could not crush!"

According to his recollection of her, the subject of our sketch always
alludes to his mother as a person of genius and acquirements, rare in
her own or in any other class. She was endowed, as Mr. McGee is
accustomed to say, with a fertile imagination as well as a cultivated
mind. Nature had given her a sweet voice and an exquisite ear, and the
latter prescribed exact laws to the former when, bird-like, the owner
thought fit to attune that voice to song. She was fond of music, as
well as of its twin sister, poetry. A diligent reader of the best
books, she was also an intelligent lover of the best ballads. She
liked especially those of Scotland. The poetry of common life was in
her case no mere figure of speech. Through all the changes of daily
duty there ran a vein of fancy, which enabled her to brighten the real
with the pleasant phantasies of the ideal, and support the dark cares
of the mind on the white wings of the imagination.

  "Oh whar hae you been a' the day
                      My boy Tammie!"

were the words with which she usually greeted and welcomed her
favorite child. In common with her contemporaries, the mothers of her
day, we suspect she had a special liking for Home's tragedy of
Douglas; and we may perhaps more easily imagine than describe her
sense of pride as she listened to "Tammie's" earliest lesson in
elocution. It is not difficult to see the curly-headed urchin standing
on a table, and in melo-dramatic guise, with precocious effrontery
informing his mother who knew better, and his mother's friends who did
not believe him, that

  "My name is Norval."

His mother, as we have said, was early removed from him by death. We
will not speak of, since we cannot describe grief. We may, however,
conjecture, since their natures and intellectual tastes were
identical, that her death was like a severance of himself from
himself. The great tears, however, which no doubt fell upon her grave,
were neither idle nor unavailing tears, for they became as it were so
many cameras through which were reflected the duties, the incidents,
and the obligations of his future life. Thus at the age of seventeen
we find D'Arcy McGee had passed the shallows where timid youths bathe
and shiver, and had boldly struck out into the deep sea of duty. We
have no data which will enable us to bridge the time between his
mother's death and his arrival on this continent; but it is not
difficult to suppose that it was filled up in the manner usual to
youth, with the difference only of a greater amount of application and
a higher range of study. On arriving at Boston, he became almost
immediately connected with the press of that city. Kind fortune seemed
to befriend him; for his lot appeared to be cast in, what was at that
time, as perhaps it still is, the intellectual capital of the United
States--the forcing-house of its fanaticism, and the favored seats of
its scholarship. Thus it was that D'Arcy McGee, the youth hungry and
thirsty for knowledge and fame, found himself a resident of the New
England States capital, with access to the best public libraries on
this side of the Atlantic, and within reach of the best public
lecturers on literary and scientific subjects. For at that day
Emerson, Giles, (the county and countryman of the subject of our
sketch,) Whipple, Chapin and Brownson, lived in that city or in its
vicinity. It was moreover the residence of Channing, Bancroft,
Eastburn, Prescott, Ticknor, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, and others,
whose influence should have purified the moral atmosphere, and have
made Boston to others, what we suppose it must have been to them, an
appreciative and congenial home. It is not difficult to imagine, from
what we know and can observe of his mature manhood, that D'Arcy McGee,
the impulsive Irish lad, overflowing with exuberant good nature and
untiring industry, with his full heart and active brain, soon found
his way into meetings where learned men delivered lectures, or among
the booksellers, whose shops such celebrities frequented. Neither is
it a matter for surprize that he early attracted the notice of several
of their number. Opportunities of speaking publicly are by no means
uncommon in the United States, and we should imagine that Boston
contained a great many nurseries, under different names, where the
alphabet of the art could be acquired. Whether the scholar progresses
beyond his letters depends very much on the furnishing of his mind.
The nerve and knack may be got by practice, but the prime
condition,--having something to say,--must spring from exact thought,
and severe study. We have every reason to believe that the subject of
our sketch, even in his early youth, observed that condition; but we
have no means of knowing where or in what way he acquired the fluent
habit of graceful and polished oratory. For since he was enthroned on
his mother's tea-table, and declared to listening friends that his
name was "Norval," we have been unable to discover any intermediate
audience between his select one at Carlingford, and his scientific one
at Boston. Strange as it may seem, it is we believe, no less true than
strange, that during his sojourn at Boston, between the years 1842 and
1845, when between the ages of seventeen and twenty, he had actually
made his mark as a public speaker. Nor was it, we believe, denied that
the audacious youth, though contemptuously styled, "Greenhorn," and
"Paddy-boy," very fairly held his own with men who never were "green"
and who had long ceased to be "boys." It may be observed in passing
that the "Know-nothing" party, which has since then acquired
consistency and influence, was, in its incipient shape, discernible at
that day under the name of the Anti-foreign party, a party which Mr.
McGee could not do otherwise than criticise with severity and oppose
with vehemence.

At the period we refer to, the "Lyceum System" as it has been termed,
spread itself over the New England States. People desired to receive
knowledge distilled through the brains of their neighbors. Lecturers
were at a premium; and youth forestalled time by discoursing of
wisdom, irrespective of experience. Thus it was that Mr. McGee, with a
boy's down on his chin, and with whiskers in embryo, itinerated among
our neighbors, and gave them the advantage of listening to a youthful
lecturer, discoursing, we must be permitted to think, on aged
subjects. What those subjects may have been we cannot conjecture; but
we have little doubt that the reminiscences of Mr. McGee's lecturing
life in those days are full of amusing as well as of instructive
incident; for the period is, we think, coeval with a transition phase
not only of the Irish, but of the American mind.

Mixing, as he necessarily must have done, with all sorts and
conditions of men, it was impossible that Mr. McGee should not have
formed many acquaintances more or less valuable, and some friendships,
it may be, beyond price. Among the latter it is his practice to make
grateful mention of Mr. Grattan, then Her Majesty's Consul at Boston.
Besides a name historically eloquent which he inherited, that
gentlemen, it is said, possessed great intellectual acquirements as
well as personal gifts. In the latter were included a kindly
disposition and a cordial manner. It was therefore natural enough that
he should have taken a warm interest in his enthusiastic countryman,
and that from the treasury of his own experience he should have given
the young writer and lecturer many valuable hints on the style and
structure of literary work. Thus it chanced that the wise counsellor
and the kind friend meeting in the same person, exerted no
inconsiderable influence on the young enthusiast. Mr. Grattan's
sympathies fell upon an appreciative mind; for Mr. McGee always
speaks of his character with admiration and of his services with
gratitude.

A new page in the eventful life of the subject of our sketch was
however about to be opened. The obscure lad who had turned his back
upon Ireland was about to be beckoned home again by the country he had
left. The circumstances, apart from their political significance, were
in the highest degree complimentary to one who at the time was not
"out of his teens." An article, written by Mr. McGee, on an Irish
subject, in a Boston newspaper, having attracted the attention of the
late Mr. O'Connell, the former received early in the year 1845, a very
handsome offer from the proprietors of the "Freeman's Journal," a
Dublin daily paper, for his editorial services. This proposal he
accepted, and hence his personal participation in the Irish politics
of the eventful years which commenced then and ended in 1848. Ardent
by temperament, and enthusiastic by disposition, it was almost
impossible for Mr. McGee to keep within the bounds of moral force
which Mr. O'Connell had prescribed, and which the newspaper he served
was instructed to advocate. Mr. McGee felt that such fetters galled
him, and he became impatient under their restraint. The habit of
maintaining his own convictions was, and is, a necessity of his
condition. Following the lead of his feelings, he determined at all
hazards to associate himself with the more advanced and enthusiastic
section of the liberal party, then known by the name of "Young
Ireland." This section or _coterie_, for it was scarcely a party,
possessed many attractions for such an adherent. Besides the name, and
the bright, alluring, misleading quality of youth, which that name
symbolized and expressed, the _coterie_ was made up of those many hued
forms of intellectual mosaic work which men generally admire and
rarely trust; very charming in our sight and very perishable in our
service. It was composed, at least at first, almost altogether of
young barristers, young doctors, young college men and young
journalists, most of them under thirty, and many under twenty-five
years of age. Mr. McGee was probably their most youthful member, for
when his association with them commenced he was not of age. Of such
hot blood was the "Young Ireland" party compounded, that little
surprise was occasioned, and none was expressed, when its mischievous
revels were broken up by the riot act. If we understand the history of
those times aright, the policy of moral force which had guided
O'Connell was not, in the first instance, discarded by his younger and
more ardent disciples. They wished to accomplish the purpose of "The
Liberator," only they desired to shorten the time and accelerate the
speed of the operation. They thought that O'Connell was "old and
slow." They felt that they were young and active. In their minds the
rivalry between age and youth was renewed, provoking the old issues
and re-enacting the old results. Keeping in view the great end which
they had set themselves to accomplish, they nevertheless sought, in
the first instance, to move by literary rather than by political
appliances. Accordingly they planned, among other works, a series of
stirring shilling volumes for the people, entitled the "Library of
Ireland." The famine of 1847 extinguished the enterprize, but not
until twenty volumes of this new National Library had been published.
Of the above number Mr. McGee was the author of two. One, a series of
biographies of illustrious Irishmen of the seventeenth century, and
the other a memoir of "Art. McMurrough," a half forgotten Irish king
of the fourteenth century. Of course, works published under such
circumstances, and forming parts of such a series, would at first, at
all events, be well received and widely circulated; but their merits
could not have been of a mere evanescent character, for we are
credibly informed that now, after a period of twenty years, the books
we have mentioned still retain their popularity.

Mr. McGee, if we remember aright, has somewhere said, with respect to
the transactions of those times, that "Young Ireland," not content to
restore the past, endeavoured to re-enact it; not content to write
history, tried, to use a familiar phrase of Mr. John Sandfield
Macdonald's, to "make it;" and we have little doubt, could we see the
intellectual machinery which preceded those events, we should discover
that none more than Mr. McGee have assiduously labored to manufacture
history.

The _coterie_ grew into a confederation of which Mr. McGee was, we
believe, the chief promoter and the chosen secretary. It was not
without adherents, neither was it without attraction, and especially
to the class, a by no means inconsiderable one, whose judgment is
controlled by their imagination, and who seem to think that feeling
and wisdom are identical qualities. We decline to indicate those
transactions by any particular name. We all know that they were
failures, and since time tempers judgment, we venture to believe that
the actors of that day concur with the critics of the present time in
thinking that they were follies. The most stirring among the many
impassioned "Songs of the Nation,"--"Who fears to speak of
'98"--showed alike the genius, the courage, and the credulity of
"Young Ireland" of '48. The Irish politics of fifty years since were
no more worthy of recall than was the Irish policy of two hundred
years since. Young Ireland should not, we venture to think, have
invoked the embarrassing memories of the past, if it wished to make
old Ireland new. It was an error in time, an error in judgment, and an
error in sense, which, fortunately for all, contained within itself
the germ of inevitable failure.

While England, through her press and in her Parliament, scouted the
policy and punished its principal exponents, she did not fail very
generously to acknowledge the unquestionable talent and outspoken
honesty of that earnest and ill-fated party. We all know what
followed. Some of the leaders were sent into penal exile, while
others, including the subject of our sketch, found safety in voluntary
expatriation. Thus it was that, heated and excited by the strife,
angered and disappointed at the issue, Mr. McGee for a second time
landed in the United States. As before, his occupations were those of
a journalist and a lecturer, for it is his pleasure to live by the
sweat of his brain. Between the close of 1848 and the commencement of
1857, he published two newspapers, "The New York Nation," and the
"American Celt." It was, of course, natural, all the circumstances
considered, that the inclination of his mind should have been
violently and from the force of recent discipline, bitterly hostile to
the Government of Great Britain. Many will remember, not from the
papers themselves, for they had but a small circulation in the
Provinces, but from extracts which found a place in several of the
Canadian journals, how fiercely and bitterly anti-English his
political writings were. But while admitting the exaggerated rancour
which characterized his words, it will undoubtedly be allowed that
time and the opportunity for closer observation produced their usual
influence on his instructed mind. His fierce anger towards Great
Britain gradually disappeared. His excited temper, like the evil
spirit of the son of Kish, was exorcised, if not by the spell of
music, at least by the force of acquired truth and the sense of
obvious wrong. The book of remembrance and the book of experience were
before him. He could read their letter-press and criticise their
illustrations. He could see his countrymen under British and his
countrymen under American rule. He could look from that picture to
this, from Monarchical England to Republican America, and with all the
imperfections of the former, he would probably express his judgment of
the contrast in the words of the Prince of Denmark, that taken all in
all "it was Hyperion to a Satyr."

We could not, even in the cursory sketch which our limited space will
permit us to make, pass over in silence Mr. McGee's personal and
political career previous to his residence in Canada, for a portion of
that career was a prelude to, and directly connected with, its more
recent sequence amongst ourselves. His occupations during that period
were professedly those of an author and lecturer and only accidentally
those of a politician. Those occupations were marked with many errors
and crossed with many vicissitudes. Still it must be allowed that if
one of his ardent temperament and peculiar position succeeded in
avoiding misfortune, he could hardly be expected to escape mistakes.
An Irishman by birth, a Roman Catholic by parentage, passionately
attached to his race, and devoutly loyal to his religion, he was from
the very outset of his career remarkable for the courageous spirit of
independence with which he formed and maintained his opinions, no
matter whether the subject on which he adventured them was political,
historical, or social. A stanza selected from one of his Canadian
ballads illustrates this phase of his character, and supplies a key
note to his conduct:

  "Let fortune frown and foes increase,
  And life's long battle know no peace,
  Give me to wear upon my breast
  The object of my early quest,
  Undimm'd, unbroken, and unchang'd,
  The talisman I sought and gain'd,
          The jewel, Independence!"

Neither was it a mere poetical profession of faith. Mr. McGee's
history very clearly shows that he had reason for his rhyme. In the
very dew of his youth he maintained his political principles against
such an opponent as the great O'Connell, and later still he wore his
"Jewel Independence" in the presence of the late Dr. Hughes, the
distinguished Archbishop of New York. It is probable that neither of
those eminent men viewed with complacency what must have appeared like
presumption on the part of their youthful antagonist; but it is
pleasant to believe, as we have some reason to believe, that with
manly generosity, they did not fail to express their respect for Mr.
McGee's abilities, their appreciation of his sincerity, and their
desire for his success in life.

The independence which Mr. McGee valued and apostrophized was not the
independence which he found in the United States. His second sojourn
in that country thoroughly disenchanted him. His early admiration
paled before his later experience. The homœopathic principle appears
to be susceptible of political as well as physical application, for a
taste of democratic institutions cured Mr. McGee of any tendency to
democracy. Neither was social life in America more attractive than
political life. Both were an offence, and one was an abomination. But
the double discovery was made only after a painful and protracted
effort not to see it, for it was with great reluctance that his
vigorous mind and a tenacious will yielded at length to such unwelcome
convictions. It would be interesting to read Mr. McGee's own account
of his rise and progress towards higher moral and physical latitudes,
for every inch of his course might point a moral, every stage of his
journey adorn a tale. They only who know with what fanatic faith the
human mind will cling even to a cheat, can appreciate the wrench which
follows the discovery of the cheat. No man can deliberately break his
idol without some sorrowful remembrance of the thing he once thought
divine. The testimony of Mr. McGee might enable us to compare the
attractions of his fancy with the fallacies of his experience,--the
dream-land which his imagination painted and the real land which his
eyes saw.

In this interval of conflict, while fighting against himself, and by
wager of battle as it were, testing the strength and quality of his
principles and opinions, new light, and with it new views, from an
unlooked-for quarter, seemed to cross his path. In the midst of
literary work in New York he made the acquaintance of many friends in
Canada. Having formed his own opinions of the people whom he had met,
it was natural enough he should wish to see the country where they
dwelt. Thus it was that Mr. McGee, during one summer vacation, taking
a holiday after the manner of an editor, found himself writing letters
to his paper from the shores of Lake Huron, at another from the
solitudes of the Ottawa, and at a third from the scenic Provinces of
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The Provincial attractions were too
much for him. He heard in the Provinces what he did not hear in the
States, honest opinions openly expressed. He found in the Provinces
what he failed to find in the States, a tangible security for freedom.
The promise of liberty was no spurious or counterfeit debenture. It
was impressed with the stamp of law and endorsed with the sign-manual
of authority. Whatever may have been the form of the fascination, we
find that in the early part of the year 1857, after, as we have the
right to suppose, a careful comparison of the two states of society,
the American and the Canadian, Mr. McGee transferred, as he has
somewhere said, "his household goods to the valley of the St.
Lawrence," selecting the City of Montreal as the place of his abode.
We may here add that the City of Montreal lost no time in returning
the compliment, for on the first opportunity that city elected him as
one of its representatives in Parliament, and a little later his
friends and neighbours presented him with an exceedingly
well-appointed homestead in one of its most eligible localities. It
was a hearty Irish mode of making him welcome. Mr. McGee very modestly
sought only to be a citizen of the country; his friends determined
that he should be a freeman. No doubt the gift represented a great
honor of no uncertain value to the object of it. But apart from such
considerations, the shape which the testimonial took, soothed, and
flattered Irish sentiment. If there be one form of property dearer
than another to the offspring of Erin, it is that of a holding; and no
matter whether it be a park or a potato patch, it is equally precious
if it promotes the possessor to the condition of an estated gentleman
or a landed proprietor.

The old vocation was revived in Mr. McGee's new home. To write, to
print, to publish are with him not only habits of life, but they seem
to be modes of enjoyment.

  "The long, long weary day
  Would pass in grief away,"

at least to him, if it uttered no speech from his pen, or received no
thought from his brain. The time which elapsed between his arrival at
Montreal, and the issue of the first number of his newspaper the "New
Era," was brief enough; but it was nevertheless of sufficient length
to enable Mr. McGee to sketch through its columns a policy which
harmonized with the name of his paper. He earnestly advocated, and has
continued to advocate, ever since that time, an early union of all the
Colonies of British North America. In doing so, we may observe in
passing he initiated a phrase as descriptive of his object, which has
since become familiar alike from use and criticism, for the proposed
confederacy was in his mind and writings associated with the idea of a
"new nationality."

At the general election in 1858, Mr. McGee's public career in Canada
commenced. He was returned to Parliament as one of the three
representatives of Montreal. Whether from hereditary habit, a playful
disposition, or serious thought, we know not, but on his arrival in
the Province, he lost no time in declaring himself in true Hibernian
style to be "against the government." And against the government he
undoubtedly was during the four years of the continuance of the
irritating and acrimonious sixth Parliament. Much of course was
expected of him. He had a certain repute as a politician, though he
was more distinctly known as a forcible writer, and a fluent speaker.
Still his earlier Parliamentary efforts were, we think, followed by
disappointment to those who had thought him to be capable of better
and wiser things. It was observed that the subject of our sketch was
an adroit master of satire, and the most active of partizan
sharpshooters. Many severe, some ridiculous, and not a few savage
things were said by him. Thus from his affluent treasury of caustic
and bitter irony he contributed not a little to the personal and
Parliamentary embarrassments of those times. Many of the speeches of
that period we would rather forget than remember. Some were not
complimentary to the body to which they were addressed, and some of
them were not creditable to the persons by whom they were delivered.
It is true that such speeches secured crowded galleries, for they
were sure to be either breezy or ticklish, gusty with rage, or
grinning with jests. They wore therefore the raw materials, out of
which mirth is manufactured and consequently they provoked
irrepressible laughter. Of course they were little calculated to
elicit truth, or promote order, or attract respect to the speakers.
Indeed men who were inclined to despondency affected little reserve in
saying that Parliamentary government was in their opinion a failure.
During his early career, Mr. McGee appeared chiefly to occupy himself
in saying unpleasant and severe things. This occupation was apt to
include the habit of making personal allusions the reverse of
agreeable, and, as a matter of course, creating personal enmities the
reverse of desirable. In truth, Mr. McGee's speeches at that time were
garnished with so many merry jests, and sometimes overlaid with so
much rancorous levity, that their more valuable parts were hidden from
ordinary eyes, and inappreciable to ordinary minds. The cookery was
too generous, the condiments were too spicy. The sauce bore to the
substance about the same proportional inequality which Falstaff's
"sack" did to his bread; and this deficiency of solidity was
attributed by many people to an absence of intellectual property,
rather than to an error of conventional taste. Hence arose a
disposition on the part of some to underrate Mr. McGee's mental
strength, and hence, too, the observation, which, however was more
remarkable for glibness than accuracy, that "Mr. McGee speaks better
than he reasons." Certainly the Parliamentary skirmishes of that
period, though difficult to defend, were delightful to witness. Human
drollery made up in some sort for human naughtiness. There were, for
example, two members of that house of great ability, but very
dissimilar habits of thought. They sat not far from one another, for
if at that day they were not exactly "friends in council," they
usually voted together. One was the present Attorney-General West, the
unrivalled chief of Parliamentary debate; and the other, the present
learned member for Brome, the intellectual detective of suspected
fallacies. Breadth and subtlety, reason and casuistry, extensive
observation and minute knowledge, marked then as now the peculiar
characters of their modes of thought. No matter, however, whether the
range of their reasoning was broad or deep, horizontal or vertical,
circular or lateral, profound or peculiar, it was commonly
acknowledged by the subject of our sketch in a cheerful Irish way,
amusing enough to the spectator, but probably not as agreeable to
those who looked for grave reflections on grave thoughts. The truth
is, that Mr. McGee always seemed to be, in spite of himself, either
mischievous or playful; and regardless alike of the place or the
occasion, he appeared to be seized with an irresistible impulse to
scatter about him an uncomfortable kind of melo-dramatic spray which
occasionally drifted and thickened into a rain of searching,
infectious, comic banter, which, as a matter of course, amidst roars
of laughter, would drown reason, logic and speech in a flood of
exuberant fun. Such efforts, however, did not always succeed. Indeed,
more clever than praiseworthy, they scarcely deserved success, for
people do not always admire what they laugh at. Reaction follows every
kind of excess. Members began to talk of decorum of debate, and the
necessity of recalling the House to a state of order. None better than
Mr. McGee knew that he could, if occasion needed, be grave as well as
gay, wise as well as witty, serious as well as jocose. He knew that he
could lead thought as well as provoke mirth. He knew that at the
fitting time he could make for himself a name, and for his adopted
country a place, which would attract respect and honor in both
hemispheres.

Having fairly looked his work in the face, Mr. McGee would, as we
might reasonably conjecture, cast about him for fitting co-operators.
This portion of his public life seems to have been beset with
perplexing peculiarities. With an upper-crust of paradox there must,
we may suppose, have been an under-current of contradiction. As a
party man, Mr. McGee chose his side, but in the presence of his
declared principles and published opinions it is difficult to
understand by what laws his choice was determined. On his arrival in
Canada, he had, for reasons which he deemed to be sufficient, declared
himself to be "against the Government." Nor can it be denied that for
the space of six years he proved the sincerity of his declaration. On
the 20th May, 1862, the fortress which he had so persistently
battered, fell, for the Cartier-Macdonald administration, which he had
opposed and denounced, having been defeated on the motion for reading
the Militia Bill the second time, was constrained to resign. In the
Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte administration, which succeeded to power,
the subject of our sketch was offered and accepted the office of the
President of the Council. On the 8th of May following, on a question
of want of confidence, the last mentioned administration found itself
to be in a minority of five. Four days afterwards Parliament was
prorogued with a view to its immediate dissolution. After the
prorogation, Mr. Sandfield Macdonald, the leader of the Government,
undertook the responsibility of directing what was equivalent to the
very hazardous military manœuvre of changing his front in the presence
of an active and sagacious enemy. No doubt he was obliged to
strengthen his position, and under any circumstances his mode of doing
so would be subject to criticism. He reconstructed his government, and
the operation included, amongst other changes, not only the sending of
his Irish forces to the rear, but of reducing them to the ranks, with
the option, as it was amusingly made to appear, of being mustered out
of the service. The transaction is of recent occurrence, and need not
be dwelt upon. The surprize which it occasioned remains, for no very
specific reasons have been given, so far as we are aware, for the
course which was then pursued. That it was not taken upon the advice
of the subject of our sketch, we have the best reason for thinking;
for Mr. McGee took the earliest opportunity of showing, in the general
election which followed, that he would not play pawn to Mr. Sandfield
Macdonald's king. Rather than do so he crossed over to the enemy. The
amenities of political elections is a work yet to be written; when it
is written, the election for Montreal, in 1863, might, we incline to
think, furnish some instructive as well as amusing passages. In the
session which immediately followed, Mr. McGee, on three different
occasions, and with evident and unalloyed satisfaction, recorded his
vote of want of confidence in the re-constructed administration of his
former chief. Thus had he fairly crossed the house. He not only, and
with a will, voted with the party which he had theretofore opposed,
but on the late Sir E. P. Taché, in the month of March following,
being called upon to form an administration, and a strong party
administration too, he accepted the office of Minister of Agriculture,
which he still continues to fill. People may be inclined to think, and
not without some reason, that the subject of our sketch was moved in
the course which he took, more by pique than by principle, and that a
personal slight provoked his political defection. Without staying to
discuss a question on which we are not informed we may, perhaps, be
permitted to ask another, which to us, at least, appears to be still
more perplexing. What were the circumstances which in the first
instance separated Mr. McGee from the party of which he is now a
conspicuous member? Were it not ill-mannered to pry, we might,
perchance, amuse ourselves by indulging in some idle speculations, and
supplement them by making some curious enquiries. If there was one
question more than another with which Mr. McGee had identified his
name that question was the union of all the Provinces, and as
connected with, and inseparable from it, the questions of National
Defence, of the Inter-Colonial Railway, and of Free Inter-Colonial
trade. Happily these questions are not now the property of a party.
They belong to the whole of British America, for they have been
accepted by the great majority of its inhabitants, as well as by the
government and people of England. Still, it should not be forgotten,
that these great questions were parts of the cherished policy of the
administration which Mr. McGee opposed. The law which regulates
political relationships is not easily adjusted, for it is not
unfrequently embarrassed with vexatious personal entanglements. In the
instance before us, though we may see the affront which impelled, and
suspect the causes which attracted him towards his present alliance,
we do not see, nor are we required to see, why he served a seven
years' apprenticeship to a party whose policy, in many important
particulars, was not only different from, but opposed to his own.

Passing from Mr. McGee's history as a party man, to his opinions as a
public one, we seem to emerge from a bewildering labyrinth of
ill-lighted passages, into a succession of _salons_ radiant with
sunshine. We rise from what may be compared with the unseemly brawls
of a parish vestry to the ennobling deliberations of a National
Parliament. The vision of the "new era," which Mr. McGee, in his
Montreal paper, foreshadowed in 1857, seems to have grown into shape
and consistency. In an address delivered at the Temperance Hall,
Halifax, in July, 1863, he thus sketches, and with a bold hand, the
boundaries of British America, the Northern Empire of the future.

     "A single glance at the physical geography of the whole of
     British America will show that it forms, quite as much in
     structure as in size, one of the most valuable sections of the
     globe. Along this eastern coast the Almighty pours the broad Gulf
     stream, nursed within the tropics, to temper the rigors of our
     air, to irrigate our 'deep sea pastures,' to combat and subdue
     the powerful Polar stream which would otherwise, in a single
     night, fill all our gulfs and harbors with a barrier of perpetual
     ice. Far towards the west, beyond the wonderful lakes, which
     excite the admiration of every traveller, the winds that lift the
     water-bearing clouds from the Gulf of Cortez, and waft them
     northward, are met by counter-currents which capsize them just
     where they are essential--beyond Lake Superior, on both slopes of
     the Rocky Mountains. These are the limits of that climate which
     has been so much misrepresented, a climate which rejects every
     pestilence, which breeds no malaria, a climate under which the
     oldest stationary population--the French Canadian--have
     multiplied without the infusion of new blood from France or
     elsewhere, from a stock of 80,000 in 1760 to a people of 880,000
     in 1860. I need not, however, have gone so far for an
     illustration of the fostering effects of our climate on the
     European race, when I look on the sons and daughters of this
     peninsula--natives of the soil for two, three, and four
     generations--when I see the lithe and manly forms on all sides,
     around and before me, when I see especially who they are that
     adorn that gallery (alluding to the ladies), the argument is
     over, the case is closed. If we descend from the climate to the
     soil, we find it sown by nature with these precious forests
     fitted to erect cities, to build fleets and to warm the hearts of
     many generations. We have the isotherm of wheat on the Red River,
     on the Ottawa, and on the St. John; root crops everywhere; coal
     in Cape Breton and on the Saskatchewan; iron with us from the St.
     Maurice to the Trent; in Canada the copper-bearing rocks at
     frequent intervals from Huron to Gaspé; gold in Columbia and Nova
     Scotia; salt again, and hides in the Red River region; fisheries
     inland and seaward unequalled. Such is a rough sketch, a rapid
     enumeration of the resources of this land of our children's
     inheritance. Now what needs it this country--with a lake and
     river and seaward system sufficient to accommodate all its own,
     and all its neighbour's commerce,--what needs such a country for
     its future? It needs a population sufficient in number, in
     spirit, and in capacity to become its masters; and this
     population need, as all civilized men need, religious and civil
     liberty, unity authority, free intercourse, commerce, security
     and law."

Again, in the same paper, Mr. McGee exhibits the materials whereof the
new nationality shall be composed.

     "I endeavour to contemplate it in the light of a future,
     possible, probable, and I hope to live to be able to say
     positive, British American Nationality. For I repeat, in the
     terms of the questions I asked at first, what do we need to
     construct such a nationality. Territory, resources by sea and
     land, civil and religious freedom, these we have already. Four
     millions we already are: four millions culled from the races
     that, for a thousand years, have led the van of Christendom. When
     the sceptre of Christian civilization trembled in the enervate
     grasp of the Greeks of the Lower Empire, then the Western tribes
     of Europe, fiery, hirsute, clamorous, but kindly, snatched at the
     falling prize, and placed themselves at the head of human
     affairs. We are the children of these fire-tried kingdom
     founders, of these ocean-discoverers of Western Europe. Analyze
     our aggregate population: we have more Saxons than Alfred had
     when he founded the English realm. We have more Celts than Brien
     had when he put his heel on the neck of Odin. We have more
     Normans than William had when he marshalled his invading host
     along the strand of Falaise. We have the laws of St. Edward and
     St. Louis, Magna Charta and the Roman Code. We speak the speeches
     of Shakespeare and Bossuet. We copy the constitution which Burke
     and Somers and Sidney and Sir Thomas Moore lived, or died, to
     secure or save. Out of these august elements, in the name of the
     future generations who shall inhabit all the vast regions we now
     call ours, I invoke the fortunate genius of an United British
     America, to solemnize law with the moral sanction of Religion,
     and to crown the fair pillar of our freedom with its only
     appropriate capital, lawful authority, so that hand in hand we
     and our descendants may advance steadily to the accomplishment of
     a common destiny."

And at St. John, New Brunswick, in the following month of the same
year, Mr. McGee says: "There are before the public men of British
America, at this moment, but two courses; either to drift with the
tide of democracy, or to seize the golden moment and fix for ever the
monarchical character of our institutions!" "I invite," he continues
"every fellow colonist who agrees with me to unite our efforts that we
may give our Province the aspect of an Empire in order to exercise the
influence abroad and at home to create a State, and to originate a
history which the world will not willingly let die!"

In another part of the same paper, Mr. McGee very solemnly says:

     "This being my general view of my own duty--my sincere
     slow-formed conviction of what a British American policy should
     be--I look forward to the time when these Provinces, once united,
     and increasing at an accelerated ratio, may become a Principality
     worthy of the acceptance of one of the Sons of that Sovereign
     whose reign inaugurated the firm foundation of our Colonial
     liberties. If I am right, the Railroad will give us union--union
     will give us nationality--and nationality, a Prince of the blood
     of our ancient Kings. These speculations on the future may be
     thought premature and fanciful. But what is premature in America?
     Propose a project which has life in it, and while still you
     speculate, it grows. If that way towards greatness, which I have
     ventured to point out to our scattered communities be
     practicable, I have no fear that it will not be taken even in my
     time. If it be not practicable, well, then, at least, I shall
     have this consolation, that I have invited the intelligence of
     these Provinces to rise above partizan contests and personal
     warfare to the consideration of great principles, healthful and
     ennobling in their discussion to the minds of men."

On the same subject, we find in a speech delivered at an earlier day
in the Legislative Assembly, the following passage, in which Mr. McGee
eloquently groups in one view the main points of his magnificent
picture:

     "I conclude, Sir, as I began, by entreating the house to believe
     that I have spoken without respect of persons, and with a sole
     single desire for the increase, prosperity, freedom and honor of
     this incipient Northern Nation. I call it a Northern Nation--for
     such it must become, if all of us do our duty to the last. Men do
     not talk on this continent of changes wrought by centuries, but
     of the events of years. Men do not vegetate in this age, as they
     did formerly in one spot--occupying one portion. Thought outruns
     the steam car, and hope outflies the telegraph. We live more in
     ten years in this era than the Patriarch did in a thousand. The
     Patriarch might outlive the palm tree which was planted to
     commemorate his birth, and yet not see so many wonders as we have
     witnessed since the constitution we are now discussing was
     formed. What marvels have not been wrought in Europe and America,
     from 1840 to 1860? And who can say the world, or our own portion
     of it more particularly, is incapable of maintaining to the end
     of the century the ratio of the past progress? I for one cannot
     presume to say so. I look to the future of my adopted country
     with hope, though not without anxiety. I see in the not remote
     distance, one great nationality bound, like the shield of
     Achilles, by the blue rim of Ocean. I see it quartered into many
     communities, each disposing of its internal affairs, but all
     bound together by free institutions, free intercourse, and free
     commerce. I see within the round of that shield the peaks of the
     Western Mountains and the crests of the Eastern waves, the
     winding Assiniboine, the five-fold lakes, the St. Lawrence, the
     Ottawa, the Saguenay, the St. John, and the basin of Minas. By
     all these flowing waters in all the valleys they fertilize, in
     all the cities they visit in their courses, I see a generation of
     industrious, contented, moral men, free in name and in fact--men
     capable of maintaining, in peace and in war, a constitution
     worthy of such a country!"

There are, moreover, throughout the volume of speeches and addresses
on "British American Union," passages which appear to be as reverent
in their character, as they are eloquent in their language. We deeply
regret that our space, and the plan of our work make it impossible for
us to lighten this sketch with extensive extracts from Mr. McGee's
writings. The manner, for example, in which the political and social
systems of the United States re-act upon one another is frequently
pointed out with graphic power. He might have, though we do not know
that he has, warned his readers that liberty in America may become,
for there is great danger of her becoming, a suicide; and expire
wretchedly from some act of unpremeditated violence; for authority, as
it has been truly said, is as necessary to the preservation of liberty
as judges are to the administration of law. No violence therefore is
done either to sentiment or experience in asserting, that they are
most vigilant for freedom, who are most conservative of authority.
After this manner Mr. McGee speaks, in closing his speech on the
motion for an address to Her Majesty in favor of Confederation.

     "We need in these Provinces, and we can bear a large infusion of
     authority. I am not at all afraid this constitution errs on the
     side of too great conservatism, If it be found too conservative
     now, the downward tendency in political ideas which characterizes
     this democratic age is a sufficient guarantee for amendment. Its
     conservatism is the principle on which this instrument is strong,
     and worthy of the support of every colonist, and through which it
     will secure the warm approbation of the Imperial authorities. We
     have here no traditions and ancient venerable institutions--here,
     there are no aristocratic elements hallowed by time or bright
     deeds--here, every man is the first settler of the land, or
     removed from the first settler one or two generations at the
     farthest--here, we have no architectural monuments calling up old
     associations--here, we have none of those old popular legends and
     stories which in other countries have exercised a powerful share
     in the Government--here, every man is the son of his own works.
     (Hear, hear!) We have none of those influences about us which
     elsewhere have their effect upon Government, just as much as the
     invisible atmosphere itself tends to influence life, and animal
     and vegetable existence. This is a new land--a land of young
     pretensions, because it is new--because classes and systems have
     not had time to grow here naturally. We have no aristocracy, but
     of virtue and talent--which is the best aristocracy, and is the
     old and true meaning of the term. (Hear, hear!) There is a class
     of men rising in these colonies superior in many respects to
     others with whom they might be compared. What I should like to
     see is--that fair representatives of the Canadian and Acadian
     aristocracy should be sent to the foot of the Throne with that
     scheme, to obtain for it the Royal sanction--a scheme not
     suggested by others or imposed upon us--but one, the work of
     ourselves; the creation of our own intellect, and of our own
     free, unbiassed, untrammelled will. I should like to see our best
     men go there, and endeavour to have this measure carried through
     the Imperial Parliament--going into Her Majesty's presence, and
     by their manner, if not actually by their speech, saying--"During
     Your Majesty's reign we have had Responsible Government conceded
     to us; we have administered it for nearly a quarter of a century,
     during which we have under it doubled our population, and more
     than quadrupled our trade. The small colonies which your
     ancestors could hardly see on the map, have grown into great
     communities. A great danger has arisen in our near neighbourhood;
     over our homes a cloud hangs dark and heavy. We do not know when
     it may burst. With our strength we are not able to combat against
     the storm, but what we can do, we will do cheerfully and loyally.
     We want time to grow; we want more people to fill our
     country--more industrious families of men to develope our
     resources; we want to increase our prosperity; we want more
     extended trade and commerce; we want more land tilled--more men
     established through our wastes and wildernesses; we, of the
     British North American Provinces, want to be joined together,
     that if danger comes, we may support each other in the day of
     trial. We come to Your Majesty, who has given us liberty, to give
     us unity--that we may preserve and perpetuate our freedom; and
     whatsoever charter, in the wisdom of your Majesty and of your
     Parliament you give us, we shall loyally obey and observe, as
     long as it is the pleasure of your Majesty, and your successors
     to maintain the connection between Great Britain and these
     Colonies."

An opponent of every kind of sectionalism, Mr. McGee is accustomed to
say that he neither knows nor wishes to know where the boundary is
which divides Upper from Lower Canada. To him the whole is Canada.
Rather than occupy himself in discovering boundaries, he would work
hard to remove the pickets which separate the British Provinces from
one another that he might strengthen the barriers which protect them
from the American States. He would weld them together by such bonds as
love forges when he desires to fuse indissoluble ties. Therefore it is
that he advocates a policy of conciliation, a policy of forbearance, a
policy of defence, a policy of commerce, a policy of intercourse and
intimacy, where men's thoughts should be charitable and their lives
generous. He professes a statesman's anxiety not to re-enact in Canada
the curses which have afflicted Ireland. With this purpose in view, it
is his aim to discourage all societies whose object is politically to
separate men from one another, to cast them into antagonist
associations, or sort them into many-colored coteries, to breed
suspicion and create enmity. He believes that there may be unity in
plurality, and that the United Provinces like the United Kingdom,
though made up of several races, may be tempered and welded into a
State, one and indivisible.

Mr. McGee is not only a statesman and an orator--he is also, as most
people are aware, a lecturer of no ordinary gifts, and an author of no
ordinary ability. His range of subjects in the former character is
perplexingly extensive, and suggests the notion that the nooks and
crannies of his brain must be as thickly peopled with thoughts as are
the tenements of the fifth and sixth wards of New York, with his
ill-treated and closely-packed countrymen. To many of us it is a
matter of regret that we know nothing more of those lectures than
their names.[1] With respect to Mr. McGee's works we shall in this
place content ourselves with a list of their titles only.[2]

Mr. McGee left Ireland for the second time in 1848. He returned to
Ireland for the second time in 1865. Between that coming and that
going, his personal history had been stamped with strange
vicissitudes, and his political opinions had undergone serious
changes. He left Ireland because failure had waited upon folly; but
then we can imagine he was oblivious to every recollection but the
self-evident one of failure. He returned, too, not only because wisdom
had been crowned with success, but because he could think of his
previous failure, if not with complacency, at least without either
regret or shame. On both occasions he was equally sincere, and perhaps
even when he was most wrong he was most in earnest. It was not,
however, as a private, much less as an obscure individual, that he was
required to re-visit his native land. He did so by command of the
Queen's representative, as a Commissioner from Canada. He did so,
furthermore, as a member of the Executive Council for the purpose of
joining his colleagues in conference with the representatives of Her
Majesty's Government. When last in Ireland he took the opportunity of
publicly explaining to his countrymen the true position, actual and
comparative, of the Irish race in America. The force and originality
of the statements and opinions contained in his eloquent and
celebrated Wexford speech, attracted unusual attention. The press and
public men of Great Britain and Ireland had much to say of the speaker
and his speech; and no wonder, for recent events have taught them, and
us, that there was in what he said prophetic, as well as philosophic
truth.

In his personal appearance, Mr. McGee is what our portrait represents
him to be. The photographer and the sunbeam seem to have understood
one another admirably, when they turned Mr. McGee upside down in the
camera; for he has come out of the trial with incomparable exactness.
The shadows of the outward man have been caught with felicitous
accuracy. The intellectual man, if reproduced at all, must be
reproduced by resorting to a process analogous to that which has been
observed by the artist with respect to the physical man. Light from
without enables us to see what Mr. McGee is naturally. Light from
within must enable us to see what he is intellectually. The mirror
work of his mind is reflected in his words, and they who would examine
its brightness, must do so in the pages of his writings.

The great gifts of genius which Divine Providence occasionally
bestows, are, we believe, conferred as special trusts, for special
uses. The subject of our sketch may have been, perchance he was, a
chosen trustee of special gifts. He works as if, within the folds of
the scheme which he has set himself to accomplish, there were many
purposes of wisdom and charity. Directly, he desires by means of
confederation to bring about the intimate union of several Provinces.
Indirectly, he desires by a policy of conciliation, to bring about the
fusion of various races, and thus to supplement the law which shall
create a new nation, with a policy which shall create a new
nationality.

Nor are such plans purposeless, or such hopes chimerical. The races
which inhabit British America represent peoples whose countries are
made up of various tribes and different languages. The laws of moral
like those of physical gravitation have not ceased to operate. The
smaller bodies will be attracted, and eventually absorbed by the
larger ones. What the United Kingdom is, the United Provinces will
become. The question is one of time, and not of legislation. But the
process of transition to be accomplished wisely, must be accomplished
without violence and especially without wrong. The pursuit of such a
purpose is worthy of a Christian statesman, and a philosophic patriot.
If Mr. McGee, as one of many, shall succeed in giving shape and
consistency to the vision of "a fraternal era," which he has
foreshadowed, which the late Sir E. P. Taché foresaw, and which the
most experienced of our own statesmen are striving to bring about,
many good men will envy, and all good men will praise him. If he fail,
though there should be no such word as failure, his great
disappointment will at all events be solaced with

  "A peace above all other dignities,
  A still and quiet conscience."

[Illustration: THE HON. SIR NARCISSE FORTUNAT BELLEAU.]




THE HON. SIR NARCISSE FORTUNAT BELLEAU.

QUEBEC.


We read in some of those charming old nursery stories, whose scenes
are laid in "Araby the blest," as well as in tales akin to them where
the drama is curtained within less alluring, but at the same time more
highly favored lands, that those heroes and heroines of the earlier
time were accounted supremely happy as well as divinely favored who
had fairies for godmothers. The subjects of such solicitude, if we
recollect aright, were represented as a meritorious, rather than as a
numerous class, who were remarkable for the steady resolution with
which they held their own way, and advanced their own welfare. Thus,
to use an adage selected from the wise sayings of the hierarchs of the
mythological calendar, the fairies, like the gods, help those who help
themselves. Moreover they possess the knack of doing so at the right
time and in the right way. We cannot of course say that the godmother
of the subject of our sketch was a fairy, neither can we say that she
had foreknowledge of the honors to which the child would attain, for
whom, in the dim dawn of his infancy, she made promises and assumed
vows. She might paradventure have conjectured that he would reach
several of the steps of distinction at which he has successively
arrived; but she could scarcely have thought that an English Prince,
and he the heir to the most illustrious throne in Christendom, would,
in the good time coming, traverse the ocean, and in the course of a
Royal progress, mark that child with his first kingly act, and thus by
the ordeal of knighthood connect him with the history of his own
sovereignty. If, however, there be a necessary connection between
design and result, and if the latter be the natural sequence of the
former, then we have some reason to suppose that the names given at
his baptism, to the subject of our sketch, were not inconsiderately
bestowed. Those names are not names of yesterday merely, they are
nourished in classic soil. History and fable have invested them with
forms of superhuman fascination. Moreover they were not more exact in
their ancient meaning, than they have proved themselves to be
prophetic in their modern application. The first was selected from the
kingdom of flowers. In the symbolic language of that kingdom, if we
are rightly instructed, it corresponds in character with the quality
of self-reliance, which is particularly indicated as the occupant of
the tenth phrenological compartment of the human brain. It is,
moreover, of such sustaining value that in its absence, so we are told
by the professors of that science, men will make but small marks in
the world. The second name, which is as musical in its syllables as it
is bewitching in its sense, appears to have been selected from the
family of qualities. It has too, we may be allowed to think, attached
itself practically as well as nominally to the owner, for his
Christian names, Narcisse Fortunat, are not only poetical possessions,
to some extent they represent exact properties: the first was a pledge
that he should be befriended by perseverance and self-will, and the
second was a promise that success and distinction should crown both.

The remote ancestor of the subject of our sketch was a native of
Bordeaux, from which place he emigrated when this Province was
younger, and before the triple-crossed flag floated from the Citadel.
He is immediately descended from Mr. Gabriel Belleau by Marie de
Kotscha Hamel, his wife. We learn further that he was born on the
20th October, 1808, and educated at the Quebec Seminary. On the 15th
of September, 1835, he married Marie Remi Josette, daughter of the
late L. Gauvreau, Esq., who was formerly a member of the House of
Assembly of Lower Canada. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada, in
1832; and we may here anticipate the course of our narrative by
adding, that he was created a Queen's Counsel in 1854, and elected
_Batonnier_ of the Section of the District of Quebec, in 1857 and
1858.

For the period of seven years Sir Narcisse was a most zealous member
of the Quebec City Council, and for three of those years he held the
office of Mayor. It was during his mayoralty, and with the advantage
of his earnest co-operation, that the city water works were commenced,
by means of which an inexhaustible supply of pure water is conveyed
from the picturesque Lake St. Charles to every portion of the city. To
those who projected, and to those who carried out the project of the
Quebec water works, too much praise can scarcely be given. The design,
and the execution, though partially incomplete, are alike commendable.
The citizens were so evidently impressed with the value of their
practical and painstaking chief magistrate, that in 1853, on Sir
Narcisse expressing his intention to retire from the City Council, he
was requested to sit for his portrait, in order that his likeness
might be preserved in the City Hall. From the address which
accompanied the request, we may extract some of the reasons which
moved the applicants in the course they took. "The great improvements
made in the city, and the important public works projected, commenced,
and in some instances, completed under your auspices and
administration, and your abilities so liberally devoted to the public
service, will sufficiently immortalize your name." And as if such
language was too feeble to express their sentiments, they add:
"anything which may be said further on this occasion could add nothing
to the honor and distinction which you have already acquired!" We may
add that seven years after his official connection with the city had
passed away, those electors who in former days had supported him took
the opportunity, on the occasion of his receiving the honor of
knighthood, to present him with an address of hearty and cordial
congratulation. We may observe in this place, that it was about the
year 1852 that the much talked of North Shore Railway project took
shape and consistency. The initiatory arrangements had been so far
perfected as to warrant the projectors in introducing a Bill into
Parliament for the incorporation of the Company, which Bill received
the Royal assent on the 14th of June following. Of this Company the
subject of our sketch was the first President. It is true that he held
the office for a short time only, but we believe that within that
period the survey and report were made, printed, and published, the
localities determined on, and furthermore, that many of the
municipalities along the route were authorized by the resident
rate-payers, to issue debentures for the construction of the road. It
may be observed, too, that in his own community Sir Narcisse has been
at no time an idler. Thus we find him by profession a Barrister, by
election a City Councillor, and by appointment a Militia Officer and a
Magistrate; a founder of Savings Banks, an active promoter of Water
Works, an indefatigable Mayor, and a diligent chairman of a Railway
Company. A little later in his history we note that he was selected as
one of the Provincial Commissioners to secure a proper representation
of Canada at the Paris Exhibition.

But graver duties and higher honors were yet reserved for him. On the
23rd of October, 1852, Sir Narcisse was called by Royal mandamus, to
the Legislative Council, and from then until now he has taken a
prominent part in the proceedings of that Honorable House. On the 26th
November, 1857, he was nominated Speaker, and continued to discharge
the duties of that office until the 1st of August, 1858, when, on the
succession of the Brown-Dorion administration to power, Sir Narcisse
retired with his colleagues from the Government. Six days afterwards,
on the resignation of the last-named administration, he was
re-instated in his former office, the duties of which he continued to
fulfil until the 20th of March, 1862, when those duties were
determined by limitation. On the 27th of that month, Sir Narcisse was
appointed Minister of Agriculture, which appointment he held until the
20th of May following, when, on the defeat of the Cartier-Macdonald
administration, he retired from office, and continued in comparative
seclusion for upwards of three years.

In the year 1865, on the death of the much lamented Sir E. P. Taché,
the two sections of the coalition government, of which that gallant
gentleman was the popular and honored chief, were, there is reason to
believe, seriously embarrassed in selecting a successor. The
correspondence on the subject is of recent date, and will probably be
within the recollection of most of our readers. It is enough to say
that very complicated differences of opinion arose within the Cabinet,
as to which of its members should succeed to the vacant place. The
Government, it is thought, underwent a severe strain; so severe,
indeed, that it was feared by many that a sudden as well as an angry
separation of its parts was almost inevitable. Happily, however, there
were patriotic and statesmanlike men in the administration, and thus a
difficulty which to ordinary people, and in ordinary times, might have
proved insuperable, was adroitly overcome. The policy of compromise,
which commonly governs irascible republicans, is occasionally resorted
to in a constitutional monarchy. In the instance under review,
formidable rivalries were neutralized by doing honor to one who
possessed the negative advantage of being politically unobjectionable
to either party, and the positive one of occupying by the favor of Her
Majesty a safe position within the calm and anchorage of politics. It
is probable that such a position encourages serenity of mind, for the
ability to be, as well as to feel independent of the strife and hazard
of election contests, tends very much to ameliorate the acrimony of
party warfare, and perhaps to increase the charitable feelings of
those who are fortunate enough to be removed from its disturbing
influence. Politicians of consistent conduct and even minds can well
afford to wait, being assured that sooner or later they will be sought
for. The heat and violence of party strife is most commonly qualified
and reduced by the judicious infusion of calm manners and steady
habits of thought. Thus in the instance before us, Sir Narcisse,
though a thorough party man, had as we conjecture, wounded neither
party by the intensity of his partizanship. Having successfully ruled
himself by the laws of quiet, he was alike acceptable to both parties
when they were in search of an exponent of moderation. Thus moved, the
administration concurred in requesting Sir Narcisse to accept the
office rendered vacant by the death of Sir Etienne, and thus it is
that at the present time the former is Receiver-General and Prime
Minister of the Province.

In observing the historical order of our narrative, we have purposely
omitted any particular reference to the most important passage in the
history of the subject of our sketch, a passage which is as unique as
it is noteworthy, and may therefore very properly, and perhaps most
properly be separately referred to.

On the 4th of May, 1859, the following entry will be found in the
Journals of the Legislative Council.

On the motion of the Honorable Mr. Vankoughnet, seconded by the
Honorable Mr. Ross, it was unanimously agreed, that an humble address
be presented to Her Majesty the Queen, in the following words:--

     TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

     MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN:

     We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the
     Legislative Council and Commons of Canada in Provincial
     Parliament assembled, humbly approach your Majesty with renewed
     assurances of devotion and attachment to Your Royal Person and
     Government.

     We have long hoped that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased
     to honor with your presence Your Majesty's subjects in British
     North America, and to receive the personal tribute of our
     unwavering attachment to your rule, and we trust that while Your
     Majesty's presence would still more closely unite the bonds which
     attach this Province to the Empire, it would gratify Your Majesty
     to witness the progress and prosperity of this distant part of
     your dominion.

     The completion in the year 1860 of the Victoria Bridge, the most
     gigantic work of modern days, would afford to Your Majesty a
     fitting occasion to judge of the importance of your Provinces in
     Canada, while it would assure to its inhabitants the opportunity
     of uniting in their expressions of loyalty and attachment to the
     Throne and Empire.

     We, therefore, most humbly pray that Your Majesty will graciously
     deign to be present at the opening of the Victoria Bridge,
     accompanied by Your Royal Consort, and such members of your
     august family as it may please Your Majesty to select to attend
     you on the occasion."

On the address being sent to the Legislative Assembly for concurrence,
it was, on the motion of the Honorable Mr. Attorney-General Cartier,
seconded by the Honorable Mr. Foley, unanimously agreed to. On behalf
of the Legislative Council it bore the signature of "N. F. Belleau,
Speaker," and on behalf of the Legislative Assembly, of "Henry Smith,
Speaker." The last named gentleman had, we believe, the honor of
presenting it to Her Majesty.

On the 28th February, 1860, the following important communications
were made to the Legislative Council:

     EDMUND HEAD.

     The Governor-General transmits for the information of the
     Honorable Legislative Council a copy of a despatch from the
     Secretary of State, on the subject of the visit of His Royal
     Highness the Prince of Wales to Canada.

  Government House,

  _Quebec_, 1860.

  CANADA,          }
  No. 6            }

  DOWNING STREET,

  _30th January, 1860_.

     SIR,--As the two Houses of the Canadian Legislature will soon
     re-assemble for the despatch of business, it becomes my duty to
     inform you that the joint address to which they agreed at the
     close of their last session, was duly presented to the Queen, and
     was most graciously received by Her Majesty.

     2. In that address, the Legislative Council and Commons of Canada
     earnestly pray the Queen to receive in person the tribute of
     their unwavering attachment to her will, and to honor with her
     presence her subjects in British North America on the occasion of
     the opening of the great Victoria Bridge, accompanied by the
     Prince Consort, and such members of the Royal Family as it may
     please Her Majesty to attend her on the occasion.

     3. Her Majesty values deeply the attachment to her person, and
     the loyalty to her Crown, which have induced this address; and I
     am commanded to assure the Legislature, through you, how lively
     an interest is felt by the Queen in the growing prosperity of
     Canada, in the welfare and contentment of her subjects in that
     important Province of her Empire, and in the completion of the
     gigantic work which is a fitting type of the successful industry
     of the people. It is therefore with sincere regret that Her
     Majesty is compelled to decline compliance with this loyal
     invitation. Her Majesty feels that her duties at the seat of the
     Empire prevent so long an absence, and at so great a distance as
     a visit to Canada would necessarily require.

     Impressed, however, with an earnest desire to testify to the
     utmost of her power her warm appreciation of the affectionate
     loyalty of her Canadian subjects, the Queen commands me to
     express her hope that when the time for the opening of the Bridge
     is fixed, it may be possible for His Royal Highness the Prince of
     Wales to attend the ceremony in Her Majesty's name, and to
     witness those gratifying scenes, in which the Queen is unable
     herself to participate.

     The Queen trusts that nothing may interfere with this
     arrangement, for it is Her Majesty's sincere desire that the
     young Prince, on whom the Crown of this Empire will devolve, may
     have the opportunity of visiting that portion of her dominions
     from which this Address has proceeded, and may become acquainted
     with a people in whose rapid progress towards greatness Her
     Majesty, in common with her subjects in Great Britain, feels a
     lively and enduring sympathy.

  I have the honor to be, Sir,

  Your most obedient, humble servant,

  NEWCASTLE.

    Governor the Right Honorable Sir Edmund Walker Head, Bart., &c.,
    &c., &c.


On the 9th July, 1860, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,
attended by a large and imposing suite, left England, and after
visiting the Maritime Provinces of British North America, the Royal
party arrived at Quebec, on Saturday, the 18th of August, 1860. On the
Tuesday following, His Royal Highness held a levee at the Parliament
Buildings, which had been temporarily fitted up as a Royal residence.
Various individuals were presented, and various bodies of individuals
were introduced and graciously received. But the most noteworthy
transaction of the day occurred when the two Houses of the Legislature
were ushered into the Royal presence. First in time, as in rank was
the Honorable the Legislative Council, who, through their Speaker, the
Honorable Narcisse Fortunat Belleau, expressed their congratulations
in the following loyal and dutiful address.

     To His Royal Highness ALBERT EDWARD, Knight of the Most Noble
     Order of the Garter, Prince of the United Kingdom, Prince of
     Wales, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Cobourg and Gotha, Duke of
     Cornwall, Duke of Rothsay, Earl of Chester, Earl of Carrick, Earl
     of Dublin, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, Great Steward of
     Scotland.

     MAY IT PLEASE YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS:

     We, the Legislative Council of Canada, in Parliament assembled,
     approach Your Royal Highness with renewed assurances of our
     attachment and devotion to the Person and Crown of Your Royal
     Mother, our beloved Queen.

     While we regret that the duties of State should have prevented
     our Sovereign from visiting this extensive portion of Her vast
     dominions, we loyally and warmly appreciate the interest which
     Her Majesty manifests in it, by deputing to us Your Royal
     Highness, as Her representative, and we rejoice, in common with
     all Her subjects in this Province, at the presence among us, of
     him, who, at some future but we hope distant day, will reign over
     the Realm, wearing with undiminished lustre, the Crown which will
     descend to him.

     Though the formal opening of that great work, the Victoria
     Bridge, known throughout the world as the most gigantic effort in
     modern times of engineering skill, has been made a special
     occasion of Your Royal Highness' visit, and proud as are
     Canadians of it, we yet venture to hope, that you will find in
     Canada many other evidences of greatness and progress, to
     interest you in the welfare and advancement of your future
     subjects.

     Enjoying under the institutions guaranteed to us all freedom in
     the management of our own affairs, and, as British subjects,
     having a common feeling and interest in the fortunes of the
     Empire, its glories and successes, we trust, as we believe, that
     this visit of Your Royal Highness will strengthen the ties which
     bind together the Sovereign and the Canadian people.

To which, in language of chastened eloquence and touching pathos, His
Royal Highness was pleased to return the following gracious answer:

     GENTLEMEN:

     From my heart I thank you for this Address, breathing a spirit of
     love and devotion to your Queen, and of kindly interest in me as
     her representative on this occasion. At every step of my progress
     through the British Colonies, and now more forcibly in Canada, I
     am impressed with the conviction that I owe the overpowering
     cordiality of my reception to my connection with her to whom,
     under Providence, I owe everything--my Sovereign and Parent--to
     her I shall, with pride, convey the expression of your loyal
     sentiments, and if, at some future period, so remote, I trust,
     that I may allude to it with less pain, it shall please God to
     place me in that closer relation to you which you contemplate, I
     cannot hope for any more honorable distinction than to earn for
     myself such expressions of generous attachment as I now owe to
     your appreciation of the virtues of the Queen. Few as have yet
     been the days which I have spent in this country, I have seen
     much to indicate the rapid progress and future greatness of
     United Canada.

     The infancy of this Province has resembled, in some respects,
     that of my native Island; and as in centuries gone by, the Mother
     Country combined the several virtues of the Norman and
     Anglo-Saxon races, so I may venture to anticipate in the matured
     character of Canada the united excellencies of her double
     ancestry.

     Most heartily I respond to your desire that the ties which bind
     together the Sovereign and the Canadian people may be strong and
     enduring.

The subject of our sketch was Speaker of the Legislative Council and a
member of the administration with whom the invitation to Her Majesty
from the Canadian Parliament originated. He filled the same office
when Her Majesty was pleased to accept the invitation for her son, His
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. He filled the same office when the
Prince arrived in Canada. He had in his official capacity signed the
address of invitation. He had in like manner signed and read the
address of welcome. Little surprise was therefore betrayed when His
Royal Highness, on finishing the reading of his answer to the Address,
expressed by the Earl of St. Germains, His gracious pleasure that Mr.
Belleau should advance and kneel. Then receiving the sword from His
Grace the Duke of Newcastle, the Prince performed his first act of
Royalty by touching with the side of its blade the shoulder of the
kneeling gentleman, and commanding him to rise "Sir Narcisse Fortunat
Belleau!"

[Illustration: LIEUTENANT-COLONEL WILLIAM RHODES.]




LIEUTENANT-COLONEL WILLIAM RHODES.

QUEBEC.


Lieutenant-Colonel Rhodes, of the Canadian Militia, has the advantage
of being a Yorkshireman. He is the second son of William Rhodes, Esq.,
of Bramhope Hall, in that great English County. His father was
formerly a Captain in the nineteenth light dragoons, and was present
with his regiment, under Sir George Prevost, at Plattsburg. His son,
the subject of our sketch, like his father, adopted the profession of
arms, and joined the sixty-eighth regiment of light infantry as
Ensign, on the 18th of May, 1838. After serving for the period of ten
years, he retired from the army with the rank of Captain. In the
course of his career, he was ordered to do duty with his regiment in
Canada. Such duty included the popular and attractive service of
guarding the city and citadel of Quebec. The times we write of were
the halcyon times of peace, when the Queen's troops were not exposed
to any serious professional perils. Parades were observed and repeated
with scrupulous regularity. Sentinels were posted with exact
precision, and were succeeded by other sentinels at exact intervals.
Nothing more serious than the veering of the wind, or a change in the
weather, broke the monotony of their "weary way." The officer of the
day went "his rounds," according to regulation, and in mess-room
monotone answered the challenge, delivered with martial emphasis,
"what rounds?" with the stereotyped answer, "grand rounds!" Having
noted the "all's well!" of the carefully instructed non-commissioned
officer, the commissioned officer reported at head-quarters the
uniform intelligence that there was nothing to report. "War's alarms"
were listened to as matters of interesting tradition, or read of as
specimens of literary merit. Fossilized field officers, like
well-preserved minstrels of other days, had the privilege of telling
stories, prettily varied perhaps, but pleasantly wrought, of the
shreds and scraps of personal experience, or local recollection. Grave
narrators wrote histories, as a matter of course slightly one-sided,
or strung together memoirs, somewhat fanciful in their structure and
undeniably florid in their coloring. Thus tradition and history did
homage to the past. The youth and manhood of the army listened to one,
and read the other, giving to both a value of their own. Battles had
been heard of, none had been seen. War, and the army list, were
studied as duties. Peace, and idleness were put up with as
necessities.

It generally happens, however, that when Mars is idle, Cupid is
active. If the soldier on service escapes the gunshots of the former,
he is exceedingly liable to the arrow shafts of the latter. In one way
or another it is a condition of his profession, that he should be
wounded. He was probably recruited for the purpose. The difference is,
that whereas one class of wounds being reported by the commanding
officer, awakens compassion in the nation; the other class being also
reported by the same functionary, not unfrequently creates
consternation in the family. Indeed, those wounds which require
parental treatment are commonly more embarrassing to the commanding
officer than those which are left to the skill of the surgeon. Again,
though there was little danger that the flower of the English youth
would become prisoners to any foreign force, there was, we venture to
think, no small degree of anxiety lest they should fall into captivity
to powers, not the less dangerous for being friendly. Thus, it
followed, that the hopes of those who were absent did not always
harmonize with the wishes of those who were near. Purposes in the
distance, and influences on the spot, then, as now, not unfrequently
crossed and vexed one another. Far off friends took little note of the
great law of local attraction, and were sometimes only brought face to
face with its controlling powers when the season for analysis had
passed away. Wherefore it chanced that people in the old world were
affected with a marvellous amount of illogical surprise when they
discovered that the social laws which were operative in England were
not inoperative in Canada. They curiously overlooked the fact that
gentlemen are appreciated, and for the like reasons, in both
countries. Their residence in either land need not be an hermetically
sealed hermitage; for in the new world, as well as in the old, there
are beings of gentle birth, near akin to the graces, compassionate in
their feelings, and benevolent in their natures, who would rather
share than sympathize with such distressing solitude, even though the
sacrifice should include a life-long residence with the captive.

Passing, however, from general observations to matters of narrative
and personal history, we may chronicle, for the information of our
fair and courteous readers, that when quartered with his regiment at
Quebec, the subject of our sketch fell into captivity to, and
subsequently married, the only surviving daughter of the late Robert
Dunn, Esq., of the last mentioned city, and grand-daughter of the late
Honorable Thomas Dunn. He supplemented the ceremony with a graceful
compliment, for he made the country of the lady's birth the land of
his own adoption. Colonel Rhodes resides at Benmore, a charming
river-side farm, in the vicinity of Quebec. The estate was previously
owned by Sir Dominick Daly, the present Governor-in-chief of South
Australia. It may also be noted, that Colonel Rhodes not only
succeeded by purchase to Sir Dominick's landed property, but he
succeeded also by election to his political property, as his seat in
the House of Assembly, for the County of Megantic, was not inaptly
called. He was elected in 1854, and continued to represent the last
mentioned County until the year 1858. Whether the duties of a
legislator were congenial, or the reverse, we have no means of
knowing, but we are under the impression that he did not offer himself
for re-election. If, however, he saw fit to withdraw from political
life, it was from no distaste to do what he could to promote the
well-being of all whom his example might influence or his services
benefit. As a practical agriculturist, he lost little time in showing
what might be profitably done, by judicious cultivation and
well-selected stock, even in the face of a severe climate and long
winters. Thus, he communicated valuable information to less instructed
farmers. He personates the poetry of labor, for he is alike
enthusiastic whether the subjects of discourse be "swedes" or
"shorthorns." In this way he has done much towards carrying out the
purposes for which the agricultural association of Lower Canada was
created. Commerce, too, and enterprise, seem to have assumed for him
airs of theoretical fascination. He was, for reasons considered to be
sufficient, regarded as a gentleman of mark in the early history of
Canadian Railways, and his co-operation and assistance were evidently
sought for by those in whose judgment such assistance was deemed to be
valuable. Thus he was the elected President of the Quebec and
Richmond, and of the Quebec and Trois Pistoles Railways; and at its
incorporation he was a Director of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of
Canada.

Being of a sanguine, hopeful, and cheerful temperament, with an
apparently inexhaustible stock of health and strength, it is no matter
for surprise that Colonel Rhodes should with great zest have
associated himself with others to advance projects, which in a
legitimate and wholesome way were calculated to develope the resources
of, and attract wealth to the country. Among many which would
naturally occur to him, would probably be the two patent ones, which,
in different forms, present themselves to almost all minds. First to
create a market for the poor man's labor; and second, to establish a
repository for the rich man's gains. To promote the former, Colonel
Rhodes interested himself in the formation of the Quebec Warehousing
Company, of which Company he was, and we believe is, the chairman. To
secure the latter, he has, with others, exerted himself to establish
the Union Bank, of which institution he is one of the newly chosen
Directors.

Commerce and enterprise, whether they mean much or little,
far-reaching industry or sordid thrift, will not probably be rated
with the highest virtues. They have their rewards, however, and
whether such rewards are real or speculative, actual or expectant,
they serve to promote the individual about whom they cluster to a
niche of comparative prominence in the empire of trade. He who is rich
enough to lose money, next to him who is wise enough to win money,
will, of course, be regarded as a chief among the candidates for
commercial distinction. The gain and the loss, however, are almost
inseparably associated with those contrivances and associations by
which money is accumulated or diffused. He who interests himself in
such projects may be moved by public considerations, but he ought to
be moved by personal ones also. He should be sensible of the claims of
his own industry and of the requirements of his own wealth. Thus in
giving Colonel Rhodes credit for his zeal in behalf of the two
enterprizes we have especially mentioned, we are not blind to the fact
that his interest may have, and ought to have run in the same groove
with his exertions.

There is, however, one incident in the career of Colonel Rhodes, and
of other Quebec gentleman with whom he was associated, which deserves
particular notice. Though it was incidentally of a speculative and
apparently of a profitable kind, the work, nevertheless, was
originally undertaken because it was deemed to be a moral and social
need of a city population, that its inhabitants should possess a place
where they could be instructed and amused. Experience teaches that
work is not deteriorated by being flavored with pleasure, neither is
wisdom impoverished by being brightened with mirth. We associate
innocence with childhood, and observe with no feeling of regret the
joy, which, like a "luminous cloud," a "light ineffable," seems, as
if with a belt of beauty, to fold the sunny forms of youth. Joy, which
is the charm of childhood, and the heritage of youth, may scarcely be
regarded as alien to man's more advanced stage of being. The form in
which it finds expression will necessarily change. It will in later
life convey its feelings in language very different from the syllables
in which it first learned to articulate its sense of happiness. Still,
though cultivated and improved, the plant is the same. Its roots
gather nourishment now, as then, beside the springs of mirth and joy.

To make provision for what we have termed a need of our nature, the
subject of our sketch, with many other gentlemen, met and subscribed
money for the purpose of erecting a public building which was very
fittingly called "The Music Hall;"--perhaps the most spacious
apartment of the kind in the Province. As a pecuniary speculation, the
scheme, we have reason to believe, has turned out to be in the last
degree unprofitable. As a social contrivance of moral excellence, it
remains and we hope will continue to remain, a monument of the wisdom
and generosity of those who projected, and who made sacrifices to
build it. "Glorious Apollo" may not have been seen in person, nor the
"nectared sweets" of his divine lute actually tasted. Still the
"golden tongue" of music in notes of silver, has often been and will
often be heard within its walls.

  "A tuneful mandoline and then a voice
  Clear in its manly depth, whose tide of song
  O'erwhelmed the quivering instruments, and then
  A world of whispers, mix'd with low response,
  Sweet, short and broken, as divided strains of nightingales."

Age has, for a while at least, under the influence of music forgotten
its weight of years. The mind, overwrought, has got rid of its burden,
and even care, at the touch of its benign flattery, has recognized the
"sweet uses of adversity." There is a subtle, humanizing mystery in
music which belongs to feeling, not to narrative--which lingers on the
memory even when the words to which it was fashioned have passed away
from the mind. In the midst of such festivals of pleasure as the
Music Hall affords, it may not be amiss to note the names of those who
projected and who contributed towards the erection of the building,
and to whom the public is indebted for one of the most charming social
attractions of the ancient capital. This review of gratitude will
include the subject of our sketch.

Though Colonel Rhodes has sat in Parliament, we are not aware that he
has the misfortune to be moved by any special political aspirations.
He has, as we have said, from his position and energy, been selected
for various situations of responsibility connected with the
enterprize, commerce, and monetary institutions of the country. Such
selections, however, were not made because he was especially
qualified, by experience or study, to deal with the subjects of
railways, trade, or banking. Political science, railway economy, or
comparative currencies, have not with him, we incline to think, been
matters of severe study. They and he belong to the country and its
progress. His friends and neighbors, for reasons of their own, have
thought fit in some way to associate him with such subjects; and he,
on his part, has not been unwilling to shew his sense of their
partiality by contributing what he possesses, namely, time, means, and
zeal, some patience, and more industry towards promoting the "wealth,
peace and happiness of the country."

Like most country gentlemen, Colonel Rhodes was from his boyhood more
or less conversant with the sports and pastimes which are inseparable
from country life in England. The wolds of the East Riding and the
game preserves of the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire, have, we
venture to think, made his acquaintance in his character of a
sportsman. It is moreover probable that sport "in the purple," as
represented at the great racing carnival at Doncaster, when all
Yorkshire leaps into the saddle to ride or look at the St. Leger
handicap, has not escaped his observation. Colonel Rhodes may be
congratulated if on such a day, and at such a scene, he had the grace
to look at the high-conditioned beauties, in all their daintiness of
motion, with speculative interest only, and thus avoid all perilous,
to say nothing of pecuniary anxiety as to which particular badge of
silk and gossamer should be mingled with the winning horse, and with
the well-won stakes.

But though Colonel Rhodes put aside the dangerous fascination which is
supposed to surround the jockey's silk, we venture to think he took no
precautions against the more wholesome attractions of the scarlet
cloth, the dainty coat and delectable buckskin, the perfect mount, and
the exhilarating accompaniments of hounds and huntsmen; to say nothing
of--

  "A southerly wind and a cloudy sky."

Had he continued to reside in England, it is probable that he would
now be petted and cherished in the community of fox-hunters, for he
is, we incline to think, a style of rider who would be more apt to
take than shirk a fence. He would certainly be prized by many, besides
rustics, in the country round, for those qualities of strength and
activity which are regarded as among the prime graces of manhood.

  "In wrestling nimble, and in running swift,
  In shooting steady, and in swimming strong,
  Well made to strike, to leap, to throw, to lift,
  And all the sports that shepherds are among!"

The taste for the chase inherited or acquired in the old country,
knew, as we conjecture, little abatement when Colonel Rhodes left
England to take up his residence in Canada. The conditions of the
sport and the character of the game underwent considerable change, but
the old love and the old relish remained the same. The climate of
Canada enables him, without detriment to his agricultural pursuits, to
indulge this taste. When the earth has donned her winter mantle; when
the snow has been scattered "like wool;" when all domesticated animals
are housed in their sheltered nooks; when all within is snug, and all
without is bleak; then the agriculturist may become the sportsman,
who, as in the case under review, need not be sought for at Benmore,
where he lives, or at boards of commerce where bank directors, men
with long pockets, meet; but, if you would find you must look for him
among the wild hunters of the frozen north, with whom in "icy halls of
cold sublimity," or amidst the everlasting verdure of eternal pines,
"the green-robed senators of mighty woods," he can make his watch
fires and chaunt in unison the old-refrain,

  "A chosen band in a mountain land,
  And a life in the woods for me."

Mr. J. LeMoine, in his picturesque collection of literary "Maple
Leaves" has not inaptly spoken of Colonel Rhodes, as "the great
northern hunter," and as such we are especially glad to be able to
make him the text of this sketch. Indeed, in all occupations connected
with the chase, Colonel Rhodes, we venture to think, has few
superiors; for he is an ardent and hard-working, as well as a studious
and successful sportsman, who has patiently observed the habits of
moose and caribou, and appears exactly to know what either of those
animals and their tribes would do in any given emergency. The limits
of this sketch will not permit us to describe the outfit, the animals,
or the sport. It must suffice to mention, that the moose is not
usually regarded by gentlemen chasseurs as a suitable object of sport,
and it has therefore been very generally abandoned. Hunting the
caribou (the American rein-deer) is however quite another thing. He is
to our Canadian hunters what the red deer is to the Highlander. He is,
in his habits, an incorrigible nomad, and therefore gives plenty of
occupation to his pursuer. He roves at will, and apparently has no
fixed place of abode. Sometimes he is seen on the very crowns, the
"frosty pows," of the highest mountains, whose "snowy scalps" are
swathed in clouds. Then again he is found hidden away in cozy winding
ravines, beside some brawling "burn;" it may be for the convenient
purpose of drinking its waters, or for the congenial one of listening
to its music, or for the considerate one of finding shelter for the
fawns and their young. Or again, he is found, it is difficult to
understand why, except for Shylock's reason, that, "'tis his humour!"
in the coldest and bleakest spot of what is called "stag ground." The
creature may be understood when he takes position on the crest of a
mountain, that he wishes to observe and see that no enemy approaches.
He also may be understood when he seeks the sheltered ravine, that he
wishes to enjoy a little domesticity. But, except upon the hypothesis
of conjugal estrangements, it is not so easy to conjecture why he
should choose, at any time, to abide in the third spot which we have
mentioned, whose only recommendation appears to be that it possesses
all the bleak qualities of the mountain without its elevation, and all
the sheltered qualities of the valley without its seclusion. In fact,
it looks like a place of penance and mortification, where there is
little comfort for the deer, and less for the hunter.

The Quebec "Daily Mercury," of January last, has some very good
remarks on the sport, and they are the more worthy of insertion here,
because they relate to a _chasse_ in which, we believe, the subject of
our sketch took a conspicuous part.

     CARIBOU HUNTING.

     Of late years a good deal of attention has been annually drawn to
     the sport of hunting the caribou. This arises from our young men
     cultivating habits of sound morality, and showing a desire to
     excel in fields of exercise where the body and the mind find
     healthy recreation. The object of caribou hunting is to give
     reality to the use of the rifle; and a better training cannot be
     imparted to any young Canadian than the practice of contending
     with the climate in the pursuit of the wild animals of his
     country. The qualifications of a good caribou hunter are
     endurance, both mental and bodily, sufficient strength to carry
     his own body through the day, good sleeping powers at night, and
     as perfect a nervous system as can be attained. This latter
     qualification, so essential at the last moment, the pulling of
     the trigger, can be best promoted by practising moderation in all
     things, especially in drinking and smoking. A caribou hunter
     ought to drink a glass of water daily as a rule, never touch
     spirits except when ill, avoid strong tea or coffee--in fact, any
     habit which tends to weaken the nerves. The advantages of the
     sport are apparent in an increase of health generally, an eye
     which can see many things unobserved by ordinary men, and a
     _physique_ which makes the transport of your own body from one
     place to another a matter of pleasure, instead of being a labor
     and a fatigue; last, though not least, a practical knowledge is
     acquired of what poor people call _la misère_, a state of body by
     no means so disagreeable, as nature provides through the
     appetite a splendid sauce for the plainest food, and the warmth
     of a fire is a luxury to a half-starved man, more enjoyable than
     the best furnished house.

     So much for preamble; now for a hunt alone! To be alone in the
     woods conveys a feeling such as Adam may have felt when he was
     without a companion. "On one occasion," says an experienced
     hunter, living not a hundred miles from Quebec "I followed an
     'old track,' thinking it would lead me somewhere, probably where
     other deer might be, and after I had crossed one mountain and
     ascended another, I suddenly came upon other tracks which showed
     me that I was in the vicinity of some females with their young
     ones. After getting safely to the leeward of the tracks I found
     the game very much at my mercy, as I had only to proceed
     cautiously and keep my eyes very actively employed. After
     advancing some distance I saw a deer lying down. Off with the
     cover of the rifle,--a glance at the caps,--shuffle out of the
     snow-shoes, and the deer is counted as my own, as I had not been
     seen. On examining the ground again, I saw another deer alongside
     the former one, and, at a short distance, the head of a third. I
     consequently made arrangements to fire, shoot one on the ground,
     shoot another as it jumps up, shoot a third as it advances to its
     wounded comrades, then kill a fourth and a fifth as they, in
     their confusion, rush up to the dying deer. After reloading, I
     found four deer dead and one wounded. The dead deer were
     immediately beheaded, their bellies opened and the wounded deer
     followed. Two more shots soon brought him down. The next day I
     spent (having brought one of my men with me) in skinning and
     transporting the meat, which weighed about 700 lbs., to a
     neighbouring lake, whence it could more conveniently be carried
     to Quebec."

     In some instances the caribou have to be approached by crawling
     on the ground. "On one occasion of this kind," says our friend,
     "previous to the final stalk, it being very cold weather, I had
     one of my men badly frost-bitten, as he dare not move for some
     time for fear of alarming the deer, so we had to retire, warm
     ourselves by running about and eating, and then recommence the
     attack. Out of the five deer we got three--having missed two,
     through our fingers freezing on the triggers."

     The best style of caribou "camps" are tents made of double cloth,
     warmed with stoves. And by washing the body daily in the snow, an
     amount of comfort and cleanliness can be obtained which few
     people would suppose. The snow also makes the skin cold-proof.
     The washing in the snow is of course a strange sight for the
     Indian to behold:--a nude white man rubbing himself with snow
     always draws forth remarks of an amusing or alarming character.
     Caribou are decidedly increasing. Their great enemy is the
     carcajou or glutton. The cariboo killed by gentlemen hunters are
     fewer than those formerly killed by Indians, the best of whom
     prefer an engagement with "_les Messieurs_" to the chances of the
     woods; in fact the caribou hunt is regarded as the period when
     these men see a little money; and a feeling is rapidly growing
     that it is more profitable to keep the caribou as an attraction
     to the gentlemen than to destroy them for the mere value of their
     skins.

     The Game Laws, so far as the caribou is concerned, are well
     observed, yet the best protection for it is to kill the carcajou
     by all means, and to encourage young and inexperienced hunters to
     employ the old hands as guides. In fact, a caribou is not an
     animal for a poor man to make money out of; he is emphatically a
     gentlemanly mark for the accomplished chasseur, taking his
     hunters into the wildest places and most romantic scenery of our
     Northern mountains. For we have no mountains too high for a
     caribou to climb, nor crags so barren that he cannot find food on
     them, neither is there a lake or a hill-top which he does not
     visit during some period of the year.

The phases of the sport are very varied and very interesting. The
dreary country, tortured as it is into wild fantastic shapes of
hideous ruin, in which the caribou most commonly abides, or through
which he roams, is enough to appal a druid, or make a witch stiffen
with fear. Nature, with the agency of earthquakes and volcanoes, has
in the violent characters of wrath trenched the land with convulsions
and cursed it with sterility. It is peopled with such monuments of
desolation as mock, even while they provoke inquiry. Happily for the
hunter, he does not commonly wait to examine what is perplexing, when
in the pursuit of what is attractive. The sombre setting is lost sight
of in the central life of the picture. The gloom of nature is
forgotten in the glow of sport. Thus the victor, as he bears his
trophies home, thinks not unkindly of the waste in which they were
taken. With the tastes of an adventurer and the experience of a
sportsman, with boundless territory and magnificent game, it is no
wonder that Colonel Rhodes should be a "mighty hunter." Neither is it
a wonder that his friends and neighbors should, by common consent,
write his name in red letters, and place it conspicuously on the
muster-roll of those who may fitly be called the Nimrods of the
North.

[Illustration: THE VERY REVEREND JOHN BETHUNE, D.D.,]




THE VERY REVEREND JOHN BETHUNE, D.D.,

DEAN OF MONTREAL.


  Despair not that the writing on the tree,
  So indistinct at first appears to thee:
  Of one day's growth was virtue never known;
  The light of grace spreads by degrees alone:
  Until throughout illumined by its ray,
  The soul of man, made perfect in each way
  By faith and works, is fitted to partake
  The joys of Heav'n for his Redeemer's sake.

The Very Reverend John Bethune, Doctor of Divinity, and Dean of the
Anglican Cathedral, is also the Rector of the Protestant Parish of
Montreal. For nearly fifty years he has been, as it were, the
ecclesiastical pivot around which the domestic histories of three
generations of Christian people have revolved. Some whom he baptized
in their infancy have placed their grand-children in his arms, to
receive, "in virtue of his office and ministry," the "sign and seal"
of their adoption into the Christian family. When it is remembered
that he has never changed or sought to change his place, it may easily
be conjectured how thoroughly interwoven his clerical life has been
with the daily lives of the members of that "communion and
fellowship," in which his and their lots have been cast. The earliest
passage in the history of such fellowship is eloquent in its beauty:

  "Where is it mothers learn their love?
  In every church a fountain springs
  O'er which the Eternal Dove
  Hovers on softest wings!"

The sparkling water borrows brightness from above, when it is mingled
with "a few calm words of faith and prayer." And they who "back to
their arms their treasure take," are not prone to esteem him lightly
in whose arms that treasure was cradled, when the "dew baptismal"
dropped upon its brow. And thus, too, in all the subsequent passages
of his human history is the Christian minister moved diligently to
care for those of whom he is said to have the spiritual oversight. The
child must be diligently educated towards higher privileges. The
"agony of wavering thought," must be combated, and all which separates
the troubled soul from its untroubled rest must be hushed and stilled
by and through a ministry of peace. Nor are such ministrations
restricted to a particular portion of human life. It is true, the
extreme points are the cradle and the grave. Yet the intermediate
period is full of diversified duties. It is the clergyman who
catechizes and prepares youth for confirmation. It is the clergyman
who supplements the poetry of love with the "tie indissoluble," the
marriage covenant, and the espousal ring. It is his voice to which the
young mother attunes her first public prayer. It is he who is sought
for in seasons of sickness and distress, even though he may be
overlooked in times of prosperity and health. Then, too, at the last,
when all is over, and we have placed our treasures within the hushed
sanctuary of some "circling woodland wall," the same familiar human
voice soothes us with the divine words: "I am the resurrection and the
life!"

But it frequently happens that a clergyman's business is not all
"prayer," neither is his pleasure all "praise"--even while purifying
his own thoughts, and the thoughts of others, for a life beyond life,
he is not unfrequently compelled to mingle with the "common clay," and
sully the brightness of his spiritual calling with the damaging duties
of secular work. To secure a principle or protect a property which he
may have deemed sacred, the subject of our sketch, for example, has,
after the manner of men, been required to wrestle uncomfortably for
the mastery. This obligation to strive, either with authority, or
against clamor, is rarely assumed with cheerfulness. It is one of
those inconvenient duties which most men would rather avoid. If they
are undertaken, he must indeed be divinely favored who can, in all
respects, so discharge them as to keep "sin free." The ordeal is at
best a misery; it adds nothing to a clergyman's comfort, while it
almost necessarily detracts from his usefulness. We shall, in the
course of our sketch, have occasion to observe that the clerical
career of the Dean of Montreal has, apparently in spite of himself,
been more or less crossed and vexed with secular controversies.

The fighting blood of the old royalists flows in the Dean's veins, for
his father was a "United Empire Loyalist." He was born in the Island
of Skye, in the year 1751, and educated for the ministry of the Church
of Scotland at King's College, Aberdeen. Subsequently, he emigrated
with some members of his family to South Carolina. Shortly after his
arrival there the revolution of the then North American Provinces, now
the United States, commenced, and a royal corps was raised within the
last mentioned State. The late student of King's College, Aberdeen,
had been ordained, and thus it was that the Reverend John Bethune,
then a resident of South Carolina, was appointed the chaplain. This
regiment appears to have had a brief existence only. It was defeated
by the republicans, and many of its members, including the chaplain,
were made prisoners. On being exchanged, he went to Halifax, where he
was appointed Chaplain of the 84th regiment of the line. After the
peace of 1783, on the reduction of the army, he resided for several
years, at Montreal, during which time he was the minister of the
Presbyterian Congregation in that city. Afterwards, he was appointed
to a mission in the County of Glengarry, where, in a small log house,
in the Township of Charlottenburg, on the 5th January, 1791, the
subject of this sketch was born.

His father, the Rev. John Bethune, was, as we have said, a Scotsman
by birth, and a tolerably stiff Presbyterian by education. In an
"uncanny" moment, however, so far as his spiritual predilections were
concerned, he fell into hopeless bondage to one who had been born and
brought up in the communion of the Church of England. Now, although it
is not difficult to make a most earnest and exemplary Episcopalian out
of a Presbyterian, it seems, at least so far as we have had the
opportunity of observing, a much less easy task to make a Presbyterian
out of an Episcopalian. If the experiment be tried with the members of
the gentler sex, as it is sometimes tried with matrimonial
accompaniments, it is, we believe, observable, that even in their
husband's home, and on the "best day of all the seven," wives the most
dutiful have furtive thoughts of their father's church, and of the
unforgotten worship in days of old. The old liturgy, the old ritual,
and the old collects, the hallowed forms and phrases of the past are
marked and remembered, even when, like some cherished idol, they may
be looked at in silence only, or listened to like "the still small
voice" of the Holy One in the sanctuary of the soul. Years had passed
away. The young church maiden had become a wife and a mother. She had
too, we doubt not, with seemly reverence listened to her husband's
teaching, and with mute humility "sat under" his ministry. Moreover
she had striven to love it, as fondly as she loved him. In every way,
as we may be permitted to conjecture, she endeavoured to be "a help
meet for him," to act as he would have her act, and, if possible, to
think as he would have her think. Her husband very naturally desired
that one of his sons should be educated for orders in the Church, of
which he was a minister. With the ultimate intention of being sent to
Scotland, that son was in the meanwhile required to attend such
schools as the country afforded, and he was especially moved to
acquire, when and where he could do so, such classical instruction as
might be placed within his reach. Just at that time a school was
opened at Cornwall under the direction of a famous teacher, who had
recently arrived from Scotland, bringing with him scholastic
credentials of a very imposing kind. The teacher, and the school too,
from its connection with the teacher, were destined to become famous,
and to fill a conspicuous place in the history of the Province. The
former was Mr. John Strachan, the present Bishop of Toronto, while the
pupils at the latter included the late Sir John Beverley Robinson, Sir
James Macaulay, the Dean of Montreal, and many other public men, who
have filled prominent places in the history of Canada. From being a
pupil, the last mentioned became in the course of time the assistant
teacher, and what, as we believe, was more important, the fast and
dear friend of the teacher himself.

We have no reason to say that the wife of the Presbyterian Divine did
not sympathize in her husband's inability to defray the expense of
sending his son to Scotland; on the contrary, it is probable that what
occasioned regret to him was in like manner a subject of sorrow to
her. However, with true womanly sagacity, she sought to soften his
sorrow, and at the same time solace her own hopes, by urging her
husband to allow their son "John," to be educated for the ministry of
her Church, instead of for the ministry of his. Thus it was that from
about the age of fourteen, the life and studies of that son acquired a
new inclination, for he was educated as a member of the Anglican
Church. He received the holy rite of confirmation from, and in the
course of time was ordained by, the first Bishop of Quebec.

On the removal of the Reverend John Strachan to Toronto in the year
1812, the subject of our sketch was appointed his successor, as Master
of the District School of Cornwall. Though at that time too young for
orders, he was selected by authority as a lay reader. These
appointments had scarcely been made when the war with the United
States broke out. Thereupon in obedience to his loyal instincts, the
young teacher and lay reader did duty on the frontier as a volunteer.
While he declined to accept either pay or allowances for such military
services, he lost no opportunity of carrying on his school, and of
preparing for orders in the ministry on which his hopes were set. On
the 29th of June, 1814, he was admitted to the degree of Deacon; when,
as the first missionary of the Church ever sent into that part of the
country, he proceeded to take charge of the Townships of Augusta and
Elizabethtown, in Upper Canada. On the 28th of August, 1816, he
married Elizabeth, daughter of the late W. Hallowell, Esq., of
Montreal, who, in the year just past, departed this life. The Dean's
clerical ambition does not seem to have been of an exaggerated kind,
for at that time it mounted no higher than to be the Rector of the
Town of Cornwall. That preferment, to which he had some expectation of
succeeding, eluded him, and the loss was embittered with associations
of which the sense of disappointment was not the most poignant.
However, he was not inclined to despond, and therefore, in his
character of missionary priest, he worked cheerfully in his forest
duties, clearing the moral waste, and causing the metaphorical
wilderness to rejoice and blossom. Within four years he saw with
satisfaction the fruit of his labors. The congregations at his
different stations increased rapidly from a maximum number of twelve,
to numbers so large that they could not be conveniently counted.

In the midst of his rough country work, he was, in the month of
October, 1818, unexpectedly appointed to the Rectory of Christ Church,
Montreal, thus commencing a course of duty which was to be coeval with
his life. The Dean was then vigorous, in the flush of youth, and like
a young man was able to rejoice in his strength. In the spirit of zeal
he imposed on himself the charge of originating new duties, and of
systematizing old work. The Church was large, but the congregation was
small. The former, moreover, was unfinished and in debt. There were
neither day nor Sunday schools. No hospital for Protestants. No
societies, or associations through which Bibles, or Prayer books, or
religious works could be circulated. The co-operative machinery of
schools, and the silent machinery represented by books, through which
much holy work is done, were entirely wanting. Though we note these
facts, space will not permit us to rest on each ascending step in the
path of improvement, or mention, in their historical order, the new
and good works which were effected at the Dean's suggestion or with
his co-operation. By comparing the state of Church affairs in Montreal
now, with the state of Church affairs at the period of his induction,
people may see how much has been accomplished in the lifetime of one
individual, and they may determine for themselves what portion of the
credit may be said more especially to belong to the venerable subject
of our sketch.

In the spring of 1829, the Dean visited the "old country." The then
Bishop of Quebec, the Honorable and Reverend Dr. Stewart took the
opportunity of commissioning him to collect money for the "Canadian
Church Building Fund." Thus had he the opportunity of seeing the
Church in England, and of benefitting the Church in Canada, and we may
add that the acquired information, and the acquired funds were alike
serviceable, the former to the individual, and the latter to the
Church.

In 1835, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by
Columbia College, in the State of New York, and in the same year, on
the resignation of the then Archdeacon, afterwards Bishop of Quebec,
he was appointed Principal of the embryo University of McGill College,
Montreal. The appointment was made by the _ex officio_ Governors for
the time being, who, we may add, were His Excellency the Earl of
Gosford, the Honorable and Reverend Dr. Stewart, then Bishop of
Quebec, and the Honorable Mr. Chief Justice Reid, of Montreal.

The duty which the appointment involved, and the correspondence which
grew out of it, represent a troubled passage in the Dean's clerical
history. He became involved in a correspondence, which might more
aptly be designated a controversy, with his ecclesiastical superior,
the late Bishop of Quebec. We do not intend to touch those slumbering
letters, or do aught towards awakening a discussion towards which men
at the time grew impatient, and about which their minds were pained
with doubts too acute to be impartial. The gentle hand which traced
some of those letters is at rest, and, like the sword of the slain
soldier, it is placed with the disused armour of the past in the
arsenal of duty done. The firmer hand which grasped the bolder pen is
now wearied, for the pressure of age rests upon it. Hard thoughts have
been softened by time; misapprehensions have been removed, and charity
has adjusted the asperities of the past. We shall let those letters
sleep alongside of the faithful view of duty by which they were alike
inspired. It is only necessary to remark, in passing, that there
appear to have been, with respect to the ruling powers of the College,
conflicting as well as concurrent jurisdictions. The Governors on one
side, and the Board of the Royal Institution for the advancement of
learning on the other, claimed equally to exercise control. The former
were represented by the Principal of the College, and the latter by
the Bishop of the Diocese, and thus were the Rector and his Diocesan,
as the representatives of two boards of control, brought into a state
of official antagonism alike painful to both disputants. The
controversy was at length determined by the intervention of the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, who appears in a somewhat
peremptory way to have cut a knot which was either too inconvenient,
or too troublesome to unravel, for he instructed the then
Governor-General, His Excellency the Earl of Cathcart, to revoke Dr.
Bethune's appointment as Principal of McGill College. The edict which
removed the clerical Principal was speedily followed by transactions
which extinguished the Theological pretensions of the University, and
crushed the hopes of those who concurred with the subject of our
sketch, in believing that a professorship of divinity was intended and
ought to have been provided for such students as wished to study for
the ministry of the Anglican Church.

Not long after the creation of the Diocese of Montreal, the subject
of our sketch was appointed Dean of the Cathedral. A more fitting
appointment could scarcely have been made, for his personal history
had been intimately and lovingly blended with the history of the
Church, and Parish of Montreal. He can compare with some sense of
thankfulness, if not of pride, the bald, unfinished fabric in which he
first ministered, with the Church in her beauty in which he now
serves. Neither idle nor vain were the rapturous words of the Psalmist
which his instructed lips have been accustomed again and again to
utter. The holy ejaculation has been verified and fulfilled, for in a
material as well as in a spiritual sense, the clergy and laity who
worship in the Anglican Cathedral can now in fact and in name, in
spirit and in truth, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."

The Dean has in his day been a most diligent "preacher of the word."
His style is probably more remarkable for strength and distinctness
than it is for ornament or metaphor; for his mind is of a muscular
order, and from the very quality of its structure is prone to express
itself in the form of dogma. It may be described as more Doric than
Corinthian, more severe than florid. Those who are affected with
phosphoric fancies, and who expect clerical language to glitter like
glow worms or sparkle like fire-flies, would scarcely be satisfied
with the Dean's severe simplicity of speech. Not indeed that he is
averse to natural history, or to entomological study, as a branch of
such history; but he evidently thinks that butterflies, however
beautiful, belong to the parterre, and not to the pulpit, and that
beetles, however bright, are more ornamental on sand hills than in
sermons. It is also probable that his mind, in his early days, more
especially, was instructed to deal with those various forms of bold
infidelity, including some phases of modified deism, which marked the
last and the earlier parts of the present century. On such points and
with such objectors he holds no parley, and gives no quarter. He
squares at once, with "his foot to the field and his face to the foe"
and then vindicates the old truths by the old arguments and in the
old way. Nor is the more dainty scepticism of modern times, its
intellectual difficulties, its philosophic doubts, and its historical
contradictions, likely to overreach his reason much less to unsettle
his faith. He will try it by the Divine word and the ancient rules of
applied theology,--the rules he has learned, and which he regards as
embodying the immutable principles of sacred truth; and if any such
view falls short of this standard he will repudiate it as dangerous
fancy, or denounce it as a fond conceit. His preaching is not, neither
is it intended to be, a poetical flurry of tinsel and feather, or a
mere intellectual exercise of metaphysics and philosophy. His aim
appears to be not only that men should "have a right judgment in all
things," but that their action should harmonize with such judgment.
His sermons, therefore, are not embodiments of Christian doctrine
merely, they are manuals of Christian duty, illustrating to those who
will listen the Divine harmony between the Word and Works of God.

  The Dean's Text, (oft it happens thus,)
      Most apt to what my thoughts employ'd,
  Was Paul's words to those infamous,
      Of natural affection void.
  He preach'd but what the conscience saith
      To those blest few that listen well;
  "No fruit can come of that man's faith
      Who is to Nature infidel.
  God stands not with Himself at strife:
      His Work is first, His Word is next;
  Two sacred tomes, one Book of Life;
      The comment this, and that the text
  Ill-worship they who drop the Creed,
      And take their chance with Jew and Turk;
  But not so ill as they who read
      The Word, and doubt the greater Work."

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE ADAM FERGUSSON]




THE HONORABLE ADAM FERGUSSON,

OF WOODHILL.

     "And he gave it for his opinion that whoever could make two ears
     of corn and two blades of grass to grow upon a spot of ground
     where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind and
     do more essential service to his country than the whole race of
     politicians together."


The words extracted from Gulliver's travels, with which we have
prefaced this sketch, conclusively show that in the communities
visited by him there were men who, if not known by name as Ministers
of Finance, or Chancellors of the Exchequer, were nevertheless capable
of expressing very sound opinions on the sources from which nations
derive their wealth, and governments their strength. Produce more than
you consume, said the wisdom of Brobdingnag, and then you will have a
balance to your credit at the bank.

On subjects of political economy it is advisable for the timid
adventurer to write with a kind of shivering caution; for if he should
step one inch beyond the first rule of the science, the chances are
that he will be waylaid and upset by some one or other of those
remorseless economists, who not only roam at will through grim forests
of figures, but who seem to move those forests as it suits their
convenience to do so, with that sort of intimidating familiarity which
bewildered Macbeth when Birnam wood advanced to Dunsinane. The
figures, to pursue the metaphor, like Birnam wood in their fixed
attitudes, may be familiar enough. The difficulty is to recognize them
after they have been shuffled and shifted to Dunsinane. We hope that
our nod of approval to the Brobdingnag policy may not be deemed to be
presumptuous or our recommendation officious, when we request a cheer
for Gulliver. Let us show our appreciation of his opinions by directly
or indirectly persuading "two ears of corn or two blades of grass to
grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before."

The late Honorable Adam Fergusson, besides being a Scotch gentleman, a
racy Whig and a genial friend, was an ardent agriculturist, a
scientific agriculturist, and a successful agriculturist. Though he
may not have used his exact language, he very earnestly sought to
carry out that system of economy which has received the stamp of
Gulliver's approval. Those of us who knew Mr. Fergusson can easily see
him, as he was in his green old age, radiant with health, his cheeks
covered with a tracery of carnation veins, his eye clear in its blue
as the light of the morning, his manly figure above six feet in his
stockings, his new market coat and dress of breezy rusticity in
keeping with his character of a country gentleman. We can easily see
him and hear him too, when, as "a Canadian Farmer," as he delighted to
call himself, he counselled Canadian Farmers to amend their tillage,
to husband every kind of manure, to give attention to drainage, to
observe exact laws of rotation; to double the volume of their crops,
and quadruple the value without increasing the number of their stock.
We can hear him in his own hearty way ply the farmer with pretty well
put counsel. Remember we can imagine him to have said, that your
industry is your wealth. The resources of the country are in the soil.
Bring honest labor to bear on the hidden treasure. By enriching
yourselves you will increase the prosperity of the land in which you
live. To quote our travelled oracle, Gulliver, once more, Mr.
Fergusson might have added, and from his straightforward character he
may have added,--"By so doing you will deserve better of mankind, and
do more essential service to your country than the whole race of
politicians put together."

Enthusiasm may he said to add brightness as well as poetry to subjects
not unusually accounted common. With respect to agriculture, Mr.
Fergusson was happily an enthusiast. His fancy, however, did not run
away with his judgment. Without undervaluing the process of teaching
by precept, he knew the greater worth of teaching by example. We shall
have occasion in the course of this sketch to note with what dexterity
and wisdom, in concert with others, he popularized the science of
agriculture in Canada, and how by system and comparison, by
co-operation and rivalry, the way was paved for those great
improvements which during the last twenty years have especially marked
its progress in the Province.

The subject of our sketch was born at Edinburgh, on the 4th of March,
1783. He was the son of Neil Fergusson, Esq., of Woodhill, advocate,
by Agnes, daughter of Sir George Colquhoun of Tilleyhewan, Baronet,
and widow of W. Trent, Esq., of Pitcullo, Fifeshire, in whose right
her husband and their children eventually became the possessors of
that estate. Mr. Neil Fergusson was the Sheriff of Fifeshire, and,
moreover, was so highly esteemed by those who were responsible for the
appointment, that he was on the eve of being elevated to the Bench
when his death unfortunately stopped the preferment. Like his father,
the subject of our sketch was an advocate, but unlike him he scarcely
practiced his profession. Even the ermine in reversion failed to
attract. He preferred the life of a country gentleman, and happily he
possessed the means of indulging his preference. From his ancestors he
seems to have inherited country tastes, for he was descended from an
old highland family long established in Perthshire. It therefore
seemed natural enough that he should, in the spirit of local fidelity,
connect himself by marriage with another old family of the same
county. Thus the subject of our sketch married firstly Jemima,
daughter of Major James Johnston, who through her mother, Mrs.
Johnston Blair, was the heiress of the very old family and estate of
Blair of Balthayock in Perthshire. This lady died at Edinburgh in
1824. The property descended to her eldest son, and on his death
without issue, it passed to her second son, the Honorable Adam
Johnston Fergusson Blair, who assumed with the trust, in addition to
his paternal name, her maiden name of Blair.

The year 1833 was marked with two important events in the history of
the subject of our sketch. His marriage secondly, with Jessie,
daughter of George Tower, Esq., of Aberdeen, who died at Toronto in
1856; and his emigration with his newly acquired wife to this
Province. Immediately on his arrival, in conjunction with James
Webster, Esq., now of Guelph, he founded the flourishing settlement of
Fergus. He did not live in the settlement which he had helped to
found, but selected the vicinity of Hamilton for his abode, and very
naturally named the place thus selected after his former residence in
Scotland. Hence he was not uncommonly called and known as the "Laird
of Woodhill."

In the year 1839, when His Excellency Sir George Arthur was the
Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, Mr. Fergusson was summoned by royal
mandamus to a seat in the Legislative Council of that Province. Being
a large-minded as well as a far-seeing man, he was zealous in his
advocacy of the Act for re-uniting the Provinces of Upper and Lower
Canada. At the union of those Provinces, His Excellency Baron Sydenham
marked his appreciation of those services by taking measures to secure
their continuance in the United Province. It was on His Excellency's
advice that Her Majesty was pleased to summon him to a seat in the
Legislative Council of Canada, of which distinguished body he was at
the time of his death the senior member. He took an active part in
politics, but in doing so he appeared to bear in mind that by
tradition and choice he was a "Whig," and nothing more. In making his
confession of political faith, he almost invariably invoked the
softening or qualifying influence of adjectives. It was not, for
example, enough for him to be a "Reformer;" he wished it to be
understood that he was a "Constitutional Reformer." Neither was it
unfrequently observed that if, in the warmth and ardor of his
advocacy, he had overlooked some principle of serious constitutional
importance, he would at once call back such ill-considered sentiments,
as if they were heresies of the mind, and cleanse and purify them in
the lava of established usage. Whigs proper, whether they be English
or Scotch, do not easily find their political affinities in Canada,
for the Canadian Whig is only distantly related to its prototype the
British Whig. Thus the place of the latter in the political parties of
the Province seems to be determined by considerations that are not
purely political. The English Whig, like Colonel the Honorable John
Prince, for example, will generally be found voting with Canadian
Conservatives; while the Scotch Whig, like the subject of our sketch,
will as generally be found voting with Canadian Reformers. Neither of
them is quite at home with his friends, but both appear to agree in
thinking that society offers no more eligible alliance than the
political parties which they thus respectively choose.

It is not, however, as a politician that the "Laird of Woodhill" will
be most gratefully remembered. On the contrary, it is as a private
gentleman, and a public benefactor, that his name will chiefly be held
in honor. Charity of thought and usefulness of endeavor, with ivy-like
beauty, seemed to garland his life, and to keep that life, as they
still keep his memory, green and precious. Before settling permanently
in Canada, he made a tour of observation through the Province, as well
as through the United States, of which he afterwards published an
account. We regret that the work has not fallen in our way, but it is
not difficult for any one who knew the writer to believe what we have
frequently heard, that it attracted a good deal of attention at the
time, and had considerable influence in directing emigration to the
Province. As a country gentleman in Scotland, he had been a practical
as well as a theoretical agriculturist. It was, therefore, natural
enough that, in virtue of his occupation and position, he should have
been chosen a director, as he already was a leading member of the
Highland Society; nor was it surprising that he should illustrate the
fitness of the choice, by winning both the gold, and the silver
medals, for treatises on the subject of agricultural improvement.

Having had the advantage of a liberal education, and having, moreover,
studied attentively in the schools of experience and observation, he
became a settler, with the intention of being a useful one, in Canada.
He saw a noble country abused by ill-instructed cultivators;
magnificent land cursed with miserable tillage; the affluence of
nature impoverished by the ignorance of man; for it is no exaggeration
to say that there were no more virtuous subjects of the Crown, and no
more vicious farmers in the country, than the early settlers in
Canada.

Township and County Agricultural Societies had been for a number of
years in existence in Upper Canada, but their operations were
desultory, and their funds limited. The beneficial uses of such
societies were therefore, comparatively speaking, of a very slender
kind. This fact was apparent to all who seriously interested
themselves in the advancement of agriculture, and to none more so than
to the subject of our sketch. It was consequently no matter for
surprize that in the month of June, 1843, a letter should have
appeared under his signature in the "Cultivator," a small newspaper
published at Toronto, in which he recommended "the establishment of a
Central Society, or a Board of Agriculture for the Province, or
rather, perhaps, for Canada East and West respectively," with
suggestions on the way it should be constituted. Four years afterwards
an act was passed, entitled "An Act for the incorporation of the
Agricultural Association of Upper Canada," in which the name of the
Honorable A. Fergusson is mentioned at the head of the list of persons
who had sought to be associated. In 1850 an act was passed to
establish a "Board of Agriculture in Upper Canada." This act provided
for the creation by election of a kind of board of control or an
executive committee of eight members, to whom very important duties
were assigned. The country generally showed its appreciation of Mr.
Fergusson's worth by electing him at once a member of that Board, and
by continuing to re-elect him until the time of his death. Neither
should it be overlooked that he and others, who labored successfully
with him in establishing the "Agricultural Association," and the
"Board of Agriculture" as a pendant of that Association, were also
mainly instrumental in obtaining for the Science of Agriculture a
fitting recognition in the great seat of learning in Western Canada.
It is, we believe, to be ascribed to their exertions that a "Chair of
Agriculture" was established in the University of Toronto. The "Board
of Agriculture" may also be regarded as the parent of the "Bureau of
Agriculture." But it is not responsible for the fact, that no member
of the former has, so far as we know, ever presided over the latter.

Going back in point of time, it may be noted, that the first
Provincial Exhibition took place in the month of October, 1846. The
event was celebrated in the usual way. A party of two hundred
gentlemen, including the most learned, and the most distinguished men
of the Province, dined together at the old Government House, at
Toronto. The proceedings of the day were of a cheery halcyon kind,
mirthful and business-like, spicy and serious, including, as a matter
of course, an inaugural address from the first President, the
Honorable Adam Fergusson. That address was delivered to a large
assemblage. It was listened to, as it deserved to be, throughout, with
marked attention. It was subsequently published at length in the
transactions of the Board of Agriculture, and it is well worthy of an
attentive perusal. The time allotted to the speaker was necessarily
limited, and his remarks, therefore, had, like pressed provisions, to
be packed away in a small compass. It sufficed, however, for the
enunciation of certain principles, accompanied with recommendations
for the adoption of many necessary arrangements, as well as of some
judicious rules. Mr. Fergusson was no half-and-half agriculturist,
much less was he a mere speaker for the occasion. He was loyal in his
love of Canada, and quite sincere in his convictions that she was
capable of becoming the best human safety-valve, and at the same time
the finest granary of the empire. "We possess," he said, "an
overwhelming mass of living evidence to establish the fact that Canada
affords an unfailing independence to the sober, industrious, steady,
and rational husbandman or mechanic." Before concluding his address he
added a few earnest words of great wisdom, whose influence, like the
presence of a good angel, has, we believe, dwelt with the Board, and
never departed from the Association. Mr. Fergusson was a tolerably
ardent politician; as a matter of principle, he would have made some
sacrifice for party, but none for faction. It was not however, as a
party man but as a patriot he thus spoke:

     "In the remarks which I have submitted it has been my anxious
     care to abstain in the most scrupulous manner from all allusions
     of a party or political nature. I feel, gentlemen, far more
     intensely than I can possibly express, that our very existence as
     a useful institution must altogether depend upon a firm and
     scrupulous exclusion of all such topics from the Board. Thank
     God, we have a great and magnificent arena upon which every man
     in Canada may contend in honorable and patriotic competition,
     untainted by party jealousies or strife, and most devoutly should
     we all pray that party feeling or party intrigue may never be
     known among us."

For a period of eighteen years, he had with great kindliness and tact
worked harmoniously, and in thorough good will, with several sorts and
conditions of men. Nor had he worked in vain. His labors bore early
fruit, accompanied moreover with the promise of still greater
abundance. The time however which comes to all arrived for him. It was
as he approached the extreme limit of human life, for he was then in
his eightieth year, that he was to see the golden corn garnered for
the last time; that he was to gather in his last harvest, and that,
like the reapers of the past, he was to rest from his labors, and pass
peacefully to his home. On the day on which he died, the 26th of
September, 1862, the following resolution was entered on the books of
the Association, which he had done so much to establish:

     AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION,

  26th September, 1862.

     It was moved by Col. Thomson, seconded by the Hon. D. Christie,
     and Resolved, That this Association has learned with deep regret,
     that since the meeting of the Association on this occasion, one
     of the first and most indefatigable friends of the institution
     has been called from the scene of his earthly labors, and they
     desire to record their high estimation of the value of the
     services of the Hon. Adam Fergusson, of Woodhill, and the esteem
     in which he was held by the Board of Agriculture, of which he has
     been a member since its formation, and also by the farmers of
     Canada at large.--Carried.

The subject of our sketch was as the associate of others, not only
indirectly instrumental in promoting the advancement of agriculture,
he was directly, and by personal exertion and sacrifice, the cause of
provoking improvement, and of supplying incentives to such
provocation. No phase of practical farming was more repulsive to him
than bad stock, and in no respect was he more in earnest than in his
steady endeavor to root out the mongrels, and introduce in their stead
the pure grades of the old country. He was one of the first to import
short-horned cattle, and though his herd was not large, it is said to
have been well-chosen. Of such importance did he regard this subject
of stock, that he founded the "Fergus Cup," a goblet of silver to be
annually given for the best Durham grade Heifer, a prize which we are
glad to hear, his son the Honorable A. J. Fergusson Blair has
expressed his intention to continue. Nor should it be overlooked that
the Veterinary School established by the Board of Agriculture, four
years ago, was originated by Mr. Fergusson. He regarded the
institution with especial interest; and it is pleasing to learn that
the Veterinary College of Upper Canada can now boast of its graduates,
as well as of its amateur students.

Men whose reflections do not sink beneath the surface of things, are
very apt to undervalue such services as those which Mr. Fergusson, and
others like him, have done to the Province. If the sheep which dot the
meadows; if the cattle which roam on a thousand hills do not, the meat
which seethes in their saucepans, or "smokes in their platter," might
rebuke such scoffers, as they compare its improved with its crude
quality of twenty years ago. But there is another and less epicurean
view of the question, which may be fairly put, and was strongly put on
a public occasion several years ago by the Hon. Mr. Christie, the
present member of the Legislative Council for the Electoral Division
of Brant. In alluding to some remarks which His Excellency the then
Governor-General had made on the advantages of Agricultural
Exhibitions, in which His Excellency had said that the success of
those exhibitions was one of the criterions by which they could
measure the progress of the country, Mr. Christie observed that

     "The remark was susceptible of a still wider application, not
     confined to this Province. At those great mile stones in the
     pathway of the world's progress, the Exhibitions of London, New
     York and Paris, Canada occupied a prominent position. But it was
     mainly owing to the efforts of this Association that at those
     Exhibitions, Canada had attained so high a rank!"

The "Laird of Woodhill" may be said to have been "thorough" in his
character. He did not, when he went abroad, leave his occupation with
his old clothes at home; he did not, like a Mussulman, leave his
slippers in the vestibule that he might the more worthily pass muster
in the Mosque. His allegiance to the land of his birth did not incline
him to forget his loyalty to the land of his adoption. Anxious to be
consistent, and determined to be honest, there ran through his nature
a vein of pride which was not the less attractive for its resemblance
to humility. Here, and elsewhere, within the Province and beyond the
Province, the Honorable Adam Fergusson always qualified on the same
calling, for he chose to be neither more nor less than a "Canadian
Farmer!"

[Illustration: HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN MICHEL, K.C.B.]




HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN MICHEL, K.C.B.,

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE FORCES IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.


His Excellency Lieut.-General Sir John Michel, K.C.B.,
Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Forces in British North America,
is the eldest son of the late Lieut.-General John Michel, of Dewlish,
and Kingston Russell, in the County of Dorset, by his second wife,
Anne, daughter of the Hon. Henry Fane, of Fulbrook, in the County of
Lincoln. Burke, in his history of the County Families, with delightful
frankness, informs us that he was born in 1805, and in 1838 he married
Louisa Anne, only daughter of Major-General Churchill. His father, as
we have said, was an officer of high rank in the army, whose example,
very probably gave an inclination to the tastes of his son, for he
adopted the profession to which his father had belonged. He entered
the service as Ensign on the 3rd April, 1823, and rose with rapidity
to the rank of Captain, receiving his Lieutenancy on the 28th April,
1825, and his company on the 12th December, 1826. The steps in his
progress to the rank of Major were taken with greater deliberation,
for he did not arrive at that good degree till the 6th March, 1840.
Two years afterwards he received his commission of Lieut. Colonel,
with the command, as we infer, of the sixth Foot. In June, 1854, he
was promoted to the full rank of Colonel, and on the 26th October,
1858, to that of Major-General. On the 19th of August, 1862, he was
appointed Colonel of the 86th Regiment, and on the 4th June, 1865, he
succeeded Lieut.-General Sir William Fenwick Williams, Bart., K.C.B.,
as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in British North America.

Having adopted the profession of arms, the subject of our sketch seems
to have sought the "bubble reputation" with considerable assiduity,
and no small degree of success. Fortune, however, had no favors to
bestow during the first twenty years of his service. He had not
succeeded in arriving at what was then the fighting ground of the
British soldier; for in those times, out of India there was little to
be done that the Royal troops cared to do. Disturbances in Ireland,
riots in England, troubles in Canada, represented duties the reverse
of attractive, which most soldiers, having the option, would rather
avoid than seek. In India there were then, as there are still, wars
and rumors of wars. But the time had not arrived when the subject of
our sketch could do more than read of, or listen to, transactions
which were transpiring in that far-off land. Soldiers, like other men,
must wait. A British regiment is a massive body, and moves in a large
orbit. The cycle of its service cannot hurriedly be described. If, for
example, the regiment which our young Ensign joined, had just returned
from India, it is not difficult to understand that the roster, by
which such matters are supposed to be regulated at the Horse-Guards,
could not be otherwise than deliberately got through. In following the
geographical order, in moving from post to post, from province to
province, round the belt of the British possessions which encircles
the globe, it would require at least a quarter of a century for a
regiment to arrive again at any given point of departure.

In 1846-7, however, we begin to glimpse the smoke of battle, and the
subject of our sketch, we venture to think, began to distinguish the
serious from the holiday smell of powder; for he served throughout the
Kaffir wars, which commenced then and did not end till 1851-53. A
medal and a C.B. lighted the undecorated breast of his coat with their
first flash of honor, and created, we should suppose, beneath the
surface on which they shone, that thirst for fame which springs from
acquired distinction. They were the nebulæ, so to speak, the
glittering promises, which, as time grew older, would gather into a
star. The experience of warfare acquired in one continent, was
amplified in another. The career commenced in Africa, was continued in
Asia, for we read that Lieut. Colonel Michel's services with the
Turkish contingent in the Crimea were sufficiently distinguished to
secure acknowledgments from the Sultan, accompanied with the Medjidie
of the second class.

Nor did the subject of our sketch halt in the path of fame when that
brief campaign was brought to a close. In India, that grand seminary
of soldiership, we find him in 1858-9, performing noteworthy services,
and especially when in command of troops in central India, where he
defeated the rebel forces under Tantia Topee at Beorora, taking
twenty-seven guns, and again at the actions of Mongrowlie, Sindwaho,
and Kurari, as well as in the subsequent pursuit of the fugitive rebel
bands. For these services he received a medal, and won his star, for
he was created a K.C.B. In 1860, in the campaign in China, he
commanded a division of the army, and was present at the action of
Sinho. For this service he received a medal, with the addition of a
clasp for the Taku Forts. We have no means of informing ourselves of
the transactions in which he took a part between the close of the war
in China, and his appointment to the command of Her Majesty's Forces
in British North America. The last named duty was not destined to be a
sinecure. Almost immediately on his arrival in Canada, he found
himself charged, not only with the command of the troops, but with the
civil government of the Province, for the duty of administering the
government, in the absence of the Governor-General, devolved upon him.
This responsibility is not ordinarily considered to be burdened with
any very disquieting amount of anxiety, for under our system, it is
said that he governs best who governs least. There are, of course,
certain political duties which must not, and certain social duties
which should not he neglected. The former, it is said, were attended
to by Sir John Michel with military precision; and the latter, it is
known, were practised with graceful liberality. But along the tranquil
course of affairs, an unprovided case, as we conjecture, unexpectedly
arose. A prominent member of the administration differed from his
colleagues, and tendered his resignation. This fact, with the
contingency of a ministerial crisis in reversion, taken in connection
with the Fenian conspiracy, may certainly have supplied reasons for
restoring the civil government of the Province to the hands of the
civil Governor. Whether they did so or not, we have no means of
knowing, but the return of His Excellency the Governor-General, at a
period somewhat earlier than he was expected, seemed to receive an
explanation in the supposed wish of Sir John Michel, and the natural
one of Viscount Monck, to assume their respective shares of the
responsibility arising from the political difficulties within, and the
piratical ones without the limits of their two commands. The Fenian
menace almost immediately assumed a shape so infamous, that it was
considered advisable to place the whole military force of the
Province--Regulars, Volunteers, and Militia--under the immediate
command of the subject of our sketch. Sir John Michel, having had some
acquaintance with auxiliary and irregular forces, was supposed to know
how to use them with advantage; and to be able to form, from
experience and observation, a just estimate of their value and
quality. What that estimate may have been we do not presume to think.
If, however, we may judge his thoughts by his words, the opinion of
the Commander-in-Chief was as complimentary as it was encouraging. It
found expression in the cordial language of public praise, which no
volunteer soldier is likely to forget, and the courteous acts of
social condescension which no volunteer officer is likely to abuse.
There was logical fitness in the procedure; for gentlemen, whom the
Queen had honored with her commission, were not unworthy of being
guests at the house of her representative.

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT]




THE HONORABLE ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT,

MINISTER OF FINANCE FOR CANADA.

     "Man, amidst the fluctuations of his own feelings, and of passing
     events, ought to resemble the ship, which currents may carry and
     winds may impel from her course, but which, amidst every
     deviation, still presses onward to her port with unremitted
     perseverance. In the coolness of reflection, he ought to survey
     his affairs with a dispassionate and comprehensive eye, and,
     having fixed on his plan, take the necessary steps to accomplish
     it, regardless of the temporary mutations of his mind, the
     monotony of the same track, the apathy of exhausted attention, or
     the blandishments of new projects."--_Essays on the Formation and
     Publication of Opinions._


The "stroke oar" of the winning boat will probably remember, with more
complacency, the triumph of his University on the Thames, than his own
triumph at the University. The physical training, the indomitable
endurance, the superlative skill, the grand discipline of the body,
which preceded and accompanied the keenly contested struggle, will be
referred to with a heartier relish than the analogous struggle of the
brain. We therefore venture to think that the occasion on which we
first met with the subject of our sketch, is not likely to pass from
his recollection. It took its rise from a small, and as we believe
impromptu bet, and it resulted in a victory cleverly won. The double
result supplied the owner with good reason to "rejoice in his legs,"
and perhaps too they enabled the observer in appraising their value to
hazard the opinion that time would have a severe tussle with strength
ere he could "break such legs." It is more than twenty years since,
when the Province of Canada was in its tender and fractious infancy,
when some uncommonly sharp teeth were "coming through," and much
inflammation indicated the whereabouts of more, when the provincial
capital was in the town, and the parliament buildings in the township
of Kingston; when the Right Honorable Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe,
was Governor-General, and Mr. J. M. Higginson was his private
secretary; when the Honorable R. B. Sullivan had just ceased to be
prime minister, and the Honorable Dominick Daly represented several
Executive Councillors rolled into one; that many persons were
attracted to the seat of government because they had business to look
after, and many persons were detained there because they could find no
one with whom to transact business. It was at such a time, and we
believe under such circumstances, that the subject of our sketch found
himself a visitor at Kingston, probably, and in spite of himself, an
idler at the British American Hotel, in the care of a genial landlord,
whose heart was as large as his lodgings were small. In such straits
different men would act differently. The listless man would probably
lounge and dream; the energetic man would move and act; one would sit
and think, the other would walk and observe. The writer, who then
resided about five miles from Kingston, was informed on his return
home one afternoon, that some gentlemen, and one in particular, had
that day been walking on the road in front of his house for hours, as
if impelled by a vow or constrained by a wager. On inquiring the name
of the chief pedestrian, the writer was almost reviled for his
ignorance. "That is Alick Galt," said the enthusiast, "his wager is to
walk thirty miles in six hours." He did it too and in a very plucky
way, for he had, if we remember rightly, several minutes to spare.
Thus the bet, which was five pounds, was honestly earned. What he did
with it we do not know, and it would be impertinent to enquire; but we
venture to think that what was so creditably earned, was as charitably
spent. The fatigue of the walk was, we have little doubt, subsequently
forgotten in the glow of the wine; and the chaff and chatter, like
nuts and biscuits, gave a relishing flavour to the dessert. In
reviewing the "jolly days" of the past, we have little doubt that the
victory of that day, which by the way took place near the village of
Waterloo, is by the victor marked with a "white stone." Had we been
wise before the time, we might have speculated on the probability of
those well educated feet being balanced by an equally well educated
head; or that legs which could, without distress, accomplish any
amount of hard walking, exactly typified a brain, which, without
fatigue, could accomplish any amount of hard thinking. "Ambition is
the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds." The longing
desire which throbs, and pants, and strives, and reaches after a given
object, represents, so to speak, the motive power by which all objects
are gained. The manly training by which means are bent to ends, by
which circumstances are controlled, and made subservient to success,
represent the main conditions of determinate endeavour. As a mill-race
may be said to impel, with the like force, all kinds of machinery, so,
we incline to think, are intellectual power and physical strength
amenable to similar laws. All things being equal, the more perfect the
individual, in those qualities which represent power, the greater will
be his success in any struggle, no matter whether it takes its rise in
the exertions of the brain, or in the exertions of the body.

It was, we believe, commonly supposed that Mr. Galt is by birth, as
well as by descent, a Scotsman. But this impression was publicly
dispelled in 1865, when the honorable and gallant member for
Peterborough expressed his concern that England "his own beloved
land," was unrepresented in the Canadian administration. That
gentleman was at once consoled by President of the Council, Mr. Brown,
who rose in his place in Parliament, and, with a gravity of manner
difficult to forget, informed the House generally, and Colonel
Haultain in particular that he was mistaken, for his friend the
Minister of Finance, and the subject of our sketch, was born in
England. We have the satisfaction to be able to corroborate the
statement. The event moreover was not a mere border accident of
doubtful reliability; on the contrary, it was marked by circumstances
of manifest deliberation, for it took place in mid-England, and hard
by the metropolis itself. To be precise, we may repeat the
announcement, for the phraseology in which such facts were chronicled,
has undergone little change. The leading journal of that day may have
contained a notice not unlike the following:--"At Chelsea on the 6th
of September, 1817, the wife of John Galt, Esquire, of a son."

But although that son's cradle was rocked in England, although his
earliest breath was caught from the sweet hush of autumn-tide, and made
kindly by the gentle air of the southern kingdom, still the robust and
hardy qualities of his ancestors were not impaired by contact with the
gentler and more polished ones of his countrymen. We know not what the
child may have been, we only see what the man is. Therefore, we are
able to observe that Mr. Galt combines, in an extraordinary degree,
the pertinacious qualities of one race with the generous ones of the
other. His character represents that moral mixture, the almost
unattainable "half-and-half" which results from the judicious blending
of Scotch metaphysics with English good nature, of obscure reason with
practical common sense. Thus ideas, good in themselves, being
separated from the acids and prejudices in which they were generated,
are clarified and made safe by judicious solution and adroit
sweetening.

Of Mr. Galt's father, it is not necessary for us to speak at length;
his name and genius are known wherever the English language is spoken,
or English literature read. His temporary connection with this
Province, as one of the Commissioners of the Canada Land Company,
sufficed, it may be conjectured, to give an inclination to the career
of his son. In the year 1835, six years after his father's return to
England, the subject of our sketch emigrated to this Province, and at
once entered the service of the British American Land Company, as a
junior clerk. In that office he continued for twenty-one years, rising
by the force of his character, and abilities, from post to post, until
he reached the dignity of Chief Commissioner of the Company. It was,
moreover, at this period when he was busily occupied in disentangling
the Company's affairs, and proving to the satisfaction of the
shareholders, that what was regarded as insolvency, was only
confusion, that his mind acquired a relish for those forms of
financial study with which history associates the highest types of
statesmanship. The monetary affairs of a province may perhaps be
regarded as the exaggeration only of similar affairs in a company. The
possession of a key to one set of mysteries gave Mr. Galt a tolerably
exact insight into similar entanglements elsewhere. Thus the
fascinations of acquired knowledge provoked him to seek for more.
Experience and intuition, sound experience, and sagacious foresight,
may possibly have prompted an observation which he made at that time
to a kinsman of the writer's. "I should like," he said "to be the
Inspector General of Canada," as the officer who is now called the
Minister of Finance was then designated. Thus it may be presumed a
certain fixed idea had taken possession of his thoughts. His mind,
moreover, if we may adventure an opinion, is of a resolute order which
will either educate and shape itself to an idea, or make the idea
serviceable by bending it to the shape of his mind. Mr. Galt possesses
the twin gifts of prudence and discretion; he knows the advantages of
inaction and the value of silence. It was no part of his plan, even
had the opportunity offered, suddenly to vault into the position to
which he aspired. He was probably aware that personal observation and
Parliamentary influence were necessary preludes to administrative
success. In the absence of such experience he may reasonably have
thought that intellectual qualifications and individual aptness were
of little avail. For it is necessary not only to think aright, but to
acquire the art which education gives to habit, of clearly conveying
such thoughts to less instructed minds, thus, for example, by the
rhetoric as well as the logic of figures, to persuade men to agree to
a tariff or to put up with a tax.

In April, 1849, Mr. Galt was returned to Parliament as member for the
county of Sherbrooke. It was, it must be confessed, an uncomfortable
and troubled period of Provincial history, and moreover blemished with
several sorts of violence. The country was, we think, not fortunate in
being ruled by an administration which was too strong to be discreet,
while, at the same time, it was unquestionably discredited by an
opposition that was too passionate to be commanding. The former
affected contempt, and the latter displayed defiance. The former, in
the majesty of their majority, took no thought of precaution. The
latter, in the intensity of their resistance, took no thought of
responsibility. A sergeant's guard, had it been posted in time, would
have saved the Parliament buildings on the evening of the 25th April,
1849. Common sense, with a recovered temper, would have respected them
the next day. All Governments have occasionally to pass unpopular
acts. History, however, not only criticises such acts, but holds the
authorities accountable for the consequence of passing them. It is not
enough that such acts may in themselves be either virtuous or
necessary,--for public opinion may be said to be more or less divided
on the merits of almost all acts. The Government, which is responsible
for their passage, must be held responsible for the consequences of
their passage, even though the obligation should require virtue to be
upheld by force. The first duty of Government is to maintain the peace
of the country, irrespective of the consideration whether there exists
cause for the breach of such peace. Nor is the task difficult when it
is undertaken at the right time, for men involuntarily respect
authority. Half a dozen sentinels, with instructions to say, "you must
not pass this way," would, on the last mentioned eventful evening,
have saved our public character from disgrace, our public property
from destruction, and our provincial capital from itinerating
uncomfortably from one end of the country to the other. Of course such
oversights and follies were productive of follies more egregious, and
transactions more blameworthy. In Lower Canada indignation found
expression in what was termed an "Annexation Manifesto." In Upper
Canada it aired itself under the name of a "British American League."
Both ebullitions were mischievious contrivances which no literary or
scholastic merit could save from being censurable. One at least was
undeniably wrong; and the other, in spite of the plausibility of its
pretexts, and the standing of its members, could scarcely be screened
from contemporary derision, and will not be saved from posthumous
contempt. Happily, each was short-lived, and both have been quietly
interred. The former in a shroud of shame, and the latter in an
envelope of paint and fustian, good enough for the purpose, very
trumpery and very perishable. Few mourners attended their funerals,
few tears were dropped into their graves, and no survivor boasts of
his connection with the departed. Mr. Galt's experience of
parliamentary life, acquired in that extraordinary session, seemed to
satisfy him for a time, as for some reason with which we are
unacquainted, he in less than a year afterwards, and before the
Legislature again met, resigned his seat.

When Mr. Galt entered the British American Land Company, there is
reason to think he took a comprehensive view of its management, and a
particular one of its affairs. He saw that there was work to do, and
consequently that there was a career before him. Success followed
exertion, for when he retired in 1856, he could climb no higher; for
he had reached the topmost round in the ladder of that Company's
service. Afterwards, when his thoughts and aspirations appeared to
take a political direction, it consisted with analogy, to suppose that
Mr. Galt's attention would be patiently directed towards the map of
the British possessions in America. He probably examined their extent,
and estimated their resources, and arrived at conclusions of his own
as to the manner in which the former should be abridged, and the
latter developed. The paths by which political influence may be said
to travel are parallel with the highways of commerce. Multiply the
latter, and the avenues to the former will be increased. Thus a
scattered community, by a policy of artificial concentration, may be
made to move towards a state of national consistency. Establish a base
for political union, by creating the conditions on which it should
mainly rest, namely, intercourse and communication, revenue and
transport, trade and commerce. As a prelude of vital importance, to
the fact of union and its consequence, nationality, Mr. Galt was, as
we may presume, one of the earliest advocates of the railway policy of
Canada. He interested himself, firstly in the construction of the St.
Lawrence and Atlantic, and secondly in that of the Grand Trunk
Railway. Of the latter company he was a director from the eleventh of
November, 1852, to the twenty-eighth of July, 1859. By the
co-operation of a gentleman, whose name is inseparably associated with
Canadian progress and public improvement, we mean the Honorable Mr.
Young, Mr. Galt succeeded in rescuing the first mentioned company from
the difficulties in which it was temporarily involved, and eventually
made it serviceable by uniting it with the Grand Trunk Line, of which
it now forms a valuable part.

Either with or without his knowledge, Mr. Galt again returned to
political life. His election for the town of Sherbrooke, as the
successor of Mr. Short, who had been created a judge of the Superior
Court, took place in the month of March, 1853. He does not seem to
have taken his seat during the session which was then being held. It
may, we think, be presumed, though we have no means of informing
ourselves, that he was not in the Province at the time; for certainly,
one measure, the increase of the number of representatives in the
Legislative Assembly, which was discussed and passed in that session,
would have compelled his attendance had he been in a position to
attend. At the next session, which assembled on the thirteenth of
June, 1854, and was summarily prorogued with a view to its dissolution
by His Excellency the Earl of Elgin, on the twenty-second of the same
month, Mr. Galt's name occurs twice in the published divisions, as
they are found in the Journals, and on both occasions with the name of
the Honorable Mr. Hincks. At the general election which immediately
followed the dissolution, Mr. Galt was again returned for Sherbrooke.
At the session following, though generally inclined, with
statesmanlike consideration, to support a public servant in the
performance of his duty, he found, with many others, that Mr. Timothée
Brodeur, the returning officer at the then late election for the
County of Bagot, had put himself almost beyond the reach either of aid
or of sympathy. In truth, he had taken a view of duty so peculiar and
eccentric, as to make it well nigh impossible for Mr. Galt, even
allowing for the elasticity of conscience, which is commonly
associated with the subject of controverted Parliamentary elections,
either to screen him, or to support Mr. Hincks in his efforts to do
so. Whereupon, the latter, in consequence of the decision of
Parliament being expressed emphatically against him, found that he had
lost the control of the House. He consequently bowed to the verdict,
and retired with his Upper Canada colleagues from the administration.
In doing so, however, he took measures to promote those political
alliances between the representatives of the eastern and western
sections of the Province, which, we believe, had been deemed feasible
by many, including the present Attorney-General West, and had been
openly advocated by some, including the honorable and learned member
for Montmorency. The coalition government, as it was then constructed,
did not, we are inclined to think, commend itself very heartily to Mr.
Galt's regard, for the Journals of that period shew that he voted very
independently, and quite irrespective of the claims of either of the
parties which were then supposed to divide the House. In the session
of 1857, however, the direction of Mr. Galt's mind appeared to acquire
a more positive inclination, for on most of the questions on which
decisions were taken in Parliament, Mr. Galt's vote was generally cast
with the votes of his present colleagues. On the resignation of the
Brown-Dorion Government, Mr. Galt was, it is said, honored with His
Excellency's command to form an administration. For reasons which he
deemed sufficient, he obtained the necessary permission to decline the
duty. But in doing so, he was, we may be allowed to think, moved by no
selfish considerations, much less by a shrinking desire to evade the
consequences of his vote. What he had deliberately done, he was ready
determinately to uphold. No doubt he had reasons for his resolve; but
since those reasons have not, as far as we know, been divulged, it
would be idle to estimate their value, or discuss their merits. It is
enough to mention that on Mr. Cartier's being charged with the duty of
forming an administration, the subject of our sketch, on the sixth of
August, 1858, was gazetted to the office of Minister of Finance. The
season for temporizing had for the time at least passed away. The
language of conciliation was for the moment a mockery, and the policy
of compromise a delusion. Parliament was too obstinately divided to
listen to one or tolerate the other. Public men had no option but to
deal with the rage of the Legislature as they best could, for
apparently they were obliged to choose one of two sides. Mr. Galt did
not hesitate in his choice. He cast his lot with the party with which,
since then, he has been determinately identified.

With the formation of the Cartier-Macdonald administration, of which
the subject of our sketch became a prominent member, Provincial
politics appeared suddenly to acquire breadth and strength. The
horizon was enlarged. New light gilded the vexations of the hour, and
the chronic obstinacy of sectional antagonism was relieved by
extending the area in which such antagonism could be exerted. A
statesmanlike escape was discovered for the unstatesmanlike
difficulties into which the Province had drifted. A policy for the
future was boldly enunciated. A desire, born of pure and patriotic
thought, was shown to deal with the acknowledged difficulties of the
present, and thus, if possible, to heal the irritations of the past.
The Confederation of the British Provinces in America was one of the
measures which that administration pledged itself to attempt, and, if
possible, to accomplish. Three members of the Government, one of whom
was the subject of our sketch, addressed a note to the Principal
Secretary of State for the Colonies on the advantages of such union.
Little persuasion was necessary on the part of the ministers of
Canada, to carry conviction to the mind of the ministers of England.
What was courageously determined on here was cordially agreed to
there. The result was apparent at the opening of the next following
session of the Canadian Legislature. His Excellency the
Governor-General, in deference to advice, referred to the subject in
his speech from the Throne, and on all seasonable occasions from then
till now it has been especially advocated and advanced by Mr. Galt and
his colleagues. The seventy-two resolutions adopted at the Quebec
Conference, in 1864, with the concurrence of members of all parties,
represent the result of the policy. The great principles which those
resolutions embody, were boldly declared by the administration in
1858; but the financial ingenuity which marks their details, and which
is by no means their least remarkable feature, was little thought of
by those who acquiesced in the principle. The resolutions which relate
to the appropriation of revenue as well as those which deal with the
fluctuations of population, and regulate the number of representatives
in Parliament, are governed by a simple self-adjusting balance
movement, with respect to which we know not whether most to admire the
cleverness of the design or the clearness of the application.
Unquestionably those wheels within wheels must be accepted as the
finished work of a skilled workman. Who he was, we know not; but in
the absence of exact information, we have not deemed it to be
irrelevant to bracket the work with the duties of the subject of our
sketch.

There is probably no branch of the public service in which the
progress of improvement has been more marked, than that which is
controlled by the Minister of Finance. Some of us may remember the
time when the Receiver-General of the old Province of Upper Canada was
accustomed to say, half playfully to be sure, that he kept the "public
account in his breeches pocket." While no one doubted the honor of
that officer, or questioned the accuracy of his accounts, few persons
suspected that he understood them, and no one with whom we were
acquainted, could satisfactorily explain whether they were right or
wrong. The march of improvement since then has been very apparent, for
what was formerly obscure, is now generally considered to be plain.
Objection may, of course, be taken to the facts, but not, as we think,
to the manner in which they are stated.

Mr. Galt has had occasion to cross the Atlantic so frequently, that we
believe he has discontinued to keep a score of his voyages. This
portion of the duties of a Minister of Finance may be regarded as very
"jolly" by such as enjoy "life on the ocean wave." To others, however,
who prefer the song to the sea, the nautical is, and must be, among
the most nauseous duties which that officer is required to perform.
What the maritime ordeal may be to Mr. Galt, we know not: for the
objects of such voyages are too important for us to inquire very
anxiously whether the process is attended with inconvenience or not.
The re-adjustment and consolidation of our Provincial debts and the
consequent creation of Canadian consols, will, we think, be honorably
associated with Mr. Galt's name in all time to come. Those who have
money to invest will be grateful for the opportunity of being able to
place it in safe, remunerative and marketable stocks. Again, on a
recent occasion, as we may judge from the printed minute of those
proceedings, when the subject of our sketch was required to make an
official visit to Washington, and was brought face to face with the
committee of economists who were there assembled to consider the
question of abrogating or renewing the Reciprocity Treaty, the
Canadian people, irrespective of the issue of that negociation, had
every reason to admire the comparative, as well as the conspicuous,
breadth of his information who represented them on that occasion.

The administration of which Mr. Galt was the Finance Minister
continued in office until the 2nd May, 1862, when, being defeated on
the second reading of the Militia Bill, it was succeeded by the
Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte Government, the Honorable Mr. Howland
being Minister of Finance. On the 8th May following, the Government
was left in a minority by a want of confidence vote. A dissolution of
Parliament followed, and general election took place, when the subject
of our sketch was again returned as member for Sherbrooke. In the
reconstructed government, known as the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion
administration, the Honorable Mr. Holton succeeded Mr. Howland as
Minister of Finance. These changes, did not, we believe, occasion
marked alteration in the policy which had previously been initiated by
Mr. Galt. Mr. Howland's budget fell through by reason of the sudden
prorogation of Parliament, and Mr. Holton's was not submitted to the
House. When, therefore, on the resignation of the last mentioned
administration, Mr. Galt found himself re-instated in his former
office, he had, except for the re-imposition of the canal tolls,
little reason to complain of any serious change being made in the
policy he had sought to promote. But power was more easily regained
than peace. Parties were too exactly balanced and too thoroughly
divided to tolerate tranquil legislation. "Stones of offence" were
sedulously sought for, and were occasionally laid with considerable
success. Thus the Taché-Macdonald Government stumbled, and nearly fell
over one of such stones placed with sagacious address by the Honorable
Mr. Dorion, apparently for the express purpose of tripping the
subject of our sketch. The blow, however, though deliberately aimed,
was effectively countered by Mr. Galt. Then followed some admirable
sparring, until by a succession of unlooked-for surprises the final
victory remained with the apparently vanquished party. To adopt a
metaphor, Mr. Dorion, having in a political sense failed to perpetrate
strategic murder, not unnaturally brought about a strategic suicide.
Political rest followed; for the country was weary of mere talk, and
its representatives were ashamed of mere strife. A coalition of
parties took place, followed by anxious discussions in the cabinet on
the great question of Confederation. On the rising of Parliament, Mr.
Galt and six of his colleagues attended by invitation, and as guests,
the conference of delegates from the Maritime Provinces assembled at
Charlottetown. Less official visits were afterwards made to Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick. These bore fruit in the Quebec Conference
and its unanimous resolve. Then followed the congratulations of the
statesmen of England, the compliments of the Court, and the approval
of the mother country. Thus here, and elsewhere, in the Provinces and
in the Empire, at home and abroad, the policy of peace, of intercourse
and of union, inaugurated in the troubled times of 1858, was ratified
in the peaceful times of 1865. What particular portion of the credit
may be said to attach to Mr. Galt, must be left to personal conjecture
and future narrators. He, we believe, has expressed no other desire
than to be accounted one of the historical thirty-three, who drew up,
discussed and agreed to the seventy-two resolutions of the memorable
Quebec Conference.

Mr. Galt is not an orator, at least in the sense in which we
understand the term. We venture to think that in his resolute youth he
never stayed in his solitary walks to harangue the stones on the
beach, or apostrophize the stars in the sky. He is careful of what he
says, and naturally he cannot very well be careless of the style in
which he says it. Art should harmonize with and give expression to
nature. Mr. Galt may be aware of the danger of interfering with the
laws of the latter; for though he may not be anxious to simulate what
is artificial, he is evidently careful not to sacrifice what is
natural. Nature has bestowed on the subject of our sketch "a manly
presence," and a well modulated voice, whose tones, whether high or
low, whether the gift of nature, or the result of education, appear to
possess that much coveted pervading quality which belong to
accomplished art, and which occasionally are found to exist,
irrespective of the mere strength of the key to which such voice is
pitched. If Mr. Galt's manner of speaking in public might be indicated
by a word, we should be inclined to call it colloquial, a style in
itself very telling and seductive, for it is the style of earnestness
and sincerity. It does not offend our prejudices, neither does it
cause us to connect the speaker with the actor, and consequently with
the damaging suspicion that he is only performing a part.

But though the style may be described as colloquial, it is wonderfully
compact. Thoughts being resolved into words flow with attractive
harmony in a kind of state paper manner, where there is nothing
redundant, and nothing obscure. But although this style unstudied
precision may represent agreeable and concise talking only on the part
of the speaker, it exacts close attention on the part of those who
listen, and of severe labor on the part of those who report the
speech. "The gentlemen of the press" understand thoroughly that their
stenographic art must be plied with unwearied vigor if they would not
lose any point in the argument, or miss any passage in the speech. Mr.
Galt is probably the most massive speaker in Parliament. He knows how
to compress what he has to say, and it is only occasionally that he
repeats what he compresses.

The "Budget Night" is in the Canadian, as it is in the English House
of Commons, a marked night. It is pleasant not only to listen to the
utterances, but to observe the peculiarities of gifted men. When the
present honorable member for South Oxford sat on the opposite benches
to the member for Sherbrooke, it was exceedingly amusing to note the
difference of manner which characterized the two speakers when
discussing the same subject. Mr. Brown is supposed to have studied
very deeply the financial and economical questions, with which Mr.
Galt is officially required to deal. The answer of the former to the
speech of the latter was always looked for with a kind of anticipatory
relish, for it was sure to contain the flavor of spice and to provoke
an appetite in the listener. By habit and temperament no two men can
be more dissimilar. Mr. Galt is tranquil and imperturbable in his
character; his temper appears so thoroughly chained by his intellect,
that even his irony, except on extraordinary occasions, is of a
soothing kind. It really seems like a mere waste of ammunition to
expend Parliamentary indignation upon him. Mr. Brown, on the contrary,
is we incline to think, of a more sanguine and impetuous nature, whose
strength derives little nourishment from reserve, and no happiness
from silence. Unlike Lord Sydenham's prime minister, the present Mr.
Justice Harrison, who could not, or would not, be provoked, Mr. Brown
is either more human, or more divine, for he can be made angry. The
process, too, by which such a result was arrived at on a "Budget
Night," was as amusingly instructive as it was decidedly effective. At
such times the pantomime was picture. We can imagine Mr. Galt to be
seated in a comfortable attitude of facile attention and good-natured
indifference, his arms folded across his breast, as if, in caressing
his own, he was figuratively taking care of the Provincial chest. We
can also imagine Mr. Brown hammering his arguments with the industry
of a goldbeater, and driving them home with the ardor of an
enthusiast. Then, after the manner of a skilled workman, we can see
the latter look at his competitor, and, pointing with a finger of
expressive length, enquire of the House, whether such intellectual
work was not finished, and in a state to be rivetted and clinched.
The unuttered answer delivered across the chamber, like Lord
Burleigh's, is only "a shake of the head;" but it is repeated with
silent constancy as often as the question is asked. Passive,
speechless, and immovable, Mr. Galt smiles a persistent negative.
Glowing radiant, and amazed, Mr. Brown becomes, so to speak, the
visible embodiment of picturesque astonishment. Adjectives, adverbs,
and interjections, glisten in his speech in almost every shape and
form of sparkling superlative. He raises his arms with vigorous
animation. He raises his voice in harmony with his arms, while his
eyebrows, in compliment to both, appear involuntarily to become
elated, and shoot alarmingly upwards, provoking a sort of speculative
nervousness, lest they should wholly forsake the region of his
forehead, and permanently repose on the crown of his head. As a
picture in a series of historic contrasts, Mr. Brown, in all the glow
of eloquent animation, and Mr. Galt, in all the quit of chronic
repose, might be represented on the same canvas, and with
unquestionable effect.

There is that, in Mr. Galt's manner which gives one the idea of
restrained strength. As he sits down the impression arises that he has
not said all he could say, only as much as he considered the occasion
to require. The idea that he is the possessor of certain latent
resources suggests caution on the part of those who would indulge in
unwarrantable familiarity. Occasionally there are pleasant and
convenient episodes in debate. On the other hand, there are times when
argument should receive the respect of silence when its links ought
not to be broken by interruption or disturbed by rudeness. On ordinary
occasions such practices are disquieting, but when the reasoning is
subtle, and its ramifications numerous, they are abominable. Mr.
Galt's colleague, the Attorney-General West, under such circumstances
would pause and make a convenient parenthesis. He would then, in a
political way, knock down the disturber with a remorseless sarcasm,
and a little later would most probably pick him up with a
compassionate compliment. Mr. Galt under the like circumstances, but
with greater reluctance would perform the former part of the ceremony,
but he would, we think, expect a little contrition before he became
forgiving, and supplemented it with the latter. Having fired his shaft
of polished irony he would neither be sorry nor surprised if it
produced irritation. As an investment he would expect an adequate
return for his shot. Mr. J. A. Macdonald unites in his person the
attributes of soldier and surgeon too. He wounds because it is his
duty, and he heals because it is his nature. Mr. Galt, though not
inferior in kindliness, is we think, less willing to wound, and
perhaps less careful to heal. He may, therefore, perhaps be accounted
a sterner soldier, but a slower surgeon than his gifted colleague; but
he is not for all that a less considerate, or less generous man.

It would have helped what we have written, and added interest to our
sketch, could we have lightened it with extracts from some of Mr.
Galt's writings and speeches. But the wish could scarcely be put into
execution. There are speeches which, we think, should be regarded as
unities, which cannot without loss be broken into fragments. Mr.
Galt's are of this order. To approach them fairly they should be
studied as a whole. Those who only read them will of course determine
their merits by the severe laws of thought. Those, however, who have
heard them delivered will mingle with their judgment the pleasant
recollection of their personal charms. They will remember the
persuasive gracefulness of their manner, the plausible attractiveness
of their arguments, and perhaps and above all, the subtle and
inexplicable music of their elocution.

[Illustration: THE REVEREND HENRY WILKES, D.D.]




THE REVEREND HENRY WILKES, D.D.,

MINISTER OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, MONTREAL.


In the sixteenth century, so Macaulay writes, "there was not in the
whole realm a single congregation of Independents or Baptists." In the
middle of the following century, the former, though not numerically
equal to the rest of the population, were, from their union and
resolution, influential enough to control the State, and for a time to
assert their supremacy over the Church. Puritanism in England, and
Protestantism in Europe, were generally the offspring of free thought.
Religious liberty was the syren to which their voices were attuned.
State authority was the satyr from which their faces were averted.
English Catholicism, though less repugnant to the puritan than Roman
Catholicism was to the protestant, was resisted "root and branch," as
opposed alike to human reason and the divine law. To the two religious
bodies we have named, a third may be added; for the English
Presbyterians, after the passing of the Toleration Act, were grouped
with the former as protestant dissenters, a name by which they
continue to be distinguished. Divines, in their discussion of such
questions will naturally make use of terms selected from their own
vocabularies, but the theological, and the political value of such
terms will rarely be found in accord. The members of all denominations
in Canada will be apt to agree in thinking that in this Province no
such distinctions can be said to exist, as there can be no statutory
dissent from a church which has no statutory existence.

The rent ecclesiastical, which commenced in England three centuries
ago, was not, perhaps it could not be, immediately repaired. Unhappily
it widened and grew worse, until a small, and as some have thought
what should have been only an accidental and temporary schism became a
serious and permanent separation. The consequences of such division
could scarcely have been imagined at the time of its occurrence. It
was probably thought that the seceders would return to the body from
which they had separated, and, like stragglers on the march, they
would eventually rejoin the main army. It was scarcely foreseen that
their hostility would become an inheritance, to be transmitted to
future generations. But whether foreseen or not, the fact remains to
afflict those, no matter by what names they are designated, who yearn
for Christian oneness, and who really believe that the unity for which
their Saviour prayed, should be practiced by the people for whom He
died.

The meaning and value of words not only undergo serious changes by
transmission from one generation to another, but the action of time
appears very materially to soften the sharpness of their edges. Truth
of course remains immutable. But with the increase of knowledge our
perception of what is true becomes enlarged, and our judgment of what
we considered false becomes qualified. Thus we probably learn that
there is some truth in all systems, and much error in all opinions.
Although, for example, a schismatic must be a dissenter, it does not
as certainly follow that a dissenter must also be a schismatic. The
words, though indifferently made use of, are by no means synonymous.
This view was taken in the hearing of the writer by one whose opinion
has, we have reason to think, some weight in the Congregational body.
It is many years since when a placard with the following heading,
"Dissent not Schism," was posted at the entrance of a dark looking
court near the Mansion House, London. Then followed the further
information that a sermon or lecture on the above subject would be
preached on that day, at the chapel at the head of the court, by the
Rev. Thomas Binney. To the chapel the writer went, and heard, what at
this distance of time he must be allowed to call the undeniably clever
and decidedly unclerical discourse of the somewhat eccentric, but
evidently gifted preacher. After tearing the word schism into shreds,
examining its derivation and rummaging about its roots, the preacher,
according to the writer's recollection, observed that the
congregational body of that day had, for several generations, been
protestant dissenters. Never having belonged to the national church,
it was contended they could not be separatists from that
church,--consequently could not be schismatics. It might more
logically, so the preacher hinted, be objected that they were
heretics; but that enquiry, he somewhat playfully added, "does not
come up to-day." The distinction may, and probably will, by many
persons be regarded as more popular than precise. It must however be
accepted for the purpose of this sketch. The truth seems to be that
from the accident of birth, and not from the discipline of conviction,
people are either churchmen or dissenters. They inherit, with their
blood, not only their fathers' faith, but the form and fashion in
which it found expression. Such convictions can only be unsettled by
new courses of enquiry and by a discipline of thought to which the
mind is not readily attracted. Honor to parents is a part of the
divine law, and a facile disposition to think lightly of them or their
ways is not the most encouraging sign of true godliness. Three
centuries of ecclesiastical separation must produce abiding effects on
the generations separated. The social life and the prevailing
literature of dissent, from their relation to one another, must give
inclination to the taste and laws to the minds of those who are
familiar with one, and are instructed in the other. Parents, friends,
teachers, church polity, traditional prejudice, social preferences,
and kindred causes, are the bands by which the protestant dissenters
are knit together, and which supply them with a history of their own,
interwoven with, but distinct from, the larger history of their
country.

The subject of our sketch, the Rev. Henry Wilkes, D.D., minister of
the "First Congregational Church, Montreal," affords, as we shall
presently see, a fair illustration of the Rev. T. Binney's argument.
He was born at Birmingham, on the 21st June, 1805. He was not only the
son, but the grandson of dissenters; for his parents and grand-parents
were Independents. His father was a manufacturer. The subject of our
sketch received a good commercial education, sufficient to qualify him
for the business followed by his father. When at the age of fourteen
years only, he was in the habit of taking long journeys for trading
purposes to places more or less remote from home. But though diligent
in business, his thoughts, like the thoughts of the nephew of Abou
Taleb, as he drove his camels from Mecca to Damascus, were not
narrowed within the circle of commerce. The religious atmosphere of
the denomination in which he had been nourished pervaded his mind; for
while he labored in one calling, he longed for another. But many
vicissitudes had to be encountered before his pious wish could be
realized.

In the year 1820, the elder Mr. Wilkes and his family emigrated to
Canada, and settled at Toronto. Here the subject of our sketch, who,
we may add, was the eldest son, addressed himself zealously to the
duties which the new life seemed to require. As a new settler, in a
new country, he at first sought, by physical toil, to qualify himself
for his lot; but to little purpose, for his intellect rebelled against
his occupation. Whereupon he abandoned a mode of life foreign to his
tastes, and for a period of six months coquetted with the study of
law. In the year 1822 he removed, with his father, to Montreal. On his
arrival there, his attention was again turned towards commerce. A
situation was obtained for him in the mercantile establishment of Mr.
John Torrance. In 1827, he was associated with Mr. David Torrance, and
admitted to a share in the business. At the end of one year only he
was enabled to withdraw from the partnership, and to take with him a
sum sufficient for his education for the profession on which he had
kept his mind steadily fixed. He proceeded to Scotland. Having entered
the University of Glasgow, he joined the Theological Academy of the
Independents, under the direction of the Rev. Ralph Wardlaw, D.D., and
the Rev. Greville Ewing, M.A.

In 1832, he was ordained at Glasgow, and immediately charged by his
denomination with a special mission to Canada. He passed the summer of
that year in this Province. From a sermon preached by him in the
Township of Ernestown, and afterwards published, we can, without
difficulty, see how thoroughly he was moved by the solemn duties of
the office he had set himself to perform. His wish however, to
introduce into Canada the form of church government observed by his
forefathers, and practiced by himself, was not immediately gratified.
Wherefore he again returned to Scotland. Early in 1833 he took his
M.A. degree, and on the 18th of April of the same year, his ministry,
at the Albany Street Church, Edinburgh, commenced. Though personally
happy, and professionally successful, he did not withdraw his thoughts
from this Province. He exerted himself, and with marked success, to
induce several ministers of his denomination to proceed to Canada. The
number included the Rev. Richard Miles, who, for a while, settled in
Montreal, and served a congregation which had been gathered by him in
a chapel erected by them in St. Maurice Street. That gentleman,
however, having chosen to accept duty in the more rural districts of
the country, the congregation determined to invite the subject of our
sketch to fill the vacant place. This offer reached Dr. Wilkes at a
time when certain influential members of the denomination in England
were striving to establish the Colonial Missionary Society in
connection with the "Congregational Union of England and Wales." The
invitation attracted him, and the missionary society impelled him. By
the former he was called, and by the latter he was sent, to fill a
position, and to discharge a duty, in the very Province in which he
had early in life formed plans of usefulness. He therefore
relinquished his charge at Edinburgh, and proceeded to London, where,
on the formation of the last mentioned Society, he was appointed their
confidential and corresponding agent in British North America. In the
month of October of the year 1836, he accepted the pastoral office of
minister of the First Congregational Church at Montreal.

The agency we have referred to continued for seventeen years. Since
then, as "Secretary-Treasurer," he has performed duties similar to
those included in his earlier office. For many years he made annual
visits to all the congregations in the Maritime Provinces which were
in any way stipendiaries of the society in England. Thus, while his
duties as a city pastor in Montreal have been exact and circumscribed
by the limits of his own congregation, his office of superintendent
and official visitor of the Independent Churches in the Provinces have
invested him with a noteworthy prominence, second to none of his
denomination in Canada.

The congregation in St. Maurice Street soon outgrew their building,
whereupon "Zion Church" was erected, and for the same reason it has
subsequently been enlarged. Lest a suspicion should arise that the
double set of duties to which we have referred were not enough for his
adequate employment, we learn further, that for upwards of ten years
Dr. Wilkes was secretary of the local branch of the British and
Foreign Bible Society. For twelve years he was the chairman of the
Board of Protestant School Examiners, and during the past and present
session he has filled the chair of "Homiletic and Pastoral Theology"
in the Congregational College, an office for which, it may be
presumed, he had certain qualifications, as twenty years earlier he
instructed a class of students of a theological institute then
existing in Montreal, in a course of intellectual philosophy and
logic. Neither has he restricted his labors within the exact limits of
theology. On the contrary, he has sought very sedulously to diffuse
knowledge and popularize science. To these ends he has cheerfully
co-operated with others in supporting Mercantile Library Associations
and Mechanics' Institutes, by attending their meetings, and by
delivering gratuitous lectures to their members. Universities and
colleges in the adjoining States have on certain public occasions had
the advantage of his services. In 1847, he delivered an address before
the Theological Society of Dartmouth College. In 1850 and 1860, he
discharged similar duties at the universities of Vermont and
Middlebury. From the former of the two last mentioned universities he
received his D.D. degree. Two of the foregoing addresses have been
published. It is not difficult to conjecture that they were prepared
with care, and listened to with appreciation. Even those readers who
may question their philosophical accuracy, or take exception to their
conclusions, will respect the sincerity of the speaker, and admit
without hesitancy that he, at all events, thinks as he speaks. The
subject of our sketch is, we have reason to believe, a fluent and
agreeable speaker. His discourses in the pulpit are probably less
characterized by originality than by solemnity of thought. Many of his
sermons have been published. The reason for such publication has in
several instances been printed with them. It is the modest reason of a
devout mind. It runs thus: "One or more of my hearers profess to have
derived benefit from the discourse; what has proved useful to one, may
be of service to many," and "therefore is it given through the press
to the public." In his addresses before universities we acquire some
insight into the Rev. Doctor's theological opinions, as well as into
his views, which we believe are those of his denomination, on church
government. In his published sermons we may glimpse the manner of his
teaching, and read also his opinions of what is true in Christian
doctrine and correct in Christian morals. Passing, however, from
subjects which will be regarded as trite by many, and troublesome by
some, we shall permit ourselves to linger for a moment over his
suggestive, and, were the subject less sacred, we should add, amusing
little pamphlet on "Congregational Independency viewed from within."
In this tract, the reader not only obtains some inside views of
independency, as a system of Church government, but he also acquires a
tolerably instructive glimpse of the Doctor himself, as one of the
independent centres of that independent system. As we there find him,
so probably should we have found him elsewhere, had his lot been cast
in a secular, instead of in a sacred calling. We can see, for example,
from his way of ruling the meetings of his church, how he would have
ruled the councils of the state, had he been a statesman instead of a
divine. He appears to possess, in a marked degree, the strong English
quality of vigorous common sense, and this quality, we may be allowed
to add, is one of the prime secrets of successful government. Having
on many points what may be characterized as a flexible mind, we are
scarcely surprised at the favor he affects for a convenient adjective,
which possesses, by the way, the popular quality of expansion. Thus he
speaks of "elastic details," "elastic expediency," "elastic
machinery," "elastic arrangements." Of course there are many subjects
which will not admit of elasticity and to which the india rubber
principle cannot be applied. He insists, for example, and with
commendable firmness, that the pastor's stipend shall be regular, and
shall be regularly paid. So much in earnest is he on this point, that
he has supplemented the recommendation with a charming suggestion,
which the servants of the state should take some means of bringing
under the notice of the Minister of Finance, namely, that such
salaries should be paid quarterly in advance. The sacred reasons which
the Doctor considerately offers in support of the plan might, with a
little skilful address, be turned into very fair secular arguments.
The authority of a divine might influence a statesman, and the result
would prove in the highest degree relishing to a very meritorious
class, who might thus suddenly find themselves "flush," with three
months unearned pay in their pockets.

Though a liberal, and on some points, we believe, an advanced one, the
Doctor has sagacity enough to distinguish between theoretical freedom
and practical safety, and courage enough to tell us that he does so.
Had a bishop been equally outspoken, we incline to think that even the
"sanctity of his lawn" would not have saved him from the harpoons of
the illustrated, and the raillery of the literary press. Speaking from
experience or observation, and, as we think, with commendable wisdom,
the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Canada counsels the
pastors of other churches, which, of course, cannot be first, on the
way in which they should rule themselves on certain trying
emergencies. Be conciliatory, but resolute; be courteous, but
firm--especially firm, we understand the Doctor to advise. Study the
parliamentary distinctions of question and order, and apply them;
oblige every speaker to keep to the former and comply with the latter,
and the force of the double obligation, though it may bother him, will
save trouble and serve you. By way of example, the Doctor recommends
that pastors, as _ex-officio_ chairmen, should, before the church
meetings assemble, sedulously break up and macadamize, as if they were
boulders, all subjects to be presented for discussion. Separate each
subject into distinct portions, gauge each portion, and appraise its
relative worth. Thus, by a process of comparison, you will arrive at
the true value of each part. Having done so, explain the result of the
analysis, and make every speaker govern himself by the explanation.
Remember, however, that the discussion must not travel beyond the
pastor's definition of the question. Should it do so, we learn, by the
help of a convenient anecdote, that the offender is to be called to
order. Should he not be amenable to the call, "stop him instantly."
Should he then be contumacious and perverse, let the pastor's voice be
heard ringing through the house the peremptory words, "sit down, sir."
This command is, we suppose, equivalent to the parliamentary process
of "naming the member," which in that ancient court is the delicate
prelude to sending for the police in the person of the
sergeant-at-arms. The illustration is not necessary to establish the
fact that there are bores in all societies, and in every coterie of
society. The political bore, the social bore, and the scientific bore,
are recognised, and to a limited degree, privileged pests; but all
these put together do not equal in nausea the religious bore--by which
we mean the incorrigible, ceaseless chatterer on things sacred. The
nuisance of boredom is the same in degree, though different in kind,
no matter whether it airs itself in the parliament of the state, in
the drawing-rooms of everyday life, or in the assemblies of the
church. The bore is insensible alike to reason, usage or courtesy; and
though the Doctor is too decorous to say so, we incline to think he
will partially agree with us in opinion, that the most considerate
mode of dealing with a bore is to snub him. Such extreme measures,
however, are not often likely to arise. The Doctor appears to be not
only a sagacious, but a wise and even-tempered man--one who is well
qualified to inoculate others with the excellent virtue of moderation.
He seems to be aware that an unpleasant duty need not be unpleasantly
performed. In the spirit of the recommendation of a recent writer in
"Blackwood," we can imagine the considerate pastor thus to address a
distressed pilgrim when limping and writhing under a penance: "Why
don't you boil your peas? If conscience requires you to put peas into
your shoes, let wisdom instruct you how to reduce their harshness.
Accept the penance, but boil the peas." Another anecdote illustrative
of the way in which a church meeting should be managed, is suggestive
and amusing too. The question discussed was the question of
instrumental music as an auxiliary, to what the author very aptly
calls "the service of song" in the churches. "The organ question," as
it is termed, with or without choral and ritualistic accompaniments,
is not a question we intend to discuss. It may not, however, be amiss
for the objectors in the Congregational body to inquire whether their
objection to such system is not of "the earth earthy," opposed to
their own principles, and forged in the very furnace of intolerance.
The fact is some persons appear to be resolutely disinclined to accept
as a whole the human nature which the Almighty has given to man. Each
according to his prejudice, or his conceit, regards his human nature
as a type of what all human nature should be. They are intolerant,
because the knots in their neighbors' heads do not resemble the knots
in their own, or the motions of other minds do not harmonize with the
motions of theirs. Such persons will probably scout the natural sense
of feeling, and extol the intellectual one of reason: they will,
moreover, express supreme compassion, if not unqualified contempt, for
those who will not sneer at what they denounce, or reverence what they
revere. So, on the other hand, persons who may actually, and not
satirically, be described as "all heart," who are governed very much
by imagination and fancy, by sentiment and poetry, cannot understand,
and certainly cannot sympathize with, their sturdier brethren who are
"all head." The avenues of bliss through which such opposite souls
pass towards heaven may be identical in fact but they are not so in
appearance. The experience of holiness which befalls each traveller is
neither uniform in its effects, nor in its blessedness. The divine
love, like light, descends on all; but the character which is nurtured
under its influence depends mainly on the varied and inexplicable
qualities by which that love is met. It would be as wise to find fault
with the God of nature, because all flowers are not roses, as to find
fault with the God of grace, because all men are not alike. Uniformity
is no part of the divine plan; had it been so, the whole creation
would not have been marked by variety. Human nature is so thoroughly
crossed and recrossed with such apparently contrary lines, such
numerous and opposite qualities, that true godliness, which is
necessarily true wisdom, best manifests itself in inclining all such
lines heavenwards, and educating all such qualities for the life to
come. The curriculum of Christian education, which commences at
baptism, does not arrive at its highest honors here--it goes on for
ever. Yet the course of study should include the means and the
opportunity of each student doing his best. It is not enough that
man's moral nature only should be instructed. It is not enough that
every low desire should be raised, every sentiment purified, every
feeling elevated, every thought cleansed. He who has sprinkled the
earth with loveliness, has given to man the gracious gifts of
imagination and fancy; gifts which are not light gifts, for they
enable the soul which His breath created to "mount and fly," borne it
may be, by inspiring faith or ecstatic desire, on the seraph wings of
music and devotion to the throne above the stars. Let "every good
gift" be cultivated more and more, until it shall approach, as far as
our talents will permit "a perfect gift." Painting, architecture, and
music, are among such gifts; let them be pruned and purified for the
highest service. Let art harmonize with and reflect truth; for the
union of what is beautiful with what is true may, by the discipline of
holy contemplation, or rapturous song, incline man more and more to
aspire towards His nature who is the centre of all beauty and the
source of all truth. The "sweet singer of Israel," were he amongst us,
would certainly be called naughty names, probably be denounced as a
"High Churchman," and perhaps avoided as a ritualist; for his "service
of song" included not praise alone, for if we read aright, he not
unfrequently prayed and preached, too, with what we may be allowed to
call choral accompaniments. The orchestral property embraced a large
assortment of instruments, including "trumpets" and "cymbals" and
"loud sounding cymbals," "psaltery," and "harp," "dulcimer" and "lute,"
"stringed instruments," and "organs." To the "chief musician" the duty
probably belonged of determining whether many or few of such
instruments should be used, as well as of allotting the parts to be
respectively performed by the singers, minstrels, and tabreteers.
Christian people may be properly jealous with respect to the object of
worship and the words of praise, but they might be less intolerant of
the forms in which such services seek expression. Were they less
self-willed, more spiritually minded, more imbued with humility, and
inclined towards reverence; the example of David, King of Israel, and
the "man after God's own heart," might be studied with advantage and
followed without loss.

Most characters appear in some of their parts to be deficient in
harmony, or it may be that the law which influences the order of
different minds is not known to those who have not the advantage of
viewing such minds from within. The reverend subject of our sketch
appears to us at all events to come within this rule of contradiction.
None we believe more than he, or with greater success, have labored to
introduce into Canada the particular form of church government in
which he was educated and brought up, and which was alike dear to his
affections and his judgment. Many must of course have sympathized with
him; for now, after thirty years' growth in Canada, Independency may
boast of its congregations of worshippers in almost every considerable
village of the Province. There was no more assiduous planter of this
particular seed of separation than the Rev. Dr. Wilkes, and yet there
is probably no more earnest advocate than he of evangelical union
among Christian people. However, what is theoretically enticing and
rationally contradictory, must possess in desire, recommendations that
are not apparent in reason. The object appears to be excellent while
the process seems to be extraordinary, for the conditions of union
appear to rest on "an agreement to differ." In spite therefore of the
qualifying attraction of "limited liability," the partnership does not
attract. The shepherds look complacently at one another, from within
their sheep-folds, or talk like neighbors over the fence. After the
manner of Jacob, in old time, they muse generally on the satisfactory
augmentation of the Christian flock, and speculate anxiously on "the
ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted," which should be gathered within
each particular fold. The common advantages of union are denied by
none, but the danger of trespass, or the contingency of annexation, is
guarded against by all. Yet the object aimed at by the subject of our
sketch is worth striving for, nor would it be amiss very earnestly to
examine the ground afresh. In an address delivered by the Chairman,
the Rev. H. Allon, of Union Chapel, Islington, before the
Congregational Union of Hull, on the 21st October, 1864, that
gentleman, among other things, said, "Let us then be distinctly
understood: we are dissenters from the National Church, not because of
its episcopacy, but because of its civil establishment." Again, "There
is not one of us who would not accord to the Episcopal Church, as
such, a chief place of honor in the brotherhood of protestant
churches." Again, with respect to the principles of congregational
worship, he observes, and most truly, that "Worship is the highest and
holiest exercise of congregational assemblies, and it is matter for
high congratulation that of late years, amongst non-conformists, it
has been restored to the prominence and importance from which
preaching had been permitted to depose it." Further on he claims for
Congregationalism thorough independency of action. We are instructed,
by way of illustration, to remember "That this liberty extends in two
directions: if it permit one man to be a puritan, sing a plain psalm,
and use extemporary prayer, it permits another to be a ritualist, sing
a full choral service, and use a liturgy." And again, contrasting the
present with the past, he observes, "We do not, as they did, worship
polemically, nor need we go up to the temple encased in armour, and
with our weapons in our hands; we go peacefully with our singing robes
about us, in no peril either of assault or seduction." We do not know
whether the observation about "singing robes" is to be regarded as a
fact or a metaphor. We hope the former, and for the reason which Mr.
Allon, in the conclusion of his address, supplies: "Let us freely
bring together from every age, and from every Church, the best
elements of all worship: assuredly we have not attained to such
perfection as that every modification would be disadvantageous.
Neither traditions of the past nor prejudices of the present are our
law. The spirit of freedom and of catholicity will gather the goodness
and rejoice in the beauty of all generations."

Though ministers of the same denomination, we are quite aware that the
opinions of the Rev. Mr. Allon may not and need not be those of the
Rev. Dr. Wilkes. Both gentlemen appear to enjoy the confidence of
their brethren, for each in his own country fills a position of
noteworthy prominence. Still, so far as we can form an opinion from
the perusal of his publications, we should incline to think that the
fair spirit of toleration, which pervades the passages we have quoted,
animates the mind and influences the character of the subject of our
sketch. The only divergence we have been able to detect is to be found
in his addresses delivered before American audiences, in the New
England States. Nor need it be matter for animadversion that, when
sniffing the air, and surrounded by the memorials of the puritans, he
should have thought himself required, at least by indirect, if not
direct allusion, to float the "Mayflower" afresh, and to have dropped
some complimentary cordial on the stout old hearts and stern old
enmities with which that historical ship was freighted. The resolute
protest of resolute men against religious wrong-doing has survived the
clerical ungodliness by which it was mainly inspired, and against
which it was chiefly directed. Christianity is now called upon to
perform other and very different work, which, we venture to think, to
be well done, can only be done by a ministry of reconciliation and
peace. Men are probably profiting by some of old Baxter's surprises.
In their search for union and concord they are finding principles of
agreement and avoiding points of difference. Some, indeed, already
begin to wonder why such separations continue. Nor, according to the
authority of the last mentioned eminent nonconformist, will their
surprise cease with their lives. In the heaven above, to which all
preaching points, the sense of astonishment will, he predicts,
acquire fresh animation. Should it be our happiness to arrive there,
we shall, with old Baxter, "be surprised at the number we shall meet
with whom we never expected to see there," and alas! "the number we
shall miss whom we had made sure of meeting!"

[Illustration: COLONEL THE HONORABLE JOHN HAMILTON GRAY]




COLONEL THE HONORABLE JOHN HAMILTON GRAY,

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.


  "Then let us be firm and united,
    One country, one flag for us all;
  United, our strength will be freedom,
    Divided, we each of us fall!"

On the first of September, 1864, an Intercolonial Conference of great
importance was held at Charlottetown, in the Island of Prince Edward,
to take into consideration the question of uniting the three Provinces
of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Island of Prince Edward, under
one Government and Legislature. The following fifteen delegates
assembled, five from each Province.

     Colonel the Honorable John Hamilton Gray, of Prince Edward
     Island, President of the Conference.

     DELEGATES REPRESENTING

     NOVA SCOTIA:

  The Hon. C. Tupper, M.P.P.
           W. A. Henry, M.P.P.
           Robert Barrie Dickey, M.L.C.
           Jonathan McCully, M.L.C.
           Adams G. Archibald, M.P.P.

  NEW BRUNSWICK:

  The Hon. S. L. Tilley, M.P.P.
           John M. Johnson, M.P.P.
           J. Hamilton Gray, M.P.P.
           Ed. B. Chandler, M.L.C.
           W. H. Steeves, M.L.C.

  PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND:

  The Hon. J. Hamilton Gray, M.P.P.
           Edward Palmer, M.L.C.
           W. H. Pope, M.P.P.
           George Coles, M.P.P.
           A. A. Macdonald, M.L.C.


The proceedings of that Conference have not, we believe, been
officially given to the public. Besides the main question, "shall
these Provinces be united as one Government?" with respect to which we
may be allowed to conjecture, there was little difference of opinion,
there remained a second question on which a conclusion was less easily
arrived at. "Shall that Government be represented in one Legislature?"
In other words, "shall the union be Legislative or Federal?" It so
happened, however, that the resolutions of the respective Legislatures
of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward's Island, were
identical in their terms. Thus the deliberations of the Conference
were circumscribed by the words of the resolution under which it met.
It is as follows:--

     _Resolved_,--That His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor be
     authorized to appoint Delegates (not to exceed five,) to confer
     with Delegates who may be appointed by the Governments of Nova
     Scotia and New Brunswick, for the purpose of discussing the
     expediency of a union of the three Provinces of Nova Scotia, New
     Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, under one Government and
     Legislature. The report of the said Delegates to be laid before
     the Legislature of this Colony, before any further action shall
     be taken in regard to the proposed question.

But as the Delegates appointed under the last mentioned resolution
were assembled at Charlottetown, a trim looking steam vessel, half war
ship, and half yacht, hove-to, and dropped anchor in the offing. The
vessel needed no special introduction. She bore at her peak the patent
of her quality, while the burnished letters on her bows expressed a
name as dear to those Islanders as to ourselves. The first was the
"old flag," with its three-fold cross of faith and truth, of strength
and union, of freedom and brotherhood; and the second was the Royal
name, "Victoria." Nor was the object of the visit less interesting
than the vessel. Apart from the consideration which was due alike to
the character and position of the visitors, their appearance there at
that time, as well as their errand, were acts of grace and courtesy,
expressed in the friendly forms of compliment and challenge. They came
to listen and to learn, to hear what was said, and to see what was
done. The question which that Conference was summoned to discuss was
one with which some experience, and much study, had made them
familiar; which they had considered as statesmen and were as patriots,
anxious to advance. Therefore it was that places of honor were
appointed within that Council Chamber for the following gentlemen,
members of the administration of Canada, who thus became, so to speak,
the political guests of the Conference:--The Honorables Messieurs John
A. Macdonald, George Brown, Alexander T. Galt, George E. Cartier,
William McDougall, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, and Hector L. Langevin.

The Conference, of which the subject of our sketch was chairman, was
important, we may be allowed to think, not alone for what it did, but
from what it avoided doing. It was assembled to consider a particular
resolution. It was adjourned, so far as the public is informed,
without having put on record an opinion on the merits of that
resolution. In the meanwhile, the principle of that resolution
animated all hearts; it was the subject of all thought, and the burden
of all speech. Like the genial Christmas congratulations of friends
who had been long separated, or of neighbors who had become estranged,
the Conference and its aim acted like a cordial. Let us have union,
but let that union embrace all that it can embrace. "Have a big
heart," said Tecumseth to General Proctor, on the morning he was
slain. "Have a big heart," each delegate at Charlottetown may, as we
think, very properly have said to one another. "What is good for you
may be good for me; what is good for your Province, must be good for
ours!" Let union play the enchanter's part. Let kind intimacy take the
place of cold neglect. Let a new temple of concord be erected, and let
its proportions be magnificent. Instead of creating a Maritime
Province, create a Northern Nation. Instead of gathering 600,000,
gather 4,000,000 of souls within one government. Be resolved: "have a
big heart." We do not know what was done on the occasion. We know
what was not done. The delegates who assembled to create a
comparatively small Colonial Union, adjourned to promote a
superlatively large one. The Conference at Charlottetown will become
historical, for it was the prelude to the Quebec Conference, whose
resolutions, like the pillars of an ancient temple, are destined to
become the supports of a stalwart nation.

The subject of our sketch was personally, as well as by his position,
peculiarly fitted to occupy the place of President of that Conference.
By birth and parentage he belongs to the "blue blood" of America. His
father, who resided in Virginia when that State was a British
Province, was established in business at Norfolk and Petersburg, in
connection with the late General John Hamilton. On the breaking out of
the revolutionary war he espoused the Royal cause, preferring
adversity to dishonor. Even the beguiling temptations of trade and
profit did not cause him to forget his King and country. Maternally we
learn that Colonel Gray is descended from the Stukeley family, lords
of the manors of Stukeley _magna_ and Stukeley _parva_, but whether or
in what degree he is related to the reverend antiquary of the last
century of that name; the "arch druid," as he was called by the
critics on account of his knowledge of British antiquities, we know
not.

It was not, however, wholly, or perhaps chiefly, to his immediate
descent from an United Empire Loyalist, that Colonel Gray is by birth
a native of Prince Edward Island. On the eighth of September, 1761, on
the occasion of the marriage of George the Third with Charlotte
Sophia, Princess of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, it happened that the
grandfather of the subject of our sketch was one of the officers of
the guard of honor, and, as we infer, a gentleman marked for notice by
the popular young King. The French war in America was over. It only
remained to secure by treaty what had been won by conquest. Canada was
the victor's prize. By the acquisition of Canada the other actual or
alleged possessions of France in America, about which there were
constant quarrels and occasional fights, passed, with one or two
trifling exceptions, without further dispute, into the possession of
Great Britain. By the treaty of Paris, of 1763, the transfer to the
Crown of England of the Isle de St. Jean, as Prince Edward Island was
then called, was confirmed by the Crown of France. It is probable, on
the ratification of that treaty, that George the Third, a monarch of
twenty-five years of age, may have felt more intellectually amused
than actually enriched by the acquisition of several millions of acres
of what had, with senseless bitterness, been termed a "continent of
irreclaimable snow!" Having acquired the property by the ministry of
the sword, it was natural enough that the King should recognize the
fact by making land grants to the army. In doing so he was pleased to
remember, at least, one of the officers of the guard of honor, who did
duty on his marriage morning, and to associate with that recollection
the grant of a tract of land in the last mentioned Island. The Island
retained its early name until 1798, when it was called Prince Edward
Island, in honor of Her Majesty's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. In
this island Colonel Gray was born. At an early age he obtained a
commission in the cavalry. In that service he continued for the period
of twenty-one years, the greater portion of which time was passed in
India. He has, we believe, been honorably mentioned in public
despatches for conduct in the field, and he has a medal for South
Africa. Colonel Gray appears to possess a fair and equitable mind, for
he received the especial thanks of Sir Peregrine Maitland for his
judicious management of a Court of Inquiry, of which he was President,
appointed at the Cape of Good Hope to grant compensation to the
sufferers in the "Border Wars." He retired from the army in 1852. In
1856 he served in the regular Militia in England, and was also
aide-de-camp to his father-in-law, Lieutenant-General Sir John
Pennefather. After the flurry, consequent on the Crimean war, had
subsided, Colonel Gray's thoughts and longings returned, as is
commonly the case, to the scenes and incidents of his early life; to
the place perchance endeared to him by early recollections--by the
haunts of childhood, and the sports of youth--by the old and
unforgotten attractions of home. In leaving the army, and the barrack
life with which it is more or less associated, Colonel Gray intended
to return to quiet scenes of primitive simplicity and unbroken peace;
to look at and live amongst the pictures of his memory, and thus to
enjoy in the serenity of his mature life the scenes and associations
which had beautified its dawn. It was not so to be. He who had served
the Empire in the field was required to serve his Province in the
cabinet. His friends and neighbors would not allow his sheathed sabre
to typify a finished career, or his superannuated charger to represent
a superannuated colonel. They had work for him to perform; such work
as he could scarcely decline to undertake. It was, moreover, such work
as moves the ambition of most men, for it consists with high virtue
and true greatness to advance the welfare of the state. Thus it was
Colonel Gray found himself to be an object of political interest to
the community in which he lived. But it was not without great
hesitancy and extreme diffidence he consented to enter political life.
His reluctance was at length successfully overcome, and the rest
followed. In the year after his arrival he was triumphantly elected
for the Fourth District of the Queen's County, and re-elected in 1863.
Soon after the meeting of Parliament he became President of the
Council and prime minister, and as such presided at the Charlottetown
Conference. He was a member of the Quebec Conference which met shortly
afterwards. His opinions we have reason to believe were neither
lightly formed, nor vaguely expressed. His voice was honestly and
cordially cast with the vote of the thirty-three delegates who
unanimously agreed to and signed the seventy-two resolutions of the
memorable Quebec Conference.

[Illustration: LIEUT.-COLONEL JOSEPH BOUCHETTE]




LIEUT.-COLONEL JOSEPH BOUCHETTE,

SURVEYOR GENERAL OF LOWER CANADA.


We often speak of the tyranny of fashion and sometimes of the strength
of prejudice. When the latter, in the person of an elderly irascible
old gentleman, criticises the former, he generally does so in language
remarkable at least for its force. On a recent occasion, for example,
some such old gentleman must have felt considerably relieved as he
delivered himself of the words:

  Confound those hoops and things,
  Frustrate those horrid springs,
  And India rubber rings:
                Deuce take them all.

But the trenchant expostulation, though stepping with poetic feet to
the measure of an old-fashioned air, produced no effect on the
new-fashioned style. Beauty continued serenely insensible to such
appeals. She looked from her mirror to the moralist, brushed his
choleric cheek with her feathered fan, increased the circumference of
her "hoops and things," and looked none the less bewitching for the
exaggeration. The fact is, good looks are among those precious
personal gifts which art cannot destroy. Fashion is an imposition of
taste with which they have nothing to do. Beauty qualifies, so to
speak, under an ordinance of nature, and not under a contrivance of
art.

The indignant old gentleman to whom we have referred, might have
been--perhaps he was--answered with a frown on the brow and a pout on
the lip. Beauty might have said--"Talk of absurdity, look at home;
scan the sumptuary history of your own sex, and you will discover
reasons for not laughing at the extravagance of ours." The rebuke may
suggest a moral, if we look at the handsome face which graces the
title page of this paper. No doubt the young Surveyor-General was a
helpless waif in the hands of his tailor. He bowed to the law, and was
clothed in accordance with its requirements. The artist shews us what
the costume was, and some of us unfortunately are old enough to
remember what such costumes were. The subject of our sketch made his
bow in the flesh at a time when periwigs were obsolete, but when
powder and pigtails asserted their right to be respected. The former
did habitually then, what nature does occasionally now, and, as far as
our observation serves, with marked success; for it crowned a young
face with an old head; and the result of the contrast is
unquestionably the reverse of disagreeable. But his early difficulties
in the matter of style were not equal to the drawbacks which he was
doomed to suffer later in life, when the "first gentleman in Europe"
was Prince Regent of the United Kingdom. The "skin-fitting" coat of
that day suffers by contrast with the ample skirts of the present
time. Look at the former with its collar of irrepressible harshness,
chafing the cheeks and enclosing as within a wall, the enthralled
head. The waist of the garment bore no relation to the waist of the
wearer, and was on that account we suppose ostentatiously indicated by
two brass button dots in the vicinity of the blade bones. There was no
protection in front and little covering behind. The coat would not
admit of close buttoning to the chin, and the swallow tails were so
indecorously narrow as by no means to veil that particular part of the
person which they were especially appointed to conceal. Yet
notwithstanding the drawbacks with which art had striven to injure
nature, it would be difficult in an ordinary day's journey to meet
with one, who, more than the subject of our sketch, preserves the
attractions of high-bred beauty. Good looks, therefore, whether in man
or woman, are something apart from, and superior to, the mere accident
of fashion.

We often form impressions of the appearance of people whom we have not
seen. We sometimes look at a portrait, and we invest the original with
qualities created in the forcing-house of our own fancy. Such
creations are generally more ingenious than trustworthy. Looking at
the likeness before us, we should probably expect to find the
cultivated tastes of the original would take him as a matter of
inclination to the graceful assemblies of society, or among the acute
officers of the state, in drawing-rooms and courts, in
council-chambers or cabinets. When speaking, we should expect to
listen to words of unstudied purity, accompanied by that indescribable
and seductive manner which is occasionally observed when language
borrows grace from attitude and charm from expression. The late
Surveyor-General may have possessed refinements of a rare order. He
may have been master of the polished coquetries in which courtiers are
said to excel. If such were the case, they merely represented the
foreign gloss which had no more relation to his occupations than the
varnish has to the wood. The pursuit with which history has connected
him amounted to a passion that found its outlet in a life of
scientific abstraction and cheerless toil; a life passed more or less
in an unexplored wilderness; a life which would have been almost
solitary, save for the occasional presence of a melancholy Indian,
whose constitutional gloom only added intensity to loneliness. The
physical relation of man to his occupation is a subject which, in
these days of speculative research, may receive some attention from
the curious. In anticipation of such a treatise it may be noted that
the three men who have done so much in the character of explorers of
this continent are in appearance not dissimilar. The subject of this
sketch surveyed the surface of the soil, mapped its boundaries, and
made notes of its topography. John James Audubon, the American
ornithologist, passed over the continent to observe the tribes of
animal life with which its solitudes were inhabited; and Sir William
E. Logan, the Canadian geologist, has gone below the soil to inquire
what the strata teaches of its history and formation. Besides a facial
similarity, there seems to be--for one happily still survives, and we
therefore use the present tense--a physical resemblance in the three
gentlemen whom we have thus grouped together. This peculiarity leads
us to inquire whether they may not be regarded as representatives of
the adventurous class, to whom intellectual exercise, to be
acceptable, must be accompanied with physical exertion. In their
figures they are lithe and spare, of nearly uniform height, with no
incumbrance of superfluous flesh. In their style they are close and
well shaven. Their beards are not loose, neither does their hair
"stream like a meteor." The forms of their faces are oval, all their
noses are straight, and none of their chins are double. Genius may
find the means of suiting her abode to her instincts, for in the
examples before us there is singular consistency in the human
habitations in which she has chosen to dwell. If we may accept the
three gentlemen we have named as representatives of the adventurous
and exploring class, a step will be made towards arriving at a just
judgment of the persons from whom that class should be chosen.

The father of the subject of our sketch was Commodore Bouchette, a
native of Canada, and consequently a subject of France at the time of
the conquest. As a result of the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the
Commodore concurred with the most intelligent portion of his
countrymen, in acquiescing in what was inevitable. His country had
been abandoned by its ancient rulers. The problem to be solved was
whether advantage could not be extracted from misfortune. Neither
monarchy nor honor were lost--the reigning family was changed, but the
principle of monarchy, so grateful to the French mind, was not
destroyed by the substitution of one sovereign for another. The
security which the Canadian race had derived from the kings of France
would not be imperilled by their loyalty to the kings of England. They
possessed monarchical advantages which were not enjoyed by the other
American Provinces of the Crown of England. The institutions from
which such advantages are supposed to flow being guaranteed to them,
it was not unreasonably conjectured that the advantages themselves
would follow. Therefore may we suppose it was that Commodore
Bouchette, and those who thought with him, resolutely determined to
yield their allegiance and service to conquerors as generous as they
were powerful. The fact, too, was only a new chapter in historical
parallels. If the French in Canada, by the law of conquest, found
themselves to be the subjects of the English Crown, it was certainly
not more humiliating than the not dissimilar ordeal through which the
English passed when they were vanquished by the Norman conqueror.
Perhaps, too, the acute minds of Lower Canada may, in part, have
foreseen the troubles which were gathering over the land of their
fathers. It was certainly less difficult for them to anticipate the
violence which was about to convulse the British possessions along
their borders. Their course, from the double observation, was clear,
and was determinately taken. They resolved, by their influence and
exertions, to strengthen what remained, and thus preserve, in the
northern part of the continent, those cherished institutions which
were destined to be trodden under foot in the south. They, therefore,
religiously bent themselves to the work of creating a barrier within
which the principles of monarchy might find an assured sanctuary. They
had the sagacity to see the strength of their position. Protected in
their rear by wastes of unwavering sterility and supported on their
flanks by two oceans--they had some reason to think they could
preserve the institutions they possessed, and live in security and
peace under the benign sway of monarchs, who reigned by a higher
right than the accidental suffrage of a mob.

Commodore Bouchette gave his allegiance and his services to the king
of England. Both were accepted, and he was appointed to an important
naval command on Lake Ontario. The course of events on this continent
hurried forward with the rapidity of those movements which are said to
"take no note of time." The year 1774 arrived, within which the
British Government gave a constitution to Canada, accompanied with
unrestrained religious liberty. That year was, in a peculiar manner,
the historical year of modern America--the year in which the petition
from Massachusetts was rejected, and in which Benjamin Franklin was
ungraciously dismissed by the Privy Council. It was the year,
moreover, in which the first Congress of the American States met at
Philadelphia, and issued its memorable declaration of rights. It was a
year to instruct men's minds and to try their metal--to influence
thought and to control action, for society separated with violence,
and fell into opposite ranks. Men were required to declare whether
they were royalist or republican, and to take the consequence of the
declaration. The duty of choosing sides admitted of no delay.
Commodore Bouchette had long made his choice, and the course of events
only added strength to the reasons by which that choice had been
governed. In the same year, in the midst of such events, and while his
father wore the uniform of a British officer, the subject of this
sketch was born. It would be agreeable to us to dwell on some of the
incidents of Commodore Bouchette's services during the Revolutionary
war, for they are marked with the highest kind of historic merit. Want
of space admonishes us, at least in this paper, to keep closely to the
career of his son.

In the year 1790, at the age of sixteen, that son of the revolutionary
era was employed as a draftsman in the office of his uncle, Major
Holland, who at that time was Surveyor-General of British North
America. In the following year he adopted his father's profession,
entered the Provincial navy, and served until 1796, on the great lakes
of Upper Canada. The new profession seemed to possess unusual charms
for him. It gave a healthy zest to his life and a healthy stimulus to
his energies. Though only a youth, he seemed to be moved by mature
thoughts. He was observed to possess varied and flexible tastes; to
display resource and ingenuity, indomitable perseverance, and very
varied mental powers. An example illustrative of all these qualities
may be here mentioned. The Commodore's flag ship Onondaga, a vessel of
fourteen guns, had been wrecked, dismantled, and, as it was
considered, irretrievably lost and cast away on Gibraltar Point, at
the Western extremity of the Presqu'ile forming the Toronto harbor.
Our midshipman of nineteen "took the bearings" of the case on his
mind, and having thought out the subject, surprised every one of his
acquaintances with a serious proposition to raise and float the ship.
At first, General Simcoe the then Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada,
participated in the current incredulity; but that soldier-statesman
was also an enthusiast, and had a wholesome appreciation of what may
be done by trying. Therefore it was, when the undaunted young sailor
answered the official rebuff with plans and diagrams, drawn by
himself, of the position of the vessel, and of the various stages
through which, and the appliances by which he proposed to effect his
purpose, General Simcoe was probably the first to sympathize with his
object, to detect ingenuity in his contrivances, and to promise
assistance. The midshipman's requisition for a party of sappers and
the requisite tackle was honored. He forthwith set to work, and
succeeded in floating the ship. When, however, he was making his
preparations to work her round the point into the harbor, she was
suddenly capsized by one of those sudden and terrific north-west white
squalls so well known and so much dreaded by mariners on the Lakes.
The result was, the Onondaga was driven high and dry on the northern
extremity of the point. Deep as was his mortification, young Bouchette
had reason to enjoy the solace of a triumph. He had achieved a
victory, though he had not succeeded in bearing his trophy home. He
had won the battle, even though the prize was apparently lost. General
Simcoe not only consoled him with compliments on his success, but gave
him full credit for redeeming his promise and making good what he had
stipulated to perform. Nothing more could be done that autumn: the
stranded ship was left till the following spring. In the meanwhile,
and in addition to the strength which the young sailor derived from
his own convictions, he was sustained by two external supports of no
mean value, viz: the prestige of past success, and the promise of
future assistance. In the spirit of a modern song we can imagine him
to have said--

  Never give up!--there are chances and changes
    Helping the hopeful a hundred to one,
  And through the chaos High Wisdom arranges
    Ever success,--if you'll only hope on.
  Never give up! for the wisest is boldest,
    Knowing that Providence mingles the cup,
  And of all maxims, the best as the oldest,
    Is the true watchword of--Never give up.

In the spring of 1794, he set to work and with such success that he
brought the Onondaga to a safe anchorage in Toronto harbor, and rigged
her sufficiently to cross Lake Ontario to Niagara. She arrived safely,
and he was greeted with his first notes of fame in the cheers of the
garrison, and others who had assembled to welcome the rescued vessel,
and to shew their appreciation of him who, for that voyage at least,
was worthily styled the "Young Commodore."

This episode in the early life of the subject of our sketch supplies
the key to his character. He was zealous and enthusiastic. His
ambition was to excel, to accomplish what he designed, and to carry
out what he was appointed to perform. Thus, whether as a commander, or
as a subordinate, in peace or in war--in the delineation of the
country or in its defence--in office drudgery or trying field
operations--his ardor, it is said, never forsook him. He combined, in
his own person, we may be allowed to think, the striking
characteristics of two peoples--the enthusiasm of the Frenchman, and
the pluck of the Englishman; the inventive genius of the former race,
and the persistent qualities of the latter. The union of fervent
thought with earnest endeavor usually exert a kind of talismanic
influence on all who come within their reach. As in electro-biology we
may see results without recognizing a cause, so also do we
occasionally see men, who, by the application of some hidden energy,
or the exertion of some ineffable influence, attract and control other
men. This power, by whatever name we call it, is the attribute which
enters so largely into the composition of our military idols. It is an
accomplishment which adds grace and gives address to statesmanship.
Neither may it be lightly esteemed, for by means of it the commander
seems to add inspiration to the courage of his army, and the statesman
moves a nation to exertion, or soothes it to repose. The subject of
our sketch is said to have been endowed, in a very peculiar degree,
with this governing gift; and it has therefore been with much fairness
assumed that he would have succeeded either as a soldier or
politician, had his lot been cast in one or other of those
employments.

On the reduction of the Provincial navy, in which the subject of our
sketch was included, the young sailor who had risen to the rank of
second lieutenant and mate, retired to private life. In the following
year, however, his services were again called into request. He was
appointed to the command of an armed row-galley, for the purpose of
detecting certain treasonable designs which were then supposed to be
in preparation. The duty was so effectively performed, that it
resulted in the execution of Colonel McLean, an American spy, then
resident at Quebec. In his early cruise on Lake Ontario, he made
surveys of its different harbors. In his later one, while rowing about
the St. Lawrence, he took careful soundings of the river. The
information in both cases proved most valuable to government.

Though an officer of the Provincial navy, he was also an officer of
the Canadian militia land forces. In the latter character he was
required, in the year 1800, by an order of His Royal Highness the late
Duke of Kent, then Commander-in-Chief in British North America, to
repair with a detachment of his regiment to Halifax, for the purpose
of acquiring a thorough knowledge of drill and tactics. His
proficiency in these studies was so marked and satisfactory, that His
Royal Highness appointed him adjutant of the regiment.

It was now, however, that his labours as an amateur surveyor bore
fruit. Major Holland, through age and infirmity, had become unequal to
the duties of his office of Surveyor-General. He died in 1800,
whereupon Mr. Bouchette, who had previously been attached to the
department, was named Deputy Surveyor-General. In the following year
he was appointed, under His Majesty's sign-manual, Surveyor-General of
Lower Canada. The pursuits of peace were not destined to be of long
continuance; they were suddenly determined by the war of 1812. The
subject of our sketch, who had risen to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel, turned no deaf ear to the "bugle call" which
summoned men to arms. He raised an infantry corps, called the "Quebec
volunteers," which, however, he did not command, as the public service
required that the men thus enrolled should be drafted into other
Provincial regiments. Though in the interests of the State, the men
whom he had recruited were employed elsewhere than under his immediate
command, he did not thereby escape, or wish to escape, from military
duty. It is probable that his acquired knowledge of the country, as
well as his ardent courage, induced the authorities to select him for
the most responsible, and perhaps the most perilous service in which
he could be employed. During the campaigns of 1813-14 he was charged
with important confidential despatches from head-quarters to Sir Roger
Sheaffe, commanding in Upper Canada. He was, moreover, instructed to
reconnoitre as he went, to ascertain the position and strength of the
enemy, and generally to report on the defensive state of the
frontier. In his report, he made special reference to the defenceless
state of York, now Toronto, and explained, almost as it came to pass,
the manner in which it could be taken by the enemy. In the month of
November, 1813, Colonel Bouchette was ordered to undertake very
important reconnoitering duties, consequent upon the concerted
junction of the American armies under Generals Hampton and Wilkinson.
The project ended in the repulse of those generals, and their
precipitate retreat within the limits of their own territory. This
result, however, in no wise deteriorated from the merits of Colonel
Bouchette's adventurous proceedings. He not only carried out his
instructions, but, by a succession of operations, characterized by
soldierly audacity and studied caution, he succeeded in communicating
valuable information to the commander-in-chief. His last military
service was performed by order of the Governor-General, who directed
him to proceed to the frontier, to observe the enemy at Champlain
Town, and make a diagram of the roads leading from Lacolle and
Odelltown into the Province. To enable him effectually to accomplish
these services, an escort of forty Voltigeurs and thirty Indians was
assigned to him.

The country, however, which had been the theatre of transactions as
heroic as can well be found in modern history, was scarcely known to
its inhabitants; and beyond its borders it was regarded as little
better than a wilderness. Colonel Bouchette may have been excused if
he mourned that a land so magnificent should continue "unhonored and
unsung." His regrets were born of enthusiasm, and were not of an order
to evaporate in sighs. He saw the need, and he sought to supply the
need he saw. With the encouragement of the Governor-General, and the
patronage of the Parliament of his native Province, he published his
grand work on the geography and topography of Canada, accompanied with
maps and illustrations. The work was issued on a scale too large for
profitable sale, and too expensive for the times in which it was
produced. It was intended to be, and it was, a national work honorable
to the Province, but unfortunately it was also ruinous to the author.
It represented one of those valuable acquisitions which a state
occasionally derives from the ruin of a subject. It is matter for
serious regret that the benevolent aim of the following resolution,
unanimously concurred in by the House of Assembly, became inoperative
by the untimely death of the Governor-General, the late Duke of
Richmond.

     RESOLVED,--That an humble address be presented to His Grace the
     Governor-in-Chief, representing the _importance_ of the
     geographical and topographical maps of Joseph Bouchette, Esquire,
     Surveyor-General, and the losses he has sustained in publishing
     them; representing also the _importance of those maps both to His
     Majesty's Government and to the Province at large_; and praying
     His Grace would be pleased to take the whole into consideration,
     and would also be pleased to indemnify him for his _services_ and
     _losses_ by such grant of the land of the Crown as His Grace in
     his wisdom may think fit.

The mode in which Parliament sought to recognize the services it
attempted to reward, appears to have been alike graceful and fitting.
The servant of the State, to whose zeal the Province was indebted for
its acquaintance with the topography of the country, for a knowledge
of its boundaries, and for an insight into its resources, might not
unreasonably have expected his recompense in a grant of a portion of
those lands which he had patiently explored. It was not so to be.
Strange as it will read, the resistance proceeded from a quarter from
whence it was least to be expected. His own countrymen, who were at
that time leaders in the House of Assembly, opposed any grant of
compensation either for his services or his losses. The Honorable Mr.
Papineau, in singular forgetfulness of the quality which is
conspicuous in his own character, and which is the root of all great
achievements, actually supplemented his opposition with an argument
pointed with a sneer. He taunted the subject of our sketch with being
an enthusiast, who had shewn extravagance in the publication of his
works. The ungracious speech fell neither unheeded nor unanswered.
That great man,--alas! that there should be so few!--Andrew Stuart
answered the sneer with the scorn it merited. Our informant, who was
present on the occasion, noted the words in which that eloquent rebuke
was expressed. "Ungenerous reproach! since it is to that noble
enthusiasm that the country is indebted for those invaluable and
important works. How few, if any, of the works or actions of mankind,
untinctured by enthusiasm, have been deemed worthy of descending to
posterity!"

Colonel Bouchette's first work was published in 1815. It was presented
in person to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to whom, by express
permission, it was dedicated. The impression which that work and the
author made on the mind of the Prince were so marked as to cause Earl
Bathurst, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to express
unusual congratulations. A monarch is commonly blamed who forgets a
service. The reigning family of England possess the royal gift of
never forgetting a face. The volunteer adjutant, whom the Duke of Kent
had noticed at Halifax, in 1798, was not forgotten by His Royal
Highness in 1815. He knew something of his early services, and he saw
the evidences of his later ones. Memory and observation concurred in
prompting the opinion that a career so honorable should receive the
royal mark of honor. Thereupon the Duke very strongly expressed his
desire that the grace of knighthood should be conferred on Colonel
Bouchette. The correspondence between the Duke of Kent and Earl
Bathurst passed at Colonel Bouchette's death from his possession to
that of his son, the present Surveyor-General of Lower Canada, and has
been, of course, cherished with commendable pride by every member of
the family. Our space will not permit us to enlarge on those reasons
of state which at that time caused the honor to be withheld, but we
can easily imagine that to one whose mind, like that of the subject of
our sketch, was cast in a chivalrous mould, the mortification must
have been extreme. But though His Royal Highness did not procure the
honor solicited for him, he did succeed in obtaining, 'in another
form,' a complimentary mark of royal confidence. Colonel Bouchette was
appointed Surveyor, under the fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent,
for the establishment of the boundary between the United States and
the British Provinces of North America--a service which he
subsequently performed with characteristic energy and firmness. It is
deeply to be regretted that in the Treaty of 1842, scornfully and not
undeservedly termed by Lord Palmerston the "Ashburton capitulation,"
the boundary laid down by Colonel Bouchette's survey should have been
departed from. That line is now admitted to have been the true one,
and recent revelations have given rise to the uncomfortable fear that
its truth was not unknown at the time to one of the contracting
parties. Thus its adoption, though attended with an absence of
territorial gain to the United States, would at all events have been
accompanied by a grand equivalent, for the public honor of a great
country would not have been clouded with suspicion, and the public
character would have been saved from those stains which arise from the
discovery of what seems like trickery and chicane. It would also have
saved millions of acres to Canada, and have given to the British
Provinces the undivided control of the River St. John from its source
to its mouth in the Bay of Fundy.

We cannot do more than enumerate the titles of the works of which the
subject of our sketch was the author.[3] For his work of 1815, the
Society of Arts and Sciences in London elected him a corresponding
member and accompanied the honor with their "Gold Isis Medal." Nor
were his literary pursuits of a mere selfish kind. He wished to
incline the tastes of his countrymen towards systematic literary
culture, and hence his successful endeavour to found at Quebec a
Society for the promotion of Arts and Sciences in Canada. This Society
was subsequently merged into the Literary and Historical Society of
Quebec.

Ardent, chivalrous, and enthusiastic, there can be no doubt that honor
and distinction were with Colonel Bouchette prime incentives to
exertion. It was not enough for him to live in life--he wished to live
in fame. In that Royal Province of the future which his pencil traced,
and his pen described, he wished to find a place among the earliest
and most sagacious of its founders; to leave an historic name--a name
which would not perish, when he who bore it had passed away. It was a
desire born of virtue, whose longings passed the border land of life
and stretched into immortality. There was, however, another side to
his character. He not only wished to live in story--he wished also to
live in the gentle memories of friends, as well as in the warm hearts
of many humble people, who were more dependents than friends, between
whom and himself, the only tie was gratitude on their parts for
kindliness on his. Personal and official intercourse wear pleasant and
attractive shapes when they are clothed in the language of courtesy.
There is a magic in gentle words whose power we cannot estimate. There
is a subtle charm in simple kindness, whose value cannot be counted in
any known currency. Such qualities seem to have entered largely into
the character of the Surveyor-General. They provoked acknowledgment in
the shape of addresses from the inhabitants of the different townships
which he had surveyed and they had settled. Such addresses, moreover,
were in several instances accompanied with gifts; some of rare merit
and others of curious simplicity, all alike the offerings of grateful
hearts. He shewed by his occasional visits to the new settlements,
that he took a personal interest in the welfare of the settlers, and
was anxious in every possible way to aid and assist them. If the
subject of our sketch aspired to honor, it was not because he failed
to practice humility. If he practiced humility, it was because his
nature was toned to honor--for next to honor is humility. He died at
Montreal on the 9th April, 1841, and was buried in the church of Notre
Dame in that city. Among the peaceful dead who sleep beneath the
pavement where the living worship, there are few to whom Canada is
more indebted for valuable and meritorious services than the gifted
subject of our sketch, the late Surveyor-General of Lower Canada, the
genial, gallant and enthusiastic Lieut. Colonel Joseph Bouchette.

[Illustration: SIR WILLIAM EDMOND LOGAN, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.]




SIR WILLIAM EDMOND LOGAN, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S.

DIRECTOR OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA.


"No other Colonial Survey has ever yet assumed the same national
character," are the complimentary words in which a writer in the
_Saturday Review_ has expressed his opinion of the work done by Sir
William Logan, and more particularly described in his history of the
Geological Survey of Canada.

The critic very accurately states a fact which we believe to be as
indisputable as it is praiseworthy. No name in the list of our men of
eminence will be regarded with more general interest or be held in
higher honor than the name of "Logan." As a native-born Canadian his
career has been watched by his contemporaries with jealous pride, and
it will be cherished with the like care by his countrymen in times
future. Albeit his reputation has outgrown all local boundaries. It is
beyond the reach of Provincial protection, for it has gone into the
possession of all lands, to be passed onwards with other watchwords of
discovery by accredited sentinels in every country whose inhabitants
can articulate the syllables of science. In Europe and in America Sir
William Logan, by common consent has already been raised to a place
among the great men. The Province of his birth will regard his honors
with pride, mingled with gratitude for his services. His countrymen
will not forget that new pages have by him been opened in the book of
knowledge; new subjects have by him been presented to "divine
philosophy;" new facts have by him been given to speculative research.
Neither will they fail to remember that the attractions of their noble
Province have been unfolded by one who like themselves is a
Provincial, but who, in all probability unlike themselves, is by taste
and inclination a student of the mysteries of nature, and by his
office the Director of the Geological Survey of Canada.

The Parliamentary history of the Survey, apart from the personal
history of the subject of our sketch, is chiefly conspicuous for the
desire evinced by public men to institute such inquiries, and for the
general spirit of unanimity with which the necessary appropriations
have been granted to carry them out. Exception has occasionally been
taken to the expenditure for this service, but the objectors
discovered that they blew only querulous blasts which found no echo
and awakened no sympathy without the walls of Parliament. Indeed the
objections were more hurtful to the objectors, than to the object of
them, for research had gone too far to be stifled by prejudice or
starved by parsimony. Knowledge had created a taste which ignorance
could not destroy. Public men sympathized with the longings of
scientific men, and Parliament rejoiced at its ability to gratify a
desire which it had no disposition to repress. The honor of
originating such a survey belongs to one or two, but the credit of its
continuance is the pride of all.

A good deal had been previously written on Canadian Geology, but it
was not until the year 1832 that His Excellency Lieut.-General Sir
John Colborne, at that time Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, appears
to have been impressed with the importance of instituting a Provincial
survey. With this object in view he sent to the House of Assembly,
accompanied with a recommendatory message, a Petition from a Dr. Rae,
praying for pecuniary assistance to prosecute a geological and
statistical survey of the Province. In the same year a petition was
presented from the "York Literary and Philosophical Society" with a
somewhat similar prayer. In February, 1836, on the motion of Mr. Wm.
Lyon Mackenzie, seconded by Mr. Durand; Messrs R. G. Dunlop, Gibson,
and C. Duncombe were named a Committee to consider and report on "a
plan for a Geological Survey of the Province." The report was printed
and subsequently referred to a Committee of supply. In the following
session, Mr. R. G. Dunlop moved for leave to bring in a bill for the
purpose of instituting "a Geological examination of the Province." A
little later in the same month, on the motion of the last mentioned
Gentleman, seconded by Colonel Prince, the House went into a Committee
of the whole "to consider the expediency of a Geological Survey." The
Committee reported an address to His Excellency Sir F. B. Head,
covering an important enquiry on the subject of ways and means, which
we incline to think must have included some awkward feature, as the
address in question was not presented. Again in the following month,
Mr. R. G. Dunlop with creditable perseverance gave notice of an
address to the King for a grant of wild lands "to defray the expense
of a Geological Survey;" but the motion was to little purpose, since
no such address was passed. The importance of the object seems to have
been generally recognized, but for some reason which does not appear,
the efforts of those who sought to further such object were futile and
of little practical value.

At the union of the Provinces the matter appeared to receive a sudden
accession of force. The Natural History Society of Montreal, through
Mr. Benjamin Holmes, and the Literary and Historical Society of
Quebec, through Mr. Henry Black, petitioned for aid to carry out a
systematic Geological survey. These petitions were referred to a
committee of five members, who made no report. His Excellency Baron
Sydenham had a statesman's appreciation of the mineral resources of
Canada, and the government of that day sympathized with His
Excellency's opinions. The question was taken up as a government
measure, and on the motion of the Hon. S. B. Harrison, the sum of
£1500 sterling, for the purposes of a survey, was included in the
estimates. The death of Lord Sydenham imposed on his successor, Sir
Charles Bagot, the duty of selecting such geologists as in his opinion
were qualified to discharge the important work for which Parliament
had made provision. Whereupon, Mr. Logan, F.G.S., and Mr. A. Murray
were appointed, the former as principal, and the latter as assistant.
The survey was commenced on the 1st of May, 1843. Two years
afterwards, Mr. Attorney-General Smith moved, that there be
appropriated the sum "of £2000 per annum, for five years, to provide
for a complete examination of the rocks, soils, and minerals of the
Province." Thus two persons, with a slender staff, and with pecuniary
means even more slender than the staff, commenced an undertaking whose
proportions were speedily to become national, and whose praise in less
than seven years should be expressed by scientific men in all lands.

Sir William Edmond Logan was born at Montreal, in the troubled year of
1798, a year which is remembered by some with little favor, and spoken
of by all with little affection. He is the grandson of Mr. James
Logan, a united empire loyalist of Schenectady, in the State of New
York. The name of this gentleman is associated with Montreal, from the
circumstance that almost all the grand military reviews which are held
in that city take place at "Logan's Farm," so called after the father
and grandfather of the subject of our sketch, who successively owned
that valuable estate. Young Logan received the earlier portion of his
education at Mr. Skakel's school, Montreal, and it was completed at
the High School and University of Edinburgh. In 1818, he entered the
counting house of his uncle, Mr. Hart Logan, a merchant of London,
where he continued for about ten years. The attractions of commerce,
however, did not impair his taste for those scientific studies with
which his name in the approaching time was to be connected. Neither
did a long residence in London weaken his affection for the Province
of his birth, or for those traditional and domestic associations,
which we may conjecture endeared that Province to him. In 1829, as we
learn on reference to an English work, "Photographic Portraits of Men
of Eminence," to which we are much indebted for facts and dates, Mr.
Logan was appointed the manager of a large copper smelting
establishment, at Swansea, Glamorganshire. He had also to attend to
certain coal mining operations, in which his uncle was interested. The
last named gentleman dying in 1838, new arrangements were made with
respect to those works, and Mr. Logan resigned his position as
manager. During his residence of nine years in South Wales, he devoted
himself to a most careful study of that important coal-field. This
study enabled him to give invaluable assistance to Mr. afterwards Sir
Henry De la Beche, which the latter acknowledged with warmth in his
memoir on "The formation of Rocks in South Wales and South Western
England." After speaking with well merited eulogy of Mr. Logan's
public spirit, Sir Henry De la Beche more particularly refers to his
scientific observation with respect to "a marked kind of bed with a
peculiar fossil plant, as observable beneath all the coal beds he had
examined." This stratum of "under clay" was first demonstrated by the
subject of our sketch, to be the soil on which the coal vegetation
grew. Mr. Logan published two papers on the subject, in which he
pointed out the analogy between the coal beds and the peat moss, as it
exists in the bogs of Ireland.[4]

The discovery of those beds has proved of great importance in
advancing our knowledge, for since then geologists in other parts of
the world, where coal formations occur, have observed similar
conditions. Hence the supposition that such formations are inseparably
connected with the growth and production of coal.

In 1841, the subject of our sketch visited the coal-fields of
Pennsylvania and of Nova Scotia, and he gave the result of his
observations in a paper which was read at a meeting of the Geological
Society of London. In June of that year, Mr. Logan wrote an
interesting treatise "on the packing of ice on the River St.
Lawrence." The great value of this paper was subsequently acknowledged
in the strongest terms by Mr. George Stephenson, as having guided him
in determining the requisite amount of defence for the "Victoria
Bridge." In passing, we may notice that people at a distance have
little conception of the grand glacial phenomena which are presented
by the sudden packing and piling of the ice in that particular section
of the river. Mr. Logan in the paper in question, furnished one
graphic description.

     "In Montreal is a newly built revêtement, the top of which is
     twenty-three feet above the summer level of the river, but the
     ice broken by it accumulates on the top of the terrace, and
     before the wall was erected the adjacent buildings were
     endangered, the ice sometimes breaking in at the windows of the
     second floor, even two hundred feet from the margin of the river.
     In one instance, a warehouse of considerable strength and
     magnitude, having been built without due protection, the great
     moving sheet of river-ice pushed it over as if it had been a
     house of cards."

Previous to Mr. Logan's appointment as Director of the Geological
survey he had examined the older Palæozoic rocks of Canada. After his
appointment, in the course of investigations of the rocks of the
Eastern Townships, which are said to be a continuation of those of New
England, Mr. Logan had the scientific satisfaction of discovering that
the rocks last mentioned so far from being as had been supposed
primitive Azoic rocks, are in fact crystallized Palæozoic strata, a
discovery which is regarded as one of the keys to the geology of North
Eastern America. He had the further satisfaction to discover that the
Laurentide Mountains which were regarded as Azoic rocks, and, as it is
believed, the oldest in the world, are stratified rocks formed of
sedimentary deposits, of a thickness so vast as possibly to be equal
to all the stratified rocks of the earth's crust which were
theretofore known. These remarkable geological discoveries very
naturally occasioned Mr. Logan's fame to precede his official visit to
England, on the occasion of his attending the Industrial Exhibition
held at London, in 1851. The selection of Mr. Logan was a graceful
compliment to his recognized rank in the college of science. No more
suitable commissioner could have been chosen to represent Canada than
the gifted subject of our sketch, and the Government of the day
received even more honor than it conferred when it commissioned Mr.
Logan to discharge that responsible and important duty. Few who were
present will forget the wonderful display of minerals which were
exhibited in the Canadian section of that Great Exhibition, and all
will recollect the surprise which was expressed that Canada possessed
such treasures as were indicated by the specimens which were there
classified and displayed. Four years afterwards, in 1855, Mr. Logan
was again appointed a Commissioner to represent Canada at the Paris
Exhibition. On that occasion he received the "Grand Gold Medal of
Honor," and from the Emperor the decoration of the "Legion of Honor."
In that year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in
1856, he was Knighted, receiving at the same time from the Geological
Society the "Wollaston Palladium Medal" for his eminent services in
Geology. In 1862, Sir William Logan was appointed to represent Canada
at the second Industrial Exhibition held in London, on which occasion,
as in 1851, he was selected as one of the jurors for the class devoted
to mineral and metallurgical products.

Going back in point of time it may be here noted that on the 26th of
September, 1854, a select committee was appointed by the Legislative
Assembly, composed of Mr. Langton, the present Auditor-General, the
Honorable Messieurs Morin, Rolph and Cameron, and Messieurs Valois,
Rhodes, Fergusson, Bell and Taché, "to report to the House the best
means of making public the valuable information already obtained by
the Geological Survey, and of completing it at an early period upon an
uniform system; with power to send for persons, papers and records."
The Committee may be congratulated in having selected Mr. Langton as
their chairman. The enquiry appears to have been of a very interesting
and exhaustive kind. The witnesses examined by that Committee were
gentlemen of scientific note, resident in the United States as well as
in the British Provinces, and the evidence they were enabled to give
was alike interesting and instructive. The enquiry was supplemented by
a very important and suggestive report, a report which we may be
allowed to say very fully justifies the commendations it received at
the time. The great industry and wonderful economy with which the
survey had been prosecuted, the difficulties which its conductors had
overcome, and the minute and exact character of their investigations
were referred to in terms of well merited approval. But besides the
scientific interest of the survey, its practical advantages were very
pointedly stated. The Canadian is informed that he not only lives in a
land whose surface is beautified with plenty, but in one whose depths
teem with treasure. He learns that there are marbles for building
purposes of diversified colours, and minerals for manufacturing
purposes of diversified kinds. So thoroughly are these points
established, that Professor Hall, of the city of Albany, who conducted
the State Geological Survey of the American Union, testified that
Canada "with respect to mineral products stands higher than any of the
surrounding States." The Committee furthermore state with confidence
"that in no part of the world has there been a more valuable
contribution to Geological science for such a small outlay,"--an
opinion which they support by the testimony of several learned men,
and to some extent corroborate by the following quotation from the
_London Quarterly Review_ for October, 1854:

     "In Canada, especially, there has been proceeding for some years
     one of the most extensive and important Geological surveys now
     going on in the world. The enthusiasm and desinterestedness of a
     thoroughly qualified and judicious observer, Mr. Logan, whose
     name will ever stand high in the roll of votaries of that
     favourite science, have conferred upon this great work a wide
     spread fame."

For reasons which were given at length, the Committee recommended the
re-publication of essential parts of the reports which had been
already made, with liberty to revise, re-arrange, and, if necessary,
add to them, so as to give a connected and systematic view of the
geology of the Province. It was furthermore recommended that such work
should be accompanied with a coloured geological map of the Province.

Guided by such instructions, Sir William Logan lost little time in
collecting the materials for his grand work on the Geology of Canada,
a work which represents the scientific results of twenty years of
close, arduous and unremitting labour. It would be almost impertinent
to speak of the scrupulous conscientiousness, the painstaking
perseverance, the anxious caution with which he has pushed his
investigations. He has sacrificed nothing to his desire to reduce
speculative research to what can scarcely be distinguished from exact
knowledge. Above all--for this feature of his work is beyond
price--for the high-minded truthfulness which has governed him in
analyzing every opinion, and weighing every conclusion. The reins of
discovery have not been loosely thrown on the neck of imagination. The
interests of science have not been sacrificed to the interests of
commerce. No enquiry has been glossed and no result has been gilded.
Our mineral wealth has not been represented to be greater than it is,
nor our buried treasure to be other than it is. Sir William Logan has
not examined to mislead or written to disappoint. He has not
ministered to the unhealthy appetite of the speculator, nor to the
misleading manœuvres of the trickster. No bubbles of many hued
attractiveness have been blown by him, no castles of fanciful
inflation have been built by him. He has ruined none by the coloured
language of fiction, though he has enriched many by the sober
revelations of truth. He has informed all where reward may be expected
to wait upon labour. He has told none where wealth may be gained
without toil. Such high-minded appreciation of what is right and pure
in conduct not only goes far to redeem our nature from reproach, but
in the case under review it has saved our people from disaster. It
would not be difficult to draw another picture, and paint, in the
colours of truth, the consequences which would have overtaken the
whole community had a less scrupulous or a more sanguine man been
charged with the duties which Sir William Logan has so honestly and
carefully fulfilled. Happily for him the subject of our sketch was
supported by learned and judicious assistants. Very few, we should
think, could boast of being associated with such co-operators as Mr.
Murray, Mr. Billings, and Dr. Hunt, the last of whom we have heard
described as one of the most accomplished of living chemists.

To those who take pleasure in drawing nice distinctions between
practical utility and science, we can only say what has been better
said elsewhere, "that the ultimate object of all science is practical
utility." The end is the same though the means may differ. In the
former case the search must be systematic and directed by principle,
while in the latter it may be desultory and governed by caprice. The
anatomizing of the physical structure of Canada has been directly
attended with startling practical results. Indirectly it has shown
from the analogies of science that, although Canada is historically a
portion of the new world, it is nevertheless geologically more ancient
than any part of the old world. The article in the _Saturday Review_
which we quoted at the opening of this sketch may again be
appropriately referred to. The writer, in language of undisguised
admiration, says:

     "The foundation of such a survey is like the foundation of those
     noble universities which have already arisen in the colony,
     elevating the tone of society by the admixture of a learned and
     scientific element, commanding the respect of the intellect of
     their own population, of those "at home" in the old country, and
     of foreign savans all over Europe. That far-seeing government
     which knows how worthily to execute an undertaking may also well
     command respect."

The style in which the work was got up was not only creditable to all
who were concerned in its production, but it was highly beneficial,
from the favorable impressions it created abroad, to the Province in
which it was published. The typographical attractions, the precision
of the drawings, and the accuracy of the wood cuts, became subjects of
undisguised commendation in England, for it was said they might almost
challenge comparison with similar productions in that country. But
excellent as the work was, we think it has, in its mechanical
attractions, been greatly excelled by the recently issued "Atlas of
Maps and Sections," published by Dawson Brothers, of Montreal, and
printed by Stanford of London. Sir William Logan adopts the generous
practice of publicly acknowledging subordinate services. Thus in the
preface to the Atlas last mentioned, we learn that the topographical
details of his beautiful maps are the work of Mr. Robert Barlow, aided
by his son, Mr. Scott Barlow, who for several years have been attached
to the Geological Survey. The maps, with one exception, were engraved
on copper, or on steel, by Mr. Graham of Montreal. The coloured
sections, which were prepared by himself, with the aid of Mr. James
Richardson, were engraved on copper and printed from stone by Mr.
Stanford. The uncoloured sections, six in number, are from engravings
on wood by Mr. J. H. Walker, of Montreal, and the accompanying
letter-press is by Mr. John Lovell, to whose skill and taste the
publications of the Geological Survey are greatly indebted.

Those who have not had the good fortune to visit the office of the
Geological Survey at Montreal, can have little idea of the collection
of curious and valuable specimens of representative treasure which are
gathered there. Marbles of great variety and rare beauty arrest
attention, while they suggest the thought that the day may not be
distant when buildings shall arise in Canada as exquisite in material
as we hope they may be perfect in design. There are also mineral
specimens in number almost numberless, which look as if they had
positively been peppered and pitted with spangles, so thoroughly are
they indented with the shining evidences of varied treasure. Not
alone by their appearance but by their weight do they provoke unruly
thoughts of gain, accompanied it may be in the mind of the beholder,
with over-reaching desires for "limits" and "locations." Such sordid
considerations will probably exert little influence on the subject of
our sketch. His aspirations take a widely different direction. His
wish, we incline to think, is rather to be famous than to be wealthy,
to explore than to possess, to live in books when he has ceased to
live in life. Therefore we may conjecture that those dry, rough, hard
stone tablets, dug out of the crypts and cells of what till recently
was an unexplored, unknown, unrecorded antiquity, written in fossiled
characters, and belonging to a period of which time has preserved no
chronicle and to which figures can give no meaning, are to him
treasures of which he alone can appraise the value. If the metamorphic
theory of rocks be true, if all stratified limestones, no matter what
their extent or thickness, are formed from the life and death of
organic bodies, then may we not add the homage of involuntary sympathy
to the mysterious sense of awe which must have possessed the mind of
Sir William Logan, as he stood before those Laurentide mountains, face
to face with one of the great mysteries of nature--the chosen
repository of one of her amazing secrets. We can imagine the learned
skill with which Sir William Logan gauged the depths and measured the
heights of those rocks, but we cannot imagine what his sensations must
have been as he diligently anatomized their structure and discovered
that those gigantic hills which stretch from the sterile coast of
Labrador to the fertile regions of the far West, and which are
supposed to be of an aggregate thickness of 40 or 50,000 feet, were
neither more nor less than accumulated fossils, the petrified forms of
what was once organic life. Thus do the stones cry out, and in their
sublime majesty preach strange sermons!

Of course, Sir William Logan is not married; obscure science and
remote antiquity "forbade the banns." He has no wife of his own,
neither as he ever been suspected of coveting any wife of his
neighbour's. Had he acquired those kinds of domestic possessions which
commonly cluster around men who have ceased to be bachelors, then are
we afraid that our artist and the sunbeam would have been less
fortunate in the accessories with which they have filled up the
picture of "Sir William Logan at home." Instead of specimens of
primitive Azoic rocks or of crystallized Palæozoic strata, we might
have had the painted humming top of a fair haired William, or the
forgotten doll of a star eyed Margaret, specimens of which experience
knows much and geology knows nothing. Now, however, like Don Quixote,
or any less fabulous knight errant, our geological antiquary has been
appropriately placed in the midst of his idols and his triumphs. In
tilt or tournay, few have held a steadier hand or borne a bolder lance
than he in exploring the hiding places of nature, or in discovering
the secret laws of creation. Sir William Logan has, with reverent
zeal, patiently trimmed and fed the lamps of modern science.
Revelation cannot be darkened by the illumination of nature, for in
reading by new and increased lights, we do not necessarily read a
different history of creation from that which has been revealed.

In the various colleges of science, the name of "Logan" will be
honorably regarded by all who, like him, have striven to explore and
bring to light pre-historic truths. In the "Imperial Province" it will
be lovingly cherished by Canadians who, like him, claim their heritage
in the land in which he was born, a land whose sublime antiquities
have been explored by his genius, illustrated by his pencil, described
by his pen and reproduced in a manner and style of which the Province
has a right to be proud, for they have awakened admiration in the old
world as well as in the new, and have taught mankind to think
reverently of the venerable attractions of a land on whose surface are
dotted some of the newest settlements of the human family.

[Illustration: THE HON. FRED. BOWKER TERRINGTON CARTER]




THE HON. FRED. BOWKER TERRINGTON CARTER.

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, NEWFOUNDLAND.


The Honorable Mr. Carter is a member of one of the historical families
of the Island, for he is the son of Mr. Peter Watson Carter, who was
for several years the Police Magistrate, and the grandson of the
Judge, who for upwards of fifty years presided in the Vice-Admiralty
Court of Newfoundland. He was born at St. John's on the 12th of
February, 1819, and on completing his education he commenced the study
of the law, under Bryan Robinson, Esquire, who is now one of the
Judges of the Superior Court. In 1840, on being admitted as an
Attorney, he took his departure to England, that he might the more
perfectly prosecute the study of his profession. He returned to
Newfoundland in 1842.

In the last mentioned year, the confusion and disorder which had
characterized the politics of the Island, were sought to be removed by
the intervention of the Imperial Government. An act was passed in
England "for amending the constitution of the Government of
Newfoundland." By this act the Legislative Council, as a distinct
branch of the legislature was abolished, and its members were
incorporated with, and authorized to sit and vote in the Legislative
Assembly. This body was to be made up according to the following
proportions: two-fifths were to be appointed by the crown, and
three-fifths were to be elected by the people. This experimental
contrivance was known in the colony by the name of "the amalgamated
legislature." We are not aware to whom the special invention was
attributable, but we infer that a single chamber, no matter how
constituted, did not answer better in Newfoundland than it has done
elsewhere. After seven year's trial, the experiment was abandoned and
the old constitution was restored. During its continuance the services
of a Solicitor were required. This office, which corresponds in its
duties to the office of Law Clerk to either House in Canada, was, in
1848, conferred on the subject of our sketch. On the restoration of
the old constitution, Mr. Carter appears to have elected the more
popular branch in which to continue his services. These services, for
reasons with which we are unacquainted determined in 1852.

In 1855, on the introduction of responsible government, Mr. Carter
entered Parliament as one of the representatives of the District of
Trinity, for which, we believe, he still sits. He thus became the
member of a body whose number at that time was limited to fifteen
persons. It would appear that this small body was chiefly composed of
official, salaried people. There were Government Surveyors, Government
Inspectors, and Officers of the Customs, a goodly company of
stipendiaries who were naturally inclined to regard with complacency
things as they were, and take precautions against all innovation. Now
the subject of our sketch, like the greater number of those who at
that time were members of the Assembly, subscribed to that confession
of political faith which is commonly recognized as the conservative
formula. But Mr. Carter did not deem it to be inconsistent with
conservative principles to introduce a Bill, which had for its object
to disqualify for seats all salaried persons, except the members for
the time being of the Executive Council. Such a measure was not
calculated to be acceptable to a body which was chiefly composed of
gentlemen whose seats in Parliament it was especially designed to
declare vacant; nor is it matter for surprise that it should have been
defeated, session after session, by the influence of the official men
whom it was introduced to disqualify. But the moral force of the
measure at length proved too strong for the numerical force of its
opponents. It was passed by both Houses, and thus the Province reaped
the reward of Mr. Carter's persistent perseverance, and the class
which considered itself to be wronged by the change was soothed, if
not satisfied, with pensions and retiring allowances.

In 1861, the number of representatives in the Legislative Assembly was
increased from fifteen to thirty. The old Parliament was dissolved and
a new one elected. Of this new and enlarged Parliament the subject of
our sketch, with singular fitness, had the honor of being chosen
Speaker. The increase in the number of the members had no effect in
altering the usage which seems to have prevailed there and elsewhere
in the smaller Provinces, for the Speaker of the House for the time
being to take a prominent part in the debates of Parliament. This
extremely undesirable custom possesses but few, if any, compensating
advantages. The exceptional usage, however, afforded to the subject of
our sketch the opportunity of supporting by his speech, as well as by
his influence, the measure for further securing the independence of
Parliament, which by reason of his office it was not in his power at
that time to introduce. But, though adopted by another member, Mr.
Carter naturally regarded the bantling as his own, and he had the
satisfaction in the first session in which he presided as Speaker, to
see that important Act pass both Houses of the Legislature.

In 1858, on the formation of the Cartier-Macdonald administration in
Canada, it will be remembered that the great article of agreement,
adopted by the new government, was to bring about the confederation of
the Provinces of British North America. With the view of carrying out
this policy, despatches were sent to the Maritime Provinces, inviting
each of their governments to consider the subject, with a view to
promote the end sought to be attained. With reference to that
invitation, Mr. Carter, on a subsequent occasion is reported to have
said, "that he was proud to say that his native Province of
Newfoundland was the only colony which responded to the request." We
have no means of knowing to what extent his influence may have been
exerted on that particular occasion, but from the active personal
interest which he has since taken to bring about such union, we can
plainly see how thoroughly his exertions must have run in the same
groove with his opinions. He practised no reserve in advocating such
opinions, neither does he seek to curb his desire to advance them.
What he determined on with the serene judgment of a statesman, he
sought to promote with the intellectual fervour of a patriot. His
instructed mind knew alike what his native land possessed as well as
what she required. Surrounded by the ocean, begirt with harbours,
seamed with mineral wealth, and peopled with a race averse to
husbandry but inured to hardship, he knew that Newfoundland had
treasure to exchange for all the treasure she might receive. Her
special possession is what the Attorney-General for Canada East has
described as the "maritime element,"--her special need is the
"territorial element." In exchange for estuaries, and inlets, and
harbours teeming with fish, she needs the "cattle upon a thousand
hills" and the fields covered with golden corn. She possesses the
fisher's heritage, she requires the husbandman's portion. She has
seines wherein fish innumerable may be enthralled, she needs folds as
abundant wherein sheep may be protected. Mr. Carter knew that between
his own and the sister Provinces there existed a community of feeling.
He saw that there ought also to exist a community of interest. He
believed furthermore, that political strength and provincial wealth
would result from the fusion of sympathetic and congenial forces. Thus
he and his learned colleague, the Honourable Mr. Ambrose Shea, being
of one mind in the great question of Confederation, took their places
as delegates, and had the honour, which as time rolls on will be more
and more prized, of deliberating upon and agreeing to the seventy-two
resolutions of the historical Quebec conference.

[Illustration: THE VERY REV. CHARLES FELIX CAZEAU]




THE VERY REV. CHARLES FELIX CAZEAU,

VICAR-GENERAL, QUEBEC.


There are very few persons in the Province to whom the subject of this
sketch is wholly unknown. The sustained notice of a leading organ of
public opinion in Upper Canada caused the name of the Vicar-General of
Quebec to acquire a celebrity which, although slightly mischievous,
has, on the whole, proved decidedly complimentary. The _Globe_
newspaper, a few years ago, was accustomed to inform its readers, with
a gravity of manner difficult to distinguish from seriousness of
intent, that Sir E. P. Taché governed the Province, and that the Very
Rev. Charles Felix Cazeau governed him. The homage thus paid to the
ecclesiastic at the expense of the statesman was, we incline to think,
a subject of intense amusement to those warm and attached friends. It
may easily be imagined from what is known of the late Knight, that he,
in his playful and genial manner, would have poked a good deal of fun
at the churchman by way of retaliation for the usurped authority which
it was alleged the latter had exercised over him. The badinage and
chaff thus tossed like tennis balls between these kindred spirits is,
we venture to think, treasured by the survivor with the mournful
interest which memory is apt to awaken when it recalls the experiences
of the past. Had we seen the intellectual interiors of the quizzing
journalist, the quiet churchman, and the resolute politician--could we
have separated the moonshine from the mischief and have analyzed the
result--we should probably have found that the well-informed were
amused, the ill-informed indignant, while the injury was of that kind
only which a frolicsome naughtiness, done into type, can at any time
effect. To create an aversion it is only necessary for a newspaper to
excite a prejudice which, however, like the fowler's snare, catches
many whom it was not intended to entangle. Unfortunately there are
well-intentioned persons who believe whatever they see in print--a
paragraph in a newspaper is accepted by them with the same respect as
an affidavit in a court of justice, or a revelation from the skies.
They look upon their newspaper in the light not only of an oracle, but
of a register, and they especially accept its chroniclings as
trustworthy if, either directly or indirectly, they testify against an
ecclesiastic. It is therefore highly probable that by such people the
subject of our sketch was regarded not only as a ruler of rulers, but
also as an experienced adept in various mild forms of conspiracy
against the liberties of the people. We are therefore glad to be able
to reproduce the likeness of one who has been represented as a grave
offender against the interests of the state, as the most prejudiced
will derive comfort from observing that the subject of our sketch is
deficient at least, in one of Shakspeare's conditions of a
conspirator, for he is not Cassius-like "of a lean and hungry" order.
Except for his clerical habit, the Vicar-General only differs from the
generality of his neighbors in being personally better looking than
they are; in possessing a more cultivated mind, and generally, in
being the master of a manner more polished and more courteous than
theirs.

Charles Felix Cazeau was born at Quebec on the 24th December, 1807.
His father died when he was only two years of age. On his mother,
therefore, who appears to have been a strong minded and energetic
woman, the duty devolved of providing for and educating her son. The
double obligation appears to have been cheerfully performed, for out
of her slender means nothing was spared that could promote his
advantage or help him forward in life. He commenced his studies in a
modest college which had been established by the Right Reverend Joseph
Octave Plessis, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec, and which was
attached to the church which had been built by that prelate in the
suburbs of St. Roch. It may be noted in passing, that Monseigneur
Baillargeon, Bishop of Tloa, who is now the Administrator of the
Diocese of Quebec, was then one of the professors in that institution.
Later in his history, young Felix Cazeau went to the college of
Nicolet. Although his attention was more particularly turned to
rhetoric, philosophy and logic, there is reason to think that the
strongest current of his thoughts acquired no new direction by contact
with secular research; on the contrary, it flowed determinately
towards those investigations which represent the more subtle
attractions of science. We do not know whether the college student
had, at that time, dedicated himself to the calling which he
subsequently adopted. All we can learn is, that on leaving the college
he lost no time in taking the initiatory steps which commonly precede
admission to the ministry of the Church of Rome. Bishop Plessis, who
had been the protector of his boyhood, now became the patron and
probably the adviser of his youth. That eminent Prelate accompanied
his solicitude with valuable helps;--helps that were alike graceful
and complimentary, for he named the student to the office of under
secretary of the diocese. A little later, on the 2nd of October, 1825,
the Bishop performed the service which introduced him to his earliest
clerical degree. From that time until the 3rd of January, 1830, when
he was promoted to the order of the priesthood, Mr. Cazeau was alike
occupied with the duties of his sub-secretaryship and with his
theological studies at the Seminary of Quebec. Time and death had been
busy also, the hand which conferred the tonsure did not confer the
priesthood; it had long rested from labor when the occasion arrived
for the catechumen to assume more solemn vows. Bishop Plessis had been
succeeded by Monseigneur Panet, by whom the subject of our sketch was
ordained. The latter prelate, it may be presumed, had little
difficulty in estimating the valuable qualities of the new priest, for
on his ordination, and when only twenty-three years of age, Bishop
Panet appointed him to the important office of secretary of the
diocese and at the same time instituted him to the Chapel of the
Congregation at Quebec. These double duties, Mr. Cazeau continued to
fulfil until April, 1849, when he resigned his parochial charge.
Bishop Panet departed this life on the 3rd of October, 1850, and was
succeeded by Monseigneur Turgeon, who like his predecessors in office,
shared their appreciation of the character and abilities of the
diocesan secretary. Six days after his consecration the Bishop
preferred Mr. Cazeau to the dignity of _Grand-Vicaire_, a dignity
which he still continues to enjoy. Thus, in a subordinate or in a
superior office, the subject of our sketch has for a period of
thirty-six years fulfilled very confidential duties in the diocese. In
matters of official intercourse, between the Government and the
Ecclesiastical authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, it has been
usual for the Bishops of the diocese of Quebec to make their
communications through the medium of their diocesan secretary, and
thus the name of the Vicar-General has acquired a celebrity in Canada
which it might not otherwise have attained.

In the year 1856 the late Rev. Abbé Ferland, at that time the Roman
Catholic chaplain to the forces at Quebec, and we believe the chief
director of the newly organized community of the Good Shepherd at that
city, had occasion in the public interests to visit Europe. To
facilitate the praiseworthy objects of his journey, the Vicar-General
in addition to his own duties undertook those which had theretofore
been discharged by the Abbé Ferland. Thus it was that the subject of
our sketch was brought into direct communication with the Roman
Catholic soldiers in garrison, and probably acquired from personal
intercourse, a fair impression of the strong as well as of the weak
points of their characters. There can be little doubt that Christian
sympathy sprang from this official oversight. Dormant duties were
called into activity, for the soldier was thenceforward regarded as a
friend towards whom when needed should he paid the offices of a good
Samaritan. Therefore no one is surprised when the Vicar-General stops
in his walk to caution a soldier whom he may suppose is menaced with
crime, or stoops indulgently to raise a soldier whom he sees overtaken
with a fault. In one case we may observe the judicious application of
Christian sympathy and in the other the generous bestowal of Christian
help.

The duties which the Abbé Ferland had discharged before his visit to
Europe were on his return to Quebec shared with the Vicar-General. The
former retained the appointment of Roman Catholic chaplain to the
garrison, while the latter became the permanent director of the asylum
of the Good Shepherd. The latter office we believe still devolves on
the subject of our sketch. We have little doubt that the duties of
benevolence and humanity with which that office is associated are
pursued with a resolute purpose by one who, like the Vicar-General,
appears to take especial interest in consoling the miserable and in
recovering the lost. This habit of philanthropy is moreover associated
with that kind of moral fortitude which has its root in manly courage
as well as in Christian faith. It is said of the Vicar-General that
none more than he displayed the characteristics of a brave Christian
gentleman during the cholera season of 1832, and the ship fever season
of 1847. The Irish immigrants, we are informed, were the objects of
his special attention. Without dwelling on those religious
consolations which are inseparably associated with the office and
ministry of the priesthood, and which would reasonably be expected of
a member of that order, we may permit ourselves to linger for a moment
about those numerous acts of tenderness and compassion which appear to
lend a wreathlike beauty to his character. Many fatherless children
left miserable at Grosse Isle can remember to this day the good priest
who not only pitied their orphanhood but found kind people in the
rural parts of Lower Canada to take care of them, to receive them into
their families and to adopt them for their own children. More than
four hundred of such children were, we have reason to believe, through
his instrumentality thus tenderly cared for. Nor did his interest in
their welfare cease when he had thus placed these poor destitutes. On
the contrary we believe he has never lost sight of them, and to the
present day shews an anxious desire to help them forward in life. It
is not therefore surprising that his kind interest in their welfare
should return to him in those forms of acknowledgment which sometimes
find expression in terms of simple gratitude and at others in the
language of reverent veneration. Many praise him, and some prayers it
may be from lips that were ready to perish have found utterance in the
language of Naomi, "The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt
with the dead and with me."

But besides the offices of charity to which we have referred, and
which appear to have been the special delight of the Vicar-General,
there were the obligations of loyalty which he owed alike to his
church and his conscience, and which, from his ecclesiastical
position, he could scarcely do otherwise than vindicate on all
seasonable occasions. Thus when discussions of a polemical character
have arisen which are supposed to affect the interests of the Roman
Catholic Church, the views of the authorities of that church in the
diocese of Quebec have usually been expressed over the signature of
the subject of our sketch. Having enjoyed the confidence of successive
Bishops, it is no matter for surprise that the Vicar-General was
publicly associated with them on occasions when they were required to
attend the proceedings of Parliament. His opinions on the subjects of
religious corporations, clergy reserves, general education and
separate schools, are not the opinions commonly held by his protestant
fellow-subjects in Upper Canada, and they have therefore attracted
towards him a newspaper criticism which has been more conspicuous for
its pungency than for its politeness. The Vicar-General did not, we
incline to think, aspire to any personal celebrity, and it might
perhaps have been wiser if the rancour which, in the course of
controversy, has been displayed towards him, had been directed towards
the subjects, and not the advocate, especially as the former were
neither new nor strange to the disputants.

From his ecclesiastical position, his literary acquirements, and his
social tastes, the Vicar-General has found himself, for different
purposes, sometimes scientific and always charitable, engaged with
different classes of men in the pursuit of various philanthropic
objects. Where he is best known, in his native city for example, and
amongst the people with whom he was educated and brought up, he has
acquired singular and enviable popularity with all classes of the
community. Most men speak well of him, and even those who least like
his theology are loud in their praises of the theologian.

It is, we believe, Gil Blas who in effect says that "because a man
becomes a priest it is no reason why he should cease to be a
gentleman." The Vicar-General very literally personates both
characters. The apostolical injunction "be courteous," seems to have
become grafted in his nature, for the gentle grace of courtesy is
conspicuous in his acts. He has moreover the advantage of being a
cheerful Christian. He is not only affable but cordial--he is not only
animated in his manner, but his thoughts and conversation seem to be
colored with such hues as are caught from the skies, bright in nature
and charming in fancy. His religious habit of searching for what is
good even in natures the most depraved, enables him to detect some
lingering excellence where others see only helpless frailty. His mind
and his life, his thoughts and his actions, harmonize with and
interlace one another, for self-denying charity, springing from
benevolence, is braced with fortitude and brightened with hope. Thus
he is enabled to discover the signs of repentance where others appear
only to recognize the seal of despair--to discern the rainbow where
others only see the storm.

We do not presume in this paper to express any opinion on matters of
faith. Such subjects, being of the spiritual order, find their
appropriate place in the province of theology. Still, while
emphatically denying the truth of Pope's ribald reason on "forms of
faith," we appropriate without hesitancy the concluding line of his
rhyme, and say of the subject of this sketch, that his "life is in the
right."

[Illustration: COLONEL THE HONORABLE JOHN PRINCE]




COLONEL THE HONORABLE JOHN PRINCE,

JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT OF ALGOMA.


Like the clerical founder of what has been somewhat flippantly termed
the "School of Muscular Christianity," Colonel Prince sympathizes
kindly with every breeze that blows, reserving, however, his especial
approval for that peculiar quality of east wind which is made crisp
and pungent by means of a judicious infusion of what sailors call "by
north." It is exhilarating to look at a man like Colonel Prince, who
possesses that kind of defiant physique which no cold can pierce and
no storm can penetrate, whose sporting jacket, "close buttoned to the
chin, keeps cold without and a warm heart within." It is pleasant to
look at such an one, wind and weather proof, lightly clad, radiant,
and glowing with a complexion "like red poppies in brown corn;" every
movement vigorous with health; every step elastic, as if it sprang
from the heather; every expression beaming with brightness, as if it
had been fanned with pure air and bronzed with field sports. No
exposure seems to reach such a frame, and no fatigue disables such a
constitution. All the winds may blow in succession, and "crack their
cheeks," he greets them with hospitality, and resolutely refuses to
shut them out with the woollen walls of a great coat. The tones of his
big manly voice, though varied and flexible as Apollo's lute, are
singularly clear and full, as if they belonged to one whose speech,
born of freedom and fresh air, was as bright and glowing as October
ale at Easter tide, or holly berries when Christmas chants are sung.

Colonel Prince was born in the month of March, 1796. No Roman citizen
in the old time could have been prouder of his citizenship than he is
of his birthright. The former never cherished his imperial
enfranchisement with a purer zest than the latter does his English
freedom. On all occasions he claims his heritage, and he rarely fails
to exult with a patriot's pride and a lover's tenderness over the land
of his fathers, the "dear, dear land" where he was born, and where
they sleep. The distinction of being an English gentleman is caressed
by Colonel Prince with an almost fatiguing tenderness. No matter
whether the subject of discourse be gay, or whether it be sad, whether
the gathering be for political or whether it be for social objects,
his west country pride creams up, and sparkles like the bee's wing on
old wine, with a constancy that may provoke a smile even when it
secures admiration. On his father's side, Colonel Prince comes of a
good old Gloucestershire family, and on his mother's from such an one
in Devonshire. He received the rudiments of his education from his
uncle, a clergyman of the Church of England, resident in his native
county. At an early age he was removed to the College at Hereford, one
of those notable English schools of which the old land is justly
proud. It is not difficult to conjecture that one whose manhood has
been conspicuous for resolute work should in his youth have been
marked with a strong disposition to study. We therefore can easily
suppose that young Prince was remarkable for his early proficiency in
the Greek and Latin classics, and especially for his ardent
appreciation of ancient and modern history. His taste for the chase,
and his intimate knowledge of the habits and instincts of the lower
animals, enable us to believe implicitly what has been said of him,
that he was especially distinguished during his college career for his
taste for natural history, and for the studies by which that taste was
gratified and enlarged.

On the 2nd of November, 1813, he received a commission signed by the
Earl of Essex, the then Lord Lieutenant of the county, of Lieutenant
in the 1st Regiment of Herefordshire militia, a regiment whose quality
may be gathered from the fact that in the following year it
volunteered to go to the Continent and take its part in the army which
was to oppose the Great Napoleon. In the year 1815 he commenced the
study of the law, and in Hilary term, 1821, he was admitted to
practice in all the Courts of Law and Equity in England. In 1831, he
was received as a member of the Honorable Society of Gray's Inn,
London. For twelve years he enjoyed not only a very large but a very
influential practice, for he had the good fortune to be retained by
some of the great Whig families in Gloucestershire, at a time when a
scion of one of their houses became a candidate for a seat in the
House of Commons. Thus at the general election which followed the
passing of the Reform Bill, the subject of our sketch was chosen as
the legal adviser of the Honorable Craven Berkeley, during the
candidature of that gentlemen for the representation of Cheltenham, as
well as of the Honorable Mr. Tracey (afterwards Lord Sudeley), on the
occasion of his offering himself as member for Tewkesbury. But though
professionally identified with the Whig interest and, as a matter of
course, acting for the Whig party, the subject of our sketch was then,
what he has since continued to be, a very independent politician, too
high-minded to be attracted by faction, and too self-willed to be
controlled by party. Then, and afterwards, he was accustomed to repeat
and apply the adage "that party was the rage of the many for the gain
of the few," and it was his habit to declare, like Falstaff on another
subject, "I'll none of it."

A career which had opened thus favorably, which promised well,
suddenly acquired a new direction, a direction which may have
surprised him and must have astonished his numerous friends. In the
year 1833, Mr. Prince announced his intention to leave England and
settle in Canada. Most men emigrate from a desire to benefit
themselves, or their families. But besides this main consideration,
another will generally be found to run parallel with it. The latter
reason has its root in the love of romance and adventure, which is
almost inseparable from their minds who would found new colonies or
people new countries. To one who has either lost his "paternal acres,"
or who has never had any acres to lose, there is something
exhiliarating in the prospect of even acquiring "a holding," to say
nothing of the greater attraction of possessing an estate. Colonel
Prince was probably fascinated by the beguiling wish to become a
landed proprietor, a kind of territorial chief, by whom should be
transmitted to each of his children a domain suited alike to his
ambition and their desert. Such, at all events, are among the views to
which "distance lends enchantment," to which all plans are made
subservient, and towards which every effort is bent. Unfortunately,
the immigrant of ample means generally makes too much haste to
exchange money for land, and thus, by sacrificing necessary income to
the acquisition of unnecessary property, he runs the risk of being
starved by the very abundance of his unremunerative possessions. On
his arrival in Canada, Colonel Prince purchased a large, wild, and
beautifully situated property at Sandwich, nearly opposite to the city
of Detroit. This picturesque property had, we believe, been owned at
an earlier day, by a person named "Park," and thus it was naturally
and, we may add, very felicitously called "The Park Farm." Being
situated on the border which separates Canada from the United States,
the property was very soon found by its new owner to have "its duties
as well as its rights"--duties which could only be directed by
vigilance, and rights that could only be maintained by valour.

In 1833 the war of 1812-14 was remembered only by a few who had shared
its honors and its sufferings; but the recollection, though vivid to
them, had generally faded away like a dim tradition from the minds of
the majority of the population. Peace reigned supreme, and plenty
lodged in the lap of peace. Thus the purchaser of the "Park Farm"
having had no experience of its obligations, was probably unconscious
of the fact that, in buying his border possessions, he had purchased
what may be likened to a bastion, or a keep, such as in the old days
of his native land the Percy would have held against the Douglas.

But, although the quiet of his life was not at that time threatened
with interruption from foreign aggression, it was not proof against
intestine disturbance. Political matters in Canada were by no means in
a satisfactory condition. In the early part of the year 1836, the
Provincial Parliament, for the first time in its history, had resorted
to the extreme measure of stopping the supplies. The character of the
Province had thus become compromised. Men were startled, and suddenly
constrained to be serious, for the Province was injured from within,
and discredited from without. Under such circumstances, the then
Lieutenant-Governor, Sir F. B. Head, dissolved the Parliament and
appealed to the people. The issue thus raised was one to which no
elector could be indifferent. It was not, therefore, surprising that
the subject of our sketch should have been called upon by his friends
and neighbors to leave "the private station" and occupy the "post of
honor," which the exigences of the hour seemed to require. After
several deputations had waited on Colonel Prince with urgent and
repeated requests to represent the county of Essex in Parliament, his
disinclination yielded to their importunity, and he reluctantly
consented to accept the candidature which the partiality of his
friends pressed upon him. The honor to which he thus yielded was in
the last degree unprofitable to him. Since, however, it is incumbent
on all to do what they can for their country, Colonel Prince felt
bound to lay aside his interest, and think only of his duty; which, in
the judgment of his friends and neighbours, several times repeated,
was to represent the county.

The deputation had found the object of their search occupied with
congenial employment. He was working on his farm and surrounded by
his laborers. However, he turned his back upon his harvest and his
home, and made, though he knew it not then, a life-long surrender of
rural peace for the ceaseless turmoil of political strife. Had he
possessed foreknowledge, it is probable that he would steadfastly have
persisted in the plan of life he had laid out for himself. As it was,
he accepted a responsibility whose harassing continuance was to be
prolonged for a period of nearly twenty-five years. He was returned at
the head of the poll; and from that time until his elevation to the
Bench, he continued to sacrifice his private interests, professional
advantages, and personal fortune to serve in one or other of the two
Houses of the Canadian Legislature.

Parliament met in November of the year in which Colonel Prince was
returned as member for Essex. Those who have had the advantage of
hearing him speak, need not be told that he at once made his mark in
debate. The charm was not only, or chiefly, in the matter of his
speeches. Though his argument was listened to with attention, and
answered with care, the attractions of that argument could not be
separated from those beauties and embellishments which seemed
playfully to glisten about it like spray around a rock. The
fascinations of speech belong to music as well as to thought. They
cannot wholly be separated from the spell which a well modulated
voice, and a polished bearing exert on those who are brought within
the reach of their influence. Thus his genial manner, his clear
enunciation, his graceful elocution, while they could add nothing to
the argument, certainly had much to do with the effect of that
argument. Moreover, there was in what he said a breadth of view, a
vigor of thought, and a liberality of sentiment which supplied the
compact material, whereon his fancy could tack an attractive fringe.
Such recommendations secured the attention as well as conciliated the
goodwill of all. With a firm confidence in his own opinions he had a
generous appreciation of the opinions of others. His enmity, it may be
remarked, was of a gentlemanly kind; and it rarely found expression
in the language of violence. He was, when he chose to be so, very apt
in the use of what may be termed elegant banter. Occasionally this
weapon was so adroitly tempered as scarcely to be perceived, and never
to be felt, except by the person whom it was intended to strike. An
illustration occurs to us which may be remembered by some, for it took
place in the Legislative Assembly. In a strain of quiet irony the
subject of our sketch poked a little political fun at one of the most
eloquent, and we may add the most hairless members of the old
Parliament of Upper Canada. Indeed the learned head to which we refer
was as smooth and as shining as a billiard ball, and we believe in the
memory of man it never was otherwise. Yet the polished owner of that
polished pate was so ruffled by the successful banter of the subject
of our sketch as to forget his constitutional placidity of character,
to forget that the crown of his head was like "the palm of your hand,"
to forget even that he wore no wig, to forget everything save his
impulsive desire to exclaim, as he did, amid roars of irrepressible
laughter, "that such sentiments made every hair of his head stand on
end." Another secret of his success as a speaker arose from the fact
that Colonel Prince wisely practiced the orator's caution of never
wearying his audience with the length of his speeches; thus he
generally had the knack of leaving off speaking before the appetite
for hearing had forsaken the listener. After his retirement from
public life, a leading newspaper of Upper Canada said of him "that his
elocution as a public speaker had never been surpassed in Canada."

From his entrance into Parliament he became a prime favorite with both
sides of the House; and though too independent to be reliable as a
party man, he was too straightforward not to be liked irrespective of
party considerations. In the interest of Government he seemed to admit
the necessity of party allegiance; and yet from his habit of thought,
and old-fashioned resolution to vote according to his conscience,
such allegiance was not in his practice an absolute law. The
whippers-in of that day were rarely able to anticipate his vote, and
were therefore accustomed to place a very ambiguous mark against his
name on the speculative division list. The late honorable Robert
Baldwin, in a playful and humorous way interpreted the feeling of
Parliament when in allusion to the subject of our sketch he once said
that

                Whether grave, or mellow,
  He was such a genial, testy pleasant fellow;
  Had so much sense, and so much wit about him,
  There was no living with him or without him.

The wheel of events moved forward with exacting celerity. The subject
of our sketch had scarcely become a politician in spite of himself
than he was required to become a soldier out of respect to the duty
which he owed to Queen and Country. On the 4th of December, 1836, the
rebellion in Upper Canada broke out; and though, thanks rather to
private sagacity than to executive forethought, it was immediately
suppressed, the effects of its existence were not as easily got rid
of. The first burst of flame was soon extinguished, but the
underground fire which ran from that flame in every direction, was not
as readily stamped out. Indeed it spread far and wide and broke out
with uncomfortable violence in places and under circumstances which
showed a severe similarity of origin, and a marked directness of aim.

"The snake," as events shewed, "was scotch'd but not killed." The
mischief which had been stifled within the Province spread beyond the
Province. The sparks of disaffection had crossed the frontier and had
fallen in fiery forms on the inflammable human _fungi_ which grow so
abundantly in the Great Republic, to the injury of its reputation and
to the hurt of good neighbors. The poison springs from the like root,
no matter whether it shows itself in the form of "Sympathizers" or of
"Filibusters" or of "Fenians." It takes its rise in the robber law,
and can only be met with the strong hand with which right meets
robbers. This pestilent human nuisance suddenly cropped up along the
whole province line and shewed itself in different forms of
abomination. Navy Island, hard by the Falls of Niagara, was occupied
in force under the self-appointed military direction of one whose name
was well known in Canada. Elsewhere there was no lack of numbers, and
such numbers as were by no means to be despised, even though they were
commanded by men whose names, until then, were unknown to martial
fame.

The great State of Michigan contributed its quota of "sympathizers,"
the peculiar quality of whose sympathy very soon became apparent.
Having elected a person named "Theller," of Detroit, as their
commander, and dignified him with the title of "General," they
proceeded to other work in a similar self-constituted way. Having
seized a schooner, "The Ann of Detroit," they supplemented the act by
seizing arms and ammunition, cannon and musketry. Furthermore, having
shipped their complement of adventurers, who, to be precise, were
seventy-five in number, they on the night of the 7th of January, 1838,
attacked the unfortified town of Amherstburg. Whereupon the subject of
our sketch, who appears to possess, among his other professional,
scientific and sporting qualifications, a certain aptitude for
nautical affairs, chartered a small steamer, and being accompanied by
many of the loyal inhabitants of Sandwich, he pursued what he very
fitly termed the "piratical craft," in the hope of overhauling and if
possible of capturing its murderous crew. On his arrival at
Amherstburg he communicated with Colonel Radcliffe, who there
commanded a volunteer force. The result of the communication turned
out in the last degree disastrous to the pirate ship and her company,
for on the evening of the following day, "The Ann" was outmanœuvred,
and being driven on shore, she and her crew, with the exception of two
of them who had been killed, were captured with their arms, ammunition
and stores. The captured crew were sent to Toronto, where they were
tried and convicted of treason. "Theller," and several other state
prisoners, for greater safety were removed to the citadel at Quebec,
and their subsequent escape from that stronghold occasioned no little
indignation. This indignation was sensibly increased by observing that
the authorities in Canada appeared to receive the intelligence with a
serenity of mind more akin to relief than to disappointment. Such
apparent indifference on the part of the rulers was insufferable to
the ruled, especially to those who resided on the frontier and had
been instrumental in effecting the capture of those prisoners. The
inhabitants of the county of Essex especially, from Colonel Prince
downwards, were highly incensed. Though their curses may not have been
"loud" we are afraid they were very "deep." Being in a state of mind
to accept by way of explanation any version of the escape of the
prisoners, it was not difficult to supply reasons plausible enough to
suit their notions on the supposed case. They were quite prepared to
receive as true the fanciful explanation of some that the failure of
justice and the escape of the traitors were due, not to the weakness
of the dungeons, but to the winking of authority; not to the address
of the criminals, but to the connivance of the gaolers. This awkward
impression did not, of course, favor a respect for law. On the
contrary, it encouraged the belief that red-handed crime should be met
with red-handed justice, and that personal safety could only be
secured by dealing violently and at once with those by whom that
safety was imperilled. These considerations should not be lost sight
of, since they may help us to a better understanding of what
subsequently occurred. Those who take liberties with the law should
not forget that when men become excited and are at the same time
deeply wronged, that even the affectation of indifference to a
miscarriage of the law is not without danger, for a rude notion not
unfrequently takes possession of the public mind that British wrong
must in some way, perchance in an irregular way, by British hands be
righted. Thus men in their indignation are apt to turn from those
forms of law which seem to elude justice, to those forms of justice
which are scarcely recognized by law.

The Parliament of Upper Canada was in session when the last mentioned
occurrences took place. On the termination of those occurrences
Colonel Prince resumed his Parliamentary duties. He was thus engaged
when a despatch arrived informing him that a force of "sympathizers"
had collected on "Fighting Island," a British Island situated about
three miles below Sandwich. He did not wait to receive instruction as
to the course he should pursue. Without hesitancy he started at
midnight in the depth of winter for his frontier home. On his arrival
there, he accompanied Major Townshend and Captain Glasgow of the Royal
Artillery, and with a force of Volunteers under his immediate command
at once crossed the ice. The intruders took counsel of prudence and
made their escape to the sympathetic shore of Michigan. Between that
time and the more serious attack which was made in the month of March
following, Colonel Prince had been appointed to the command of a
contingent battalion of militia, which he had recruited and organized
at Sandwich. Within the same period the 32nd Regiment, under the
command of Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. John Maitland, had been
stationed at Amherstburg. Thus matters stood when intelligence arrived
that a force of sympathizers, four hundred strong, had taken
possession of Point Pelee Island a British Island on Lake Erie, nearly
opposite to Sandusky in the State of Ohio, and that they were
committing various depredations. On his application, Colonel Prince
with two friends joined the expedition as Volunteers, under the
command of Colonel Maitland. The action which followed was a very
sharp one. As a piece of strategy on a small scale, the plan of attack
was well conceived and most gallantly carried out. The Light Company
of the 32nd Regiment under the command of Captain Brown, which had
been appointed to intercept the retreat, performed that duty with
singular address and coolness, losing in killed and wounded one third
of the number which had gone into action. The invaders in like manner
lost seventy men in their escape from the Island. There were many on
both sides to whose names no answer was made when the muster rolls
were again called at Amherstburg, and Sandusky.

What occurred on the morning of the next day we shall best describe by
extracting the following statement from the _Montreal Gazette_ of the
9th February, 1839. The article is entitled "Annals of Canada for
1838."

     "On the 4th of March, 1838, while Colonel Prince of Sandwich,
     Prideaux Girty, Esq., of Gosfield, and W. Haggerty, of the River
     Puce, in Maidstone, were returning home in a sleigh from Point
     Pelee Island, at the attack of which they had been present on the
     preceding day, and had got within eight or nine miles of
     Amherstburg, the first of these gentlemen discovered two objects
     on the ice, at a distance of about four miles, which he suspected
     to be spies coming from the direction of Gibraltar in Michigan.
     On approaching the Canadian shore, these objects were distinctly
     perceived to be two men; and Mr. Girty, who knew every path in
     the country, at once suggested that they were enemies coming to
     reconnoitre a particular marsh, which it is stated affords a
     quick passage from Lake Erie to the rear of the town of
     Amherstburg. At this time the men approached to within a short
     distance of the Canadian shore, but seeing the party in the
     sleigh they suddenly turned off in a southerly direction. A
     pursuit was then determined upon, but Mr. Girty's horse being
     excessively fatigued, it was deemed advisable to push on to Mr.
     Anderson's at Hartleys Point and there procure fresh horses.

     At this moment, however, they met two gentlemen going to
     Gosfield, each in a single horse sleigh, and Mr. Girty being
     exceedingly unwell from severe cold, was persuaded by Colonel
     Prince to remain in his sleigh, while he and Mr. Haggerty drove
     off in the single sleigh to intercept and seize the suspected
     persons. When they had got within fifteen rods of them, Colonel
     Prince stopped his sleigh, and leaving his pistols and tomahawk
     to the care of the driver, he proceeded with his favorite gun,
     and advancing within fifty yards of the suspected persons he
     commanded them to halt. They complied with the order, and being
     asked who they were "they replied that they were American
     Citizens." Colonel Prince immediately recognized one of them, the
     "Brigadier General" Sutherland, and approaching within a rod of
     himself and his companion demanded their swords. The "General"
     hesitated to comply with the request, whereupon Colonel Prince
     rushed in upon him and disarmed him without resistance. At this
     time Mr. Haggerty came up and, agreeable to the orders of Colonel
     Prince, approached the fellow traveller of Sutherland and
     demanded his sword, which he delivered up with great civility.
     This individual proved to be "Captain" Spencer, and assumed the
     rank of Aide-de-Camp to Sutherland. In the following day both
     prisoners were sent to Toronto under an escort commanded by
     Captain Rudyer of that City."

In his communications to the authorities, Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland
wrote of the subject of our sketch as follows:

     "Colonel Prince of Sandwich asked my permission to accompany me,
     which he did, and gallantly acted with his rifle with our
     soldiers in the woods. I found him very useful from his knowledge
     of the locality of the place."

On the following day, March the 5th, he thus wrote to Colonel Foster
commanding the forces in Upper Canada:

     "I have to report to you that Sutherland and his Aide-de-Camp
     named Spencer were captured yesterday by Colonel Prince (single
     handed) about two miles on the ice. The Colonel brought them on
     here and lodged them in the guard house. I shall forward them to
     Toronto under a strong escort to-day. Enclosed is a deposition
     made by Colonel Prince relative to their capture. I think
     Sutherland and Spencer must have been making their way to Point
     Pelee Island when they were so gallantly taken by Colonel Prince,
     but he pretends otherwise."

We may add that Sutherland and Spencer were tried, found guilty, and
transferred for safe keeping to Quebec, from which place they also
effected their escape.

This gallant act of the "gallant John Prince" and his "Aide-de-Camp"
Sergeant Haggerty, became matter of gossip on both sides of the lines,
for neither Sutherland nor Spencer, the former especially, looked like
men with whom it would be safe to trifle. But "fortune favors the
bold," and Colonel Prince belongs to the order of bold men who know
when to strike even though they may not know equally well when to
parley. Such men from the vehement quality of their courage and the
unhesitating character of their resolution may occasionally become
entangled in scrapes, but such scrapes will never be soiled with
cowardice or slurred with dishonor.

While "sympathizers" who had been caught, tried, and convicted were
escaping from Canadian prisons with perplexing facility,
"sympathizers" who were at large were harassing the Canadian frontier
with persistent audacity. Though foiled, beaten, and driven back, they
retained their appetite for prey. At their instigation every species
of crime was perpetrated, from the simplest form of robbery to the
most diabolical kind of murder. Systematic plunder was resorted to,
not alone from the greed of gain, but for the political disquiet which
such crimes occasioned. Wrong and annoyance were parts of the policy
which at that time, and since then, have characterized similar
proceedings. Such a system of harass caused the country to be
impoverished. All kinds of industrial occupations were suspended.
Mechanical employment was rendered insecure. Husbandry could only be
pursued with difficulty, for tillage along the frontier was most
seriously interrupted. Artisans and laborers were withdrawn from their
ordinary occupations, fatigued with incessant marches, and made weary
with uninterrupted watching. Thus the popular mind became alarmingly
excited, and questions more easily asked than answered followed one
another with inconvenient rapidity. Men stationed on outlying pickets,
or chatting together round their watch fires, naturally spoke of the
enemy with indignation, and bitterly asked to what country he
belonged, and what his claims were to the amenities of warfare. They
learned without difficulty that he was a political outlaw, protected
by no flag and recognized by no government. On the high seas it was
known that such an one was a pirate, and it was believed would on that
account be fair game for any man's rifle. Neither was it supposed that
the character of the felony underwent a change when perpetrated on the
shore. Therefore, exclaimed the long-suffering militia men, "we have
the right to regard such invaders as pirates; let us do so, and
without the intervention of the court crier, or the black cap, let us
on the spot where we find them administer the swift justice which such
crimes deserve, and which such criminals are accustomed to receive."
Nor did these popular impressions lack legal countenance. Colonel
Prince not only professionally declared his opinion that such was the
law, but he added with dangerous emphasis, that should the opportunity
arise, he would act up to his convictions. Those who knew him knew
also that such an intimation was no idle threat. As the Duke of
Wellington is reported to have said of Picton, under other
circumstances, Colonel Prince in like manner was regarded as a man who
was beset with a propensity to "keep his word." Neither did he stand
alone in his opinion, for the Attorney-General for Upper Canada, the
late Mr. Hagerman, when officially called upon, corroborated the
opinion in writing in the strongest language in which it could be
expressed.

Nine months had elapsed since the affair at Point Pelee Island, when
at day break on the 4th of December, 1838, about four hundred
"sympathizers" crossed from Detroit to Windsor. The pickets furnished
by Colonel Prince from his regiment were driven in, his sentinels
murdered, and his barracks, in which were three invalided soldiers,
were burnt to the ground. Other atrocities were committed, including
the unprovoked murder in cold blood of a colored barber, who resided
in that town. Communication having been made of the state of affairs,
Colonel Prince with one hundred and twenty men advanced with rapidity
upon Windsor, and attacked the enemy with vigor, killing many, and
driving the rest into woods or across the river to Detroit. During the
affair and while chasing the fugitives, five of them, as with their
swifter footed, but more fortunate comrades they kept up a running
fire on the pursuing militia men, were captured. Acting up to his
declared conviction of what he believed to be the law, and in
conformity with his promised mode of interpreting it, Colonel Prince
did not hesitate in the course which he felt called upon to take. He
ordered the five prisoners to be shot in the very place where they had
been taken, and to use the words of his letter, "They were shot
accordingly."

This proceeding created, as it was calculated to do, great excitement
in Canada and in England. In the former country it was hailed with
intense satisfaction; in the latter it produced a very perceptible
shock. The Attorney-General for Upper Canada, as we have already
stated, reported that the proceeding was perfectly legal. Sir George
Arthur, the then Lieutenant-Governor, dashed his dispatch with
doubts, and mildly expressed his regret, "that Colonel Prince should
have been induced to anticipate the result of legal proceedings." The
people of the province were generally agreed that the transaction was
good justice, and they were all the better pleased with their
Attorney-General for telling them it was good law.

"Gentlemen of England who live at home at ease," and know nothing of
border raids, or "border ruffians," became alarmed at the sudden
exhibition of what they regarded as lawlessness in Canada. The Marquis
of Normanby, the then Colonial Secretary, "felt the deepest regret
that the transaction had occurred," and Lord Brougham, who had seceded
from the Whigs, and took every occasion to strike their government,
declared with characteristic vehemence, "that the Attorney-General's
(Mr. Hagerman's) opinion was the grossest outrage on all law that was
ever put upon paper." These opinions, as well as some local
considerations, were not without their influence on certain persons in
Canada, and they showed themselves, as we shall have occasion to state
presently, in a very uncomfortable form. In the meanwhile, the
province testified its satisfaction in the usual way by complimentary
addresses, and sumptuous banquets in honor of Colonel Prince. Nor can
it be denied that the Canadians had reason for their proceedings; for
though Colonel Prince may not have pricked the bubble of rebellion, he
had by one bold act of power put an end to the invasion "of the
Canadian soil," by which that rebellion had been supplemented and
followed up.

The transactions to which we have just referred were not likely to
pass away without leaving some debris of unpleasantness. We do not
know to what cause the episode to which we are about to allude is
attributable. It is probable as men recovered their breath they also
recovered their fears. It is especially likely that residents on the
frontier may have thought that proceedings so summary might occasion
reprisals as sanguinary, and that therefore in the interests of
border quiet there should be some expressions of border censure.
Whatever may have been the motive, a placard was published and posted
on the walls of the town of Windsor of a very denunciatory and
offensive kind in its relation to Colonel Prince, wherein he was, as
we are informed, amongst other things stigmatized as a "murderer and a
coward." Flesh and blood, and especially the flesh and blood which
makes up the nature of Colonel Prince, could not stand this kind of
attack. Wherefore selecting from the twenty-five names which were
subscribed to the document, the names of eight individuals who in a
more especial manner bore the rank of gentlemen, Colonel Prince
determined to settle matters by inviting each one of the eight to a
hostile meeting then and there. We are not informed of the rule which
guided the order of selection. Nor can we conjecture in what way the
eight friends could have settled the order in which the eight duels
should be disposed of. Probably the subject of our sketch was of
opinion that the law of alphabetical impartiality was the one which
could be conveniently adopted, for Mr. Wood, the only gentleman by
whom the Colonel was accommodated, was exactly the last on the list
according to the alphabetical rule. We learn that five of the
gentlemen applied to, became penitent and apologized; two were
contumacious, and received an old-fashioned horsewhipping; and the
last, Mr. Wood, having with English obstinacy refused to submit to
either ordeal, met the subject of our sketch at an early hour of a
February morning, in conformity with the terms of the challenge. The
first pair of shots were ineffectually exchanged. On the second,
however, Mr. Wood was seriously disabled, as the Colonel's shot, with
a too well directed aim, had entered his antagonist's jaw. This
mournful conclusion to an unhappy transaction was attended with one
beneficial result. It restored order, if not friendship, among
neighbors who ought never to have been estranged.

This hostile meeting though it diverted did not restrain the annoyance
to which the summary act of the 4th of December had exposed the
subject of our sketch. Sympathizing with the shock which the English
mind had received, and encouraged by the opinions which had been
expressed in the English Parliament, and elsewhere, a portion of the
public, and a few of the more extreme newspapers of the Province,
clamored for further investigation with a view to the punishment, and,
if possible, to the disgrace of "the hero" of the battle of Windsor.
Colonel Prince answered his assailants by a formal demand for a Court
of Inquiry. The application was granted. The Court, consisting of
Lieutenant-Colonel now General Sir Richard Airey, at that time
commanding the 34th Regiment, Major Deedes, of the same Regiment, and
Colonel French, an officer of the Line then on particular service in
Upper Canada, assembled at Sandwich. It sat for several days, and very
voluminous evidence from various witnesses was taken. The result, as
might have been expected, was the honorable acquittal of Colonel
Prince. The Governor approved of the finding of the Court, and to mark
his displeasure of their proceedings who had signed the obnoxious
placard, His Excellency directed that one of them, a Lieutenant
Colonel of Militia, should be dismissed from the command of his
regiment and from the Militia service of the province.

In recalling the transactions of that period, it is impossible to
forget that there were two men to whom the Empire was, as we think,
more immediately indebted for almost priceless services. No
precautions had been taken, as we learn from the narrative of Sir F.
B. Head, the Lieutenant-Governor, to meet the rebellion which was
about to break out in Upper Canada. But, while the attitude of the
chief ruler of the Province was one of sovereign contempt, the
unsupported action of one energetic officer of Militia was marked with
sagacious precautions. To the latter circumstance must be ascribed the
fact that revolt at the outset was not marked with incalculable
disaster. Such a calamity was averted because one of the Queen's
subjects was less credulous than her Representative, for he refused
to sleep while all authority slumbered. The invasion which followed
the rebellion was brought to a sudden termination because another
officer of Militia declined to balance chances, and cared not if he
did a right thing in a wrong way. Wherefore with strong-hearted
resolution that officer dealt a blow, so sharp, so sudden, and so
decisive, that it seemed as if it were impelled by the majesty of the
Empire. Thus one officer arrested rebellion in the bud, the other tore
it up by the roots. Yet of Colonel Fitz-Gibbon and Colonel Prince it
may be observed, and the observation is calculated to excite regret,
that while one only received reward for his services, neither was
distinguished with any mark of honor. The sunlight of the Throne did
not reach them. Royalty had no bright smile for either breast.

  "I have done the State some service, and they know it,"

may have been the soliloquy of Colonel Prince, as he reflected on the
sacrifices he had made the state, and on the indifference of the state
to him. To-day he puts forth

  "The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms."

But with the subject of our sketch the "killing frost" appeared before
"the blushing honors," and his loyal heart, sick it may have been,
with "hope deferred," perchance recovered its serenity only with "hope
abandoned." The order of the "Victoria Cross" had not at that day been
instituted, or the capture, "single handed," of "General" Sutherland
and his "Aide-de-Camp" Spencer, would surely have entitled Colonel
Prince to that high mark of honor. As it was, the grace of his
Sovereign would not, we venture to think, have been misapplied had a
decorative ribbon, even the mere shadow of a star, shed its brightness
on his stout brave heart. Royal forgetfulness and official neglect,
though they may have wounded him, produced no wavering either of his
duty or of his affection. His chief desire was to serve his country
anywhere and under any circumstances in which such service might be
effective. Therefore it was that in 1854 he offered to raise a
regiment of six hundred strong, for duty in the Crimea; and though the
offer was deemed irregular and embarrassed with technical
difficulties, it showed his desire to do what he could to aid the
Mother Country. That the offer was declined, in no way detracted from
his merit who made it.

Leaving the incidents of his actual, as well as his proffered military
services, we must very hurriedly allude to some facts in his
professional and political career which should not pass unnoticed.

In 1841 Colonel Prince was commissioned by Lord Sydenham to perform
the duties of a crown officer, and in 1852 he obtained a silk gown as
Queen's Counsel; and when he was raised to the Bench as Judge of the
District of Algoma, there were few senior to him on the list of the
Queen's Counsel in Canada.

Whether the judicial situation which he now fills is as well suited to
him as he is to it, may be fairly questioned. Shut out from
civilization, and shut in by the exacting nature of his duties, as
well as by the dreary length of the North West winters, it may easily
be conjectured that his is not the most enviable lot. Still his
benevolence of character has, we believe, scope for curious and
extensive exercise. Though a judge, he has found that his judicial are
by no means the most onerous of his duties. He is a moderator, a
peacemaker, an arbitrator. He more frequently administers justice as a
patriarch, after the manner of an Eastern Prince, than as a lawyer
after the manner of an English Judge. Thus, in that primitive
settlement, differences between neighbours are arranged, disputes are
settled and estrangements healed in an equitable way. Men are
apparently content to receive actual justice without enquiring too
curiously whether they get technical law.

As a member of the Legislature, Colonel Prince was not strictly
speaking a party man. He never aspired to be a political leader, and
he was constitutionally unable to be a political follower. No power,
not even wild horses, could have kept him steadily within the traces
of party. But though unsuited as a politician to lead a party or
follow a leader, he nevertheless on all occasions showed himself to be
an active ally and a powerful enemy. It was not, we believe, his
practice to seek support for his measures, being quite content that
they should stand or fall on their merits only. Such measures however
generally conciliated the support of all, and were for the most part
highly characteristic of their author. Thus his love of animals
prompted Colonel Prince to propose a measure more humane even than
"Martin's Act," "to prevent cruelty" to them. His love of fair play
induced him to introduce a Bill to prevent any one carrying concealed
weapons about the person. His love of sport moved him to take measures
for placing every description of game under the protection of the law
and prevent it from being taken or destroyed at improper seasons.
Another measure, of a more questionable kind, which showed at least
his liberality of mind, was passed after many a conflict. It was an
act to enable foreigners to hold and convey real estate in Canada.
Other measures of his which are now in the Statute Book might be
noted. We have mentioned the above not only on account of their merit,
but because they seem to illustrate some of the strong points in the
character of the subject of our sketch; for they belong to the class
with which his chart of life is printed.

Colonel Prince besides being, as we are informed, a scientific
agriculturist, is, we know, an ardent sportsman. "Fur and Feather,"
stand little chance when they come within the range of his keen
well instructed eye. The red man's proverb, "Indian can fool deer but
can't fool turkey," is scarcely applicable to Colonel Prince, for the
larder at "The Park Farm" could on many a Christmas past testify that
he "fooled" both. In truth it is no exaggeration to say that he is a
"mighty hunter." Few we should think possess a more intimate
acquaintance with the Forests and Prairies of the West than he does:
probably none can hold a steadier rifle or direct a truer shot. If
"Fur and Feather" are capable of transmitting traditions, we should
think some cautions must circulate among their tribes, with respect to
the Canadian counterpart of the American "Davie Crocket," of coon
notoriety. But though "Fur and Feather" have a vigilant enemy, they
also have a fair enemy in Colonel Prince; for he has done more to
protect them than he has to destroy them. He would carry his rifle at
rest if a deer out of season were to brush his nose with its antler;
and in like manner if a turkey were to surprise him, as Punch once
made a pheasant startle Mr. Briggs, he would consider the bird as
sacred as his own pointer. With an Englishman's appreciation of sport
he sacredly obeys all the laws by which sport should be governed. A
more general observance of the like rule by all, whether sportsmen or
"pot shooters," would greatly tend to preserve and multiply our
valuable game.

There are many pleasant and amusing incidents in Colonel Prince's
career on which we should, did our space permit, like to linger and
gossip; for there is about him a charming individuality of character
which removes him from the class of ordinary men. We may mingle our
"rosemary" with our "pansies," our memory with our thought, and say of
one whose character is made up of many contrarieties and crossed with
some contradictions, which bears the beauty of strength and the
blemish of weakness, that

  "He was a man, take him for all in all
  We shall not look upon his like again."

But without pressing into our service the language of Shakspeare, we
shall conclude our sketch with the words of a complimentary blunder
spoken in our hearing by an Irishman, as, on a comparatively recent
occasion, he looked down from the gallery of the House of Assembly at
the members seated below, and said aloud, in a tone of voice as rich
and racy as the Emerald Isle, "There's not one among you I miss so
much as old Colonel John Prince."

[Illustration: SIR DOMINICK DALY]




SIR DOMINICK DALY,

GOVERNOR-IN-CHIEF OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.


Now and then we hear of public men who from some peculiarity of
opinion or some infirmity of character are complaisantly spoken of as
"governmental impossibilities." The principles of such persons are
either too strong to be pliant, or too impracticable to be safe. The
subject of our sketch was not obnoxious on such grounds. On the
contrary, he was, latterly at least, regarded rather as an impediment
than an impossibility, a difficulty to be removed rather than a
difficulty to be overcome. The truth is, Mr. Daly had grown up under
one system of government, and could not very well be grafted upon
another. He accepted service as an officer responsible to the crown,
and he was not prepared for the change when he was instructed to
consider himself responsible to the people.

"The pleasure of the Sovereign" is something very different from the
pleasure of the Parliament. The secure quality of the former tenure
cannot be balanced with the less certain one of the latter. Mr. Daly
liked his office, and he relished its emoluments, nor did he feel
himself bound to practice an act of magnanimity which included a
voluntary surrender of both. In speaking of him, Lord Metcalfe is
reported to have said that "Mr. Daly was an Irishman and was also a
Roman Catholic, but although for the latter reason his sympathies were
strongly with the French Canadian people, or had been so long as they
were oppressed by the dominant race, his feelings, the growth of
education and early association, were of a conservative and
aristocratic cast." This criticism might lead us to suppose that Mr.
Daly's sympathies did not always run parallel with his opinions, or
that his policy occasionally played at cross purposes with his
principles. This representation to a certain extent may have been
correct, for we doubt whether Mr. Daly had any political opinions
whatever. He sympathized with power, for power was inseparably
associated with office, and he sympathized with success, for his
emoluments depended on his succeeding. Unembarrassed with any
constraining convictions he could not be expected to feign what he did
not feel. He was not exempt from a capacity for intrigue nor entirely
above the suspicion of having practiced it. He never made sacrifices
to sentiment, nor as far as we are aware, was he ever distressed by an
inclination to do so. His opinions like his policy were negative
rather than positive. But these negatives, like negatives under other
circumstances, were occasionally equal to an affirmative, and they
were especially so when his colleagues in the government called upon
him to practice with them the virtue of resignation, and make a common
sacrifice of office at the shrine of responsibility. His liberal
sentiments may have been equal to theirs to a certain point, but that
was the point of sacrifice. Then, "education and early association"
gave rise to convictions of a "conservative and aristocratic cast."
Then he displayed acute sensibility on the subject of vested rights,
and not without reason, for without controversy he had acquired, and
he possessed such rights. Thus, when his colleagues resigned, he not
only declined to be governed by their example, but he marked his
dissent in a manner which might be expressed in the words of the Derry
defenders, "no surrender."

Sir Dominick Daly was born on the 11th of August, 1799. He is a scion
of an old Galway family, being the third son of Dominick Daly,
Esquire, by Joanna Harriet, daughter of Joseph Henry Blake, Esq., and
a sister of the first Baron Wallscourt. He was the nephew of Malachy
Daly, Esquire, a resident of Paris, and well known as a banker in that
city. Young Dominick Daly was educated at the old Roman Catholic
College of St. Mary's, near Birmingham. On leaving that institution he
seems to have acquired some county distinction in Galway, as a bold
and fearless rider to hounds; a distinction which will prepare those
who remember his lithe figure, his calm eye, and his lips accustomed
to resolute compression, to believe that a stone wall, or a quick-set
hedge, were obstacles to him of as little account as a wattle fence.
He is remembered favorably, by the few who in the days past, whether
good days or evil days we say not, hunted with the "Galway Blazers,"
and dined afterwards, according to the old fashion, perchance crowning
serene claret with stimulating punch, and interlacing both with such
songs, as with various modifications, have descended to Irish
fox-hunters since the time when "Malachy wore the collar of gold."

Life however had its duties as well as its enjoyments. In the pursuit
of the former, the subject of our sketch left Ireland and paid a
somewhat protracted visit to his uncle, the Paris banker. His
residence in that city was very probably attended with many social
advantages, and perhaps had the effect of whetting the edge of his
appetite for the kind of acquisitions which his uncle abundantly
enjoyed. Hence, as we are informed, he was tempted to embark in some
commercial venture which incidentally required his presence in Canada.
If the enterprise was attended with an increase of knowledge, it was
also embarrassed with a diminution of wealth, for it was remembered
only as an unpleasant story of actual losses and estimated
obligations. Turning his back upon commerce, Mr. Daly entered the
public service of Lower Canada, and rose in the course of time to be
Secretary of the Province, which office he filled at the time of, and
seven years after, the union of the Provinces. In 1826, he married
Caroline, the second daughter of Colonel Ralph Gore, of Barrowmount in
the county of Kilkenny, by whom he has several children.

In 1843, he differed from his colleagues, the members of Mr.
Sullivan's administration, and declined to join them when they
tendered their resignations to His Excellency, Lord Metcalfe. This
resolution appeared to be as agreeable to His Excellency as it was
odious to his colleagues. In fact, the act was never forgiven by them,
and consequently he became the object of their avoidance and aversion.
Though a valuable adviser, respected for his sagacity in counsel, and
courted for his social attractions, he was not a speaker. Apparently
he could not trust himself to address the House of Assembly. His
peculiar disability was, on the occasion last mentioned, attended with
consequences almost as amusing to the observer as they were
disquieting to him. The House of Assembly was unusually full; every
body wished to hear the ministerial explanations; the galleries were
crowded; every part, but the Treasury benches, was thoroughly crammed,
and except for the presence of Mr. Daly, those benches would have been
left in a state of green loneliness. He alone occupied his accustomed
place, and from the nature of his position represented every
department of the state. Questions were asked, explanations were
demanded, information was required. Interrogators sometimes pointed
their speech with indignation, sometimes with anxiety, and sometimes
with jeers. It was all in vain, for no matter what shape they took,
those questions were addressed to one who had apparently made a
covenant with silence, which he, at all events, was determined to
keep, and he did keep it too until relief came, after an interval of
several days, in the shape of the prorogation of Parliament.

"Time the healer" exerted no soothing influence on the minds of Mr.
Daly's former colleagues, neither had the general election which took
place between the close of the last session of the first Parliament,
and the opening of the first session of the second Parliament, done
ought than add to the intensity of their hostility to him for
deserting them in their quarrel with the Governor-General. The late
Solicitor-General for Lower Canada, who is now a Judge of the Court of
Queen's Bench, was especially noticed for the vituperable quality of
his attacks on the subject of our sketch. No matter what question came
up for discussion it was cleverly pointed by that fluent master of
language to irritate the Provincial Secretary. Failure of result only
aggravated the assault, until at length the provocation became too
personal for endurance. The Provincial Secretary rose and made the
only speech in Parliament of which the writer has any recollection. It
was spoken through lips strongly compressed, and in an under tone, but
loud enough to be heard by the gentleman to whom it was addressed. The
words were few in number, scarcely more than "your statement is
false." The interruption occasioned only a moment's pause, for the
speaker, pressing his spectacles more closely against his nose,
finished what he had to say, and without attracting notice left the
house.

That evening a kinsman and countryman of Mr. Daly's was passing a few
social hours with the then Registrar for the county of Montreal, when
in obedience to some whispered words he retired from the party. Having
left an excuse by way of satisfaction for his host, he soon found
himself discussing a question of satisfaction with his friend. The
kinsman in question was a bachelor then, and we believe he has the
misfortune to continue one still. Bachelors, however, are useful in
their way, and their places of abode sometimes participate in the
meritorious qualities of their owners. Thus on his return home, "the
bachelor" to whom we allude found his snug little cottage occupied by
Mr. Daly and a philosophic Englishman who had undertaken the
unpleasant duty of being "friend" for the occasion. The latter is well
remembered; for his kindliness of heart was known to all, and his
personal courage was questioned by none. Death has removed that
brave-hearted Englishman, and time has not filled his place. He had
seen much of the world, and had mixed indifferently with all sorts of
people. He never turned his back on a friend in adversity, and even a
stranger in a scrape might be sure of his assistance. His observation
of mankind was very extensive, and his experiences of life very
varied. Among the latter it had been his misfortune on different
occasions to be mixed up either as principal, or second, in affairs
similar to the one in which in the last-named capacity he now found
himself engaged. As in the acted drama, so in the drama of everyday
life, the most serious occurrences are oddly enough crossed with some
veins of humor. "The bachelor" to whom we have referred, being also a
near kinsman, had been expressly invited for the humane purpose,
should the contingency arise, of conveying "sad intelligence to the
family." The hostile message had been delivered to Mr. Daly by a late
knight who at that day was equally known as the "doctor" and the
"colonel," for he belonged to both professions, though he preferred
the latter. Arrangements had been made by "the doctor" and Mr. Daly's
second, whom we shall call "the diplomatist" for the following morning
at "the Tanneries," which seems to be the Wimbledon of Montreal. Mr.
Daly had been dismissed to his home; "and the diplomatist," and "the
bachelor" were left to themselves. Now "the diplomatist" believed it
to be the first duty of a friend to get his principal out of a scrape.
He was torturing his versatile brain, as to the way in which the
matter could be accomplished without the intervention of "balls,
barrels, or blades," and without any sacrifice of honor to either
party, and especially to the particular party who had placed his honor
in his keeping. The diplomatic thread which he was endeavouring to
unwind became suddenly entangled by a question of "the bachelor."
"Have you provided pistols." "Pistols," repeated the former, and then,
as if soliloquizing he continued, "Ah! yes! true, they may be wanted,
send to my house for them, I will explain where they are to be found."
On their arrival "the bachelor" with an appreciative eye for
to-morrow's business, immediately saw that from neglect or some other
cause they were too dirty either to be relied upon or used. He further
discovered that there were no bullets. Therefore it was that he, the
near kinsman who was especially retained to convey mournful
intelligence to a bereaved family, had to address himself to the work
of cleaning the pistols and moulding the bullets, and thus make ready
the instruments which were to qualify him for the discharge of the
most melancholy duty which one man can perform for another. The
amusing features of the case did not end here. The meeting took place
the next morning. The season was winter, much snow had fallen and more
fell in the night in which the preliminaries were settled. All the
contracting parties met at the time and place appointed. Negociation
failed, no acceptable apology could be contrived, all agreed that the
affair should go on. The ground had to be paced, and this fact
represented no inconsiderable impediment, for the field was a
snowbank. The two seconds were rather below than above the average
height. "The doctor" was accustomed to walk with quick short steps.
"The diplomatist" in like manner, whose legs were proportionably
shorter, was accustomed to walk with a step suited to their capacity.
In any case the principals were likely to get short measure in the
pacing. The chance of their doing so moreover was seriously increased
by the depth of the snow. Neither snow-shoes nor stilts were at hand;
probably it would have been out of order to use them had they been so;
and the duty of measuring the ground devolved on the owner of the
shortest legs. Thus, the wriggling, high actioned, balance movement,
in which "the diplomatist" was obliged to indulge to disentangle his
feet from the deep snow holes in which they were successively buried,
represented a picture so irresistably droll as to provoke the mirth of
all, and perhaps to unsteady the hands of the two whose nerves for
that transaction were commissioned for duty. Happily the issue was
harmless, and the smile which the scene had provoked was not
afterwards effaced by the great sorrow which must cling to the memory
which is evermore clouded with the stain of blood-guiltiness.

Lord Metcalfe was well aware that in supporting him, Mr. Daly had
irrevocably lost his chance of being provided for by any party in
Canada. Therefore he earnestly sought for the interference of the
Imperial Government on his behalf. Such an advocate was not likely,
apart from the strength of the cause, to plead in vain. We believe it
was answered with an assurance that the claim should not be
overlooked. On the 10th of March, 1848, when the second administration
of which he was a member was compelled to resign, Mr. Daly
relinquished his office of Provincial Secretary. During the interval
Lord Metcalfe had been succeeded by the Earl of Elgin who undertook to
enforce Lord Metcalfe's application to the Home Government on his
behalf. At length, but not before some extra pressure was brought to
bear on authority, Mr. Daly was appointed to the office of
Lieutenant-Governor of the Island of Tobago, which, however, he
shortly resigned on account of ill health. After another interval of
idleness he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Island of Prince
Edward. The vexed "land question" of that Province was of course his,
as it had been his predecessor's trouble. A Bill, in the interest of
the tenants, was introduced and passed with the concurrence, it would
seem, of the Lieutenant-Governor. It is difficult to understand why a
Bill so manifestly opposed to the principles of English law should
have escaped the lynx eyes of the local law officers of the Crown, for
they failed, it seems, to screen His Excellency from the error of
giving it the royal sanction. Sir George Grey, the Colonial Secretary,
in language unusually strong for such papers, signified that the Bill
had been disallowed. The mistake seems to have been repaired, for at
the termination of his five years' rule Her Majesty was pleased to
mark her sense of Mr. Daly's services with the honor of knighthood.
Subsequently on the retirement of Sir Richard Graves Macdonell, he was
appointed to the office, which he now fills, of Governor-in-Chief of
South Australia.

[Illustration: HONORABLE GEORGE BROWN, M.P.P.]




HONORABLE GEORGE BROWN, M.P.P.


                                  "The keen spirit
  Seizes the prompt occasion, makes the thoughts
  Start into instant action, and at once
  Plans and performs, resolves and executes."

The Honorable George Brown was born in the metropolis of Scotland, in
the city which the natives, with a complaisant partiality, are
accustomed to designate "the modern Athens." It is probable that he
first saw the light in one of those tenancies with interminable
flights of stairs which are the pride of the "Athenians," and the
aversion of other people. With their foundations set on a hill, and
their roofs straining towards the sky, it seems natural enough that
the dwellers in such houses should acquire a habit of looking down on
their neighbors. This practice extends not only to those who live to
the south of the Tweed, but also, as we believe, to their
fellow-Scotsmen all the world over. Closeness and caution may be
supposed to regulate the "Athenian" policy. Closeness, lest any should
be born there who would be insensible to the privilege; and caution,
lest any should claim the privilege who had not been qualified by the
birth. Whatever honor the accident conferred may be thoroughly claimed
by the subject of our sketch.

To the advantage of being an Edinburgh youth, he had the further
advantage of being educated at one of those famous Edinburgh schools,
whose teachers are celebrated for their ability to cram the human head
with the largest possible amount of knowledge in the smallest possible
space of time. Thus, as we are informed, when he had scarcely entered
his teens, young George Brown commenced a career of commerce, and
being well advised, he did so in the capital, not of the Scottish but
of the English kingdom. Trade, however, appears to have possessed but
slight attraction, for having attained the height of six feet three,
and the age of about twenty years, Mr. Brown accompanied his family to
New York, where he at once acquired an insight into the practical
mysteries of American journalism, as well as some experience in that
kind of literary work which is popularly described as newspaper
writing. The name of the newspaper with which he became identified,
though projected by his father--a father who was as reverently honored
as he was tenderly loved by his son, indicated the inclination of his
own opinions as well as the object of the enterprise. It was called
"The British Chronicle."

We have no means of knowing whether the venture was satisfactory or
the reverse, nor is the enquiry necessary. It is fair to assume that
the vigor which marked its writings attracted the notice of an
influential party in Canada, whose members at that time required an
organ through which they could disseminate their opinions generally,
on questions ecclesiastical, and, more especially, advocate the
principles of that energetic section of the Scotch Church which, under
the name of the "Free Church," had seceded from the Established Church
of Scotland. It is not difficult to suppose that the offer made to Mr.
Brown, apart from its pecuniary value, must have been as acceptable as
it was flattering; for it included his permanent residence within
British territory, in sight of the old flag, and of the familiar
uniforms to which his youth had been accustomed. In addition to
considerations of national sentiment there were one or two questions
of a religious kind which lent a charm to the offer. Mr. Brown
thoroughly sympathized with the Free Church party, and heartily
approved of the Free Church movement. No Englishman can understand the
transport of a Scotsman who has been morally incapacitated and
rendered beside himself by the tumultuous influence of a twisted tenet
or a disputed dogma. It is quite enough to say that Mr. Brown was as
rapturously frantic as the freest churchman could desire, on the
merits and aims of the Free Church movement. On such subjects his mind
appears to have been "blasted with ecstacy," for under their influence
he is apparently, what he is not actually, an ultra-democrat, and in
the interests of truth we are constrained to add, a very intolerant
one. His special mission when _The Banner_ newspaper was established,
appears to have been to wrestle with the Church of Scotland; but this
hardy exercise generated a disposition to have a bout with every
religious organization which retained the monarchical principle of
government, and discredited alike the human wisdom as well as the
divine order of congregations to elect their ministers. The Church of
England, especially, has reason to feel the inclination which his
conscience took when it moved him to vex and impoverish her by his
vigorous and successful assaults.

The year 1843 was a very important year in the ecclesiastical as well
as the political history of Canada. Besides the unsettled clergy
reserve question, the Hon. Mr. Baldwin in that year introduced his
memorable bill for the alteration of the charter of King's College. In
the same year the great issue was raised between the Provincial
administration and his Excellency Lord Metcalfe, on the meaning and
application of the words "responsible government." Thus Mr. Brown soon
found there were questions of a secular as well as of a religious
character which excited his liveliest sympathies. In his desire to
advance his views in a double direction, it may have occurred to him
that an opening of a very favorable kind presented itself for the
establishment of an influential political paper, having for its object
to promote those principles of civil and religious liberty, which are
commonly advocated by the more extreme reformers. Hence in the
following year, _The Globe_ newspaper was started. The ability with
which the new journal was conducted became at once apparent. It
received the support of the great reform party of Upper Canada. From a
weekly, it speedily became a tri-weekly, and then a daily paper, and
from that time till now it has, we believe, no superior in circulation
and no equal in influence among the newspapers of the Province.

The signal triumph of the liberal party at the elections in 1847 was
not a little due to the advocacy which their cause received from the
new journal; nor was it a matter for surprise that it should have
become the organ of the Lafontaine-Baldwin government, when that
administration was formed in the month of March, 1848.

The indignation which was naturally occasioned in England in 1850,
when the Pope issued his bull, erecting a Roman Catholic hierarchy in
the United Kingdom, was not without its effect on Mr. Brown. The
spirit of Lord John Russell's famous letter to the Bishop of Durham
fired his mind with a zeal which, however, was rather characterized by
ardor than by policy. Indeed he felt too strongly to be discreet. He
would meet Papal aggression with Protestant resistance; and,
regardless alike of party considerations or political consequences, he
thenceforward became the uncompromizing exponent of what he termed
"broad Protestant principles." It has been observed elsewhere that the
public opinion of Canada appears to be in the highest degree sensitive
to the public opinion of the two great European nations from which its
population has mainly sprung. Thus the violence which preceded and
accompanied the passing of the Reform Bill in England, gave shape to
the greater violence which characterized the Provincial troubles of
1837-1838. The revolution in France, in 1848, created the
philosophical revolutionary party of Canada, which, for want of
another name, is conveniently designated the "rouge" party; and the
Papal aggression act of 1850 had the effect of gathering under one
political banner the various bodies of non-conformists, whose
aggressive Protestantism appears to be as fully allied with political
feeling as with religious sentiment. Thus when the anger of Lord John
Russell had been rebuked by wisdom or silenced by fear; when, as Leech
pourtrayed him in _Punch_, he ran away from the consequences of his
own cry, the animosity of his Canadian imitators continued unabated;
and such phrases as "Papal aggression" and "Protestant ascendancy"
continued to be reverberated through our community with perilous
persistency, until the evils which they exaggerated seemed to threaten
its peace.

The temperate quality of English churchmanship does not seem to be
attractive to Mr. Brown. He has no sympathy with the "high and dry"
Anglican, who meets such aggressions with arguments about the Royal
supremacy, and the danger which its disturbance would occasion to the
"interests of Church and State as by law established." Neither does he
sympathize with the philosophical and devout Churchman who mingles
with his protest against error in doctrine, an expression of grief
that the amenities of catholic usage should have been disregarded by a
successor of Gregory the Great, and an intrusive Episcopate introduced
into a country which at all events has not been without duly appointed
bishops since Augustin was consecrated to the See of Canterbury.

Arguments taking their rise in the Royal supremacy or in Episcopal
jurisdiction, have little attraction for the subject of our sketch,
since in his judgment the former is, we believe, an offence and the
latter a fiction. The truth seems to be that Mr. Brown's Protestantism
is of that thorough "root and branch order" which we think is peculiar
to the Scottish mind. It is intellectual and political as well as
religious and devout. It is lighted with the rays which the past sheds
on the present, by the traditions of persecution and wrong--of misery
and martyrdom suffered for conscience sake. Such intense enmities are
special properties, which Scotsmen especially know how to treasure
and how to transmit. Protestant principles, as represented by Mr.
Brown, are deep as well as broad; they are not only lateral, like Mr.
D'Israeli's franchise, but they are vertical like Mr. Bright's. They
colour every stratum of his constitution, and descend to the very
dregs of his nature. The old cry the "Church is in danger" was
commonly efficacious in the mother country in consolidating the Tory
party. The new cry, the "faith is in danger," was scarcely less so in
uniting the extreme reform party of Upper Canada. But though the
"Papal aggression act" did much towards knitting together and
consolidating in one body the various non-conformists in Canada, it
also went far towards destroying the old reform party of that
Province.

In the autumn of the following year, the representatives of that
party, the Hon. Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine, retired from the
government; and they did so, it has been stated, among other reasons,
because a policy of interference with ecclesiastical rights was boldly
proclaimed. Measures for the secularization of the clergy
reserves--for the abolition of rectories--for the exclusion of
religious teachers from the great seminaries of learning--were
prepared or advocated. The abasement of the Anglican church was the
first fruits of this policy. Peradventure before the harvest of that
perilous seed time is gleaned, thoughtful persons will enquire whether
the depression has not counteracted the end it was designed to
promote? Whether it has not advanced a power which it was by no means
intended to increase? Whether the effort to remove the danger of
Anglican supremacy in Upper Canada has not done much towards the
establishment of Roman Catholic power throughout the Province?

We have dwelt at some length on this passage of Mr. Brown's career,
because it seems to have been an important turning-point in his
political history. From being the supporter of the moderate Reform
party he became its opponent--and, from being the opponent of the
extreme Reform party, he became its leader. From being the co-worker
with Mr. Baldwin, in his effort to carry out the Union Act, he adopted
a policy which was calculated to make that Act in-operative. Such
seems to have been the tendency of proceedings which, though not
commenced, were ardently continued by him.

Among the sharp stipulations which the Legislature of Upper Canada
attempted to make as conditions precedent to her agreement to the Act
of Union, was one which provided that notwithstanding the greater
number of the inhabitants in Eastern Canada, the number of
representatives in the Legislative Assembly from either Province
should be equal. In his message to Parliament, Baron Sydenham
expressed what was tantamount to an apology for the apparent injustice
of such equality, adding in extenuation, that the more rapid increase
in the number of the inhabitants of Upper Canada would speedily
restore the balance which His Excellency admitted was apparently
disturbed by an acquiescence in the Upper Canada stipulation. It would
thus seem that the law of numbers was the only law which was present
to the minds of those who, at that day, had the opportunity of
speaking of the basis on which the representation should be
established. Neither will it be forgotten that this manifest
inequality was, after the reunion, the occasion of vehement
expostulation on the part of the representatives from Lower Canada,
who seem, equally with their fellow-subjects in the Western Province,
unwilling to receive any other plan of representation than one wholly
based on population. Unhappily, our public men were and have generally
been too anxious to discover the dividing line between the two
Provinces. They declined to recognize Canada as a whole, to think of
it as a whole, or to legislate for it as a whole. There were very few
who would allow themselves to see beyond their section, and the habit
was thus acquired of balancing the rights of Upper Canada against the
rights of Lower Canada. This serious mistake tended toward the
practical separation, if not to the permanent hostility of both.
Unfortunately, our statesmen were unable to arrest what our
politicians were able to promote; and thus the policy of sectionalism,
which passion had favored, became a principle of government when the
reason for such passion had been, for a time at least, quieted by the
equalization of the populations of the two Provinces.

To the sectional rivalry to which we have referred, Sir Louis
Lafontaine, in furtherance of his opinions on the subject of a double
majority in the same Legislature, practically established a double
government in the same administration. This error has been followed by
consequences which he, at all events, was not desirous to provoke. The
division of the Cabinet into two parts, with two heads, inevitably led
men to see that the union of the Provinces was practically broken--not
only by a fanciful separation of interests, but by an actual
separation of administration. It was observed that the Executive
Council was equally divided for the government of the two sections,
whose populations were not thought to be numerically equal. Attention
was more and more earnestly directed to inequalities, which the course
of time rendered more and more flagrantly conspicuous. Impartial men
saw difficulties at the door as well as in the distance. They were
obliged to accept, and equally were they obliged to apply the lessons
which the politicians taught them. They could not fail to see that two
unequal parts, though equal to the whole, were not equal to one
another; and since men would persist in basing the representation on
population only, the equity of such a rule could only be arrived at by
trying it according to the law on which it rested. Sir Louis
Lafontaine, it must be remembered, was the strenuous advocate of
numerical representation. He declined to balance property against
persons, or intelligence against ignorance. He made light of the truth
that there is safety in the variety as well as in the number of
counsellors. It formed no part of his policy to secure the
representation of classes as well as the representation of
individuals; and, though his mind was not without a conservative
inclination, such tendency was wholly wanting in his legislation on
the suffrage. Unlike any mechanism in nature or in art, his
parliamentary engine was made up of parts uniform alike in their
dimensions and their office, in their powers and their proportions. It
was a machine of big wheels only, with no minute regulators, no
delicate balance movements, no checks to restrain undue velocity, no
securities against explosive consequences. His only anxiety appeared
to be to map out the electoral districts, according to the principle
of numerical impartiality, to divide the population by one hundred and
thirty, and allot one member to the number which the result gave. Thus
the suffrage was to find expression through mouths of uniform
capacity. Variety, which is the charm of the naturalist, was to give
place to uniformity, which is the bugbear of the economist. The
representation of classes, which is conspicuous in the English system,
was to give place to the representation of persons, which is the
principle of the American system. Political justice was to be arrived
at by nodding assent to the doctrine more conspicuous for its fallacy
than its force, that all men are equal. Thus were the inequalities of
the suffrage and the inequalities of the voters sought to be balanced
by the equalization of the constituencies. In causing the
representation to depend only on the law of numbers, Sir Louis
Lafontaine necessarily made it to depend on the accidental fluctuation
of such numbers. If fifteen thousand persons, for example, were equal
to one representative; ten thousand must have been equal to less and
thirty thousand must have been equal to more than one; and since no
provision had been made to meet such numerical derangements, it was
apparent that the time would arrive when such discrepancies would have
to be rectified. It is idle to talk of final legislation when those
who legislate make accident, or fluctuation, the controlling
principle. Sir Louis Lafontaine had legislated according to such a
principle; and Mr. Brown and those who thought with him only
demanded, and fairly demanded, that it should be logically applied.

But though the dogma in question did not originate with Mr. Brown,
there is little doubt he believes in its excellence, and desires its
application; for we all know with what zeal and ability he has sought
to carry it out. That he has done so by means of sectional arguments
need occasion little surprise, since such arguments are exactly those
to which the principle itself most naturally gives rise. Such being
the case, no fault can be found with him because he has sought to
apply what has been established by the precedents of legislation. The
time of his doing so with success was, we think, scarcely well chosen,
as it was contemporaneous with those opinions on the subject of
Protestant ascendancy to which we have already referred, and which
naturally became more irritating when they were accompanied with
arguments that pointed at political superiority.

It was in the midst of this religious and secular excitement that Mr.
Brown determined to abandon the private station and to enter
Parliament. Having, in the spring of the year 1851, appealed
unsuccessfully to the electors of Haldimand, he was returned at the
general election in December following, as member for Kent.

A Cambridge friend calling on the late Professor Blunt found him
superintending some workmen. On being asked what he was doing? "I am
doing," said the Professor, "what is so common in the present day--I
am meddling with foundations." It will probably occur to some that the
same question being asked of the subject of our sketch, when engaged
upon his numerous measures of political repair, might not unfrequently
have been answered in the same words. Whether for good or for evil,
Mr. Brown has habitually addressed himself, with all the vigor of his
intellect and the energy of his character, to the unsettlement of many
things which in his opinion had been either improperly, unwisely, or
unjustly settled. Thus, whether the subject be a penitentiary or a
college, an ecclesiastical endowment or a school system, his aim is
to go to the root of the matter, to grapple with what he sees, and to
grope for what he suspects. With a sanguine temperament and an
imperious will, it is difficult and almost impossible for Mr. Brown to
do anything by halves. He must give the rein to his habit which has
instructed him to think for himself, to investigate for himself, and
to decide for himself. He is not prone to accept the opinions of other
people, or to consider them with much attention when they have been
forced upon his notice. It is his practice to bend circumstances to
determination, for he rarely surrenders determination to
circumstances. The difficulties which feeble men seek to avoid are the
opportunities which he apparently delights to meet. The policy of
letting things alone, which Lord Melbourne was said to favor, is
precisely a policy which the subject of our sketch would be unable to
observe; for with the warm temperament of the Irish, he possesses the
tenacity which belongs to the Scotch character, including many of its
strong prejudices, which he shares with his race, and much of its
stern fanaticism which he has received with his religion. With a
ravenous appetite for work, and a natural disposition to investigate,
he has the advantage of possessing what our ancestors called a "goodly
presence"--no mean adjunct for one who knows how to associate with it
the habit, not easily acquired, of fluent and earnest speaking. The
reform party saw in the new member one who bade fair to be their
popular as well as their resolute leader. No opposition could
intimidate and no danger could appal him. His moral courage might be
political rashness, but it would never be political cowardice.
Reformers recognized in him what it is said reformers relish, a
fighting chieftain, who would keep his party in the battle, even
though he might not lead it to victory. Older politicians,
irrespective of party, who have a wholesome pride in the honor and
reputation of Parliament, welcomed the new member with unalloyed
satisfaction. Some of the more knowing ones, however, indulged in
guarded whispers, which found expression in a nautical way. "If the
new craft," said they, "carries as much ballast as sail he will be
apt to run us all down." Mr. Brown took his seat in that part of the
House which, for the lack of a better designation, we will call "below
the gangway" or "the cross benches," where the less decided party men
usually place themselves, and where the "Adullamites" almost
invariably find sanctuary. At that time it was his fancy to clothe his
tall figure in black clothes, provoking men to contrast his fervid
character with his sombre raiment. This peculiarity, combined with his
habit of vehemently asserting in an oracular way, that such and such
consequences would certainly flow from such and such courses, gave
rise to his being familiarly called "The Prophet."

Like most of the public speakers of America, Mr. Brown is apt to
attenuate his argument by the length of his speeches, and though there
is no deficiency of thought, the thought is too unfrequently overlaid
with a redundancy of words. Thus, when it is said that Mr. Brown
occupied the floor for four hours, the comment of those who most
admire him is that the speech would have been twice as telling if it
had been half as long. Still, those who have neither seen him nor
heard him speak may easily suppose, from his expressive portrait, that
his style of speaking is eager and impassioned. No coolness separates
his intellectual from his physical nature. They are on excellent terms
with one another. His unadorned oratory, for example, is reflected in
his unstudied action. Both may, in the opinion of many people, be
deficient in gracefulness, but they are not deficient in strength. We
may miss those meteor-like sallies which in some speeches dazzle like
fire-flies, and are in truth as sharp as needles, and as shining as
diamonds, but in their place, we feel blows, less effective it may be,
though more stunning, delivered by a hand of such muscular force that
it needs not to be mailed--a hand in which the warriors of old would
have placed a battle-axe or a mace, and not a rapier or a small sword.
The key-note which his speech caught with his breath at Edinburgh,
has been cultivated with commendable diligence, for he preserves the
accents of his countrymen with as much tenderness as he does their
prejudices. The action with which he accompanies his speech is
governed by no such rules as the schools prescribe. Such drawbacks,
however, are of little account--for his speeches make up in power what
they may lack in polish; and while the cynics of the stage would
criticise them without mercy, the listeners in Parliament not only
admire their effectiveness, but are not unfrequently carried away with
their warmth. In truth, there appears to be wonderful sympathy between
Mr. Brown's thoughts and words--for passionate restlessness
characterizes both. His photograph instructs us that he possesses, in
a superlative degree, the gift of expression. His is a "tell-tale"
face. But though we should think he finds it difficult to conceal what
he feels, it is also possible that his instructed mind has acquired
the power of putting his features into commission, and of occasionally
making them perform misleading parts. No one with whom we are
acquainted can look more innocent than he when the occasion requires
him to seem guileless; neither can any one express more amazement when
the part to be performed is the part of astonishment. In either
character his appearance is highly dramatic, and a mere actor might
well envy his powers. His large blue eyes dilate and become spherical
in their outline, and as luminous as light; while his eyebrows, those
intellectual batteries of the face, on the position of which so much
of the expression depends, arch themselves determinately upwards, and
thus contribute not a little to the ingenuous picture of surprise
which either nature or art has taught him to assume. Sanguine, eager,
and dangerously impetuous, as he appears to be, it is not difficult to
suppose that the control of the tongue is with him no trifling
difficulty. Indeed, if we might speculate on what transpires behind
the curtain of his lips, we should occasionally suspect Mr. Brown's
teeth of playing the parts of sentinels to his tongue, and now and
then by means of a mild pressure, of lending a more than moral
support to his endeavor to keep the "unruly member" still.

The speeches which are made by Mr. Brown in the interests of party are
not, we venture to think, his best speeches. They are commonly more
attractive than convincing. Springing from a parentage of personal
animosity and patriotic principle, they are quite as conspicuous for
detrimental heat as for wholesome argument; they sear and singe, and
injure, if they do not destroy, the purpose they are designed to
serve. Such speeches, being all aglow with feeling, and issuing
seething hot from the smelting furnace of the speaker's brain, must,
in the nature of things, excite attention, but it is less clear that
they provoke reflection; they make the listener feel, but they are not
as influential in making him think--they stir passion, but they do not
in the same degree control reason. The effect, therefore, is not
always commensurate with the effort. Nor is the effort equal to the
powers of the speaker. Those who remember Mr. Brown's speech, when he
separated himself from all parties, and took his place with the small
minority which opposed the bill for rendering the Legislative Council
elective, will not forget the calm ability, for they now see the
prophetic force, of his grand argument. His speeches on the subject of
Confederation, whether in or out of Parliament, are in like manner
striking for the extent of their information--the purity of their
patriotism,--and the breadth of their view. Our space will not admit
of extracts. It is only necessary, by way of illustration, to refer to
those delivered at Halifax and Toronto, in addition to those which
have been published in our Canadian parliamentary debates.

Besides his select audience in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Brown has
the greater responsibility of addressing a more miscellaneous audience
elsewhere. His words, which are not unfrequently as sharp and quite as
gleaming as drawn swords, are read by tens of thousands, and for good
or for evil, minds innumerable receive their bias from the inclination
of his. _The Globe_ newspaper has become one of the institutions of
the country; and men, whether they like to acknowledge the fact or
not, very commonly quote as their own the opinions which could
scarcely be found elsewhere in Canada than in the columns of that
widely circulated journal. Quiet people, who are removed from the
maelstrom of political strife, may, for example, regard the principle
of representation by population as illogical and unsafe--as a delusion
and a snare,--but it is more than probable that the newspaper which
advocated such antiquated opinions would be thrown under, and not
placed on the breakfast table. The minister of restraint can never
compete with the minister of indulgence; and when the latter has the
power to supplement his argument with a promise of gratification, the
mission of the former may be considered as closed. The office of a
public journalist, apart from all incidental considerations, should be
a very anxious office. Such an one not only caters for the
intellectual tastes of his party, but he inclines thought, and
prescribes the laws by which it should be regulated. The nature of his
duties forbid that he should be either a languid, a careless, or an
indifferent advocate. To be appreciated, his style must be pungent,
and his allusions pointed. Unlike political institutions, which fail
because they are not temperately worked, the daily newspaper commonly
succeeds by reason of its intemperance. In his desire to obtain a
hearing, the modern editor, like the stump orator, is too frequently
obliged to speak in loud and intimidating tones. He is thus apt to lay
aside many of the urbanities which are a part of civilization, and
grow regardless of the respect which is due to the opinions, and we
will add, to the prejudices of opponents. Thus from the hardihood, as
well as the force of a dangerous habit, he is apparently as unwilling,
as he is frequently unable, to discriminate truth from falsehood. The
scales in which he weighs the value of evidence are commonly
ill-adjusted, while the evidence itself is chiefly serviceable from
the pliancy of its qualities, and from the skill with which it can be
bent to serve one purpose and defeat another. It must, in
extenuation, be conceded, that a public journalist is frequently
obliged to decide when only a few elements of a perfect judgment are
present. He is consequently rather more apt to write up to an opinion
he has avowed, than to correct such opinion by the light of clearer
information. The careless habit is apt, and in spite of himself, to
become a cruel habit. Thus, as it is not difficult to write
stingingly, it is the more necessary for a writer to be guarded in the
use of his sting. Mr. Brown not only "improves his shining hours," but
imitating the providence as well as the industry of the bee, he never
parts with his sting even while he makes his honey. He may store the
latter for the solace of his friends, but he makes the former
conspicuous for the intimidation of his foes. Each in its turn is
administered, and one especially, with unquestionable adroitness.

What with the fear which _The Globe_ newspaper excited in the minds of
some, and the affection it inspired in the hearts of others, Mr.
Brown, "the editor and proprietor," became politically influential
before he was personally well known. Such circumstances were, of
course, calculated and most naturally so, to give him position in the
state. And yet it may be questioned whether his newspaper,
notwithstanding its wide circulation, and the great ability with which
it has been conducted, has not proved rather an impediment than a help
to his retention of political power. It is probable that Mr. Brown
would have been a more successful statesman had he been a less
successful journalist. The restlessness of the latter character in
some way seems to jar with the quiet which we look for in the former;
for men are perpetually challenged to compare the sayings with the
doings of one so placed. Nor should it be overlooked that from the
nature of the case the editor and proprietor is not unfrequently made
responsible for opinions which he never expressed; and which, though
it is not convenient for him to say so, are at least a misconception
of, if not contrary to his own. Neither may we forget that the
friendships which journalism conciliates are fully balanced by the
enmities it creates. Indeed, the question is not without interest, and
might be worthy of examination, whether the peculiar discipline of
mind requisite for the successful discharge of both duties can be
possessed by one person. Doubtless there are examples to the contrary;
but a comparison of failure with success scarcely enables us to
appreciate the superiority of the latter. Again, though it is almost
impossible to over-estimate the value of the support which an
influential newspaper affords to a statesman, it is not difficult to
conjecture how much such support must be depreciated when such paper
and the supposed statesman are one and indivisible--when the
individual criticised and the critic are regarded as identical, and
when consequently the tickling is performed by "Toby" upon himself. It
is, therefore, not only an exaggeration, but it is an error to say
that the _Globe_ newspaper has made Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown, on the
contrary, made the _Globe_ newspaper. In doing so, he may have failed
to become the most popular statesman in Upper Canada; but he did not,
for the time being, miss the other condition, of being the most
popular party leader in that Province.

In June, 1854, the Parliament in which Mr. Brown first sat was
suddenly prorogued by the Earl of Elgin, with a view to its
dissolution. At the general election which followed he was returned
for the county of Lambton. The elections added so much to the strength
of the more extreme reform party as to make its members speculate on
the possibility of getting rid of Mr. Hincks, and of succeeding to his
place in the government. But unlike the more sensitive Mr. Baldwin,
that acute strategist would not meekly consent to be sacrificed. If
the temple of liberalism were to be destroyed, he determined that its
fall should include the ruin of those who had taken liberties with the
rafters. Thus when the crisis of his own defeat occurred, Mr. Hincks
still found himself to be the master of the situation. Instead,
therefore, of being the passive sufferer, he became the active surgeon
who performed the operation of amputation. The effort of the extreme
party to cut off its head became memorable from the fact that by the
manipulation of Mr. Hincks, the head dispensed with its tail; though
it must be confessed that the tail, like that of the beaver,
represented the strength and muscle of the party. The coalition with
the conservatives, which the transaction included, gave rise to
language the most violent on the part of those who regarded themselves
as betrayed by a manœuvre. From a war of tactics the conflict became a
hand-to-hand fight. The conservative section of the coalition was of
course accustomed to the hostility with which it was treated by its
rivals, but the reform members of it were scarcely prepared for the
vehement vituperation with which they were suddenly assailed. They
soon learned, however, that estranged friends could be more scornful
than hereditary enemies. The political effect was inevitable.
Concealed dislike was followed by actual avoidance. Party lines were
drawn in new places. The space which separated the old from the new
reformers became wider and wider, while it proportionably diminished
between the former and the conservatives. Following the law of
gravitation, the weaker was naturally attracted by, and became blended
with, the stronger body; and the result of the mixture, like wine and
water, is that both elements are qualified, and in the opinion of some
are spoiled by the fusion.

The transaction to which we refer resulted in the consolidation of the
extreme reform party of Upper Canada. The subject of our sketch
abandoned his seat on the cross benches, and took his place in the
Assembly as leader of the opposition. The unstable reformers were got
rid of, and those who remained, being convinced, required not to be
conciliated. They represented a compact body, formidable in numbers,
in influence, and in enmity--who knew, and were prepared with
intelligent fidelity to obey the voice of their leader. The blows
which the opposition were able to deliver fell hard and fast, and the
effects were perceptibly felt. The administration was severely
battered, and having undergone several modifications, it at length, in
a reconstructed form, took refuge in the extreme measure of dissolving
the Parliament.

The new patches added but little to the strength of the old garment;
nor did the operation of dissolution materially alter the colors with
which it was dyed. The fabric grew perceptibly weaker, and the only
surprise expressed was that it should wear so long. In the meanwhile
the subject of our sketch became both personally and politically
stronger. He had got the ear, and he was gradually acquiring the mind,
of the country. This was apparent at the general election, in 1858,
when he was triumphantly returned for the city of Toronto, a city
which had theretofore been deemed a stronghold of the opposite party.
When Parliament met it was tolerably apparent there was a majority
against the government of members representing Upper Canada. The old
cry was repeated with new emphasis, that the last mentioned Province
was being governed by Lower Canada votes. At length, on a question of
supply, the House of Assembly, by a majority of fourteen, agreed to a
resolution which was tantamount to a refusal of appropriations for the
erection of public buildings at Ottawa. The proceeding was necessarily
regarded as one of great gravity, including, as it was alleged, a
personal slight to Her Majesty, as well as an interference with Her
prerogative. The Macdonald-Cartier administration tendered their
resignations, which were accepted. We have elsewhere, in the course of
these sketches, spoken of the uncomfortable transactions, which, in
our opinion, blemished the parliamentary history of that period. We
should be glad to consign the unpleasant episode to a wayside grave,
which, like a pauper's burial place, should neither have scroll nor
monument to tell who or what lies buried there. Whether Sir Edmund
Head acted wisely in accepting the resignation of his ministers, when
he could only extend qualified confidence to their successors, is a
question which admits of great difference of opinion. Of course, as
the representative of the Crown, His Excellency had the right to
choose his advisers; neither will it be disputed that he had the power
to fetter his choice with stipulations. The responsibility of agreeing
to such stipulations lay with his advisers, and not with him. Mr.
Brown was unquestionably beset with difficulties of a very conflicting
kind, and which were made insurmountable by the positive refusal of
His Excellency to concur in the only expedient by which they could be
overcome. At the outset of the negotiations, Mr. Brown appears to have
been informed that a dissolution of the Parliament would not, for
reasons which His Excellency deemed sufficient, be granted. If such
were the case, the inconvenience which followed must be supposed to
have arisen from a forgetfulness on his part, of the usage which in
similar cases is observed in England, and which has been practiced in
Canada. In all preliminary negotiations the Crown only knows the
person on whom it lays the duty of forming an administration; for it
would be exceedingly inconvenient were it obliged to negotiate with
the body instead of with the head of such administration. It was, we
think, his departure from this customary usage which put Mr. Brown and
his colleagues out of Parliament, and which subjected him and them to
the ludicrous but inevitable inconvenience of a useless and
unreasonable appeal to their constituents for re-election. Nothing
daunted, however, Mr. Brown, with indomitable pluck, again presented
himself to the electors of Toronto, and after a contest of almost
unparalleled intensity, he was again triumphantly returned. It may be
easily supposed that the process through which he had passed was
calculated to increase neither his self-love nor his love for mankind
in general. Thwarted by the crown, and over-reached by the cabinet, it
was scarcely to be expected that he would speak dutifully of one or
act courteously to the other. Sir Edmund Head was scornfully
reproached, and his advisers were contumaciously assailed. Mr. Brown's
eloquent animosity knew no abatement so long as the sixth Parliament
continued, and so long as His Excellency Sir Edmund Head remained to
administer the government. Both in due time came to an end, the former
by limitation, in June, 1861, and the latter by the succession of His
Excellency Viscount Monck, in October of the same year.

The new Parliament and the new elections were unaccompanied by any
special change in the administration. The adverse vote on the second
reading of the Militia Bill, taken in May, 1862, was followed by the
resignation of the Cartier-Macdonald administration, and the
succession of the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte administration. We have
little doubt that the leader of the latter shared in the general
surprise when he was required to discharge the duty which most people
supposed would have been laid upon the subject of our sketch. Why it
was not so laid must remain among the secrets of statecraft. The acute
leaders of the Cartier-Macdonald administration, like skilful
strategists, were accustomed to act on interior lines. The military
principle may have governed the political proceeding, for the success
of the manœuvre was apparent from its commencement. The selection of
Mr. Sandfield Macdonald included a slight to Mr. Brown, and something
like an affront to the great reform party, of which he was the
accredited leader. It involved, moreover, a separation of that party
into two or more parts, and thus included the re-enactment of the
proceedings of 1854. Above all, by means of such divisions in the
reform party, it unquestionably placed the Honorable J. A. Macdonald
in the position which his supporters desired for him, of leader of the
most numerous, and in its unity, the most influential party in Upper
Canada--a position which had theretofore been claimed, and not without
justice, by and for the subject of our sketch. In explanation it may
be observed that there were supposed to be reasons more controlling
than any differences of opinion on public affairs, which separated Mr.
Sandfield Macdonald from Mr. Brown, and therefore the surprise was
diminished when the name of the latter was not included in the
administration. The Macdonald-Sicotte administration was no stronger
than the one which preceded it; and from the nature of the case it
existed on the sufferance of Mr. Brown. Thus his position gave rise to
a good deal of Parliamentary pleasantry, and attracted towards him a
variety of oblique congratulations. He was referred to as "the power
behind the throne," as "the Warwick of the house," as "the oracle, to
the movement of whose eyelids the government of the day cast anxious
glances." This controlling position, apart from all badinage, was more
complimentary, as it certainly was more comfortable to him, than it
was to the administration whose life depended on his forbearance. It
is, therefore, probable that his power in the state was never more
absolute than when he was thus unaccountably excluded from power.
Events succeeded one another with startling rapidity. A vote adverse
to the Macdonald-Sicotte administration very speedily followed their
accession to the government. A re-construction of the cabinet,
accompanied with a dissolution of Parliament, took place. The short
session in the autumn of 1863 shewed with what slender majorities the
re-constructed administrations were sustained. The opening session in
the spring of the following year revealed still greater weakness,
which culminated, in the month of March, in the resignation of the
Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion government.

The Taché-Macdonald administration succeeded, but they were no
stronger than their predecessors. In less than three months they were
defeated; and thus the administration of public affairs appeared to
have arrived at a state of almost hopeless embarrassment. Then it was
that His Excellency the Governor-General, who must have sensibly felt
the difficulty of his own position, as well as the greater
difficulties of his successive advisers, departed from the law of
silence which is usually observed by the representative of the crown.
In a paper, conspicuous alike for wisdom and sagacity, His Excellency
appealed to the patriotism of Parliament to save Parliamentary
government from failure. The appeal was not idly made nor did it fall
upon heedless ears. Mr. Brown, renouncing alike all personal and party
considerations, and moved only by a spirit of patriotism, whose purity
could receive no additional brightness from any language of ours,
intimated his willingness to give the government his invaluable
assistance in discovering an escape from the difficulties and
complications in which the country was involved. From one end of the
Province to the other men breathed afresh. Gratitude, mingled with
admiration, animated all hearts; and it is no exaggeration to say that
Mr. Brown became the hero of every coterie, and the admiration of
almost every individual in Canada. For it should not be overlooked
that the evenly balanced state of parties had led to a degree of
degeneracy in our Provincial politics which was but too well
calculated to exert a baneful influence on the character of
Parliament. That it did so can scarcely be denied; neither was the
subject of our sketch less responsible than his neighbors for a state
of affairs which he and they must individually have deplored. It is
true that men acquiesced in the immorality which they condemned, for
they could see no means of escape from its influence, except by
becoming parties to evils which they deemed to be even more
detrimental. The rage of faction was so violent that it was well nigh
impossible to keep the public conscience clear. The point of political
honor was generally conspicuous for its bluntness. Governments had
been accused of making merchandize of matters too sacred for traffic,
and the charge was more easily accounted for than answered. Personal
and political character were seemingly estranged from one another,
while the purity of the former appeared to be laid aside in order that
the exigencies of the latter might be conciliated. Engagements were
forgotten when it was inconvenient to remember them. Promises were
given without hesitation, and broken without shame. Truth was trifled
with, if not sacrificed to that moloch of partizanship which is the
shame of morals and the disgrace of government. Men seemed to be so
thoroughly tied and bound by their obligations to a cry or to a color
that either they could not or would not break their chains. It was at
such a time, when like the armies of old time, the House of Assembly
was set in array, and both sides were equally defiant; when personal
enmities were too rife for dispassionate adjustment; when
Parliamentary government appeared to be reduced to a state of abject
slavery, if not of hopeless ruin; that the subject of our sketch
magnanimously resolved to begin the work of emancipation, and by
breaking his own fetters, to release his adopted country from the
vassalage in which she was held. Mr. Brown had probably done more than
any man to excite and most dangerously to stimulate our political
system, but like a skilful surgeon, he had kept his finger on the
pulse. He observed the signs and waited for the season of re-action.
The former were apparent, and the latter had arrived. With the
promptitude which marks his character he resolved that the
constitution could only be saved by the immediate application of
constitutional remedies; nor was it a reproach to his skill that such
remedies were more comprehensive than those which he had sought to
apply, since they included the chief points of the prescription on
which he had so earnestly insisted.

The despatch of 1858, on the subject of Confederation, signed by the
Honorable Messrs. Cartier, Gait, and Ross, had lain dormant until it
was revived by the constitutional committee of the Legislative
Assembly, in 1864. That committee, of which the subject of our sketch
was a member, included earnest and patriotic men of all parties. They
compared notes, examined wherein they agreed, as well as wherein they
differed, and the discovery, no doubt, contributed to bring about the
result in which Mr. Brown took so conspicuous a part. The transactions
are so recent and familiar that they need not be repeated in this
place. The coalition government, which resulted from such
transactions--the visits to Charlottetown, and the Maritime
Provinces--the assembling of delegates at the Quebec conference, and
the resolutions which were unanimously agreed to, have all passed into
the province of history. In his relation to the earlier portion of
that history, it would not be difficult to give to the part played by
Mr. Brown a precedence which might be complimentary, but which would
not be wise. What he said within the walls of that conference chamber
was, as we learn from the testimony of one of the delegates from Nova
Scotia, conspicuous for its eloquence and its truth. What he said in
Parliament and elsewhere was heard by many, and is accessible to most
of us.

Lord Stanhope, in his life of Pitt, says: "That in the face of great
national dangers coalitions may be permitted which are not allowable
at other times." Such an occasion justified and made honorable the
coalition which Mr. Brown and his friends formed with the
Taché-Macdonald Government. But the fresh chapter in political
experience only serves to illustrate an old truth, that, whatever the
reason, coalitions do not work. In the case under review, the
coalition which was formed for a special purpose was partially
dissolved before that purpose was accomplished. Happily for the
country, the difference of opinion which resulted in the withdrawal of
Mr. Brown from the administration did not take its rise in any
difference on the question on which that coalition was formed. The
occurrence is of recent date, and we have not the space, even had we
the facts, to discuss the subject or form a judgment on its merits.
The question of the abrogation or of the renewal of the reciprocity
treaty with the United States is a question whose importance we can at
present but imperfectly appreciate, nor shall we in this place attempt
to discuss it. As a political sportsman, Mr. Brown may, and probably
he did, fire too soon; but it is difficult to deny that the game was
fair, and that the aim was not very wide of the mark. We can imagine
Mr. Brown to have said: "Let us give no more for reciprocity than a
just equivalent; if we supplicate for it, we become the slaves of the
power to which our prayers are made." "Your proposal," we can suppose
him to have added to Mr. Galt, "is not a treaty--it is a
capitulation." Neither should it be overlooked that Mr. Galt's
popularity sprang not from his success, but from his failure. Had he
succeeded in obtaining a renewal of the treaty on the terms which he
is said to have proposed, it is not improbable that Mr. Brown would
have become the most popular, and perhaps the most powerful statesman
in Canada.

Whatever the cause may have been, there are very few persons who did
not, and do not unfeignedly regret that Mr. Brown should have
withdrawn from the government before the object for which he joined it
had been fully accomplished. That object had commended itself to his
intellect; it had become historically associated with his name; it was
the child of his judgment, and, like a ripe affection, lodged near his
heart. It was the shape of beauty which the clear revealed, when the
haze and mist of anger and bitterness had passed away. It was
identified with his ambition as a statesman and his hopes as a
patriot. If not the creation, it was the adoption of his mature
thought, and the great aim of his resolute life. The words, "which we
all regret," with which Mr. Galt concluded his telegram to the Hon.
Mr. McCully, of Nova Scotia, when he informed that gentleman of the
cause of Mr. Brown's resignation, express the sentiment of all. It is
difficult not to be moved by a sorrow too sincere to be fanciful, that
one like the subject of our sketch, who had done so much to attract
favor towards the birth, should not be also present to exchange smiles
at the bridal of our "New Nationality." The temper, the wisdom, the
patriotism which contributed so essentially towards making the former
auspicious, should not, we think, be absent on the occasion when the
latter is made happy.

  No! for whoever with an earnest soul
    Strives for some end from this low world afar,
  Still travels upwards, though he miss the goal,
                        And strays--but towards a star.

  Better than fame is still the wish for fame,
    The constant training for a glorious strife!
  The athlete nurtured for the Olympian game
                        Gains strength, at least, for life.

[Illustration: MAJOR CAMPBELL, C.B.]




MAJOR CAMPBELL, C.B.

ST. HILAIRE.


  Unfee'd, the call of country he obeys,
  Not led by profit, nor allur'd by praise.

Among the various important advantages, which followed the seven
years' war, was the doubtful one of the expulsion of French power from
the Northern part of America. The victories and reverses, which
preceded the crowning triumph at Quebec, included the defeat of the
British forces, under Lieutenant-General Abercrombie, before the
rasping forest works which had been skilfully constructed by General
Montcalm, at Ticonderoga. In speaking of the successive assaults on
those formidable entrenchments, Garneau, in his history of Canada,
observes: "The Highlanders, above all, under Lord John Murray, covered
themselves with glory. They formed the head of the columns confronting
the Canadians, their light and picturesque costume distinguishing them
from all other soldiers amid the flames and smoke. This corps lost the
half of its men; and twenty-five of its officers were killed or
severely wounded." The regiment to which allusion is here made, was
the old "Black Watch," since known and immortalized by its actions as
the Royal Forty-Second Highlanders. Among those who fell in that
disastrous fight, was their heroic Major, Duncan Campbell of Inverawe,
and his only son, the not less heroic Donald Campbell. The former was
the grand uncle and the latter the second cousin of Major Campbell, of
St. Hilaire, whose photograph prefaces these pages.

It was just eighty years after the occurrence of the events, to which
we have referred, as the subject of our sketch was on his way to
Egypt, that intelligence reached him of the outbreak in Canada, and of
his regiment, the Seventh Hussars, being under orders for that
country. He immediately returned to England, embarked with his
regiment at Cork, and arrived at Quebec, on the 4th of June, 1838.
There seems to have been a kind of poetical felicity in the
transaction. It was fitting that one Major Campbell, of Inverawe,
should fight to preserve, what another Major Campbell, of Inverawe,
had died to establish. The cynic will forgive the extravagance if we
suppose that the spirits of the dead animate the souls of the living,
impelling members of the same race it may be to the same land, to do
battle under the same flag, and, as in the case before us,
notwithstanding the eighty intervening years, for the same cause,--the
supremacy of British power in North America.

One has to step daintily, for it is not easy to find one's way through
the labyrinth of Campbells, which fleck the hills and dales of
Argyllshire. It is probably less difficult to see that from the days
of Bruce, the policy and alliances of that influential clan have been
marked with sagacity and foresight. The Campbells, less embarrassed by
sentiment than their Highland neighbors, and observing more accurately
the true course of events, have contrived in the main to keep on the
winning side.

The founder of the family of Inverawe, near Loch Awe, and hard by Ben
Crauchan, is said to have been Dougal, the third son of Sir Neil, or
Nigel Campbell, one of Robert Bruce's foremost supporters. In 1527,
the name of Inverawe is mentioned in the roll of chieftains not
dependent on their lord. In 1645, Inverawe was one of Argyll's chiefs
in the army of the Covenanters, and fought against the less fortunate
Montrose. In 1689, Archibald Campbell, of Inverawe, was one of the
Commissioners, with the Duke of Argyll, for raising in Argyllshire a
four months supply for William and Mary; and fifteen years afterwards
he was a Commissioner for raising a five months cess on land rent. In
1744, Duncan Campbell, of Inverawe, raised a company for the Black
Watch, or 42nd regiment of Highlanders; of which regiment he was, in
1755, promoted to the rank of Major, and as we have already stated,
was killed before the French works at Ticonderoga.

Besides the estates, and what, in the estimation of a Highlander, is
almost of equal value, the independent rank of a chieftain, the family
seems to have inherited a more than average share of those precious
but intangible possessions on which a Highlander is supposed to set no
inconsiderable value. The Campbells of Inverawe rejoice in a peculiar
inventory of grizzly visions, unpleasant to have seen--curious
legends, delightful to listen to--and wonderful traditions, dangerous
to disbelieve and difficult to accept. In addition to such records,
which we meekly suspect must have derived their spirit and nourishment
from the combined influence of mountain dew, and loch mist, there are
some well-authenticated transactions which will serve to illustrate
the negative virtues of responsible government as exemplified in the
ancestor of one, who, like the subject of our sketch, never fails to
express his faith in its positive excellence. In "the good old times,"
the chief of Clan Campbell and the independent chieftain of Inverawe,
must have been curiosities in their way; for the former, in the person
of the Duke of Argyll, was accustomed to lay some staggering duties on
the latter. On one occasion, for example, after invoking the divine
blessing, the Duke, in a note which we have seen, having instructed
the latter, whom he addressed as "Dowgal," how he was to dispose of
certain horses and mares, which, as we understand it, had been
filched, the term used is "lifted," from the premises of Lord Ogilvie,
enjoined him to proceed to the house of that nobleman, and "cast off
the gates and windows, take down the roof," and if the job was found
to be "langsome," Dowgal was furthermore commanded to "fyre it
weill," that it may be destroyed. The Duke cautiously adds, "but you
need not too late know that ye have directions from me to fyre it."
How many generations separate Dowgal, of Inverawe, from Campbell of
St. Hilaire, we have no means of knowing; but we trust the riotous
blood of the ancestor has been qualified by time, and that there is no
danger of re-enacting on the Richelieu, proceedings which seem to have
been popular at Loch Awe.

Passing from family to personal history--for our space will not allow
us to linger about the former--we note that Major Campbell, whom we
may here observe, enjoys the Provincial rank of Colonel, was born in
1809, that he entered the East India Company's Military College, at
Addiscombe, in 1823, passed his examination for the Artillery in 1824,
and obtained his commission in the Engineers in 1825, which he
resigned for an ensigncy in the Fifty-Second Light Infantry. In 1826
he was promoted to an unattached Lieutenancy, and subsequently to the
Second Dragoon Guards. On rejoining his regiment, after doing duty at
the riding establishment at St. John's Wood, he declined the
Adjutantcy in order that he might go to the senior department at
Sandhurst. While thus engaged in acquiring a knowledge of military
science, he was tempted to try his fortune in politics. He contested
the borough of Yarmouth, one of the most corrupt constituencies in the
kingdom, and lost the election; and he must have been a fortunate
exception to the common experience in that quarter, if he did not lose
money as well. In 1832 he passed his final examination, obtained his
certificate, and was appointed aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General
Campbell, commanding the Inland District. He was then promoted to an
unattached company, placed on full pay of the First Royals, and
afterwards transferred to the Seventh Hussars.

It is fair to assume that Major Campbell's knowledge and aptitude in
military science must have been noteworthy, as, under the orders of
that acute statesman, Lord Palmerston, he was especially selected to
accompany Colonel Considine to the East, there to assist in
organizing and drilling the Sultan's army, the Turks being at that
time at war with the Koords. On arriving at Diabekir, a city of
Asiatic Turkey, the subject of our sketch found that the fighting was
over. Having nothing to do, he discovered that there was something to
see, for in honor of Colonel Considine and himself, the Pasha gave a
grand review of his troops, a display which must have been as
picturesque as it was novel, since they were, we believe, manœuvred
according to Asiatic usage.

Peace having frustrated the duty of educating troops for war, the
subject of our sketch took advantage of his liberty to make a three
months tour in Russia, in the course of which, through the
introduction of Count Woronzow, he became the guest of the Czar
Nicholas. During his visit he saw what would make the mouth of a
Canadian trooper water, 50,000 regular cavalry encamped on the
Steppes, and afterwards reviewed before the Emperor. Having returned
to Constantinople, he undertook, at the request of Lord Ponsonby, the
British Ambassador there, to go to Egypt and Syria, and report on the
state of Ibrahim Pacha's army. While en route, in the discharge of
this duty, he received the intelligence we have mentioned of his
regiment being under orders for Quebec.

It were idle to speculate on what might have chanced had a given
history not been broken at a particular point. The subject of our
sketch, for example, was qualifying himself by experience and
observation, for responsible service in the East, when he was called
in no uncertain tones to professional duties in the West. Those
Eastern lessons, fourteen years later, might have led him from the
Crimea to honors and distinctions, to orders and stars, to a niche in
history and a place in fame--a soldier's guerdon or a soldier's
grave--but perchance not to greater usefulness than that other path
through which his Western life has led him. The lot is not of our
choosing. He however will not miss the right one who follows where
duty leads.

It was not long after Major Campbell's arrival in Canada that the
second outbreak took place, when he was ordered to take command of the
Indians, at Caughnawaga. In 1839 he was offered by the new
Governor-General, the Right Hon. C. Poulett Thomson, then a stranger to
him, the appointment of aide-de-camp, an offer which he the more
gladly accepted, as it enabled him to exchange the monotony of barrack
life for the stirring scenes which at that time lent no common charm
to the civil affairs of the Province. On the retirement of the
military secretary, Major Hale, the subject of our sketch was
appointed his successor, and remained with the Governor-General until
death of the latter, in 1841. It is probable that the sagacity, the
fortitude, and the perseverance of that gifted nobleman were not
without their influence on the clear mind of his Military Secretary.
The latter saw with what rapidity the scenes in the political camera
were shifting, and with what nervous resolution the Province was
passing from a state of vassalage to a state of liberty. The days of
its pupilage were fast passing away. The period of its stalwart youth
was coming on apace, accompanied with a promise of vigor as strong as
it was assuring. We can imagine that one who had mingled much in the
world, who had seen almost every variety of the human family, and was
cognizant of almost every form of political organization, must have
viewed the new experiment in statecraft as in the highest degree
attractive. The novelty charmed, while no misgivings as to its merits,
haunted him. The new problem was, in his judgment, susceptible of a
safe solution. It was possible to combine the law of monarchy with the
energy of democracy, to make Canada free, prosperous, and happy--the
pride of its own people, and the envy of its neighbors. Thus the
interest, which we may conjecture had its origin in curiosity, was
sustained by observation, and possibly added a new charm as well as a
new direction to his life. Personal influences, moreover, as we
venture to surmise, were not wanting to increase the inclinations of
the new thoughts. About this time the Military Secretary was the
subject of another fascination, and the nature of the thrall became
apparent in due time by his marriage with a daughter of Colonel
Juchereau Duchesney, the Seigneur of Fossambault, and Deputy Adjutant
General of Militia for Lower Canada.

After the death of Baron Sydenham, Major Campbell rejoined his
regiment, and did duty with it until 1846, when he retired on half-pay
and settled in Canada. On the arrival of the Earl of Elgin, to his
great surprise, he was requested by that nobleman to give him his
assistance in the capacity of Governor-General's Secretary. The offer
was at first declined, but on His Excellency making it appear to him
that the duty was one which he owed to his adopted country, and more
especially since His Excellency expressed his determination to give
responsible government a fair trial, he consented to accept the
appointment, but only until a more suitable successor could be found.
He continued to discharge the duties of this office until the
government was removed from Montreal to Toronto, when he betook
himself to the more congenial occupations of improving his property,
educating his children, and benefitting his neighbors. In 1852 he was
offered by the Taché-Hincks Government a seat in the Legislative
Council; but the announced intention of that Government to render the
Council elective, made it difficult, in the opinion of the subject of
our sketch, for him to accept the somewhat doubtful honor of a
nomination to a body which was said not to possess the public
confidence. In 1854, he received a copy of the _London Gazette_, and
there saw that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to create him,
with the Honorable Messieurs Baldwin and Draper, a Companion of the
civil order of the Bath. The announcement must have been the more
flattering as no previous intimation of the Royal pleasure had, as we
are informed, been communicated to him.

In 1855 he was offered, but, for what reason we know not, declined the
appointment of Adjutant General of Militia. In 1858 he was elected
member of the Legislative Assembly for the county of Rouville, and sat
for that Parliament. He has been a member of the Board of Agriculture
since its establishment in 1853; a director of the Bank of Montreal,
and also a member of the Council of the University of Bishop's
College, Lennoxville, since 1861. He was for some time a director of
the Grand Trunk Railway Company. In fact, Major Campbell has made
himself conspicuous for his patriotic aptitude in filling
unremunerative appointments, and for his singular habit of declining
all offices that are embarrassed with pay, or even the suspicion of
emolument.

We do not know whether the subject of our sketch was born beneath the
shadow of Ben Crauchan, or whether, as a boy, he ever made marbles by
the sedges of the clouded waters of Loch Awe. We can only say that he
seems in a very unusual way to have separated himself from their
influences, in order perhaps, as it appears to us, to shew how
generous a disenthralled Scotsman may become. Thus he is more tolerant
to prejudice than to fanaticism--more patient towards habit than
towards opinion. The obstinate indifference of the English offends him
less than the intrusive bigotry of the Scotch. Like his chief, the
Duke of Argyll, he is a liberal in politics, but unlike his chief, he
is a liberal in religion too, for he is a member of the Anglican
Church. Having enjoyed, under favorable circumstances the great
advantage of foreign travel, he has had the opportunity of observing
various races and various organizations of men. He has, moreover,
taken notes of what he saw, and after the manner of a social and
philosophical eclectic, he has personally appropriated what he
conceives to be the excellencies of all. Thus he commonly seems to act
according to a law of equivalents, as if he thought, with Burke, that
"all government, indeed every human effort and enjoyment, every virtue
and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter."

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE F. EVANTUREL, M.P.P.]




THE HONORABLE F. EVANTUREL, M.P.P.,

QUEBEC.


No one of our acquaintance has made a more effective contribution to
the beard movement than the gentleman whose photograph graces the
opposite page. In its repose, Mr. Evanturel's beard is perfect. Nor is
it less noteworthy when, exhilarated by motion, it wantons in the
wind, or "streams like a meteor, through the troubled air." Were the
owner met with amidst the ruins of the Alhambra, or were he seen
smoking his chibouque in

  "That delightful province of the sun,
    The first of eastern lands he shines upon,"

crowned with a fez, or swathed in a turban, he would be regarded, if
not as a caliph of high caste, at least as some other scarcely less
distinguished successor of the Prophet. Appearances, however, not
unfrequently mislead; and though Mr. Evanturel's parentage is not
without interest, we are constrained, in obedience to the obligations
of truth, to add, that he has little sympathy for the Moors, is not an
Arab, nor are we aware that he has ever been suspected of being a
Turk.

Mr. Evanturel's father was a native, and a soldier of France. He
served throughout the Italian campaign, under the first Napoleon, and
was present with the French armies in Spain, in many of the memorable
actions and sieges of the Peninsula. Being made prisoner by the
Spaniards, he gladly exchanged captivity for service in the 60th
regiment of English Rifles. In this celebrated corps he continued for
some years, doing duty with it at Demerara, Barbadoes, and elsewhere.
In 1814, he received his discharge, and settled in Canada. His only
son, the subject of our sketch, was born in Quebec in 1822, educated
at the seminary of that city, and was subsequently articled to Mr.
Justice Caron, in whose office he continued until his admission to the
bar in 1845. He practiced his profession until the greater fascination
of politics tempted him to abandon the forum for the senate, and
transfer his advocacy from the interest of a few clients, to the
service of a large constituency.

On the appointment of the Honorable Mr. Chauveau to the office of
Superintendent of Education for Lower Canada, the subject of our
sketch became the representative of the county of Quebec. The county
in question cannot be regarded as a "blue, and all blue" constituency.
It preferred Mr. Chauveau to the venerable Mr. Neilson, because, among
other reasons, the political colors which the former sported were
supposed to be less "blue" than his opponent's, to say nothing of the
fact, that they were relieved with undeniably red facings. Mr.
Evanturel succeeded Mr. Chauveau, and the colors of the latter being
fused with a greater amount of flush, spread themselves equally over
the whole of the metaphorical fabric in which it is his pleasure to
swathe his opinions. The effect communicated to the mind was not
unlike that which is presented to the eye when observing silk woven of
different colors. Look at it point blank, it appears to be purple,
view it askance and it seems alternately "rouge" or "blue." Such
cameleon-like qualities are by no means unattractive, and moreover
they are brought about by the ingenious interlacing of warps with
wefts of contrary hues. The ability to wear two faces, neither of
which are marked with any offensive features, represents the
peculiarity of the Whig party in England--a party which is probably
the least popular, and at the same time the most influential of all
the parties that control the government of that country. Thus, as a
representative of the like party in Canada, Mr. Evanturel has not
deemed it to be inconsistent with his position to move the address, in
answer to a speech from the throne, at the request of one
administration, which included among its distinguished members, the
Hon. Messrs. Cartier and J. A. Macdonald; and to second a resolution
of want of confidence in another administration in which the same
gentlemen are prominent representatives.

On the dissolution of the fifth parliament, in 1857, Mr. Evanturel
offered himself as a candidate for the city, as well as for the county
of Quebec; and although, through some irregularity, he was not
returned for either constituency, the election of his opponent was, on
petition, declared to be illegal. The tedious nature of the scrutiny
had the effect of excluding Mr. Evanturel from Parliament until 1860.
At the elections held in the following year he was again returned for
the county for which he continues to sit.

Mr. Evanturel has exerted himself, with his accustomed energy, to
advance various local and national objects. He was, we believe, one of
the founders of the Canadian Institute of Quebec, and he has actively
supported several of the humane and literary societies for which the
city is conspicuous. He was earnest in his endeavours to promote the
much criticised North Shore Railway project, and visited the various
parishes on the route, for the purpose of interesting their
inhabitants in the establishment of that important highway. To induce
his countrymen to remain in the Province, he has steadily advocated
the systematic colonization of Lower Canada. On the vexed question of
the seat of government, he thought with many of the acutest minds of
the Province, that the time had not yet arrived for determining the
system of convening Parliament alternately at Quebec and Toronto, and
he warmly opposed the project of referring the subject to the decision
of Her Majesty. On the formation of the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte
administration, in 1862, he accepted the office of Minister of
Agriculture. Being in a position to advance his views on the subject
of colonization, he did so with considerable success. On the
re-construction of the administration, in the following year, Mr.
Evanturel followed his political chief, Mr. Sicotte, across the house,
and faithfully supported him until the unlooked-for transaction
occurred which placed the latter on the bench. Mr. Sicotte's
retirement destroyed the unity of the party of which he was the
acknowledged leader. The parts of which it was formed became separated
and detached from one another, and they must now be sought for in
states of isolation, or as portions of the two larger parties in Lower
Canada, which they had theretofore opposed. Mr. Evanturel, however,
still continues loyal to his old principles--to the instincts of a
party which seems to be fading away. His faith continues firm in the
virtue of his colors, and he, therefore, manfully upholds his purple
standard against the "rouge" flag on one side and the "blue" on the
other. The better to maintain his purpose, he has acquired the oldest
newspaper published in the French language in Quebec; and thus,
through the columns of "_Le Canadien_," he discourses on the virtues
of what, in England, is called Whiggery, and, in Canada, moderation.

Mr. Evanturel has, we believe, expressed no opinion adverse to the
principle of the confederation of the British Provinces in America.
His anxiety, however, on the subject of local powers and sectional
rights, has caused him to regard the scheme, as propounded in the
Quebec resolutions, with great disfavor. He is not averse to the
vision which other men see, or to the picture which other men paint of
"The Monarchy of the Future," or the "New Nationality," or "The Empire
of the North;" but, whatever the name--whatever the
conditions--whatever the proportions of the sketchy state--he
vindicates, with steadfast constancy, the homogeneous attractions of
his native Province; and, through good and ill, through shine and
storm, he clings to his country's possessions, and makes but small
account of her prospects; for, in the spirit of local enthusiasm he
emphatically repeats the unforgotten war-cry:

  "NOS INSTITUTIONS, NOTRE LANGUE ET NOS LOIS!"

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE JOHN YOUNG]




THE HONORABLE JOHN YOUNG,

MONTREAL.


"John o' London," the chronicler of Marguerite, the second Queen of
Edward the First, in his quaint notings of the personal traits of that
heroic monarch, observed that "the king's head was spherical, his eyes
round, and dove-like when pleased, but fierce as a lion's and
sparkling with fire when disturbed; that his chest was broad, his arms
agile, his limbs long, his feet arched, his body firm and fleshy but
not fat," and moreover that he was upwards of six feet in height.

Were John o' London present to note the points, being a keen observer,
he might very fairly describe the subject of our sketch in language
not dissimilar to that we have quoted. For without insisting on the
absolute identity of the "dove-like eyes," or of "the arched feet," it
will, we think, be apparent that there is a singular agreement in the
physical outlines of the great Plantagenet as described by the
courtier-like John o' London, and the energetic Scotsman who is the
subject of our sketch. It may be noted of the two men whom we have
bracketed together, that the passion of both was to subjugate. The
monarch sought to subdue a people, and he nearly succeeded. The
merchant has striven to subdue opinion, and he has by no means failed.
The double picture provokes the enquiry whether such traits habitually
look out of "round eyes" and always lodge in "spherical heads."
Phrenology might add to our knowledge. Could we apply the science, we
might probably discover in the case before us an irrepressible bump in
the coronal, supported by a heavy battery of energetic organs at the
base of the brain. Such developments would prompt the conclusion that
one so endowed, whether prince or trader, would be apt to possess a
will of his own; that he would cherish his opinions with tenacity and
carry them out with determination.

The Honorable John Young was born at Ayr, in Scotland, on the 11th of
March, 1811, and educated at the ordinary parish school. At the early
age of thirteen and a half he left school, and, being wiser than some,
and taller than most boys of his age, he had confidence enough to seek
for, and interest enough to obtain, the appointment of master of a
parish school at Coylton near Ayr, where, for eighteen months, he
taught no less than thirty-five pupils. While in the performance of
such duties, not only did he sniff the breezes of the Atlantic, but
the "round eyes" of his mind saw visions more or less attractive in
the poor man's land of promise, "the land of the West." His
occupation, however, was not disturbed by his thoughts. He boldly
looked his life in the face, accepted his patrimony of labor with
cheerfulness, and fulfilled without flinching the conditions it
imposed. His duty prompted him to work, and his interest inclined him
to watch; and the two-fold employment enabled him, it may be, to
discover compensation for the chariness of fortune, and the
comparatively bleak surroundings of his birth.

In the year 1826, while thus engaged, a friendly voice, like the echo
of his own thoughts, called him pleasantly to the highway of Canadian
commerce, and his appreciative mind at once discerned a future which
harmonized alike with his ambition and his hopes. From a clerkship in
the counting house of Mr. John Torrance of Montreal, he became, in
1835, a partner with Mr. David Torrance, and the firm of Torrance &
Young at Quebec, which was then established, continued for five years.
In the troubles of 1837-38, he volunteered as a militiaman, and was
at once promoted to the rank of captain. After public quiet was
restored, he returned to Montreal and joined Mr. Harrison Stephens as
a partner. The Western trade in which the firm of Stephens, Young &
Co., was engaged, enabled the latter to observe the advantages which
the St. Lawrence route possessed above all other routes to the ocean.
Thus was his mind attracted towards the consideration of those great
subjects of foreign and intercolonial trade with which his name is
inseparably associated.

Nor did questions of material progress alone engage his attention. He
had observed elsewhere how the intellectual well-being of the
commercial classes was promoted by means of literary societies
especially established for their use. Hence he lost no time in
organizing a Mercantile Library Association at Montreal, the success
of which will be appreciated when we mention that a society which was
commenced in 1839 at a meeting of five persons only, has grown in
consideration to such proportions as to justify the erection of a
building at a cost of $40,000 for its exclusive use.

At the general election for Montreal, in 1844, a compliment was paid
to Mr. Young's character at the expense of his comfort. He was
earnestly requested by the government of Lord Metcalfe to undertake
the duty of Returning Officer; for the occasion and the man were
supposed to be well suited to one another. A political tumult of no
ordinary kind was expected. Many will remember the rancorous character
of our politics and the intense party spirit which then embittered all
discussion on public affairs. It was admitted that men were organized
and prepared for the most alarming forms of violence. The cabalistic
letters L.P.S., enclosed in a circle, which flecked the walls of
Montreal, though differently interpreted by different people, were
known to represent a secret political organization as real, as the
organization it was designed to counteract was believed to be
unscrupulous. Few expected that the election would pass without
violence. That it did so, must mainly be attributed to the nerve,
courage, and unabated endeavour of the subject of our sketch. Mr.
Young neither invited responsibility nor declined it. He understood
the danger, and he also understood what precautionary measures were
required to meet it. He acted without fear in the interest of order,
and without favor in the interest of liberty. He was not careful to
ask whether such action harmonized with the technical requirements of
the law, for he was content that it consisted with the absolute
supremacy of justice. Having received information that murderous
weapons of different kinds had been accumulated in the city, he seized
them wherever they were secreted, and appropriated them wherever they
were exposed, and, irrespective alike of expostulations or threats, he
placed them beyond the reach of abuse. Furthermore, and above all, he
met the menace of secret organization with the majesty of open force.
He called out the troops, and handled them with such judgment that the
peace of the city was preserved and the election was concluded without
riot or loss of life. Such services are not easily rendered. At best
they are of a trying order, for they always provoke criticism and
rarely receive praise. He who would succeed should possess a strong
will, a stout heart, a calm mind, and, whatever its shape, whether
"spherical" or otherwise, a cool head.

His Excellency Lord Metcalfe was so much impressed with the value of
Mr. Young's services that he mentioned them in his despatches to the
Colonial Office. The following letter will show in what manner that
representation was received.

  CIVIL SECRETARY'S OFFICE.

  MONTREAL, 13th December, 1844.

  SIR,

     I have the honor by command of the Governor-General to inform you
     that His Excellency has great satisfaction, in obedience to
     instructions received from Her Majesty's Secretary of State for
     the Colonies, to signify to you His Lordship's approbation of the
     able and successful manner in which you performed the arduous
     duties that devolved on you during the recent election of members
     for the City of Montreal in Parliament.

  (Signed)  J. M. HIGGINSON.

  JOHN YOUNG, ESQ.,

  _Late Returning Officer for the City of Montreal_.

Sir James Hope, a distinguished Peninsular officer, at that time
commanding the troops in Montreal, appreciated the difficulties of the
situation, and took occasion officially to testify "that it was
chiefly owing to the active and energetic measures adopted by Mr.
Young that Montreal was indebted for the preservation of peace and
good order." Sixteen years afterwards, but on a very different
occasion, Mr. Young was chosen as the chairman of the committee of
arrangements when His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited
Montreal. The marked success of those arrangements was a subject of
general praise. Thus it would seem that Mr. Young's ability to control
other men was as conspicuous in promoting a feast as it had previously
been in preventing a fight.

In 1846, when the agricultural and trading community of Canada were
dismayed at the free trade measures that were introduced into the
commercial policy of the mother country, it was an episode in the
highest degree soothing to observe that one of Mr. Young's experience
and acuteness could throw up his hat with satisfaction, and make the
new policy welcome in Canada. A free trade association was established
in Montreal, of which the subject of our sketch was elected the
president. The association embraced some of the keen thinkers on such
subjects, then resident in that city, including, if we recollect
right, Messrs. Holton, Glass, Fleet, Elder, Muir, Bristow, and others.
The _Economist_ newspaper was the literary offspring and
representative of the association, and besides the hard lessons which
it sought to teach, and on which great difference of opinion existed,
there was one lesson, on which most men, whether free traders or
protectionists, were agreed; the grand lesson of self-reliance,
self-dependence, and self-help. That lesson, to paraphrase the
language of Shakspeare, may be expressed in the words,

        "Nought shall make us rue
  If Canada to herself do rest but true."

Again, in the same year, when the Government was steadily
co-operating with science in making a straight channel through Lake
St. Peter for the navigation of sea-going ships, Mr. Young became the
champion of nature, and strenuously advocated the improvement of the
crooked channel which she had made. The controversies of "practice
_vs._ theory," of "nature _vs._ science," may have been very
interesting, and they certainly were very costly. Judgment, however,
though reserved for a time, was at length given in favor of Mr. Young,
and those who thought with him. And now, after an interval of twenty
years of almost continuous, and we may add gratuitous labor, as the
chairman of the Harbor Commission, he has had the satisfaction of
seeing the accomplishment of this great work; for the channel which
nature had chosen and which he had advocated, is now reported as
complete and fit for use. This improved stream-way exceeds, we are
informed, thirty-two miles in length; it is three hundred feet wide
and twenty feet deep at all seasons.

Mr. Young was one of those who originated the railway from Montreal to
Portland, as well as from the former city westward to Kingston and
Toronto. Of the first mentioned, he was, we believe, the
vice-president, while of the company secondly referred to, he was its
first president. Mr. Young's exertions in the interests of both
companies were very valuable and very dexterously carried on. They
were recognized by the citizens of Montreal, who, as a mark of
acknowledgment, presented him with a silver epergne. In speaking of a
terminus at Montreal for the Portland Railway, Mr. Young, in 1846,
with an accurate perception of what was necessary, boldly suggested
the practicability of building a bridge across the St. Lawrence, and,
as we are informed, pointed out the locality where it should be and is
now built. With the co-operation of Mr. Holton, who was then president
of the Montreal and Kingston Railway Company, a pressure was brought
to bear on the Grand Trunk Railway Company as well as on Parliament,
which went far towards securing the construction of the Victoria
Bridge. On the subject of deepening Lake St. Peter, we have seen Mr.
Young vindicating the preferences of nature; on the subject of
building a bridge over the St. Lawrence, we find him upholding the
powers of science. The policy enunciated by some of building up a
"South Montreal" was effectually controverted by Mr. Young; and the
consequence is that Montreal is one of the wonderful cities of our
time. The contrary policy has been followed in Quebec. A new city is
rapidly growing on the opposite shores of the St. Lawrence; and thus,
in the presence of South Quebec, the historical capital of the country
is becoming depopulated, and is passing over to its southern
competitor. Another project of Mr. Young's is to connect, by means of
a ship canal, the waters of the St. Lawrence with those of Lake
Champlain. Without doubting the feasibility, we may mention that much
difference of opinion has been expressed by mercantile men on the
merits of the enterprise. Some have asserted that by making the
communication we surrender a trade, and that the equivalent is not
worth such a sacrifice. The subject, however, is very important and it
is by no means dismissed, though its consideration may be postponed
until the public mind is riper to receive it. In 1849, the St.
Lawrence Canals were opened for traffic, and Mr. Young took advantage
of the circumstances to send the propeller "Ireland" with the first
cargo of merchandize direct to Chicago; that vessel also brought the
first cargo of grain from Chicago to Montreal, and we may add that the
first American schooner which passed downwards through those Canals
was laden with his property. The sudden increase of the shipping trade
of Montreal was attended with an attempt to prevent the unloading of
vessels in the canal, otherwise than by manual labor. Several scenes
of violence and assault were the result. Mr. Young lost no time in
communicating with the Government on the subject, and his
representation was so valuable and so well put, that, as we are
informed, in less than a week an organized Water Police force was
created for service in the port and harbor of Montreal.

In 1847, Mr. Young proposed Mr. Lafontaine as member for Montreal. At
the general election in 1851, on the retirement of that gentleman, he
became his successor in the representation of that city. In the month
of October in that year, he joined the Hincks-Taché administration as
Chief Commissioner of Public Works, and Member of the Board of Railway
Commissioners. One of the earliest and most energetic acts of the
newly-constructed administration was to take advantage of the then
favorable state of the money market, and initiate measures of
remarkable sagacity, though they strangely missed success, to
construct a railway, with the help of the Imperial guarantee, from
Halifax, in Nova Scotia, to Sarnia, on Lake Huron. In the same year,
and during administration of the last mentioned office, and as we have
heard at his suggestion, tenders were issued by Government, and a
fortnightly mail steam service between Montreal and Liverpool in the
summer, and Portland and Liverpool in the winter, was established
under contract. Concurrently with his exertions to establish a steam
postal service, Mr. Young took measures to reduce alike the risks and
the insurance, and thus to increase the attraction of the route by
studding the gulf and river St. Lawrence with new lighthouses. Indeed,
Mr. Young's report, for 1851--presented to Parliament for the eleven
months in which he filled the important office of Chief Commissioner
of Public Works, is amply furnished with evidence of thought and work.

Mr. Young at that time and since then has strenuously advocated the
advantage of imposing _ad valorem_, as against specific duties, a
policy which in the opinion of many has been the main cause of the
increased import trade by the St. Lawrence. A difference of opinion
arose between himself and his colleagues, as to the wisdom of charging
higher tolls on American than on Canadian vessels navigating the
canals, which also involved the great question of free trade, and was
so important as to render necessary his withdrawal from the
administration. The course of events seemed to justify his
proceeding, for the policy for which he contended has generally been
adopted. Mr. Young has on two occasions been selected as a
commissioner for trade to Washington. In 1849, he was chosen by the
Lafontaine-Baldwin administration, and in 1863, by the Sandfield
Macdonald-Dorion administration. The object of the mission in both
cases related to the Reciprocity Treaty between the United States and
Canada.

At the general election in 1854, Mr. Young was again returned for the
city of Montreal. Though not a member of the administration, he was
enabled to render service in the standing committees of the House, and
especially as the chairman of the committee on public accounts, where
he had the opportunity of initiating some improvements in the system
of dealing with the public moneys, which, we believe, are deemed of
much value. At the general election in 1858, Mr. Young declined to be
nominated, and retired from public life. In 1863, he was defeated for
Montreal West, by the present member, the Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee.
The interval was by no means an unmarked one in his personal history,
for he twice suffered shipwreck, once in the steamship "Anglo-Saxon,"
on her passage from Liverpool, and on the second occasion, in the
steamship "New York," on her passage home.

Our space will not allow us to enlarge on the various local measures
which Mr. Young initiated or promoted in the interests of the city of
Montreal. This is the less necessary as his name is inseparably
associated with the progress of the city, and as his services are
known, and should be appreciated by his fellow citizens. Among the
incidents of his life, we may mention that although brought up as a
Presbyterian he was mainly instrumental in introducing the Unitarian
form of faith and worship in Canada. Men will probably differ as to
the merits of this particular service, for many, we think, will agree
with us in opinion, that there are greater blessings in this world
than a variety of forms of religious faith. Praises should, we think,
be extended to those who heal divisions, and thus promote union and
concord, rather than to those who create divisions, and thus occasion
strife and debate. Yet even this peculiarity is an evidence of Mr.
Young's independent and self-reliant character. He will take nothing
upon trust, no matter whether the subject be commercial ethics or
Christian dogma, his neighbor's politics or his father's religion.
With an indomitable will, and, like Edward the First of the "spherical
head," with a corresponding disposition to have his way, the subject
of our sketch has generally been remarked for the courage with which
he advocates an opinion, and the tenacity with which he clings to it.
There is a sternness in his obstinacy, which though opposed to policy,
is akin to greatness. His mental despotism would probably be more
successful were it exerted in a community which required neither to be
conciliated with compliments nor soothed with flattery. Were Mr.
Young's power equal to his knowledge, were his personal tact on better
terms with his intellectual perception; could he attract, as well as
repel support, conciliate as well as convince; could he qualify his
mental power with a greater amount of mental pliancy, and practice in
a greater degree the subtle art of making strong opinions inviting by
arraying them in the forms of gentleness, it is probable that his
popularity in the state would be equal to his services to the state.
He could desire no more; for the latter, so far as the material
progress of the Province is concerned, have scarcely been surpassed by
any one of the numerous advocates of improvement, who have
successively arisen to devise plans or submit projects for the common
benefit of all.

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE HECTOR LOUIS LANGEVIN]




THE HONORABLE HECTOR LOUIS LANGEVIN,

POSTMASTER-GENERAL OF CANADA.


Major Campbell, of St. Hilaire, first sat in Parliament, for the
County of Rouville, in the same session in which the subject of our
sketch took his seat for the county of Dorchester. Being new men, they
had acquired no privileges, real or imaginary, with respect to the
places they might occupy in the House of Assembly. They, therefore,
modestly took those which had been assigned to them, and made the best
of their position. Thorough strangers to one another, it so chanced
that they found themselves in adjoining seats, and coupled at the same
desks according to the customary arrangements. What the member for
Dorchester may have thought of the member for Rouville, we have no
means of knowing; but we are better informed of the opinion which the
member for Rouville entertained of the member for Dorchester. In the
course of a dinner gossip, the former, in effect, said to the writer:
"being a new member they have placed me beside a new member, a Mr.
Langevin, and I am very much mistaken," the speaker, with prescient
sagacity, added, "if we do not hear more of him; he will win his way."

The Honorable Hector Louis Langevin was born at Quebec, on the 25th of
August, 1826. He was the son of Mr. Jean Langevin, by Sophia, a
daughter of Mr. LaForce, whose father, during the American
Revolutionary war, as we have heard, was for some time acting
commodore of the British fleet on Lake Ontario. Young Hector Langevin
was educated at the Quebec seminary, where his proficiency in
mathematical science was especially noted. He left the seminary in
1846, and was articled as a law student in the office of the late Mr.
Justice Morin, at Montreal. On that gentleman discontinuing to
practice, Mr. Langevin was transferred to the office of the present
Attorney-General East, under whom he completed his studies. He was
admitted as a barrister in 1850. He practiced his profession for one
year at Montreal, and afterwards for eighteen months at Quebec. From
1847 to 1849, while a law student only, Mr. Langevin was the editor of
the _Mélanges Religieux_, a political and religious paper of some
influence. In 1855 he wrote an essay on Canada, for circulation at the
Paris Exhibition. This essay received the first of the three extra
prizes. In 1857, he was the editor of the _Courrier du Canada_; and in
1862, he published a work of much utility entitled _Droit
Administratif ou Manuel des Paroisses et Fabriques_.

In 1853 Mr. Langevin was appointed secretary-treasurer of the North
Shore Railway Company. In 1856 he was elected city councillor for
Palace Ward, Quebec, and nominated as the chairman of the water works
committee, a selection which was the more complimentary, as those
important works were then in the course of construction, and the
duties of the committee, and especially of the chairman, were of a
very responsible kind. In 1857, during the absence of the mayor, the
late Dr. Morrin, in England, the subject of our sketch was appointed
to act as mayor. At the succeeding election, in the month of December
of that year, he was unanimously elected as the successor of the
estimable doctor, which office he continued to fill until 1860. During
his mayoralty, he was deputed to visit England on certain matters of
city finance as well as on the subject of the North Shore Railway
Company. In 1861 and 1862, he was elected president of the St. Jean
Baptiste Society of Quebec; and in 1863 and 1864, he was, in like
manner, chosen as the president of the _Institut Canadien_ of Quebec.
At the general election, in December, 1857, he was returned to
Parliament as member for the county of Dorchester, for which county
he continues to sit. We may mention that two out of the four occasions
on which he has offered himself he has been elected by acclamation.

The session which immediately followed his election has acquired a
certain amount of undesirable notoriety from the proceedings which
preceded, accompanied, and followed the accession to power of the
short-lived Brown-Dorion administration in the month of July, 1858.
One feature in the transactions of those few days is associated with
the subject of our sketch. After that administration by accepting
office had vacated their places in Parliament, and when they were
constitutionally unable either to explain or to defend their policy,
Mr. Langevin moved and carried by a large majority his resolution of
want of confidence. There can be no doubt 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 in question 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. In 1864, Mr. Langevin was created a Queen's
Counsel, and appointed Solicitor-General for Lower Canada, as well as
a member of the Executive Council. In August of that year, with other
members of the Canadian administration, he visited Charlottetown, and
was present at the meeting convened there of the delegates from the
Maritime Provinces. In October following, he attended the Quebec
conference, where, as one of the thirty-three delegates, he discussed
and agreed to the seventy-two resolutions on confederation which were
then adopted. In the discussions in Parliament, which took place in
the following session, Mr. Langevin spoke with considerable effect in
favor of the proposition, and concluded with an eloquent and
impassioned panegyric on the patriotic character and statesmanlike
qualities of his friend and leader, the Hon. George E. Cartier, from
whom he received his early lessons in law, and his later ones in
political science. In November 1866, Mr. Langevin was preferred to the
office of Postmaster General, and chosen as one of the delegates in
behalf of Canada to assist the Imperial authorities in promoting the
scheme of confederation.

It is, we believe, a rule that no Quebec pilot shall be deemed
competent to take the charge of a ship who has not made at least two
voyages to Europe. A similar condition might, perhaps, with advantage,
be required of those who, from time to time, are summoned to act as
pilots of the ship of state. The subject of our sketch must, on this
point, be regarded as qualified, for he has enjoyed such advantages.
He has associated with the statesmen of Europe, and, it may be,
received lessons in government from the great masters of statecraft.
Such lessons--for his career is before him--may some day be turned to
useful and patriotic account. The increase of knowledge which proceeds
from breadth of view will, probably, enable him, as a thoughtful
observer, to note that he belongs to a nation as well as to a race, to
an empire as well as to a province; and such considerations may prompt
him to reprobate the policy that aims only at the preservation of
tribes, and to substitute the nobler one, whose purpose is to weld
diverse interests and diverse races into one people. Knowledge and
reflection may instruct him in what way the "New Nationality" may
gather within its arms the scattered parts of different nations; and,
by means of the healing influence of time, the softening effects of
intercourse, and the strengthening power of interest, bind and
consolidate the broken fragments of European States into one powerful
and homogeneous British American Nation.

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE JONATHAN SEWELL, LL.D.]




THE HONORABLE JONATHAN SEWELL, LL.D.,

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE PROVINCE OF LOWER CANADA.


At the close of the American revolutionary war two classes of
immigrants found their way into Canada. The first came direct from the
British Islands, and the second were filtered through the thirteen
colonies, which had then been recognized as the United States of
America. The former were, for the most part, attracted by the
allurements of commerce. The latter were impelled by duty, or
necessity, the experience of wrong, or the need of rest. Having
suffered the loss of all things for the Crown of England, the Crown of
England would have been unworthy of its jewels, had it refused to give
honor for sacrifice, or withhold warmth from its welcome to those who
had done so much for it. The Royalists of America, beaten, but not
disgraced, followed the frayed and battle-stained flag of their
country, careful only that its fortunes should be theirs. With
consciences at rest, and with hearts unsubdued, they were anxious to
dwell within the sight of their standard, content, if it waved in the
wilds of Canada, amidst the forests of New Brunswick, from the rocks
of Nova Scotia, or on the slopes of Prince Edward Island. Though the
consideration which they received represented but a fraction of the
sacrifice they had made, they were satisfied because the Crown
recognized their services, and did what lay in its power to shew
gratitude. No wonder that the refugee Royalists, since known as the
"United Empire Loyalists," became, as they had much reason to become,
the especial favorites of authority. The Sovereign and his
representatives needed no incentive to show them honor, and to serve
them too, when the occasion of serving offered.

Such sentiments, and the preferences to which they led, were not as
well approved of by the French subjects of the Crown as they were by
the Crown itself. To them the refugee immigrants were
"Anglo-Americans," and as such they were only known as encroaching
neighbors and aggressive enemies. Thus the new subjects, and the new
settlers, discovered that they were more obnoxious to one another than
were the original races from which they had respectively sprung. Their
past history accounted for their present aversion. French and English
power, whether in Europe or in America, had almost always been
exhibited in a state of strife; and time out of mind, the youth of
both countries had been carefully educated according to the canons of
enmity. There was, moreover, a theological element in the question
which tended to intensify this mutual aversion. The Anglo-American
abhorred the religion of Rome. The Franco-American detested that of
the reformation. Public reverses had, in an unlooked-for way, brought
these ancient antagonists together, and thus men who had fought in
opposing armies, and fostered every description of quarrel, were now
elbowing one another as neighbors, settling side by side, residents of
the same country, subjects of the same crown, and competitors, but not
on equal terms, for the same honors.

The refugee Royalists had established their claims to the trust and
confidence of their King. "Faithful among the faithless found," none
doubted their devotion to the flag which guarded the citadel of
Quebec. The newly acquired subjects of the British Crown, on the other
hand, had not forgotten the lilies of the Bourbons or their love for
the land which those lilies represented. In the revolutionary war of
1775, the French Canadians were indifferent, and desired to be
neutral. The conquest of Canada was too recent for them to like the
conquerors, much less to put their trust in the new enemies by which
that conquest was menaced; for if they loved not the English, still
less did they love the rebellious offspring of England. Since however
it was possible they might become the prize of new victors, it was not
unnatural they should at least dissemble their dislike, and abstain
from aggravating the disabilities which they feared might overtake
them if they were doubly vanquished. Such caution, however excusable,
was not likely to win the confidence of the Crown, and from the strong
contrast into which it was brought by the uncalculating devotion of
the refugee Royalists, it would be misunderstood and might be
misinterpreted. There seemed to be no place for charity to operate or
for time to heal, for the embers of actual or traditional hostility
were but partially quenched when war broke out afresh, and with
unprecedented violence between Great Britain and the French Empire. As
under the new circumstances, the old habit of the two races to honor
the European quarrel with sympathetic fights in America could not be
indulged, there remained only the opportunity which was by no means
lost sight of, of chafing each other's tempers, crossing each other's
purposes, and thwarting each other's plans. Such tactics were pursued
with unabated perseverance and with occasional success.

The refugee Royalists, though members of different religious
denominations, were, for the most part, regarded as aggressive as well
as uncompromising protestants. The fanaticism of the puritan in
matters of faith was strongly blended with the notions of the cavalier
on subjects of government. The men who were prepared to adore the King
with all his faults, were as well prepared to discredit the Pope with
all his virtues. Church and State as a rallying cry produced but the
faintest echo in the hearts of such people; for those very Royalists
who were willing to die for the supremacy of their temporal Sovereign,
would not in all probability have raised a finger in support of a
dominant church. The New England Provinces had rarely shown
backwardness in sending their sons to the wars. Such alacrity was
stimulated by sentiment as well as by reason. The latter had its
foundation in thrift, while the former took its rise in theology.
Reason was soothed because the enemy to be encountered spoke the
language of France. Sentiment was gratified because the faith he
professed was the religion of Rome. Those Provinces, at the close of
the revolutionary war, contributed many settlers to Canada, who soon
showed the quality of their training in letters and in religion. By
the help of the former, they filled with advantage some of the best
offices in the country; and by means of the latter, they could make
the renunciations and express the anathemas which the Crown required
of its most trusted servants.

In referring to such subjects as oaths and tests, it is important to
keep in mind the period wherein they were exacted, for, besides the
laws, the public opinion of those times had much to do with the
matter. Apart from the question whether the policy of a state be wise,
it is commonly expected that it should be uniform. The Duke of
Newcastle, for example, in 1860, from this point of view rebuked the
Orangemen of Kingston. When His Grace said that the Heir apparent
could not consistently smile on Orange processions in Canada and frown
at them in Ireland, he stated, as we apprehend, a principle which was
as applicable half a century before as it was then. The question of
residence made no alteration in the relation which the Orange society
bore to the State in 1860; neither at an earlier period did the
question of residence make any difference in the character of the
allegiance which the Roman Catholic subjects of the Crown owed, and
were required by the law to pay to the Sovereign.

Without dwelling on such subjects, for they are not pleasant subjects,
it may be observed that with so many elements of antagonism between
the two races, it says much for the wisdom with which the minority
ruled, and much for the patience with which the majority endured,
that, at this day, dispassionate persons concur in admitting that the
laws were partial and oppressive, because the times, or the supposed
necessities of the times, made them so. The government was necessarily
exclusive because the laws were absolutely exclusive. But had those
harsh laws been harshly administered, the evils to which we have
referred would have been immeasurably increased. That they were not so
increased may be attributed to the truth of the old adage, that good
Judges are better than good laws, since bad laws well administered are
better than good laws not administered at all. Of the numerous able,
upright, and impartial men who have sat on the judgment seat in Lower
Canada, a foremost place is by common consent given to Chief Justice
Sewell, whose history and career possess a more than average share of
interest.

In the year 1783, a recruit of English parentage, impelled in part at
least by chagrin, enlisted in the 54th Regiment of the Line, at that
time quartered in New Brunswick. Five years afterwards, an officer of
noble birth, for various reasons, including personal disappointment,
exchanged from his own to the Corps above mentioned. At the last named
period, the recruit had become the sergeant-major, and the officer the
senior major of that Regiment. The former was the clever and eccentric
William Cobbett, and the latter was the chivalrous and misguided Lord
Edward FitzGerald, whose name is associated with a futile effort to
redeem a bad cause by a melancholy sacrifice--the sacrifice of his
reputation and his life.

It was, we believe, in consequence of a bet made at his Regimental
mess, of which the subject of this sketch was at that time an honorary
member, that Lord Edward FitzGerald started on the 10th February,
1789, to walk from Fredericton to Quebec, where he successfully
arrived on the 14th of the following month. His Excellency, Lord
Dorchester, was at that time, and for several years afterwards, the
Governor-General of Canada. In the course of their friendly
intercourse, it may be conjectured that Lord Dorchester expressed an
opinion on the opening which the new era in the history of the
Province offered to young men of ability, and especially to those
whose profession was the law. Whether he did so or not, it is certain
that on the advice of Lord Edward FitzGerald, transmitted from Quebec,
Mr. Jonathan Sewell left New Brunswick for Canada, where, in the
course of time he became one of its most distinguished jurists, and,
we may add, the founder of one of its most influential families.

It is pleasant to observe with what a settled tenacity the name of a
family attaches itself to and becomes associated with a traveller's
recollection of a place. Change and decay, succession and renewal,
continually go on, but though the tourist is aware that the people are
not, he also knows that the family is the same; neither does he see
wherein it differs now from what it was then; for features and
expression, like leaves and flowers, repeat themselves in succeeding
generations. Thus observation appears to bridge the void of memory
while nature renews what time destroys. The brook which from thirty
hills flows so brightly in Tennyson's rhyme, in its local attraction
not inaptly resembles a family whose name has become as it were a part
of a place. Indeed the ways of a race, like those of a rivulet, are
strangely similar. Both may be said to brighten a locality with their
presence, and the manner of their doing so, according to the poetic
rendering, is not unlike. Each in its way may "sweep the sedges" with
forbearance; both after their manner may "chatter over the shallows"
with condescension, or glide with silent grace through the "longer
reach" of some favored farm. No matter, however, whether it be a
family or a brook, a name or a stream; whether its course be rapid or
still, garrulous among the rocks, or serious amidst the fields, the
song of succession, whether murmured by nature or hymned by humanity,
is identical. Each expresses its challenge in the flowing language of
the Laureate, and both may do so with equal truth, in the same words
of indifference;

  "For men may come and men may go,
  But I go on for ever."

Jonathan Sewell, the founder of the Canadian branch of the family of
that name, was the eldest son of Jonathan Sewell, Esq., the last
Attorney-General of the Province of Massachusetts, by his wife Esther
de Quincy, a member of a much esteemed Boston family. The New England
ancestor of the "Sewalls," as the name is written by American
historians, was Henry, who emigrated before the middle of the
seventeenth century, as in 1646 he married a Miss Jane Dunmer, a
resident of that Province. He died in his native country. Samuel, the
second son of the last mentioned, served in several offices of
distinction, and rose to the dignity of Chief Justice of
Massachusetts. In passing we may remark that "the silver nuisance"
must have been as rife in the British American Provinces of that day,
as it is at the present time, for it is related of the last mentioned
Chief Justice that his wife's dowry of £30,000 was paid to him in
sixpenny pieces. Jonathan, the father of the subject of this sketch,
was the grandson of the first Stephen Sewell, who we infer was a
younger son of Henry, the founder of the American family. Of course,
Jonathan Sewell, the last Attorney-General of the Province of
Massachusetts, belonged to the "blue blood" of America. He was a
Royalist who abandoned his possessions and followed the flag which his
country had disowned. He left America for England in 1775, and was
subsequently appointed Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Nova
Scotia. It was he who, in visiting the burial place of his ancestors,
found that the name of Sewell was spelled with an "E" instead of an
"A," and therefore he adopted the earlier and more correct style.

How long Henry, the American ancestor of the race, had resided in the
New England Provinces before his marriage, in 1646, or whether he had
been previously married, we have no means of knowing, neither have we
any right to assume that he belonged to that turbulent republican
party whose leaders, in the persons of Hampden, Pym and Oliver
Cromwell, were prevented from emigrating nine years before that date.
Still there is some reason to suppose that the vehement protestantism
of that extreme party was attractive to the first emigrant. The time
of his leaving England, as well as his place of destination, favor the
supposition that the puritans were his friends. This impression
receives confirmation from the following curious and instructive
letter written by the Protector, Richard Cromwell, in behalf of Henry
Sewell, who we assume was the son of the first emigrant and probably
by a former marriage. The letter may be found in the appendix to
Governor Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts.

     _To the Government and Magistrates of the Massachusetts Colony in
     New England_:

     LOVING FRIENDS,--We, being given to understand that Henry Sewell
     of Rowley, in New England, died about four years since, possessed
     of an estate of lands and goods in the Colony aforesaid, and that
     the said estate did and ought to descend to his only son, Henry
     Sewell, minister of North Baddesley, in the County of
     Southampton, in England, who, purposing to make a voyage unto New
     England, there personally to make claim to his said estate, hath
     desired our license for his absence, as also our letters
     commendatory unto you, that when (by the help of God) he shall be
     arrived in New England, he may have speedy justice and right done
     him concerning the said estate, that so he may the sooner return
     to his ministerial charge at North Baddesley; and he being
     personally known to us to be laborious and industrious, and very
     exemplary for his holy life and good conversation, we do
     earnestly desire that when he shall make his address to you, he
     may receive all the lawful favor and furtherance from you for a
     speedy despatch of his business according to justice and equity,
     so he may the more expeditiously return to his said charge
     (through the blessing of God), his labors in the Gospel may be
     further useful and profitable, which we shall esteem as a
     particular respect done to us, and shall be ready to acknowledge
     and return the same upon any occasion, wherein we may procure or
     further your Government and welfare, which we heartily wish and
     pray for, and rest,

    Your very loving Friend,

    RICHARD P.

    WHITEHALL, 28th March, 1658.


The subject of this sketch was born at Cambridge, near Boston, on the
6th June, 1766. His father, as we have said, was the last
Attorney-General of the Province of Massachusetts. As a Crown officer
and a Royalist, he resisted to the utmost those revolutionary
proceedings which ended in the independence of the united Provinces.
He naturally became obnoxious to the republican party, who shewed
their respect for the liberty of speech and opinion by attacking Mr.
Sewell's house, destroying its contents, and driving its occupants at
the hazard of their lives to find a temporary hiding place in the
dwelling of a friendly neighbor. Thus thrust from his home and
despoiled of his possessions, the Attorney-General found himself in
extremely straightened circumstances, without means, without an
occupation, and almost without a hope. All was lost, but honor. With
this single inconvertible possession the loyal refugee arrived with
his family in England. The city of Bristol was selected for residence,
at the grammar school of which place his son, the subject of this
sketch, received his education. An incident occurred at that school
which is worthy of note. One of the pieces selected for performance at
the periodical recitations was Addison's grand play of Cato; the chief
part being allotted to young Sewell, then in his sixteenth year. The
audience included in its number the celebrated Mrs. Siddons. That
gifted tragedian discerned and appreciated the talent of the young
actor, and on the next day expressed her admiration in the following
complimentary lines, which she sent to him:

  The world is dull, and seldom gives us cause
  For joy, surprise, or well-deserved applause.
  Young Heaven-taught Sewell! I behold in thee
  Sufficient cause for all the three.
  Thy rising genius managed Cato's part
  To charm away and captivate the heart.
  'Tis rare for boys like thee to play the man,
  There are but few in years who nobly can:
  But thou, a youth of elegance and ease,
  In Cato's person, to perform and please
  Hast common youth and manhood both outdone,
  And proved thyself dame Nature's chosen son.

On leaving the Bristol Grammar School, Mr. Sewell entered Brazen Nose
College, Oxford, where he remained for a short time only. Mr. Chipman,
afterwards Chief Justice of New Brunswick, and an old friend of his
father's, suggested that his son should practice law in the British
Provinces, and that he should study his profession under him.
Thereupon he left Oxford, and in 1785 arrived in New Brunswick. In
1789, as we have already noticed, he removed to Quebec, where, on the
30th of October of that year, he was admitted to the Bar of Lower
Canada. His early professional experiences were the reverse of
encouraging. Indeed, he so thoroughly failed to attract clients, that
his meagre earnings scarcely sufficed to furnish the common
necessaries of life. Thus disheartened, he had taken measures for
another removal, when he was unexpectedly retained in a cause of
considerable importance. The ability with which he conducted the case,
added to the success by which it was crowned, produced their usual
effect. The smiles of the Bench, the congratulations of the Bar, and
the confidence of the public seemed to meet together to give assurance
to the career of the new advocate. From that time his practice became
abundant, and his place in the profession established.

Not only was Mr. Sewell a profound lawyer, but he was a good
dramatist, a fair musician, a critical student of poetry, and a very
facile writer of verse. Having attained much efficiency as a
violinist, he was chosen as the leader of the amateur band of the late
Duke of Kent, when His Royal Highness, as commander of the forces in
Canada, resided at Quebec. In connection with the subjects of music
and poetry, we may here repeat an incident, which, though scarcely
remembered by any one living, has been very exactly preserved. It was,
we believe, in the year 1795, and on the day on which an amateur
concert was to have been given at Quebec, at which the Duke of Kent
had signified his intention to be present, that news arrived of the
attempt to assassinate King George the Third, as that monarch was on
his way to open Parliament. It was at once determined by the amateurs
that a vocal performance of the National Anthem should be given; on
which occasion Mr. Sewell contributed some additional stanzas, the
last of which we reproduce in this place because, apart from its
poetic merit, it possesses a history of its own.

  From every latent foe,
  From the assassin's blow,
    God shield the King;
  O'er him Thine arm extend,
  For Britain's sake defend
  Our father, prince and friend,
    Great George our King.

On the day on which the above lines were written, it so chanced that
Mr. Cochran, who became Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island, and
afterwards one of the Judges of Upper Canada, and who, we may add, was
lost with all hands in the Schooner "Speedy," in Lake Ontario, when on
his way to hold a Court in the Newcastle District, was dining in Mr.
Sewell's company. That gentleman requested the author to give him a
copy of the above lines. Mr. Sewell presented the pencil original,
which Mr. Cochran placed in his pocket-book. Shortly afterwards the
last named gentleman sailed for England where he studied, and for a
few years practiced law. Three years afterwards, in 1798, Mr. Cochran
was seated in the front row of the pit of Drury Lane Theatre, when
Hatfield fired a pistol at the King, and, with such precision, that
the bullet entered the roof of the Royal box. In the midst of the
excitement which followed, Mr. Cochran recalled the fact that he had
about him the lines we have quoted. He lost no time in sending them to
Sheridan, who, we conjecture, was manager for the occasion, as he had
previously disposed of his interest in the theatre. That gifted
gentleman at once saw their appropriateness, and, taking his place in
front of the curtain, announced that the National Anthem would be sung
by the whole house. Amidst rapturous applause the anthem, in
obedience to as many requests, was three times repeated, and each time
with the lines already quoted. On the following day the impromptu
stanza was, as a matter of course, attributed to Sheridan. Though the
erroneous impression was at once corrected by Sheridan in a letter
under his own signature; though Mr. Cochran narrated the circumstances
under which they were written and how he came by them; and though they
were criticised, commented on, and attributed on the authority of Mr.
Cochran's letter "to a gentleman in America," such explanations seem
to have availed but little. The correction does not reach those who
have been misled by the first statement. Thus in the case under
review, we find on reference to Beeton's Dictionary of Universal
Information, the lines are referred to, in the article on George the
Third, as an impromptu of Sheridan's.

The friendship commenced between the Duke of Kent and Mr. Sewell, at
the musical reunions of the former, was continued through life. In
after years when, as the Chief Justice of Lower Canada, Mr. Sewell had
occasion to revisit England, he found the Duke the same warm friend as
when they separated in Canada. The following extract from a letter
from Chief Justice Chipman to his friend and former pupil, Mr. Sewell,
will help us to gather the Duke's impression of the latter in 1794. We
shall have occasion to refer to some other evidence on the subject of
his later opinions.

     FREDERICTON, 15th July, 1794.

     DEAR JACK,--You will see by our newspapers if any of them ever
     reach Canada (?) that Prince Edward has paid us a visit from
     Halifax, and that I had the honor of entertaining him in the
     city. All that you have said of him in your letters falls
     infinitely short of what I found him to be. He is without
     exception the most accomplished character I have ever seen. His
     manners are so dignified, and at the same time marked with so
     much affability and condescension; he discovers so much good
     sense, sound understanding, and so improved a mind, that I can
     find no bounds to my admiration of him; and you may be assured I
     was not a little gratified with the very handsome manner with
     which he expressed himself respecting you. He spoke of you in the
     most pointed terms of esteem and approbation; and said there was
     not a doubt you would soon succeed to the office of
     Attorney-General, as Monk would in all probability the Chief
     Justiceship of Montreal."

Though we anticipate the course of the narrative, we may mention in
this place that in 1814, when in England, the Chief Justice published
a pamphlet entitled, "A plan for the Federal Union of the British
Provinces in North America," and also a tract, "On the advantage of
opening the River St. Lawrence to the commerce of the world." His
Royal Highness the Duke of Kent appreciated the importance of both
projects, and gave Mr. Sewell great assistance in laying them before
the King's Government. One of those great objects has been well nigh
accomplished, and the other is supposed to be on the way to rapid
completion. They were conceived by Colonial Statesmen, and they are
sanctioned by Imperial Statesmen. The following extract from the
Report of the Earl of Durham on the affairs of British North America,
possesses a more than common interest, since it shows what opinions
were entertained by the illustrious father of our gracious Sovereign
upwards of fifty years ago on the subject of a "Federal Union of
British America," opinions of which Her Majesty was possibly aware
when on the 5th of February, 1867, in Her Speech from the throne, the
subject of Her father's letter was recommended to the favorable
consideration of the Imperial Parliament. The Earl of Durham said:

     The views on which I found my support of a comprehensive union
     have long been entertained by many persons in these Colonies. I
     cannot, however, refrain from mentioning the sanction of such
     views by one whose authority Your Majesty will, I venture to say,
     receive with the utmost respect. Mr. Sewell, the late Chief
     Justice of Quebec, laid before me an autograph letter addressed
     to himself by Your Majesty's illustrious Father, in which His
     Royal Highness was pleased to express his approbation of a
     similar plan then proposed by that gentleman. No one better
     understood the interests and character of these Colonies than His
     Royal Highness. It is with peculiar satisfaction, therefore, that
     I submit to Your Majesty's perusal the important document which
     contains His Royal Highness' opinion in favor of such a scheme.

     KENSINGTON PALACE, 3rd November, 1814.

     MY DEAR SEWELL,--I have had this day the pleasure of receiving
     your note of yesterday with its interesting enclosure; nothing
     can be better arranged than the whole thing is, or more
     perfectly--and when I see an opening it is fully my intention to
     hint the matter to Lord Bathurst, and put the paper into his
     hands, without however telling him from whom I have it, though I
     shall urge him to have some conversation with you relative to it.
     Permit me, however, just to ask you whether it was not an
     oversight in you to state that there are five Houses of Assembly
     in the British Colonies in North America. If I am not under an
     error there are six, viz., Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia,
     and New Brunswick, the Islands of Prince Edward, and Cape Breton.
     Allow me to beg of you to put down the proportions in which you
     think the thirty members of the Representative Assembly ought to
     be furnished by each Province, and finally to suggest whether you
     would not think two Lieutenant Governors with two Executive
     Councils sufficient for an Executive Government of the whole,
     viz., one for the two Canadas, and one for Nova Scotia and New
     Brunswick, comprehending the small dependencies of Cape Breton,
     and Prince Edward Island; the former to reside at Montreal, and
     the latter at whichever of the two situations may be considered
     most central for the two Provinces, whether Annapolis Royal or
     Windsor. But at all events should you even consider four
     Executive Councils requisite, I presume there cannot be a
     question of the expediency of comprehending the two small Islands
     in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with Nova Scotia. Believe me ever to
     remain with the most friendly regard, my dear Sewell, yours
     faithfully,

     (Signed) EDWARD.

The Report from which the above extract was taken was officially
communicated to both Houses of the Imperial Parliament on the 11th
February, 1839.

To return: Mr. Sewell was appointed Solicitor-General on the 5th
October, 1793; Advocate and Attorney-General on the 15th May, 1795;
and Judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty on the 13th June, 1796. In
this year he was elected to the House of Assembly for the borough of
William Henry, which he continued to represent for three successive
Parliaments. In September, 1796, he married Henrietta, the youngest
daughter of Chief Justice the Honorable William Smith, who survived
him, and by whom he had a numerous family. In May, 1808, he was
appointed Chief Justice of the Province of Lower Canada, and President
of the Executive Council. The latter office he relinquished in 1829.
In January, 1809, he was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Council,
where he continued to preside to the day of his death. In 1832 the
degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Harvard University. Such
honors are generally cherished by the recipient of them, but on that
occasion they were rendered unusually conspicuous from the fact that
Washington Irving received the like degree from the same University at
the same time.

Before the application of the principle of Responsible Government to
the Colonies, the powers of Colonial Parliaments were more illusive
than satisfactory, more nominal than real. The irritation that arose
in the minds of the representatives of the people as they compared
their imaginary with their actual privileges was of a very acute kind.
Besides the common disappointment which is felt by those who fail to
attain what they desire to possess, there was superadded the more
revengeful feelings which are cherished by those who consider
themselves to be defrauded of what it was intended they should
possess. Some persons will very probably be of opinion that in those
days "tutors and governors" exerted a wholesome influence, and that
the limitation in the exercise of power, however brought about, was
not without compensation in its relation to the people at large. Men
were only inclined to look at things as they were; and the result,
which a plain view of the case afforded, was that representative
government as then administered was government irrespective of the
representatives. Feeling strong and being powerless, the House of
Assembly of Lower Canada was constantly troublesome, and occasionally
mischievous. It was especially so when it could harass the Executive
Government, by an actual or a threatened impeachment of any of its
officers. This process was not unfrequently resorted to, sometimes
because it gratified popular prejudice, and sometimes because it
soothed personal resentment. When, however, as in the case to which we
are about to allude, the offender to be punished, belonged to what was
jealously regarded as the obnoxious estate of the Legislature, then
the course of popular justice became as animated as it was unfair. No
matter what the issue, the prosecution to the individual was always
associated with anxiety, and commonly followed by loss. The
proceedings to which we are about to refer were directed against one,
who, unfortunately, united in his own person too much of the authority
of government, for he was the President of the Executive Council; he
was the Speaker of the Legislative Council, and he was at the same
time Chief Justice of the Province. But besides these offices he was
the head of the much abused Legislative Council, and the trusted chief
of the much disliked British party. It was probably supposed that a
blow, well planted in such a quarter, would strike a good many
obnoxious interests. Hence it occurred, that when Mr. James,
afterwards Sir James Stuart, initiated his charges, which were nothing
less than the impeachment of the Chief Justice, he found himself to be
sufficiently backed by the Assembly to shew a bold front and to make a
bold fight. It was in the year 1814, says Garneau in his History of
Canada, "that Mr. Stuart in his place in Parliament formally accused
Chief Justice Sewell of having unconstitutionally usurped
Parliamentary authority by imposing discretionary Rules of Practice."
Thus challenged, the Chief Justice obtained permission to intermit his
functions, and repair to England in order that the charges might be
investigated before the only tribunal that could take cognizance of
them. On his departure he received very cordial addresses from the
members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, as well as from the
merchants, and other influential people of Quebec. Having had a
transport placed at his disposal by the Governor-General, the Chief
Justice embarked at Quebec, and arrived in London in the month of
June, 1814. He at once conferred with and put himself under the
guidance of Mr. Charles Abbott, better known afterwards as Chief
Justice, Baron Tenterden. That eminent lawyer, as we have been
informed, at the first interview with his client clearly foreshowed
the course the investigation would take, as well as the way in which
it would terminate. The opinion then expressed was almost literally
confirmed in the following year by the judgment of the Privy Council,
as the annexed papers will sufficiently shew.

On the 30th January, 1816, the following message was sent by the
Administrator of the Government, Sir Gordon Drummond, to the House of
Assembly:

     GORDON DRUMMOND,

     Administrator in Chief.

     The Administrator in Chief has received the commands of His Royal
     Highness the Prince Regent, to make known to the House of
     Assembly of this Province, his pleasure on the subject of certain
     charges preferred by the House against the Chief Justice of the
     Province, and the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench for
     the District of Montreal.

     With respect to such of these charges as relate to acts done by a
     former Governor of the Province, which the Assembly, assuming to
     be improper, or illegal, imputed by a similar assumption, to
     advice given by the Chief Justice to that Governor: His Royal
     Highness has deemed that no enquiry could be necessary, inasmuch
     as none could be instituted, without the admission of the
     principle that the Governor of a Province might, at his own
     discretion, divest himself of all responsibility, on points of
     political Government.

     With a view therefore to the general interests of the Province,
     His Royal Highness was pleased to refer for consideration to the
     Lords of the Privy Council, such only of the Charges brought by
     the Assembly, as related to the Rules of Practice established by
     the Judges, in their respective Courts, those being points, on
     which, if any impropriety had existed, the Judges themselves were
     solely responsible."

A second message was sent to the Assembly as follows:

     By the annexed copy of His Royal Highness' orders in Council
     dated the 29th June, 1815, the Administrator in Chief conveys to
     the Assembly the result of the investigation, which has been
     conducted with all that attention and solemnity which the
     importance of the subject required.

     In making this communication to the Assembly it has become the
     duty of the Administrator in Chief, in obedience to the commands
     of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to express the regret
     with which His Royal Highness has viewed their late proceedings
     against two persons, who have so long and so ably filled the
     highest judicial offices in the Colony. A circumstance the more
     to be deplored, as tending to disparage, in the eyes of the
     inconsiderate and ignorant, their character and services; and
     thus to diminish the influence, to which, from their situation
     and uniform propriety of conduct they are justly entitled.

     The above communication embracing only such of the charges
     against the said Chief Justices as relates to their Rules of
     Practice, and as are grounded on advice assumed to have been
     given by the Chief Justice of the Province, to the late Sir James
     Craig; the Administrator in Chief has been further commanded to
     signify to the Assembly that the other charges appeared to His
     Majesty's Government to be with one exception too inconsiderable
     to require investigation, and that that (namely the one against
     the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench for the District
     of Montreal which states him to have refused a writ of _Habeas
     Corpus_), was in common with all the charges which do not relate
     to the Rules of Practice, totally unsupported, by any evidence
     whatever.

     (Signed) GORDON DRUMMOND.

     (Copy).

     At a Court at Carlton House, the 29th June, 1815.

     PRESENT:--His Royal Highness the Prince Regent.

     H. R. H. the Duke of York, H. R. H. the Duke of Cumberland, the
     Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord President, Lord Privy Seal,
     Duke of Montrose, the Lord Chamberlain, the Marquis of
     Winchester, the Marquis of Wellesley, Marquis of Camden, Lord
     Howard, Earl of Chesterfield, the Earl of Harrington, Earl of
     Buckinghamshire, the Earl of Chatham, Earl of Liverpool, Earl of
     Chichester, the Earl of Mulgrave, Lord Charles Bentinck, Viscount
     Palmerston, Viscount Melville, Viscount Sidmouth, Viscount
     Jocelyn, Viscount Castlereagh, Lord George Beresford, Lord Arden,
     Mr. Wellesley Pole, Mr. Bothland, Mr. Long, the Chancellor of the
     Exchequer.

     Whereas ---- was this day read at the Board, a Report from the
     Committee of the Lords of His Majesty's most Honorable Privy
     Council, dated the twenty-fourth instant in the following words,
     viz:

     Your Royal Highness having been pleased, by your order in
     Council, of the 10th December last, in the name and on the behalf
     of His Majesty, to refer unto this Committee a letter from Earl
     Bathurst one of His Majesty's Secretaries of State, to the Lord
     President of the Council transmitting a copy of a letter, from
     Sir George Prevost, dated Quebec the 18th March, 1814, and
     forwarding an address from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada
     to your Royal Highness, with certain articles of complaint
     therein referred to against Jonathan Sewell, Esq., His Majesty's
     Chief Justice of the Province of Lower Canada, and James Monk,
     Esq., Chief Justice of the Court of Kings Bench for the District
     of Montreal; and also transmitting a memorial, from the Executive
     Council, Judges, in the Court of Appeals, and of the Puisne
     Judges of the Court of King's Bench for the District of Quebec
     and of the Court of King's Bench for the District of Montreal, in
     the said Province of Lower Canada, praying to be included in the
     examination and decision of the said articles of complaint
     together with the Petition of the said Jonathan Sewell, Esq., in
     which letter, the said Earl Bathurst requests that so much of the
     said complaint of the House of Assembly as relates to the Rules
     of Practice stated to have been introduced by the said Chief
     Justices into their respective Courts may be submitted to your
     Royal Highness in Council; in order that if Rules shall be found
     to have been introduced, it may be decided whether in so doing
     the said Chief Justices have exceeded their authority. The Lords
     of the Committee, in obedience to your Royal Highness' said
     order aforesaid, have taken the said letter and its enclosures
     into consideration, and having received the opinion of His
     Majesty's Attorney and Solicitor-General, and been attended by
     them thereupon, and having maturely deliberated upon the
     complaints of the said House of Assembly so far as they related
     to the said Rules of Practice; their Lordships do agree humbly to
     report as their opinion, to your Royal Highness, the Rules which
     are made the subject of such complaint of the said House of
     Assembly of Lower Canada, against the said Chief Justices;
     Jonathan Sewell, Esq., and James Monk, Esq., which their
     Lordships observe were not made by the said Chief Justices,
     respectively, upon their sole authority, but by them in
     conjunction with the other Judges of their respective Courts; are
     all Rules for the regulation of the practice of their respective
     Courts, and within the scope of that power and jurisdiction with
     which, by the Rules of law, and by the Colonial ordinances and
     acts of Legislature these Courts are invested, and consequently
     that neither the said Chief Justices nor the Courts in which they
     preside have, in making such Rules, exceeded their authority nor
     have been guilty of any assumption of Legislative power.

     His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, having taken the said
     report into consideration, was pleased in the name and on the
     behalf of His Majesty, by and with the advice of His Majesty's
     Privy Council, to approve thereof, and to order as it is hereby
     ordered, that the said complaints, so far as they relate to the
     said Rules of Practice, be and they are hereby dismissed this
     Board.

     (Signed) JAMES BULLER.

The Chief Justice received at the same time the following letter.

     DOWNING STREET, July 23rd, 1815.

     SIR,

     His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, having been pleased to
     refer to the consideration of a Committee of the most Honorable
     Privy Council certain articles of complaint against you and Mr.
     Monk, so far as related to the Rules of Practice, established by
     you in the Courts, in which you respectively preside, it has
     become my duty to communicate to you the results of that enquiry,
     which, having received the entire approbation of His Royal
     Highness, is expressed, in the order of which the enclosed is a
     copy.

     "The officer at present administering the Government in Canada
     has received His Royal Highness' commands, to communicate this
     decision, to the House of Assembly, and in making this
     communication, to state the grounds upon which His Royal Highness
     has declined considering as articles of complaint against you the
     advice which you are at different times stated to have given to
     the preceding Governor of the Province. It is highly satisfactory
     to me to assure you that although His Royal Highness felt
     compelled, upon general principles, to exclude these particular
     charges from consideration, and thus to preclude you from
     entering on your justification, yet His Royal Highness entertains
     no doubt as to the general propriety of yours and Mr. Monk's
     conduct, or as to your being able to offer with respect to them a
     full and satisfactory explanation.

     I am, &c.,
     (Signed) BATHURST.
     J. SEWELL, Esq., Chief Justice of Lower Canada.

       *       *       *       *       *

     DOWNING STREET, July 27th, 1815.

     SIR,

     I have had the honor of receiving your letter of the 24th
     instant, expressing your apprehension in that as the instructions
     transmitted to the officer administering the Government of Canada
     do not embrace any other charges brought against you and Mr. Monk
     than those which relate to the advice given by you to the
     Governor, and the Rules of Practice established in your
     respective Courts, the House of Assembly may be induced to
     consider you as not free from blame on the other points of charge
     not strictly falling in with that description.

     As the letter addressed to the officer administering the
     Government of Canada bears testimony to the uniform propriety of
     yours and Mr. Monk's conduct, I do not conceive that there can be
     any ground for the Assembly to doubt that your justification is
     complete: but I am glad to have an opportunity of stating that
     the other charges, not specifically adverted to in my letter,
     appeared to be with one exception of too little importance to
     require consideration, and that (the one against Mr. Monk, which
     charges him with having refused a writ of habeas corpus) was as
     well as all the other charges, which are not founded on the Rules
     of Practice, totally unsupported by any evidence whatever.

     I have the honor, &c.,
     (Signed)  BATHURST.
     J. SEWELL, Esq., Chief Justice of Lower Canada.

       *       *       *       *       *

     COUNCIL OFFICE, WHITEHALL, August 17, 1815.

     SIR,

     Agreeable to the request signified in your letter of the 30th
     ult., I have the honor to enclose to you a copy of the order in
     Council dismissing the complaints of the House of Assembly of
     Lower Canada, so far as they relate to the Rules of Practice, and
     with the names of the Lords present in Council when the report of
     the Lords of the committee respecting those complaints was
     approved.

     The report of the Lords of the committee is entered at large in
     the copy of the order, but it is not the practice to insert the
     names of the Lords who make the report, yet as it is important
     that it should be known in Canada by what high legal authority
     the said report was made, I have it in command from the Lord
     President to communicate their names to you, and they are as
     follows:

     The Lord President, Earl Bathurst, Lord Ellenborough, Sir William
     Scott, Master of the Rolls, Sir John Nichols, Lord Chief Justice
     Gibbs, Lord Chief Baron.

     I have the honor, &c.,

     (Signed)  CHETWYND.

     J. SEWELL, Esq., Chief Justice of Lower Canada.

The Chief Justice returned to Canada in August, 1816. On landing at
Quebec he received the unusual compliment of a salute from the
Citadel, which must, as a matter of course, have been as pleasing to,
as it was unexpected by him; for it was a salvo, to his ears at least,
musical with victory.

After giving the charges at length, Christie in his History of Canada
observes that

     Chief Justice Sewell was an eminent lawyer, profoundly versed in
     the Civil Law and ancient Jurisprudence of the country as well as
     in the criminal Law of England, and withal a man of mild and
     agreeable manners, universally esteemed by the British community
     amongst whom he resided. But the other public stations which he
     occupied had mixed him up with the politics of the times, and
     subjected him as a political character to party obloquy. He
     however came from the ordeal unscathed, and lived to see Mr.
     Stuart in his turn carried away as Attorney-General in the same
     torrent of prejudices which the latter had appealed to against
     him in those accusations savoring less perhaps of patriotism than
     resentment.

Having, on behalf of "the British commercial world in Canada" offered
an opinion, which we shall not repeat in these pages, on the motives
which actuated Mr. Stuart in these proceedings, Mr. Christie speaking
of his elevation to the Chief Justiceship, and to a baronetcy on the
recommendation of Lord Sydenham, says, "It does not appear that he
(Sir James Stuart) has taken any steps towards rescinding the
obnoxious Rules of Practice for which he impeached his worthy
predecessor;" and Garneau observes: "That the Assembly on its side
departed from the charges made against the judicial practice of Sewell
and Monk to the great displeasure of Mr. Stuart, who considered that
his friends had betrayed him in the case."

If such were Mr. Stuart's opinions at the time, it should not be
forgotten that he corrected them afterwards. On succeeding the subject
of this sketch in the office of Chief Justice, he not only adopted
the Rules of Practice, to which he had formerly taken exception, but
that eminent Judge religiously adhered to them as long as he presided
on the Bench. It is difficult which most to admire, the compliment
which Sir James offered to the wisdom of his predecessor, or the
atonement which he made for his own rashness. With all its
shortcomings, our human nature not unfrequently discovers white spots
on which it is pleasant to linger. It is instructive, as well as
encouraging, to meet with a decidedly great man who can so humble
himself as to trample his arrogance and self-will in the dust, and
make his atonement in the very place wherein he had promulgated his
offence.

We have dwelt at some length upon this trying passage in Mr. Sewell's
history. It seemed not only to involve the reputation of a Judge, but
it included the prerogative of the Courts and the purity of the
springs of justice. Happily, besides being "doubly armed," the
assailed was one whose legal and moral strength were equal to the
emergency. The career of the Chief Justice was, thenceforward,
comparatively speaking, calm and equable to its close. In 1838, the
hand of time had touched him, for the pressure of age was making
itself felt. Health and strength were evidently giving way, and from a
sense of duty he sought for and obtained Her Majesty's permission to
resign his high office. On the recommendation of His Excellency the
Right Honorable the Earl of Durham, he received on his resignation a
pension of £1000 per annum. The arrangement for closing gracefully a
long career of faithful service must have been very noiselessly
carried out, for, at the end of the then next October Term, he excited
the surprise and regret of the Bar by addressing them and the Court
generally, in the following graceful and pathetic terms:

     Before I quit this seat, I wish to address a few words to you, my
     learned brothers, and to you gentlemen of the bar.

     The state of my health having of late put it out of my power to
     render that assistance in the execution of the duties of the
     bench, which I have heretofore been able to afford, I deemed it
     my duty to tender my resignation of the office of Chief Justice
     of the Province to His Excellency the Governor-General, and he has
     been pleased to accept it.

     All partings from friends are painful, and, had I consulted my
     own feelings on this occasion, and those only, I should have
     retired from the bench in silence. But the recollection of the
     uninterrupted harmony which has subsisted between us, during a
     long period of thirty years, in which I have had the honor to
     preside in this Court, would not suffer me to think of so cold a
     separation,--I have therefore detained you, that I may avail
     myself of this opportunity, briefly, but sincerely to assure you
     that I carry with me into retirement the same feeling of esteem
     and respect for the profession at large, which I have ever
     entertained,--a grateful sense of the conduct which I have
     experienced from you on all occasions,--and of the able aid and
     assistance which from you my learned brothers, and from you,
     gentlemen of the bar, in your respective stations, and in the
     excercise of the arduous duties of this tribunal, I have
     invariably received.

     Accept my most sincere thanks for the past, accompanied by my
     best and earnest wishes for health, prosperity, and happiness in
     future; and allow me to hope that I shall carry with me into
     private life your continued esteem and friendship.

     With these sentiments, which are deeply impressed upon my mind,
     and which I shall retain during life, I respectfully take my
     leave of you, my learned brothers, and of you gentlemen of the
     bar, and bid you all farewell.

To which the Bar, under the same date, returned the following
complimentary answer:

     May it please your Honor:

     Upon your retirement from the Bench of this Province, we feel
     that the Bar, over which you have so long presided, would be
     wanting in duty if we failed to acknowledge the sense which we
     entertain of your judicial character, and to reciprocate the
     expressions of kindness with which you bade us farewell.

     Having been elevated to the Bench at a time when the study of law
     was in its infancy in the Colony, and when in the disturbed state
     of Europe, it was difficult for the Provincial Lawyer to procure
     even the elementary works; it is satisfactory to you to consider
     what has been achieved during your time, in advancing the
     knowledge of sound jurisprudence, and we owe it to you to
     acknowledge how much you have personally contributed towards this
     improvement.

     Your unwearied and never-failing attention to your judicial
     duties, and your characteristic ardor in the pursuit of
     knowledge, need no testimony from us, as they have been proved by
     the honorable distinction of Doctor of Laws, which a
     distinguished university in the neighboring States has conferred
     upon your merits.

     We acknowledge with pleasure the great urbanity of your demeanor
     towards the bar, both at Chambers and before the Courts; and you
     have proved by your conduct towards us, that the official rank
     and station of the Judge are only heightened by the courtesy and
     bearing of the gentleman.

     We feel that a long and laborious public life like yours requires
     repose; and in parting from you as Chief Justice of this
     Province, we sincerely wish that the evening of your days may be
     serene and in the full enjoyment of private life, and health and
     happiness always attend you.

     Quebec, 20th October, 1838.

     (True copy,) J. CREMAZIE,
     Sec'y.


But another and a more solemn leave taking was drawing on apace. One
year had scarcely elapsed since his earthly Sovereign had marked his
services with the reward of faithfulness, when he was required by the
King of kings to give back the life he had been appointed to keep.
Thus, on the 12th November, 1839, with the courage which had
distinguished him as a judge, and the faith which had supported him as
a Christian, he passed to that supreme _Enquête_, for which he had
striven to direct his thoughts and discipline his life.

The lives of distinguished men not unfrequently instruct us by what
they avoided doing, as well as by what they did. Wilberforce, for
example, once surprised the House of Commons by the suddenness as well
as the sharpness of his satire. "Who would have suspected it?" said
one of the veterans of that body. "That does not surprise me so much,"
answered another, "as that he should have possessed and not have used
such a weapon." A similar remark, with the like truth, might have been
made of Chief Justice Sewell. Besides being a profound lawyer, he was
by habit and education an acute observer, a keen satirist, and an
accomplished wit. Yet, like Wilberforce, few would have supposed that
he possessed such weapons had not the shimmer of them been seen on one
or two occasions. Erskine's anecdote of the bundle of hay between two
asses, and what became of it, is altogether eclipsed by the Quebec
rendering of the same fable. The occasion was the following. When
delivering his judgment, the Chief Justice was suddenly interrupted by
an eager, impetuous, but over-anxious barrister, who with florid
earnestness, shouted, rather than said, "May it please the Court, I am
perfectly astonished at your Honor's last judgment. Your Honor must
remember that the Court a few terms since decided such and such a
case, directly in the opposite way though the premises were exactly
the same. If the Court is to act in this arbitrary manner, the office
of the advocate is at an end; for myself I feel like the ass between
the two bundles of hay," and then the advocate sat down. The venerable
Chief Justice, having listened to the barrister with that attention
and dignity of manner which were natural to him, took from its
accustomed place his small gold eye-glass, and in his well remembered
manner, calmly adjusted it to his eye. Then amidst breathless silence,
ludicrously restrained, he examined the whole Court. From the centre
piece in the ceiling, his gaze travelled slowly round the cornices of
the walls, then it circled the amphitheatre of seats from the highest
to the lowest, until it became concentrated within the central
enclosure, which is set apart for Queen's Counsel. Having satisfied
himself thus far, the Chief Justice stood up and leaned over his desk
that he might minutely scrutinize the Prothonotary's box, from which
as from a focus the whole Court room seems to radiate; he resumed his
seat, and restored his eye-glass to its accustomed place. Then amidst
silence, as amusing as it was profound, the Chief Justice indicated
the Barrister by name, who, rising as is the custom under such
circumstances, heard himself addressed thus, "You must have perceived,
Mr. Blank, that I have most minutely and with great attention examined
the Court; but"--and there was a little pause--"I have been unable to
discover the two bundles of hay." We need scarcely add that the
unhappy Barrister shrank, like a telescope with shattered joints, into
a state of sudden collapse, and the Chief Justice continued the
business of the day.

The Chief Justice was a member of the Anglican Church, and a
conscientious adherent of the reformed faith, but like his royal
master, George the Third, he had, as we have been informed, opinions
of his own with respect to one or two of the special offices of that
Church. The Commination Service, for example, which is ordered to be
said on Ash-Wednesday, was reverently but with a variation answered
by him. Instead of the "amen," which the people are enjoined to repeat
after each separate curse, as it is spoken by the clergyman, the
subject of this sketch with great solemnity of manner, used audibly
and devoutly to substitute the words, "may he amend." Charity was
superior to the "Ordinary," and the office. The law of love ruled, and
let us hope, in the judgment of "the recording angel," excused the
interpolation.

Besides being a courteous, not to say a courtier-like man, the Chief
Justice was a polished as well as a fluent speaker. Thought borrowed
charm from manner, and directness from expression, for his style was
as graceful as his language was well chosen. As a Judge, he was
supremely dignified, and his demeanor on the Bench went far towards
securing decorum in the Court. He was accustomed to take an active
interest in promoting the well-being of such societies and
institutions, as, in his opinion, were calculated to advance truth, or
promote benevolence. For many years, he was president of the Quebec
Branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and by every means in
his power, he sought to promote the circulation of the Holy
Scriptures. Such was the Christian gentleman who, for fifty years,
filled offices of the greatest responsibility under the Crown, and who
necessarily at the same period exerted no inconsiderable influence in
the political and social capital of Canada. All men respected him,
though all men may not have spoken equally well of him. Those who knew
him best, and were most competent to form just opinions of his
character, remember with exquisite affection the excellencies that
embellished his life. Endeared to his family by the tender charities
of a righteous life; endeared to the poor by a benevolence which was
only limited by his means; endeared to the learned by the treasures of
his intellect; endeared to the young by his sympathy with youth;
endeared to all by the variety of his talents, the charm of his
conversation, and the kindness of his heart, it has been said of him,
that whether at the Bar, on the Bench, in the senate, or in social
life, he has left no superior.

[Illustration: HUGH ALLAN, ESQ.]




HUGH ALLAN, ESQ.,

MONTREAL.


  The proudest motto for the young,
      Write it in lines of gold:
  Upon thy heart and in thy mind
      The stirring words enfold;
  And in misfortune's dreary hour
      Or fortune's prosperous gale,
  'Twill have a holy, cheering power--
      "There's no such word as FAIL."

Comparatively few persons could repeat the title under which the
Canard Steamship Company is incorporated. To an enquiry they would
probably answer that they had only heard of it as the "Cunard
Company." In like manner there are many to whom "The Montreal Ocean
Steamship Company" is an unfamiliar phrase, but to whom "Allan's Line"
are household words. In both cases the individual overshadows the act
of Parliament; the corporate title of the company becomes merged in
the name of the particular shareholder who is supposed to have
originated its existence, to govern its organization, to incline its
policy, and perchance to possess the greatest amount of its stock.
Such appears to be the relation which Mr. Hugh Allan bears to "The
Montreal Ocean Steamship Company," and such the reason why those
steamships are for convenience called "Allan's Line."

To the advantage of being a Scottish youth, the subject of our sketch
had the farther advantage of sniffing those saline breezes which bowl
over the Atlantic from America, appropriating in their passage as much
fog and moisture as they can carry, and then whirl and whistle their
way up the Firth of Clyde to invigorate the youth whom they do not
destroy. Hugh Allan was born at Saltcoats in the county of Ayr, on the
29th September, 1810. Not only did he first see the light by the
margin of the sea, but he came of a seafaring race, for his father,
Captain Alexander Allan, was a shipmaster who for thirty years traded
as such between the Clyde and Montreal. Two of his brothers were, in
like manner, engaged in maritime pursuits. Like the majority of the
youth of Scotland, Hugh Allan started early in the race of life, for
he left school at the age of thirteen. He at once manifested the
instinct of his family, for, like a young duck, he took kindly and
naturally to the water. His own desire happily harmonized with the
plan of life which his father had formed for him, for it seems to have
been the wish of the former that his son, like himself, should be able
to command a ship. In pursuance of this object that son was placed in
a shipping office at Greenock that he might acquire some experience of
the manner in which the accounts and papers of ships were kept. After
a year thus spent he followed up his nautical education by sailing
with, and under the command of, his father, and thus acquired an exact
knowledge of practical seamanship. Such knowledge he afterwards
supplemented by the study of navigation. But although he qualified
himself for the calling which his father followed, such calling was
not regarded as the chief end of his education. The study of
seamanship, as it turned out, was only a prelude to the study of
ships; and the qualification of shipmaster was only an introduction to
the condition of ship-owner. It was not then, neither was it
afterwards, sufficient in the estimation of the father that his son
should know only how to sail a ship; he was anxious that he should
know how to build one, and therefore it was that the attention of the
latter was directed to the study of naval architecture, and the work
of practical shipbuilding. As if these acquirements were insufficient,
it was conjectured that a knowlege of ships without a knowlege of
trade would at best be very imperfect knowlege, therefore it was
shrewdly determined after a conference between the father and son,
that the latter should seek for a situation in some Canadian dry goods
establishment. Whereupon he obtained employment in the firm of William
Kerr & Co., who were then engaged in that trade at Montreal.

Having completed his engagement with Messrs Kerr & Co., he travelled
through Canada and a portion of the United States, and then revisited
his native land. This journey, we need hardly say, was performed in
more respects than one with the traveller's eyes wide open, for the
"chiel" took notes of what he saw. After a year's absence his plan of
life was clearly and resolutely determined on. At the age of
twenty-one he returned to Montreal, and became a clerk in the firm of
James Millar & Co., who were not only commission merchants, but owners
and builders of ships. Four years afterwards he was admitted as a
partner, though as a junior, his identity was hidden under that
mysterious commercial incognito, sometimes a fact and sometimes a
fiction, but always a convenience, since it looks well as a pendant at
the end of a name. However, in the case under review, the seniors,
Messrs Millar and Edmonstone, possessed the unquestionable right to
flourish a "Co." after their joint autograph, as Mr. Hugh Allan
legally and by covenant represented the contraction. In 1838 Mr.
Millar died, and the "Co." expired too; for Mr. Allan emerged from his
chrysalis condition, and took a visible place as second in the firm of
Edmonstone & Allan; which in the course of time, if we recollect
aright, grew into Edmonstone, Allan & Co., and afterwards into Allans,
Rae & Co.; under which names the firm is now known. We may here
observe that although Mr. Hugh Allan had missed no opportunity of
qualifying himself for the particular pursuit on which his mind was
set, still when the Province was disquieted by the unhappy troubles
of 1837-38 he laid aside seamanship and shipbuilding, served as a
volunteer and rose to the rank of Captain.

In 1841 the re-united Province had subsided into a state of
comparative repose, and with the new order of things new wants, and
what is more to the point, ships of a new class were needed. Thus a
fair page in the book of experimental shipbuilding was opened, whose
lessons were not diminished in value because they included
requisitions to construct some notable steam vessels for lake and
river service. It will be thus seen that Mr. Hugh Allan was, perhaps
without being aware of it, educating himself for the position at which
he has since arrived. His connection with the shipping office at
Greenock had instructed him how to keep the accounts of ships. Under
the best, or at all events under the most interested of instructors,
he had acquired a knowledge of seamanship and navigation. Afterwards
he studied the structure of ships, and built them in accordance with
such study. Then he became the owner of ships; when his knowledge of
trade, acquired in the manipulation of dry goods, helped him to make
such ownership profitable. Knowledge and experience thus re-acted
favorably upon one another, supplying him with nerve and pluck "to
take the tide at the flood" when the enticing flood came. That it
flowed to fortune was to have been expected, and we shall just note
briefly the manner and direction of the drift.

In 1851 the problem had been established that screw steamers could be
used with success and safety on the Atlantic, and it at once occurred
to some of the acute minds of Canada that such steamers might be
employed in the mail and passenger service between Liverpool and the
St. Lawrence. Now as a volunteer in the Queens' service Mr. Hugh Allan
was never suspected of the unsoldierly habit of sleeping at his post.
Nor as a merchant, in his own service, has he ever been afflicted with
that kind of blindness which we shall call commercial ophthalmia. He
is thoroughly aware that "eternal vigilance" is the price of wealth
as well as "of liberty," and therefore he had no difficulty in seeing
what the Government of the day saw less clearly, that, in conjunction
with his brothers, he could undertake the contract for the
establishment of a line of such steamers, as the service and the
country required. The administration, however, thought otherwise, and
entered into an engagement with a Glasgow firm. The inability of this
firm to fulfil the contract became at once apparent. The effect of
such inability on the mind of Mr. Hugh Allan was not in the slightest
degree distressing, for, taking counsel with his brothers, they very
cheerfully set to work to build two screw steamers for the St.
Lawrence trade. Before these vessels had an opportunity of tasting the
flavor of Canadian waters they were chartered by the British
Government for the Black Sea, and we have no doubt they brought, as
they ought to have done, no small gain to their owners from that
quarter of the globe. With the advantage in hand of two steamers built
expressly for the route, with the further advantage of being able to
point to the utter failure of the contractors who had been preferred
before him, Mr. Hugh Allan was not without a strong case when the
question of a new contract was opened. Nor was he disappointed; for
the Canadian Government, and he as the representative of a company,
entered into engagements mutually binding, which we believe have been
mutually kept. A fortnightly service with four steamships was
commenced in the Spring of 1856, and was succeeded by a weekly service
in the spring of 1859, which we believe has been continued without
interruption to the present time.

The point of success at which "Allan's Line" has now arrived has not
been reached without the experience of almost unparalleled disaster,
disaster more afflictive than the loss of property alone. The Company
is, we are informed, its own insurer, and the pecuniary loss which the
calamities we have referred to involved, was almost, enough to have
dismayed a less resolute man than the subject of this sketch. He
probably felt that when misfortune comes in battalions it does not
come also in single files. As insurance companies are said to win
their largest profits after the occurrence of the greatest fires, so
Mr. Hugh Allan may have thought that seasons of almost uninterrupted
misfortune would in the case of his ships be followed by seasons of
unbroken success. Such floating palaces are immense responsibilities
to those who own and manage them, and especially to those who command
and navigate them, for they not only throb with the wealth of the mine
and the forge, but with warm, loving human hearts, dear alike to the
old world and the new. While the recollection of "the perils of the
deep" quickens one's pulse and makes one's pen falter, still, happily
for our nature, hope is more dominant than memory. The lessons of
experience have not been studied in vain, and we gather from present
success pleasant auguries of future safety. May "the sweet little
cherub" always sit up aloft and not only "look out for the life of
poor Jack," but "have an eye" also to the property of Jack's master.

Besides the "Mail Line" to which we have referred, "The Allans" own an
auxiliary Glasgow line of steamships, to say nothing of twenty-five
sailing vessels of an aggregate tonnage of 20,000 tons. As we are
informed, there are only three or four larger Companies of ship-owners
in the world. This is saying a great deal for the boy born at
Saltcoats, by the sea, who at all times and under all circumstances
kept the course which his father and he had marked out together on the
chart. All the bearings of that course inclined one way, and
terminated in the point at which he has successfully arrived. He
wished to be and he is an affluent owner of ships, and the chief
proprietor in a Company which keeps constantly employed no less than
three thousand men. He is also what he had less desire to be, the
President of the Merchants' Bank of Montreal, as well as, what it
should be very pleasant to be, one of the most influential members of
the moneyed community in the Commercial Metropolis of what the
Imperial Act informs us to be the DOMINION OF CANADA.

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE ULRIC JOSEPH TESSIER, LL.D.]




THE HONORABLE ULRIC JOSEPH TESSIER, LL.D.,

SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF CANADA.


The _Canadian Parliamentary Companion_ informs us that the Honorable
Ulric Joseph Tessier is the son of Michael Tessier, Esq., of Quebec,
and that he was born in that city, in the year 1817. A small matter of
detail, which has come to our knowledge, enables us to perfect the
information of _The Companion_. The event occurred on the 4th May, in
the above-mentioned year.

Young Tessier was educated at the Quebec Seminary, afterwards he
studied law, and was received as a Barrister of Lower Canada, in 1839.
The period at which he began to practice was, politically speaking, a
very interesting one; but the lesson which the events of that era
communicated to the even mind of the young advocate were, we incline
to think, as useful as they were practical. He saw that failure had
waited upon folly; and whatever may have been the inclination of his
sympathy, his judgment probably instructed him that the disabilities
of his countrymen could have been overcome without either failure or
violence; and the course of events has, we think, established the
accuracy of such opinion.

In 1845, and again in 1848, he was elected a member of the Quebec
corporation, and in 1851 he was unanimously chosen Mayor by the
aldermen and councillors, which office he filled until 1852. Those
seven years of civic duty were by no means idle years. The
information and experience which he acquired, though gained at a great
expenditure of time and labor, proved of much value to him. After the
terrible conflagrations in 1845, he acted as a member of the General
Committee of Relief, of which the Hon. Mr. Caron was the chairman. He
was for several years the chairman of the Finance Committee of the
corporation, the duties of which he must have fulfilled with singular
satisfaction, as no fault, to our recollection, was found with his
management.

Having served the Municipal Parliament with success, it was natural
enough that he should be requested to sit in the Provincial
Parliament. He consented to do so, and was returned for Portneuf, and
sat for that County from 1850 to 1853. The season of speculative
Legislation had set in and railway, mining and other joint stock
Companies were the attractions of the day. Corporations were
instructed by acts of Parliament how they could borrow money; and by
way of making such business easier, the Municipal Loan Fund of Upper
Canada was established. Though a young member and a young man, Mr.
Tessier regarded some of the above measures, and especially the one
last mentioned, with great disfavor, and spoke and voted against its
passage. His course at that time was very independent, and his votes
were given irrespective of party considerations. Neither, as we think,
need his present reflections on those proceedings give rise to regret,
for his conduct has we believe, elicited the approval of many who then
thought differently and gave currency to their opinions by voting as
they thought. On the dissolution of that Parliament, Mr. Tessier did
not offer himself for re-election. He abandoned politics for his
profession, to which for a while at least he gave his more immediate
attention. In 1854 he was elected President of the _Institut
Canadien_, and in the following year he received the appointment of
Professor of Law at the Laval University, which he still holds;
receiving at the same time, the honorary degree of LL.D. In 1857 he
declined an invitation to contest the county of Megantic; but he did
not feel at liberty to excuse himself when the Corporation asked him
to accompany the Mayor, Dr. Morrin, to England, to represent the
claims of Quebec, to be selected as the permanent seat of Government
for Canada. No doubt he and Dr. Morin as well as the delegates from
Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto, did their best for the cities by
which they were accredited, and in which they were respectively
interested; but it is amusing to note that Ottawa, the only competing
city which sent no delegate, was the city chosen. The eloquence of the
locality seemed at the time at least to have overruled all the
eloquence of individuals, for the silent city was precisely the city
that Her Majesty was pleased to honor with her choice.

In 1859 Mr. Tessier again entered political life, by becoming a
candidate to represent the Gulf Division in the Legislative Council.
This Division, besides being territorially the largest in the
Province, includes the County of Rimouski, where, in right of Mrs.
Tessier, who is the grand-daughter of the late Seignior of Rimouski
and Orleans, the subject of this sketch owns very extensive landed
estates. This fact, it may be conjectured, has given strength to his
personal influence, for he has been twice returned for the Division,
once by a majority of three thousand eight hundred and thirty, and
once by acclamation.

Mr. Tessier, as we have said, is not, strictly speaking, a party man.
He is thus enabled to give or withhold his support as the occasion, in
his judgment, may seem to require. This independent position can only
be taken by few; to assume it effectually, some accessories are highly
desirable, if not absolutely necessary. Besides a right judgment, easy
circumstances and a chronic balance in the bank are much to be wished
for. Happily, Mr. Tessier can very gracefully sustain the independent
character he has chosen. Belonging to neither of the two large parties
which divide Lower Canada, his co-operation is courted by both, while
his support is occasionally given to either. The principles of the
Whigs are not his principles; but the place which is filled in the
politics of England by that great governing party assimilates to the
place occupied by him and his friends in the politics of Canada. It is
the place of moderation, and therefore it is not unfrequently, and
especially in stormy times, the place of control. Mr. Tessier is not,
we incline to think, disposed to exaggerate the wisdom of majorities;
on the contrary he may occasionally agree with Grattan, "that rank
majorities may give a nation law, but rank majorities cannot give law
authority."

In 1862, in the formation of the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte
administration, Mr. Tessier accepted the office of Chief Commissioner
of Public Works, an office which has been described by some as the
grave of good reputations. What might have become of Mr. Tessier's
fame, had he remained in office sufficiently long, we are not called
upon to enquire. It is enough to say that it bore the short trial
without damage or loss, and that when he retired from the
administration in the following year, neither he nor his office, to
the best of our belief, suffered prejudice by reason of their
acquaintance with one another. During the greater part of the time in
which he formed a part of the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte
administration, and in consequence of the illness of his senior, the
Honorable James Morris, Mr. Tessier filled the post of leader of the
government in the Legislative Council; and the impression which he
made on the minds of members by his tact, temper and courtesy, were
acknowledged in the autumn of the same year, when he was unanimously
chosen as the Speaker of that Honorable House. It would not be proper
were the writer to pen one word on the way, whether gracious or
otherwise, in which Speakers preside over the deliberations of the
Legislative Council; but it may not be considered indecorous to
mention that those most competent to form an opinion on the subject,
namely, the members themselves, expressed their sense of Mr. Tessier's
services by giving him a complimentary banquet. The proceeding was as
marked as it was unusual, and in its unanimity it pleasantly
illustrated the force of an old adage that there are subjects on
which "Whigs and Tories all agree."

Mr. Tessier did not affect to conceal his approval of the principles
of Confederation, as enunciated in the Quebec resolutions. Though his
position of Speaker of the Legislative Council imposed silence upon
him during the discussion of that question in Parliament, many will
remember that he found the means of expressing his sentiments, and at
the same time of showing his sympathy with those by whom they were
shared, by giving a ball of marked significance to, and in honor of
the Delegates from the Maritime Provinces. Besides its political
meaning, the act was alike graceful and becoming, as the Division he
represents is the "next parish" to New Brunswick. It was therefore
only natural that a people, whom, politically, Mr. Tessier had found
to be good neighbors, should, as the occasion offered, become
personally his good friends.

Mr. Tessier possesses a calm and an even mind, as well as a courteous
and a conciliatory manner, qualities whose value cannot be too highly
prized by communities wherein a vigorous, and not unfrequently a noisy
democracy clamors for pre-eminence. Like seltzer water in champagne,
such influences qualify the effervescence without spoiling the wine.
We have found it more easy to indicate Mr. Tessier's party by a color
than by a name. We do not know, for example, whether, like a Tory, Mr.
Tessier regards the suffrage as a property to be acquired, or, like a
Whig, he accepts it as a trust to be administered, or like a Radical,
he insists that it is a right to be enjoyed; but we do know that,
regardless of distracting definitions, and apart from political
formulas and political parties, Mr. Tessier desires by every means
within his reach to consolidate the power of the Government, and to
promote the happiness of the people.

Though chiefly engaged in his professional pursuits and political
duties, he is no idler in his own community. For six years he has been
a member of the Board of Agriculture, and has done what he could to
popularize systematic and scientific culture in Lower Canada. In the
interests of commerce he was a chief promoter of _La Banque
Nationale_, and his services in this particular were recognized by his
being unanimously chosen the first President of that Bank. He is an
earnest advocate of the Intercolonial Railway, and by means of his
writings he has done something towards making its advantages apparent.
Nor have discussions on grave and economical subjects prevented his
devoting some attention to the lighter forms of literature. If we
mistake not, the _Repertoire National_ is indebted for some
contributions in the forms of novel or allegory to the subject of this
sketch. Mr. Tessier is neither a stoic of the woods nor an idler of
the town. In either place he is a worker. Extremes do not attract him;
he believes in the value of moderation, and he fashions his life in
accordance with this belief; for he requires not to be informed that

  Who grips too hard the dry and slippery sand,
  Holds none at all, or little, in his hand.

[Illustration: THE REVEREND ROBERT BURNS, D.D.]




THE REVEREND ROBERT BURNS, D.D.

PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN KNOX'S COLLEGE, CANADA WEST.


Whether the secession on the eighteenth of May, 1843, of the
"non-intrusion" members of the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland necessarily included a similar act in Canada, is a subject on
which we believe very great difference of opinion exists. There can be
no doubt that the question out of which the main issue arose must have
been in the highest degree moving to the Scottish mind, for Lord
Jeffery, who was probably more a politician than a theologian is
reported to have exclaimed within an hour after the event had taken
place, "Thank God, for my country, there is not another on earth where
such a deed could have been done." To others the same event must have
been exquisitely mournful; for a church broken into fragments is a
spectacle too sad for thankfulness. Underlying the popular question of
purity, there was in Scotland, much ill-concealed heat, some envy, and
a good deal of uncharitableness, which did not in an equal degree
extend to Canada. Moreover, men cannot keep their anger for ever; and
hence, as we are informed, there are now amongst us earnest Free
Church men who are as ardent for the union of the Scotch Church in
this Province as they were formerly clamorous for its separation.

Whether the Seceders in Canada needed that their zeal should be fired
with the enmities that had put Scotland in a blaze, we are unable to
say; neither do we know whether the more ardent of them took measures
to attract to this Province any of those meteoric luminaries who
labored for and brought about the disruption. All that we are able to
record is that two years afterwards one of the eloquent and
conspicuous advocates of the Free Church arrived in Canada in the
person of the subject of our sketch.

The Revd. Robert Burns, Doctor of Divinity, was born on the 13th
February, 1789, near the small seaport town of Borrowstowness on the
Firth of Forth. Having for nine years been a graduate of the
University of Edinburgh, he was, in the month of March, 1810, licensed
to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of that city. On the 19th of
July of the following year he was ordained a minister of the Church of
Scotland, and appointed to the charge of St. George's Church in what
is called the Low Parish of Paisley. In 1828, and during the tenure of
his ministry of thirty-four years in that Parish, he received from the
University of Glasgow the diploma of D.D. In 1843 he seceded from the
Church of Scotland, and in 1845 he determined his connection with his
congregation at Paisley and sailed for Canada. He had however
previously seen the Province, for in 1844 he was associated with
Principal Cunningham, the Reverend George Lewis, of Ormiston, and the
Reverend William Chalmers, now we believe of London, on a mission to
the United States and Canada in behalf of the building fund of the
Free Church. From 1845 to 1856 he was the minister of Knox's Church,
Toronto, and from the last mentioned year to 1866 he filled one of the
theological chairs of Knox's College, Toronto. Latterly he has been
relieved of one half of the duties of that chair by the temporary
appointment of acting Professors, and by the recent election of the
Revd. Professor Caven.

The Reverend Dr. Burns, besides being an earnest preacher, has also
been a diligent writer, and on subjects not wholly theological. In
1813 he made his bow in print as the author of an essay on the
propagation of Christianity in India. In 1817 he published a letter to
the Revd. Dr. Chalmers, then of Glasgow, "On the Distinctive Features
of Protestantism and Popery." In 1818 he published an octavo volume of
"Historical Dissertations on the Poor of Scotland," a work, as we have
been told, of considerable research, though it was, as we remember,
somewhat sneeringly criticised by the Doctor's clear-headed countryman
McCulloch. In 1824 his righteous soul was vexed by the appointment of
Principal Macfarlan of the Glasgow University to the High Church
Parish of that city. This double living on the part of the Principal
provoked the publication by the Doctor of a work "On Pluralities in
the Church of Scotland." Ten years afterwards he was summoned before a
Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the state
of Church Patronage in Scotland. His evidence on that occasion was
very elaborate, and fills a by no means unambitious place in the Blue
Books. In 1842 Dr. Burns published a life of Professor Macgill of
Glasgow, with sketches of the Church controversies of the time.

Besides these and other minor publications, Professor Burns patiently
devoted himself for nearly three years to the duty of editing a new
edition of "Wodrow's History of the sufferings of the Church of
Scotland" with a preliminary dissertation, a life of the author, and
many biographical and historical notes. Besides the interest which
attaches to the work itself, the editor in prosecuting his labors,
succeeded in literally rescuing from the dust, and the accumulated
neglect of a century, not fewer than fifty volumes of manuscripts more
or less valuable, and on subjects of curious interest. These volumes
for the most part were transferred to the Advocates Library at
Edinburgh, from which some valuable and many curious papers have been
published, including "The Analecta," in three volumes quarto, by the
Maitland Club, and "The Wodrow Correspondence," in three volumes
octavo, by the Wodrow Society. The discoveries to which we have
alluded appear to have produced their usual effect on the Professor's
mind. The taste of the antiquary underlied the habit of the divine,
and the combined influence of the two characters created a desire for
archæological research which was not destined to end in
disappointment. About this time he had access to some of those curious
nooks and crannies which are to be found in many of the old houses of
Scotland, and which in a very antique form seemed to abound in the
family residence of the Ardeers in Argyllshire. A large collection of
classical and a curious one of theological works was brought to light.
These books had formed a portion of the household stuff of a worthy
covenanter, an ancestor of the Warner family, who, a century and a
half before, had removed from Holland to Scotland. Whether the pious
covenanter found the books to be more profound than attractive we have
no means of knowing, but they had evidently been better cared for than
read, as they had lain untouched from the time of their arrival until
Professor Burns laid his disturbing finger upon them. Some of the
books have since found their way to the Library of Knox's College,
Toronto, but the greater part remain among the literary treasures of
the ancient family of Warner of Ardeer. Could the subject of this
sketch renew his youth, it is, we think, very probable that he would
make an effort to originate a crusade on the garrets and cellars of
the nobility and gentry of his native land, and from those suspected
depots of literary lore perchance discover materials of which the
Heralds' College knows nothing, for a new quartering to many an old
escutcheon. But in assuming the habit of an antiquarian crusader he
would by no means lay aside his character of a Christian missionary.
The auxiliary relish would not extinguish the higher taste, neither
would his efforts to add to the treasures of human wisdom abate one
jot from his exertions to increase the sum of human virtue. Professor
Burns, as we have been informed, was mainly instrumental in founding
"The Colonial Society of Glasgow," whose chief work was to send
ministers, school teachers and books to the British American
Provinces. From 1825 to 1840 he was chief Secretary to that Society,
and we may add it was not long after the last mentioned period that
his missionary longing took an active form, for he too became a
minister in those scenes which for fifteen years he had been
officially required to study and observe.

The law of conscience and the office of conscience, as exponents and
interpreters of divine truth, appear to receive from Professor Burns a
degree of respect which excites admiration even while it occasions
perplexity. Truth is immutable, but our ability to apprehend what is
true is limited, as well as unequal. Conscience is liable to
infirmity, and therefore what are called conscientious convictions may
be as much blemished with error as is the conscience from which they
spring. Intellectual caprice as well as moral persuasion; the fervor
of youth as well as the feebleness of age; the nature of our
education, the bias of our books, and the character of our friends are
among the numerous accidents which encompass our lives and give laws
to our consciences. The earnest minister of the old Kirk at Paisley,
for example, was doubtless as conscientious as was the same minister
in after life at the Free Church, at Toronto, and yet between those
periods there rolls a sea of religious separation, into which "the
humble men of heart" might be well excused if they dropped some silent
tears, since the storms of that sea have in part at least removed from
them that sense of peace which "passeth all understanding." The
unambitious scholar in the school of Christianity, if he do not wholly
turn aside in his weariness from all inquiry, will probably find his
comfort in the sublime sermon which was first preached on a Mountain
of Syria, and which included in its touching beatitudes the promise of
the divine adoption as their reward who promote peace.

Although Professor Burns is a minister of what has been termed the
"dreary piety" of the Covenant, he is by no means a dreary man. On
subjects polemical, we should in him look for a certain degree of
ready belligerence which might be refreshing, and would be pungent. We
should especially expect to see him incense his ecclesiastical chair
with a vigorous hand, if a mitre were to approach too close to its
cushions, or were the shadow of a crozier to pass between him and his
pupils. He conceals no part of his opinions, and while he directs his
special aversion towards Rome, he does not, we believe, allow his
love to glow at the mention of Canterbury. Local tradition, parental
example, education and social influences may have done much towards
moulding his thoughts, influencing his affections, and training his
aversions; yet they have done nothing towards destroying his
cheerfulness or abating his charity. He is not only a kind and a
genial man, but his personal benevolence is as proverbial as it is
systematic. "The love of money" is not one of his affections.

Though very aged, Professor Burns neither avoids the duties which are
required of him, nor shuns the work which men would excuse him for
shirking. He did, perhaps, more than any man towards the establishment
of Knox's College, and he now labors assiduously in the College which
he helped to found. Though he has no stated cure, he is always ready
and willing to preach wherever his services are required. Indeed, so
much is he impressed with the obligation which this duty entails,
that, as we are informed, he occupies his college vacations in going
from place to place, and preaching as often as eight and ten times in
the course of a week. As might be expected of such an one, his faculty
of memory is extraordinary, and it is particularly well furnished with
the facts of sacred and secular history.

Warm in temperament, strong in prejudice and fearless by habit, he is
we should think more quick than calm, more vehement than deliberative
when duty calls him to sit in Church Courts. As one of many, his
services in a General Assembly would be of more value than were he to
sit alone on the judgment seat. In one case, his judgment is qualified
and controlled by associates; in the other he would have only an
opportunity of taking counsel of himself. His glowing temperment may
be supposed to need those constitutional restraints to which Solomon
alludes when he says "in the multitude of counsellors there is
safety."

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE WILLIAM HAMILTON MERRITT]




THE HONORABLE WILLIAM HAMILTON MERRITT.

ST. CATHARINES, UPPER CANADA.


The Honorable William Hamilton Merritt was truly regarded as a
remarkable man. His opinions were striking alike for their merit and
their contrariety; and though sometimes paradoxical, they were
generally attractive, and were always in harmony with his character.
His heart and feelings, for example, were ardently British, while his
manner and style of thought were eminently American. On questions of
allegiance he knew no wavering; on questions of progress he knew no
rest. On his duty to his Sovereign he did not permit himself to
reason; on his duty to his Country he reasoned overmuch. In one aspect
his course was silent, and pointed like the needle to the pole; in
another it was restless, as if overwrought by exertion, or shaken by
fatigue. His intellectual vagaries stood in the way of his leading
men, while the peculiar independence of his perceptions prevented his
following them; but though he might fail to control others he would
not on that account cease to govern himself. He began life by
anticipating the period of his own existence, for, as we learn, he
discovered an impatience to glimpse, as an infant, the land whose
topography and institutions he subsequently studied as a man; for, on
the 3rd July, 1793, he inconsiderately made his appearance in the
flesh at Winchester in the State of New York, when his parents were
journeying from one British Province to another. In doing so, he
incidentally paid the country which they had disowned, and against
which he subsequently fought, the neat compliment of being born within
its borders. He drew his first and we may add his last breath on a
journey, for he died in the state room of a steam vessel as he was
passing through one of those grand artificial estuaries which mainly
owe their existence in Canada to his energy and perseverance.

William Hamilton Merritt was the only son of Mr. Thomas Merritt, of
Winchester County in the State of New York, a Royalist of the
revolutionary time, and a Cornet in the Queen's Ranger Hussars. In
1781 this gentleman married a young lady of Charleston, South
Carolina, who was beset with the desire to add "Merritt" to her pretty
maiden names of Mary Hamilton. When her son was baptized, the names
she had prized as a spinster, and pinned together as a wife, were
blended anew, and in due season, with added honors, were transmitted
by that son to another generation. In 1783 Mr. Thomas Merritt, with
other Royalists, left the United States for New Brunswick, and ten
years afterwards he with his family, removed from thence to Canada.
After their arrival in this Province, young Merritt was sent to a
school under the charge of Mr. Richard Cockle, at Ancaster, and
afterwards to the Reverend Dr. Burns at Niagara. In 1808 he was
entered as an undergraduate of Windsor College, Nova Scotia, where,
unfortunately as we think, he remained but a short time. He left at
the request of his uncle Mr. N. Merritt, to undertake the duties of
supercargo in a vessel bound for the West Indies. His father, Mr.
Thomas Merritt, appears to have been a gentleman of influence and
consideration, for, in the year 1800, he received the appointment of
Surveyor of Woods and Forests in Upper Canada, and three years
afterwards that of High Sheriff of the Niagara District, which he
retained until 1820. In 1812 he received a commission as a Major of
Cavalry, and saw service in the war of that time.

To return to the career of his son. In 1810, on completing his
engagement with his uncle, he returned to Canada. On 25th May, 1811,
he received from Governor Gore a commission of Ensign in the Fourth
Lincoln Militia. On 24th April, 1812, he was appointed by General
Brock, a Lieutenant of the first troop of Niagara Light Dragoons, and
in the following year he received his commission of Captain from Sir
Roger Hailles Sheaffe. He was present with General Brock at the
surrender of Detroit, for which he had a medal, and, besides
participating in almost all the stirring events on the Niagara
frontier, he was engaged at the battles of Queenston, Stoney Creek,
and Lundy's Lane, at the last mentioned of which he was made prisoner.
In a Journal of Events kept by him during the war, and published in
1863, there are many interesting notes. Having in the first instance
been disappointed in his expectation of being called on to raise a
troop of Cavalry, he, on the 25th February, 1813, "went quietly home,
entered into a contract for timber, and made more money in a week than
he had done during the war." His gains seem to have put him in good
spirits, for he adds: "I made a peace, the ensuing spring, in my own
warm imagination." However the dream of peace was but of short
duration, for General Vincent, then in command, commissioned him to
raise a troop. The order was issued on the 11th of March, and on the
25th of that month his troop was reported for duty. Captain Merritt
appears to have possessed a more than ordinary share of coolness and
address. After the battle of Stoney Creek, for example, he was desired
by Colonel Harvey to return to the field, and if possible find
Major-General Vincent, who was supposed to be dead or wounded. "Whilst
I was looking over the dead," he writes, "I was challenged by a sentry
under old Gage's house. I was on the point of surrendering, as my
pistols were in my hostlers, when I adopted the stratagem of inquiring
in a peremptory tone, "Who placed you there?" at the same time I rode
boldly up to the soldier. By my blue military coat he took me for one
of his own party, and answered, "My Captain, who has just gone into
the house with a party of men." "I then enquired if he had found the
British General, and pulled out my pistol, which made him drop his
gun. At that moment an unarmed man ran down the hill; I called him,
when I had the good fortune to secure both and bring them off." "By my
dress," he adds, "they took me for one of their own officers. The
stratagem had succeeded once before, or I should not have thought of
it." It was, he might have added, a new illustration of an old
proverb, that "fortune favors the bold." At the battle of Lundy's
Lane, having carried out some directions of Major Robinson's, for the
recapture of the gallant Major-General Riall, who had been taken
prisoner by the Americans, Captain Merritt got too close to and became
entangled with the enemy, and was made prisoner by a party of soldiers
of the 28th regiment. He was sent with fourteen officers, including
Major-General Riall, and Captains Loring, Nelles, McLean, and
Washbourne, to Schlosser.

The Journal, during this period, is neither a record of war nor a
confession of misery. On the contrary, the discipline of restraint
seems to have been attended with very exhilarating accompaniments, and
as it turned out, with very important results. Cricket, in the
day-time, when the weather was fine, and billiards when it was wet,
followed by social junketings, or set balls in the evening, seem to
have been the daily routine. The Journal narrates with evident
approval, that the British captives very successfully cut out their
American gaolers in the estimation of "the girls." Our hero, by the
way, appears to have had an appreciative eye for "the girls," for we
find two or three entries in the following style: "Part of our company
went to church, heard a Baptist Minister preach. His discourse was on
everything; could not comprehend his meaning; an abundance of fine
girls there." On another occasion, we read: "Church in the morning,
the Elder's sermon not very edifying, a large concourse of people,
many beautiful girls." This discipline of bad sermons and beautiful
girls, of things painful to the intellect and pleasant to the sense,
appears to have resulted in the usual way. The doctrine of the
preacher was treated as a puzzle, and given up, while the listener
pleasantly resigned himself to a style of tuition which was apparently
more agreeable and certainly more natural than the discourses of the
Baptist Elder. As an apparent result of the influence of "the girls,"
we learn that on a particular day the imprisoned Captain drew a bill
on George Platt, Esq., of Montreal, for £50, and in the evening
supped, "by accident," with Dr. Prendergast, ("afterwards my
father-in-law,") the journal parenthentically adds. We are not informed
who besides the Doctor was present at the accidental supper, but the
words within brackets, coupled with some transactions which occurred
on the following day, and which are thus narrated, "I got some clothes
and toggery," go far towards filling up the hiatus. The entry about
"clothes and toggery" is sententious in the extreme, and suggests on
the part of the writer a settled determination to crown the accident
with what disagreeable bachelors in their ignorance call a "calamity."
The form of reprisal however, to which the "clothes and toggery" led
had the advantage of being classical as well as poetical. Perhaps it
was somewhat Sabinian in its nature, but it was Sabinianism purified
and made picturesque by religion and civilization. From the place of
his unwilling captivity, and without any apparent difficulty, he bore
a willing captive home; for she who had met him by accident, as the
enemy of her country, designedly and on deliberation, elected to live
her life with him, and to accept him for her husband, irrespective of
the risk of becoming, as she did become in due time, the mother of a
large family of British subjects. The Journal of Events ends thus:
"All the prisoners got their freedom by the closing of the war." Mr.
Merritt reached home about the end of March, 1815, but not alone, as
another register informs us. The "clothes and toggery," the suspicious
successors of the "accidental supper," and the "chance-meeting with
his father-in-law," had been turned to excellent uses; for, on the
13th of that month the released prisoner changed the form of his
bondage by marrying "Catharine Prendergast," the only daughter of
Doctor Prendergast of Mayville, in the State of New York.

The war had closed, but it was not difficult for our young dragoon to
lay aside his sabre and to resume the more lucrative occupations of
peace. On his arrival at St. Catharines, he commenced business as a
merchant in partnership with the late Mr. Ingersoll, of that town. In
the following year, while erecting mills on the Twelve Mile Creek, he
discovered that the water was salt, whereupon, as we are informed, he
sank a well, and established a salt manufactory, which he carried on
for some years. It was while thus engaged that the idea of connecting
lakes Erie and Ontario by means of a canal occurred to him. The
advantage of such a work was sufficiently apparent. Was it
practicable, and how might it be accomplished? were the only questions
to consider. Though an unimpassioned enthusiast, the subject of this
sketch was a persistent enthusiast; he was moreover, a calculating,
sagacious and hopeful one, endowed with great shrewdness and singular
common sense. In his character, he was dogged and determined; no
discouragement could appal, and no opposition could intimidate him.
For five years, from 1818 to 1823, he thoughtfully pondered over the
grand project. Again and again, and at all seasons he traversed the
country with a view to discover the most eligible route for the work,
and it was only at the end of this apprenticeship of thought, that he
communicated the result of his observations to Mr. Hiram Tibbetts, a
surveyor and engineer, from whom he obtained a professional report of
the country lying between the Chippawa river and the waters running
into lake Ontario. On the 19th of June, 1824, "Geo. Keefer, Thomas
Merritt, George Adams, William Chisholm, Joseph Smith, Paul Shipman,
John Decow, William Hamilton Merritt, and others" were incorporated by
act of Parliament, under the name of the "Welland Canal Company,"
with a capital of £40,000; divided into shares of £12 10s. each. The
stock was subscribed and the work was commenced on the 30th November
of the same year; and though much embarrassed by want of means,
hindered by accidents and obstructed by opposition, the prosecution of
that work was not discontinued for a single day for the space of five
years, nor until the canal was sufficiently completed for two vessels
to pass from lake to lake. Such was the modest commencement of an
undertaking which was destined to connect and utilize the inland seas
of North America; to perfect the navigation of the most beautiful
among the magnificent rivers of the world; and to place the name of
its projector on the roll of honor with the names of men great and
illustrious, who have succeeded in rectifying some of the vagaries of
nature and of bending their caprice to the laws of art.

From an interesting report of the first directors, written, it is
said, by the present Bishop of Toronto, and presented to His
Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
Canada in 1825, we shall make one or two extracts. After speaking of
the route selected, and adding words of compliment to Mr. Merritt for
the ardour with which he pursued his object, the report goes on to
explain in the following words the wonderful results the work was
calculated to effect.

     Darby, one of the most faithful of geographers, who never
     published a map until he had traversed on foot the country which
     it represents; estimates the Valley of the St. Lawrence above the
     Falls of Niagara, exclusive of the Lakes, at 186,700 square
     miles, to which we may add the Valley of the Ohio containing
     226,000 square miles when the canal now cutting between that
     river and Lake Erie shall be finished. Thus the commercial
     intercourse between the sea, and upwards of 400,000 square miles
     of fertile land, must pass through the Welland Canal or the
     smaller one belonging to the State of New York. When this fact is
     considered, the first idea that strikes us is the impossibility
     that the produce of countries so vastly extensive can pass
     through these two Canals, and the necessity that must soon arise
     for opening other communications to meet the increase of
     commerce; but as no other can be made with any prospect of
     success except by the straits of Niagara, the Welland Canal need
     fear no competition. The reader will have a more distinct
     conception of the magnitude of the intercourse that soon must be
     carried on through these two Canals by supposing Great Britain,
     Spain, France and Germany to be so situated that all their
     intercourse with other nations must come through one narrow
     valley admitting only two or three convenient Roads or Canals.
     Such a supposition gives a vivid image of what must be the case
     at the straits which divide Lake Erie from Lake Ontario, and will
     enable us to form some estimate of the ships and boats that must
     pass through these Canals bearing the riches of the Western World
     to the Atlantic Ocean. Nor are these countries in a state of
     nature, and without inhabitants; they are indeed thinly peopled
     in proportion to their extent, but nearly three millions are
     scattered over them; and from the known rapidity of the increase
     of population in new countries, the period is at hand when the
     quantities of produce will be so great as to compel an
     enlargement of the present dimensions of the canal, great and
     magnificent as they are.

     It has been found from experience that when Agricultural produce
     has to be carted one hundred and thirty miles it ceases to be
     worth raising, as the expense of bringing it (a barrel of flour
     for example) so far, added to that of raising it, exceeds or
     equals what can be obtained for it in the market; hence, at this
     distance a check is put upon Agriculture and the improvement of
     any country. It has also been found that water communication,
     such as that which the Welland Canal opens, is to land carriage
     as 1 to 25, consequently commodities can be conveyed by Canal and
     Lake navigation 3,250 miles as cheaply as one hundred and thirty
     by cartage. But as one hundred and thirty miles of land carriage
     ceases to be profitable, let us take the limit of 100 miles at
     which a positive advantage accrues, and then a ton will be
     carried by water 2500 miles at the same rate at which you can
     wagon it 100 miles. In applying these facts, deduced from
     experience, to North America, we see the certainty of improving
     countries which, but for this, must for ever have remained in a
     state of nature, totally inaccessible to civilized man; and
     discover grounds for believing that all the productions of the
     Upper Valley of the Mississippi, the settlement of which is now
     commencing, will be conveyed to the Ocean by the Welland Canal,
     thus opening a further extent of country of 225,000 square miles.

     Again the report adds, "No work in Europe or in Asia, ancient or
     modern, will bear a comparison with it in usefulness to an equal
     extent of territory, and it will only yield to the Canal which
     may hereafter unite the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean through
     the Isthmus of Darien."

Having thus accomplished the grand achievement of flanking the Falls
of Niagara, the difficulty was a minor one of outmanœuvring the rapids
of the St. Lawrence by building canals abreast of their wild and
irresistible waters. In 1832 Mr. Merritt introduced a report having
for its object the construction of Ship Canals along the St. Lawrence.
We need only add that by whomsoever suggested, the project has long
since been carried out.

In 1845 he projected the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, which was
successfully built, and he continued to be the President of the
Company until his death. In 1847, he obtained a charter for the
incorporation of the Welland Railway Company, which by his great
exertions and the lavish expenditure of his private means was opened
for traffic two years afterwards. In his later years he endeavored to
promote the establishment of a line of Propellers between Chicago and
Quebec with a view to divert a portion of the Western trade through
Canada viâ the St. Lawrence, instead of through the United States viâ
New York as at present. In 1846 he pointed out the effect of the trade
measures of the British Government on the trade of Canada, and
suggested in common with other writers, the remedy which in the shape
of the Reciprocity Treaty was applied in 1854.

Mr. Merritt first sat in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for
the County of Haldimand in 1832. After the reunion of the two
Provinces, he was returned for Lincoln, for which County he continued
to sit until 1860, when he was unanimously elected to represent the
Niagara Division in the Legislative Council. On the 15th September,
1848, he accepted the office of President of the Council in the
Lafontaine-Baldwin administration. On the 9th April, 1850, he was
appointed Chief Commissioner of Public Works, which office he resigned
on the 11th of February following, when he retired from the
government. Mr. Merritt was probably never less happy as a public man
than when, as a member of the Provincial Administration, he was
burdened with responsibility. The restraints of office were, we
incline to think, in the last degree irksome to him. He had accustomed
himself to speak when he liked, to say what he thought, and to do as
he pleased; and the obligation, therefore, of speaking by the card and
in accordance with the decisions of Council, must have been as new to
his experience as it was foreign to his taste. Few who had observed
his previous career imagined that he would be able to stand the
discipline; and the chief surprise his retirement occasioned was that
it did not take place sooner. Those who most admired him doubted
whether he would find his colleagues in the government an applauding
auditory, or the Executive Council a congenial place for airing
successfully some of his peculiar crotchets on government, currency
and finance; crochets by which he had, as we think, impaired the
influence of his grander and more statesmanlike views on the subjects
of progress and improvement, and their relation to the almost
inexhaustible resources of Canada. The truth seems to have been that
the subject of this sketch was neither a party man nor a politician in
the exact sense of those terms. Government as a science had, as we
conjecture, been but slightly studied by him. His popularity sprang
from his independence, his purity of character, and from the practical
nature of his aims. Those who most differed from him never questioned
the honesty of his intentions or the sincerity of his views. His
constituents never wavered in their support of him; and the
Legislature, of which he was for so long a member, was always proud of
him. He was naturally and constitutionally a grave and monotonous
speaker; and this gravity and monotony of tone were necessarily
increased because the subjects on which he mostly spoke, were
statistical or financial, and included a constant reference to dates
and figures. Though men were neither subdued by his oratory, nor
charmed by his manner, they respected his truth and moderation.
Occasionally they were swayed by his earnestness, if not carried away
by the force and charm of his own convictions. He was an upright man,
whom in life all men admired; and we may add, without misplaced
eulogy, that he was a good man, whom in death all men mourned. He
expired on Sunday, the 6th July, 1862, when returning home on board of
the Steamer Champion, as she was passing upwards through one of the
St. Lawrence Canals. Such a place was by no means unsuited to be the
place of his death.

It is difficult to close a necessarily brief and imperfect sketch of
the life of one who did so much not only for Canada but for the
Empire, without feeling acute regret that his great services should
have received no recognition, that no rill from the fountain of honor
should have flowed towards him, or that his loyal breast should have
been lightened with no mark of his Sovereign's favor. The works which
he projected have received the encomiums of successive Governors, and
were deemed of importance sufficient to justify for their completion
the money and credit of the British nation. Moreover they are now used
to pass the war ships of England to the very wilds of America. The
Canals of Languedoc or those which have made memorable the title of
Bridgewater, and the name of Dewitt Clinton, are mere puny shreds and
ribbon-like rills of water, small in themselves, and insignificant in
their uses as compared with the magnificent work that William Hamilton
Merritt projected; for the Welland Canal connects the inland seas of
North America, and, for the purposes of commerce, unites in one basin
half the fresh water in our globe. We know not what epitaph may be
written on his gravestone, in the quiet churchyard of St. Catharines;
but we do know that whether the Legislature of his country does or
does not give him a monument in some way expressive of his worth and
her gratitude, that magnificent stream-way, and those grand locks
which unite the upper with the lower lakes, will be no mean memorial
to his genius and his greatness. Trade and agriculture, commerce and
navigation, unquestionably owe him tribute; for the increase in the
value of the products of the soil, and the consequent increase in
wealth of the people residing west of the great Cataract, are in no
small degree attributable to him. Let us test the fact by what we
might see on a summer's day. Behold that ship, for instance, equipped
for ocean service, some leviathan of the lakes, fair in her
proportions, and wonderful in her capacity. She hails from one of
those famous inland cities, which, in recent years, have arisen as if
by magic in Western America. She is bound, it matters not whither, it
may be for the Maritime Provinces, or it may be for some port in the
China seas. She has gracefully descended from her fresh water throne
of nearly seven hundred feet above the level of the sea. She has been
navigated with safety through the angry waters of lake Erie, she has
brushed the first rapid, and sighted the distant foam of Niagara, and
then having glided into the peaceful harborage of the Welland, she has
been daintily lowered, by human aid, down crystal steps whose setting
of massive masonry has been exactly adjusted to her use. See her move
silently along the liquid pathway, which art has contrived, until,
freed from all thrall, she reaches the level of the ocean. Then see
her spread her white wings and direct her course to lands as strange
as their people are foreign. Such a sight suggests many reflections,
but in connection with the subject of this sketch, it provokes one
moral. The Atlantic Telegraph, for example, was a wonderful extension
of applied science. The Welland Canal, in like manner, is, in fact,
and we believe in capacity, a wonderful developement of experimental
art. In neither case was a new principle discovered. Each in its way
represents progress. Inland experiences in both instances were applied
to the ocean, and in both instances with success. The difference
begins where the parallel ends. Upon those who completed the
Telegraph, honors and titles descended with lavish prodigality. Upon
him who projected, and for practical purposes carried out a greater
and more important work, there fell no bright beam of royal
benevolence. Happily, such considerations, taking their rise in slight
or in forgetfulness, did not affect his conduct. The Honorable William
Hamilton Merritt gave his services to his country. He consecrated his
life to action. In action, or in other words, in duty, he found his
happiness, and, let us hope, his reward.

  "Act! for in action are wisdom and glory,
    Fame, immortality--these are its crown;
  Wouldst thou illumine the table of story,
    Build in achievements thy claim to renown."

[Illustration: COLONEL THE HON. SIR ALLEN NAPIER MACNAB, BART.]




COLONEL THE HON. SIR ALLEN NAPIER MACNAB, BART.,

AIDE-DE-CAMP TO HER MAJESTY, AND SPEAKER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF
CANADA.


  Let to-morrow take care of to-morrow,
    Leave the things of the future to fate;
  What's the use to anticipate sorrow?
    Life's troubles come never too late.
  If to hope over much be an error,
    'Tis one that the wise have preferred;
  And how often have hearts been in terror
    Of evils--that never occurred!

On the 25th of April, 1813, an American squadron of sixteen sail,
conveying a land force of 2,500 men, left Sackett's Harbor for the
invasion of Canada. We shall make use of Colonel Coffin's graphic
description of the event, as narrated in his interesting Chronicle of
the War of 1812, for it will introduce us to the subject of this
sketch in the character in which he is most racily remembered.

     "Videttes had been long before posted in constant watch on
     Scarborough Heights, with orders to fire alarm guns, and on sight
     of a hostile fleet to ride into town. It was late on the evening
     of the 26th of April, when the first report hushed every voice,
     and stilled for a moment the startled hearts of a whole
     population.

     "Night fell as the news arrived, and with it came hurry,
     confusion and dismay. We read of such things, and in the interest
     of the story lose sight of the agony of the hour when the tide of
     terror topples over the dyke which has sustained it so long, and
     drowns out human endurance, sense and reason. Whatever may have
     been the conjectures and preparation, whatever the hopes and
     fears, it is a tremendous thing to realize that the spoiler is at
     the door.

     "But the men of Toronto paused not long to whisper, nor could
     white lips be said to be in any way prevalent. The bounding flood
     stood still for an instant only. Men who saw the whole extent of
     their danger, who knew the importance of defence, also knew their
     duty; and every pulse of the popular heart throbbed with the rage
     of resistance. Old and young, rich and poor, high and low rushed
     to arms. The maimed, the wounded, the invalid, the reckless
     school boy, the grave Judge of the land, all shouldered their
     muskets and fell into the ranks. McLean, Clerk of the House of
     Assembly, seized his rifle and was killed at early dawn among the
     men of the 8th. Young Allan MacNab, a lad of fourteen years,
     whose name has ever since been identified with Canadian story,
     stood side by side with a veteran father shattered with wounds,
     sire and son equally eager for the fray."

Before we leave Toronto and accompany what were left of the six
hundred men of all arms, under Major-General Sir Roger Hailles
Sheaffe, on the retreat to Kingston, it may be desirable to make one
or two notes of the race with which the lad of fourteen and his
veteran father were blended. From the historical records of the old
"Black Watch," or 42nd Royal Highlanders, we learn, that on its
organization in 1739, the list of officers of that regiment included
the name of Ensign Archibald MacNab, "son of the Laird of MacNab." In
what degree he was related to Robert MacNab, a captain in that
distinguished corps, and who must have joined it soon afterwards, we
shall not wait to enquire. It is enough to state that the latter was
cousin-german to John MacNab, of MacNab, that he married Mary Stuart,
of Ardvorlick, and had issue, Allan, the father of the subject of this
sketch. Robert MacNab was the proprietor of a small estate on the
borders of Loch Earn, in Perthshire, called Dundurn. This name his
grandson, with commendable taste transferred to Canada when he built
his well known residence at Hamilton. Whether Robert MacNab was
present at those memorable actions in which his regiment was engaged
on the continent of Europe, we are unable to say; but it seems highly
probable that he accompanied it in the spring of 1756, when it was
ordered the second time to America. Therefore, he may have been at
Ticonderoga in 1758, and also at Montreal in 1760, when the Marquis de
Vaudreuil surrendered the Province to the British arms. The regiment
continued to be quartered in the British Provinces until 1767, when it
was sent to Ireland. Many of the men were transferred to other corps,
others were discharged, and settled in the country. Whether the
settlers included any of the officers we are unable to say; but it may
be assumed that Robert MacNab inclined the destination of his son
Allan, who availed himself of the occasion which the revolutionary war
offered to transfer his services from the third regiment of dragoons
in which he held the commission of Lieutenant to the Queen's Ranger
Hussars, at that time recruited in America, by Colonel, afterwards
Lieutenant-General Simcoe, by whom he was so highly esteemed, as to be
selected for that General's principal aid-de-camp. We have no
information of his career from the time when the Queen's Ranger
Hussars were disbanded, to the time when Lieut.-General Simcoe arrived
as the first Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, except that during that
period he performed one important part of a settler's duty by marrying
the youngest daughter of Captain William Napier, commissioner of the
port and harbor of Quebec. On the arrival of Lieut.-General Simcoe, he
removed his residence to Upper Canada, probably to the town of Newark,
now Niagara, its first capital; as it was there, on the 19th February
1798, that his son, Allan Napier MacNab, was born.

After residing some time at Niagara, the family removed to the new
capital, where they permanently established themselves; for it was at
York, now Toronto, that Mr. Allan MacNab, an officer of the
revolutionary war, on the half-pay of his rank, was also a salaried
clerk under Mr. Jarvis, the Provincial Secretary.

Such appears to have been the modest condition of the family on that
unforgotten 26th April, 1813, when father and son, the man from his
letters, and the boy from his sums, stood shoulder to shoulder, and
with the small regular and militia force of that day sought with the
heroism of devotion to fulfil the duty of despair, and defend, or
attempt to defend a place that was known to be utterly defenceless.
It is not difficult to imagine that thin red line, as, on the 27th
April, 1813, it fell slowly back from position to position until it
received the order for retreat. We can see it retiring like a stag at
bay, with "foot to the field and face to the foe." We can fancy the
march on that spring morning, over the marshy broken road which formed
the eastern outlet of what was once called "Muddy Little York."
Whatever shivering the flesh was called upon to bear, there was no
ague of the spirit. The breasts of those brave soldiers were as hot as
revenge could make them. Their spirit was unvanquished, their hope
undimmed, and their faith unsubdued. Their talisman and their trust,
the triple-crossed flag, still floated over them. Like true men they
felt the magic of its blazonry, and blessed the breezes which kissed
it so kindly. It was their, it is

  "Our glorious SEMPER EADEM, the banner of our pride."

This is not the place to criticise a movement or to bewail a
sacrifice. The error of the General, if it were an error, only added
to the glory of the troops. Though a miserable exhibition of war, it
was a magnificent display of heroism. Whatever may be thought of Sir
Roger Hailles Sheaffe as a commander, no one will question his courage
as a soldier, or fail to recognize the skill and address with which he
almost paralyzed the enemy in the very hour of victory. The garrison
and works, which were the prime objects to be acquired, were scarcely
possessed by the assailants when the magazine was exploded, and thus
the goal of victory became the grave of the victors. In the very flush
of their triumph, two hundred and fifty of their number, including
their gallant commander, were in one moment killed or wounded.

Having accomplished the march from York to Kingston, young MacNab,
through the influence of Sir Roger Sheaffe, entered the Royal Navy,
and was rated as a midshipman in the Commodore's ship. In this
character he accompanied Sir James Yeo on his expedition against
Sackett's Harbor, as well as to other places on the south side of Lake
Ontario. Lake and river service however did not satisfy him; he wished
for employment on shore. Therefore he left the navy, and as a
volunteer joined the 100th regiment under Colonel Murray. For his
gallantry as one of the advanced guard at the storming and capture of
Fort Niagara, he received an Ensign's commission in the 49th regiment.
He was with Major-General Riall at Fort Erie, and accompanied him in
his retaliatory attack upon the towns of Black Rock and Buffalo. After
the termination of the campaign for that season on the Niagara
Frontier, he joined his regiment at Montreal, and was present with it
at the affair of Plattsburg, on which occasion he commanded the
advanced guard at the Saranac Bridge. On the reduction of the army, at
the close of the war, he was placed on half-pay.

We have never heard that Allan Napier MacNab was very remarkable for
proficiency at school, and we incline to think that the new duties to
which a state of warfare had introduced him were but ill adapted to
increase such proficiency. But as those duties were of a robust kind,
they were better suited to his character and more consonant with his
plan of life than was the school career he had suddenly and we may add
permanently abandoned. But though his education was necessarily
slender, though he possessed but little learning, and discovered no
marked aptitude for steady work, still his stock of common sense was
large, his natural abilities were excellent, and his power of
observation extraordinary. With such endowments and inclinations,
young MacNab determined to qualify himself by a term of service, if in
no other respect, for the profession of the law. He was articled in
the first instance to the Honorable D'Arcy Boulton, at that time
Attorney-General for Upper Canada, but we believe he did not finish
his time with him. His principals, whoever they may have been, must
have shown indulgence to their pupil, as the latter, during the
currency of his indentures, was regularly employed as an engrossing
clerk, and clerk of the journals, in the office of the House of
Assembly. In that office he had the reputation of being an exceedingly
agreeable companion, and, what was more to the purpose, of writing a
remarkably good hand. The taste for study which war and his early
removal from school had interrupted, did not return to him. Though a
diligent, as well as a successful practitioner, those who had the best
opportunity of observing him were surprised at the scantiness of his
learning, and his want of familiarity with books. If, however, the
studious habit, which is necessary for lawyers, and which is commonly
looked for in those who aspire to the character of statesmen, was
almost wholly wanting, he possessed many compensating qualities which,
though in a lower degree, are nearly as requisite in a public man as
the qualities he lacked. To a soldierly frankness of demeanor, suited
to the martial tastes which he more especially affected, there were
added numerous physical advantages whose influence can scarcely be
exaggerated. Like the milkmaid in the ballad, "his face was his
fortune." His figure too was on excellent terms with his face. He
possessed a handsome person, a dignified manner, a graceful address,
and a voice pleasantly attuned to the pitch of heartiness in which
truth commonly finds expression. In his youth he indulged the
privilege of youth, for he not only rejoiced in his strength, but he
had great strength to rejoice in. He was courageous and active, bold
and outspoken, with a hand to vindicate what his tongue uttered. No
difficulty deterred him, and no labor distressed him, for he possessed
audacity enough to grapple with the one, and determination enough to
overcome the other. He was generous alike in his thoughts and in his
actions; he put confidence in others, and never lacked confidence in
himself. The deficiencies of knowledge were supplied by tact; and when
the latter was unequal to the duty, there remained some convenient
covering qualities to fall back upon in the forms of temerity, and a
stock fund of racy assurance, which, though of little actual worth to
ordinary men, were turned to noteworthy account through the adroitness
of one who certainly was not an ordinary man. Thus his unequalled
self-possession, or what the historical woman who was privileged to
sell oranges within the walls of the parliament building, called his
"pretty impudence," became powers, when the same auxiliaries in abler
men would have proved impediments. He trusted more to address that
experience had improved, than to knowledge which taste had not
cultivated. He did not darken counsel with any originality of
argument, or embarrass his judgment with any superfluity of reasoning.
He sought to carry his point as a statesman, in the same way in which
he had carried positions as a soldier. The military bearing, the free
speech, and the strong hand which had befriended him in his youth,
were not abandoned in his prime. Arguments which might be best
exemplified in action, were precisely those which he was most skilful
in using. He knew wherein he excelled, and wherein he did not excel;
and this self-knowledge instructed him that there was a time to be
silent as well as a time to speak, a time when ignorance could be
pleasantly concealed by an eloquent gesture or an expressive wink, but
when it might be uncomfortably exposed by more intelligible language.
Silence was valuable as the casket is valuable, because it was
regarded as the covering of something sufficiently precious to justify
for its concealment a costly enclosure. With such powers were
prominently allied one unquestionable peculiarity, the offspring alike
of temperament and of genius. He rarely saw difficulties, and he never
deemed them to be insurmountable. His instinct seemed to inform him
how they could be overcome, even when he was not able to explain by
what process. This bright faculty of always seeing an untroubled
horizon, of being able to trust in his luck when he could not rely on
his calculations, enabled him to gain the confidence, and in a
wonderful degree to influence the course of men who were certainly his
superiors in all else than in what we may describe as force of
character. But with these natural talents, popular manners, and a
determined will, there were associated embarrassing tastes--tastes
which, though too exhaustive for his means, seemed to be essential to
his happiness. His nature was wrought of sunshine and geniality. It
was his custom to say, "that he had lived every day of his life;" and
no one would have challenged his statement, had he added that he
frequently forestalled to-morrow that he might enjoy to-day. The
inconvenience of such a practice was, there is reason to believe, very
sensibly felt by him throughout life; but at the outset of his career
his generous and jovial disposition aided the determination which
incidentally made him what he was. He left Toronto sated, if not
satisfied, with his residence there. In turning his back on the
journal office of the House of Assembly, and on the clerks with whom
he had been associated, he may perchance even then have seen lights in
the future which, like those auguries of fame which are said to visit
the wise, instructed him of a time not very remote when he would
preside over the Assembly, in whose office he had served, and control
the body for which he had been obliged to work.

Two or three events in his history must be noted before we proceed
further. On the 6th May, 1821, he married Elizabeth, daughter of
Lieutenant Daniel Brooke, of Toronto, by whom he had a son, who died
in 1834, and a daughter who, in 1849, married Assistant Commissary
General Davenport. In 1831, he married Mary, the eldest daughter of
Mr. Sheriff Stuart, who died in 1846, by whom he had two
daughters,--Sophia, who married in 1855, Viscount Bury, eldest son of
the Right Honorable the Earl of Albemarle, and Mary Stuart, who
married in 1861, a younger son of the Honorable Sir Dominick Daly,
Captain General and Governor-in-Chief of South Australia. In 1825, he
was called to the Bar. In the same year his first wife died. This
bereavement may have been the crowning reason which prompted him to
leave Toronto; for his domestic sensibilities were of the acutest
kind, and his love of his own flesh and blood was always as ardent as
it was touching. His career at Hamilton, his new home, was very
successful. Attorneys' fees for mere routine work were in those days
much larger than they are now, while the industry and learning which
in older countries are expected of barristers and conveyancers were,
at that time, neither looked for nor required of Upper Canada
practitioners. Office attention rather than legal ability was the
prime requisite. Generous in his dealings, successful in his
profession, and popular in his locality, it was natural enough that he
should in due time have risen to the dignity of a member of
Parliament. The period of his probation was shortened by one of those
accidents that are not necessarily calamities. An old distich explains
one process, which half resembled the process by which he arrived at
the coveted dignity,

  "If you would get into Parliament
    The way that whig Charley went,
  Let Parliament send you to Newgate,
    For Newgate will send you to Parliament."

In January, 1829, on the question of the "Hamilton outrage," as it was
termed, an uncomfortable interrogatory was put by Dr. Rolph to MacNab,
who was in attendance as a witness before a committee of the House of
Assembly. This he refused to answer, when, on the motion of Dr.
Baldwin, he was declared "guilty of contempt and breach of privilege,
and for otherwise misdemeaning himself" before the said committee. On
the further motion of Mr. W. L. Mackenzie, he was committed to gaol
during the pleasure of the House. This little episode in Parliamentary
history served as a sauce to his local popularity; for at the general
election in the following year he was returned as a member of the
Assembly. Whether the precedents of Parliament justified the exercise
of the power to which the Reform party resorted on that occasion, may
very fairly be questioned; but there can be no doubt that the
reprisals to which those proceedings gave rise in the following
session, when the House, on motion of Mr. Sampson, seconded by Mr.
MacNab, expelled Mr. Mackenzie, were as rash as they were wrong, based
on reasons as contemptible as they were erroneous, and rendered all
the more insupportable by the indecorum of language with which they
were supported, and the vindictive illegality by which they were
followed up.

In 1830 MacNab was returned as the colleague of the Hon. John Wilson
to represent the County of Wentworth; and in the month of January, in
the following year, he took his seat. In principle he was a Tory, but
the generosity of his character shone in the liberality of his
actions. "King, Church, and Constitution," as a sentiment, was as
popular with him as it had ever been with the most florid of
historical aldermen; and yet he was comparatively free from the
bigotry of those who think they exemplify while they blemish the
character of a Tory by supercilious intolerance and insufferable
conceit. His opinions were much more generous than were the opinions
of many with whom he was politically associated. It was his belief,
for example, that the Clergy Reserves of right and bylaw belonged to
the Anglican Church; but he did not, so far as we remember, think it
necessary to assert that the Church of England was established by law
in Canada. Though he professed to be a loyal member of that Church, he
did not on that account deny the legal status of the Church of
Scotland. His nature abounded in noble qualities, and his opinions
were as generous as his nature. His temper, though occasionally warm,
was invariably good. His inspiration, therefore, was not derived from
resentment, for he rarely spoke with an angry brow. He was tolerant
towards the conscientious scruples of other men, and was not painfully
excited by the waywardness or diversity of human opinion. He was only
exacting when such opinions were subversive of order and government,
and especially when they menaced the supremacy of the British Crown in
Canada, or threatened to disturb the political connection of these
Provinces with the parent state. In such instances he neither gave nor
expected quarter. With all the energy of which he was capable, he
would stamp out every treasonable sentiment, and put down every
treasonable person. The Loyalists, with whom he sympathized and whose
opinions he shared, had fought for a foothold in America; and he
thoroughly agreed with them in their determination to keep what they
had acquired. Neither should it be overlooked that it lay within the
means of the malcontents, if they liked not the rule of monarchical
England, to cross the border and enjoy that of republican America. He
was too ardent a lover of rational liberty to destroy the only asylum
wherein such liberty had taken refuge in the western world.

We do not know that the blood of the United Empire Loyalists flowed in
MacNab's veins. But the principles of those chivalrous men had been
fought for by his father, and were inherited by him. Moreover, such
principles had been tested anew in his experience, and baptized afresh
in his endeavors. His personal participation in the war of 1812
supplied the bond which united him with and enabled him to become an
authority among the veterans of that period. To have been a militiaman
in those perilous days, was his glory and his pride. To vindicate the
character of that heroic force, to eulogize its resources, to promote
its organization, and increase its efficiency, were with him labors of
a jealous love, objects as dear to his heart as they were necessary
for the state. Every kind of militia gathering was attractive to him.
He would attend the irregular muster of the rank and file of the
county with as much apparent relish as he would preside at some
commemorative banquet. He would cheer the young, who had never seen a
shot fired in anger, with as much zest as he would chat with the old
whose freshest recollections were colored with blood. He lead the
militiaman's "Three times three for the Queen, God bless her," with as
true a heart and as ringing a voice as he drank in silence to the
memory of those who had fallen in fight when George the Third was
King. He sympathized as heartily with youth in its determination to
defend what it possessed, as he did with age in its desire to revere
what it remembered. The chords of joy and sorrow were easily reached,
for his soul was very sensibly attuned to both. He had joy for hope,
and grief for memory. The young men liked him, because with them he
was always young; and the old men liked him, because in recalling
their recollections he seemed to revive their youth, and make them
oblivious of the havoc of time. He knew how to tell, as well as how to
listen to old stories; and this interchange of anecdote and incident
would either "wake the welkin" with laughter, and thus make mirth
musical; or open afresh the sluices of grief, while tears like the dew
of yesternight would fall afresh on the unforgotten battle fields of
Canada. Thus it was that MacNab's influence, taking its rise in
sympathy and service, in common sufferings and common triumphs, was
rooted and grounded in the very soil. It grew around the early
settlements, and with vine-like beauty united the early settlers of
the country with him. To them he was the heroic soldier of 1812; the
courageous standard-bearer of the old flag, and the fast friend of the
militia. They inquired not, whether his attainments were equal to his
fame, whether his parts corresponded with his duties, or whether the
political needs of the Province had not outgrown his ability to deal
with them. Being plain men, neither fancy thinkers nor economists,
neither philosophers nor statesmen, they were content to be
represented by one of themselves, a fearless militiaman, a thorough
loyalist, and a "whole soul'd" British subject. Thus borne into
Parliament on the broad shoulders of the yeomanry, MacNab was always
upheld by the broad shoulders on which he had been borne. Through all
the fluctuations of his country's history, the new combinations of
parties, and the various transitions of politics from one orbit to
another, he found his position as a Member, and his place in the
House, equally well recognized and established. The good understanding
between himself and his constituents continued to the last; for though
the electors of Hamilton belonged to a class somewhat different to the
freeholders of Wentworth, they took a similar view of their candidate,
and clung to him, as they had much reason to do, with similar
steadfastness.

From 1829 to 1840 he represented the County of Wentworth. In 1841, on
the union of the Provinces, he contested the city of Hamilton against
Lord Sydenham's prime minister the Honorable S. B. Harrison, who, as
the nominee of the administration, was a formidable antagonist.
MacNab's fortune did not forsake him; he won the election then, as he
did in later times against Messrs. Tiffany, Freeman, and Buchanan, who
successively opposed him.

It is not improbable that the error to which he was a party, and which
led to the expulsion of William Lyon Mackenzie from the House of
Assembly, had inclined him to look somewhat attentively into the
subject of Parliamentary Law and Procedure. Whether it did so or not,
there can be no doubt that in the year 1837, on the elevation of the
Speaker, Mr. McLean, to the Bench, that House with great unanimity
elected Mr. MacNab to be his successor. He presided during the short
July session of that year. Before Parliament was again summoned, the
rebellion had broken out and he was called upon as the first commoner
in the Province to command the Militia force, which twenty-four years
before he had joined as a schoolboy volunteer. On the news of the
outbreak reaching him, MacNab with soldierly intuition left Hamilton,
where all his possessions lay, to take care of itself; and collecting
a force of friends and neighbors, he hastened to Toronto, and with
characteristic aptness presented his quota of the _posse comitatus_
under the euphonistic name of "The men of Gore." The phrase flattered
the force at the time, and it has stuck to the people of the Gore
district since then; for "the men of Gore," in the present day, like
"the men of Kent" in times past, indulge the privilege which no one is
inclined to challenge, of thinking a good deal of themselves.

The folly and blindness of the government of that day, and their
obstinacy in refusing to listen to representations and warnings, went
far towards fostering rebellion and making it successful. Happily the
rebels were deficient in foresight as well as in courage. They lacked
enthusiasm, and were not sufficiently in earnest to secure success.
Their failure has at all events been followed by two advantages. A
government, whose form was a fallacy, which created irritation and did
not satisfy reason, has been got rid of with the peculiar grievances
with which it was accompanied. After many vicissitudes, the object of
Sir Francis Bond Head's policy seems to have dovetailed with the
confessions of Mr. W. L. MacKenzie's experience. And yet this
reconciliation of experience with opinion included in one case the
neglect of a Governor, and in the other the outlawry of a subject. On
the 10th of September, 1837, Sir Francis Head ends a despatch to Lord
Glenelg in the words (the italics are his own): "_To save the people
of Upper Canada from following in the footsteps of the United States_,
has been the object of every act of my administration." On the 3rd
March, 1846, William Lyon Mackenzie thus wrote to his son from Albany
in the State of New York: "After what I have seen, I frankly confess
to you that had I passed nine years in the United States before,
instead of after the outbreak, I am very sure I would have been the
last man in America to be engaged in it."

After the successful termination of the affair at Montgomery's Tavern,
and the complete rout of the rebels, MacNab marched with a force to
the London District, and dispersed the western division of the
malcontents who had amused themselves with a sympathetic rising in
that section of the country. This duty being satisfactorily
accomplished, he was ordered with the volunteers under his command to
repair to the Niagara frontier, and there deal with the Canadian
rebels and American sympathizers, who, under the political direction
of W. L. Mackenzie, and the military direction of a General Van
Rensselaer, had taken possession of, and set up a provisional
government at Navy Island, a small British possession at the head of
the Falls of Niagara. This insular government of Mackenzie's, though
more an affront than an inconvenience, was very properly regarded as a
nuisance to be abated; but as in the case of certain entomological
nuisances, it was difficult to catch, to say nothing of killing, the
assailants who had fastened upon this almost inaccessible island. To
cut off their supplies appeared to be a reasonable policy, and to
capture the craft which bore them a creditable way of carrying such
policy out. As, however, the offending vessel, when moored at all, was
moored for safety to the shore of a country with which Great Britain
was at peace, the attack involved a preliminary acquaintance with the
law of nations, which the commander of the Canadian force was not
supposed to possess. But if the brave men who had gathered on the
Niagara frontier were somewhat hazy on the subject of international
law, there were several of them of the sailor type who were tolerably
well instructed in the doctrine of "sea divinity," as it was taught in
the sixteenth century on the quarter-deck of Drake's ship "The Golden
Hind." With this energetic class of seafaring theologians the subject
of our sketch appears to have taken sweet counsel; for the resolution
to cut out the steamer "Caroline" which carried the supplies was no
sooner formed than it was carried into effect. Without troubling
himself too curiously about the principles of Vattel, and the law of
nations, MacNab seems to have preferred the doctrine of Drake, and the
"sea divinity," which he practiced, for by his order the "piratical
craft," as she was called, was cut away from her moorings on the
American shore; towed into mid-channel; fired, and sent as a beacon or
a burnt offering, as a warning or a sacrifice, through the foaming
rapids, and over the fatal fall of the Great Cataract.

For his services during the rebellion, Allan Napier MacNab received
from Her Majesty the honor of knighthood. From various Colonial
Legislatures he received resolutions of thanks, while from that of
Upper Canada the compliment was accompanied with the gift of a sword.
The United Service Club in London made an exception in his favor, and
in opposition to a standing rule elected him an honorary member. A
little later he received the appointment of Queen's Counsel, and as
such was frequently charged with the conduct of the Crown business at
the County Assizes.

At the Union of the Provinces, Lord Sydenham, for reasons which he
deemed sufficient, endeavored to destroy the old governing party of
Upper Canada, which had, it must be confessed, previously been very
seriously damaged by Earl Durham's report. This destruction of a party
included the destruction of the individuals of which it was composed,
for it was not only necessary that the whole should be annihilated,
but that the parts should be rendered harmless. The process was very
effectually carried out. Men were summarily required to elect between
the metaphorical Koran and the political sword. Some kissed the book,
and took service under the amended articles. Others submitted to the
harsher alternative and to the consequences it inflicted. MacNab would
do neither; he did then as he had done theretofore. He returned blow
for blow; and though his stroke was on that occasion less effective
than that of his opponents, it was not without weight, for it carried
with it some annoyance to the Governor-General which the latter would
gladly have avoided. He began by defeating Lord Sydenham's prime
minister; and, after the Parliament had assembled in 1841, he voted
with the French Canadian party on some of those issues which the
Governor-General was desirous neither to raise nor to discuss. Though
his speeches rarely possessed originality, or were deemed worthy of
preservation, they were remarkable for their boldness. If his
information was slender, he knew how to turn what he possessed to
excellent account. Above all, his experience acquired when Speaker of
the House had obliged him to become familiar with that phase of
political warfare which comes under the head of Parliamentary tactics.
His address in this particular was a great source of annoyance to Mr.
Cuvillier, the then Speaker, who was by no means pleased to find the
chair continually informed, occasionally opposed, and frequently
directed by one who did not occupy the chair. Neither did the
inconvenience abate with the course of events. On the death of Lord
Sydenham, there followed a derangement of the moderate or
intermediate party which that gifted nobleman had endeavored to
create. Change succeeded change until the 15th of September, 1842,
when the conservative members, Messrs. Ogden, Draper, and Henry
Sherwood, retired from the administration. Thereupon parties appeared
to resume their normal condition, and Sir Allan took the place of
leader of the conservatives, who now found themselves, for the first
time in Provincial history, in opposition to the government. The
novelty of their position must be supposed to account for the fret and
fume, the heat and irascibility, which they displayed. Not only was
the situation new to their experience, but it was beyond their
comprehension. They could not understand how the Crown could give its
confidence to a party which by habit and education they had been
accustomed to distrust. Such infatuation on the part of authority
represented a revolution in morals as well as in politics. It
destroyed sentiments that had been sacredly cherished. It disturbed
traditions that had been religiously kept, while it offended the
intellectual conceit of men who, fancying themselves to be professors
of the science of government, were turned back like dull scholars to
learn the catechism of the constitution. Thus was the old ruling party
obliged to acquiesce in an order of things, which though equally
accepted was not equally liked, or equally understood by the two sides
which divided the state. The reformers who had striven for the
principle attached to it an exact logical meaning. The conservatives
who had resisted the principle preferred to interpret it in a more
elastic fashion. The authors with true sagacity regarded it _per se_
as a means of popular government. The opponents, with traditional
consistency, doubted its excellence, and concurred with every objector
in thinking that its value would depend on the way it was
administered. As the question was being tossed from one party to the
other, passing from the province of theory to that of practice, His
Excellency Lord Metcalfe arrived as Governor-General. Although a Whig,
and something more, Lord Metcalfe was imbued with the belief which it
is desirable on all occasions to bear in mind, that the Legislature of
Canada consists of three estates; and he was not therefore prepared to
agree in the dictum of those who insisted that the government of the
country should virtually be vested in one only of those estates. Lord
Metcalfe probably saw that an acquiescence on his part in an
overstrained principle, namely that the government should absolutely
depend for its existence on a majority for the time being in one
branch of the Legislature, might, under certain contingencies, not
difficult to imagine, result in the administration of public affairs
being controlled by a unit in the House of Assembly, and this unit the
most corrupt, or the most ignorant, or the most prejudiced member of
that body. A principle which included such a contingency was not
calculated to find favor with that brave-hearted nobleman. He
therefore made very strenuous efforts to escape from its consequences
by placing on the phrase a meaning of his own. This meaning, though
highly attractive when practiced by one who, like Lord Metcalfe, could
make despotism lovely by blending it with paternity, would, it was
conjectured, be shorn of its fascination if administered by a less
benevolent successor who might perchance assert the despotism, and at
the same time decline the paternity. Though the new reading found
general favor with the British population, it did not satisfy the
authors of responsible government. In truth it derived its popularity
from the popularity of its expounder; for in all states there are many
who care little for definitions, but who care much for good
government. Such persons will not busy themselves to weigh a phrase or
an abstraction against the sum of human goodness and moral worth that
are bound up in such a character as that of Lord Metcalfe. His name
was a tower of strength, and his personal influence was as boundless
as his benevolence. Few studied his political opinions; all admired
his practical virtues. Whether he ruled with or whether he ruled
without his Executive Council, people were generally quite sure that
he would rule well, and that his administration would be just,
generous and impartial.

In the elections of 1844, which followed the dissolution of the first
Parliament, the supporters of Lord Metcalfe obtained a majority in the
Legislative Assembly, and were able to place their candidate, Sir
Allan MacNab, in the Speaker's chair. Two years afterwards, during the
administration of His Excellency Earl Cathcart, and when the Oregon
difficulty was causing some excitement, Sir Allan was offered, and we
believe accepted, or had agreed to accept, the appointment of Adjutant
General of Militia. For some reason the matter fell through. It was
said that an unacceptable condition was subsequently added which
formed no part of the original offer, and that this offence caused Sir
Allan in a very peremptory way to decline being a party to the
transaction.

The elections in 1848 were followed by the defeat of the conservative
administration. In the month of March of that year, Sir Allan again
took the place of leader of the conservative opposition, whose members
sought by energy and dash to supply what was wanting in weight and
numbers. Such a policy is at best of doubtful wisdom, for it repels
rather than attracts the class of moderate men, whose adhesion either
to one side or the other not unfrequently controls the scale. At the
period in question it seriously damaged the conservative cause, and,
but for the schism which almost immediately occurred in the reform
ranks, it would indefinitely have postponed the recovery of the
conservative party.

The session of 1849 brought with it the discussion on the Rebellion
Losses Bill. Sir Allan and those who voted with him could not
apparently help repeating in Parliament the tactics which had
theretofore befriended them at the hustings. They would air afresh the
well worn election flags and reverberate anew the unforgotten "true
blue" war-cry of other days. They would not analyze the highest crime
known to the law, or assay the ingredients of which treason is
compounded. On the contrary, they would denounce with the like
anathema all of every degree who had taken part in and suffered from
the accidents of rebellion. In such a vein was the question
approached. Every passion was lashed, but none were reined; every
peril was excited, but no precaution was taken. Every description of
eloquence found expression, except the eloquence of statesmanship.
Every flower of rhetoric flourished, except such as spring from the
genial soils of wisdom and generosity, temper and forbearance. The
Legislative Assembly ceased to be a hall of discussion; it became a
temple of discord. Official courtesy and gentle speech were
discredited and expelled; for the language made use of was the
language of exasperation and of the fish market. Thus amidst a storm
of invective which authority could not direct, and made no attempt to
control, the obnoxious Bill was passed. The heat thus created was not
confined to the chamber in which it was generated, for the tongues of
fire too soon showed themselves in tongues of flame. The Parliament
Houses were burned, and with them almost every record except the Bill
which had provoked the violence.

Happily the blame lay everywhere, though it is difficult to deny that
the especial reproach attached to the party of which the subject of
this sketch was the recognized leader. That energetic British party
was unaccustomed to defeat; and though beaten on the present occasion
its members were not inclined to succumb. They determined to carry the
war into the House of Commons, and by the intervention of the Imperial
Parliament, obtain a reversal of the Provincial defeat. Money was
subscribed, and Sir Allan MacNab was chosen as the agent to proceed to
England. The discussion which took place in the House of Commons forms
an interesting chapter in the modern history of English politics. Sir
Robert Peel was then alive, and the distinguished statesmen who formed
what was then called the "Peel party," had not at that day found the
places into which they have since settled. Thus it was that Mr.
Herries' motion, though warmly supported by Mr. Gladstone, was
argumentatively opposed by Sir Robert Peel. The aid which the latter
gave the ministry very probably saved the Province from the misfortune
which the disallowance of the Bill would have occasioned; for a
revival of such a discussion was on no account to be desired. The
conservative party bowed to the verdict which they could neither
change nor modify. Some amongst the more sagacious of its members,
while they deeply lamented the calamity which had followed the passage
of the Bill, did not regret that the question was got rid of. A policy
of patience succeeded the policy of passion. Quiet vigilance took the
place of oratorical display. The movements of opponents were watched
with attention, and considered with curiosity; for the great reform
party, which had been led by Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine, was
visibly falling asunder. There were far-seeing men in the ranks of the
conservatives who discerned in this separation a solution of several
difficulties, including the settlement of some old questions whose
existence had produced chronic irritation in the country, and had kept
some public men apart who in matters of general policy were tolerably
well agreed. The defection of the extreme reformers resulted in the
defeat of the Hincks-Morin administration in 1854, and led to a
coalition of the conservative party with the moderate section of the
reform party of Upper Canada, and the Lafontaine party of Lower
Canada. Of these united forces, Sir Allan MacNab, by reason of his
position, became the chief. Unlike the conservative party in England,
which was shattered by the defection of its leader, the reform party
in Upper Canada relieved its leader from responsibility by an act of
its own. In the former case there was no withdrawal of trust until the
trust had been betrayed. In the latter the withdrawal of the trust set
the trustee free. Thus discredited and deposed by his party, Mr.
Hincks was cut adrift; and left to fashion his course as reason or
revenge might dictate. He chose to return slight for slight, and he
thus brought about a coalition of the moderate reform party with the
conservative party, which has continued from then till now. This union
with the conservatives was not, however, to be effected without some
humiliation to them. They were required, if not to forego opinions, at
least to reverse a policy they had long observed. They were to bring
about the settlement of questions they had opposed, and acquiesce in
proceedings they had professed to abhor. Throughout their political
lives they had resisted the endeavors of those who had sought to
secularize the Clergy Reserves; yet this was precisely one of those
points they were required to yield, as a condition precedent to a
coalition with the moderate reformers. Few were disposed to blame them
for doing so. Churchmen were anxious that the noise of politics should
no longer disquiet their house of prayer; and statesmen remembered,
that the history of constitutional government is the history of
compromise and concession. During the MacNab-Taché administration, the
Clergy Reserve and Seigniorial Tenure questions were set at rest; the
Reciprocity Treaty was negociated, and a Militia Act was passed. A
Bill for the substitution of a Provincial Police for the Local Police
force was introduced, but unfortunately for society not carried. The
patriotic fund appropriation was, with characteristic propriety, made
during this administration, though, it should be added, with the
almost unanimous concurrence of all parties.

The season at which the coalition government was formed was favorable
to its existence. The Province was entering on a career of material
progress which excited the public mind more actively than did the
irritating political questions which time had weakened, if not worn
out. The latter, however, were occasionally revived, and turned to
account to the annoyance of Sir Allan who could better put up with
than answer the twittings of those who reproached him for changing his
opinions. Thus when he was catechised about his party, and questioned
as to his politics, he answered at least to his own satisfaction by
hinting that he had thrown speculative opinions to the winds and by
declaring that his "politics were railways." In like manner when he
was questioned on the position in which the British party in Lower
Canada, separated as it necessarily was from the Reform party of the
West, would be placed by the alliance of the conservatives of Upper
Canada with the French Canadians of the Lower Province, Sir Allan, who
was not an adept in unravelling questions that were in the least
degree tangled, said: "Oh, they must pull up stakes, and go west."
Such answers, though characteristic enough of the happiness of
indifference, neither satisfied the party which had trusted him nor
the party on whose behalf they were expressed. Office and its duties
added nothing to the fair opinion which had been formed of Sir Allan's
abilities. Responsibility embarrassed him. His skill as a
Parliamentary tactician was better seen in opposition than in office;
and though a situation less responsible would probably have suited
him, he was confessedly unequal to the duties in the Legislative
Assembly of chief of the administration. Certainly a less prominent
position would have been more pleasing to his party, whose members for
the most part took no pains to conceal their dissatisfaction with him
as leader of the Government. Moreover there were some who were
prepared for the result on which many very earnestly insisted. It was
observed that though Sir Allan had often supported and often opposed
Governments, he had on no occasion been a member of an administration,
and consequently that he had not been tried in the crucible in which
the qualities of a statesman are best discovered. Whatever may have
been the predisposing causes, Sir Allan retired, but not willingly,
from the administration on the 23rd of May 1856, and he took the
earliest opportunity of marking the affront which had been offered him
by voting want of confidence in his late colleagues, because, as he
said, "they had shown want of confidence in him." The reasons which
led to the result have not so far as we know been published; we can
only add that while the transaction had the effect, for a time at
least, of estranging him from his former colleagues, it did not
weaken, much less alienate the confidence which the party generally
continued to place in them.

In 1857

  "His battles and the gout
  Had so knocked his hull about,"

that he left Canada with a view to a permanent residence in England.
Before doing so, he addressed his constituents in the following
cordial and characteristic terms:

     _To the free and independent Electors of the City of Hamilton._

     Gentlemen,--I deeply regret that the state of my health is such
     that I am unable longer to discharge my duty in Parliament with
     justice to you, or satisfaction to myself. I therefore feel that
     the time has arrived for me to retire from a position that it has
     been the pride of my life to enjoy. I would have taken this step
     at the close of the last session had I not believed there would
     have been a general election, and I was unwilling to give you the
     trouble and annoyance of a second contest; however, from the best
     information I can obtain, I am inclined to the belief that there
     will not be a dissolution of Parliament. I have therefore
     transmitted my resignation to the Speaker of the Legislative
     Assembly, that you may have ample time to select a member in my
     place. Most sincerely do I thank you, gentlemen, for the kind and
     cordial support you have accorded me during nine successive
     parliaments in which I have had the honor of representing either
     the county or city. The best portion of my life has been spent
     amongst you, and I can say with truth that during this long
     period my best energies have been devoted to the interests of my
     constituents and the honor of my country. One word before we
     part, and that is, if in times of trial and great excitement I
     have erred, I trust you will kindly ascribe it to an error of the
     head and not the heart.

     Believe me, gentlemen, I shall ever remain your very greatly
     obliged and very faithful friend.

     ALLAN NAPIER MACNAB.

     Dundurn, October 24, 1857.

In 1859, on the dissolution of the Imperial Parliament, he presented
himself to the electors of Brighton as a supporter of Earl Derby's
administration. Some facetious person, however, had got hold of the
valedictory address to the electors of Hamilton, and turned it into
squibs and crackers, to the discomfort of its author, and to the
detriment of his candidature for Brighton. The electors of that
seaside town think a great deal of themselves, and not a little of
the place of their abode. When they were told, therefore, that the
Derby candidate had pronounced himself to be physically unable to
represent a small constituency in a Colonial House of Assembly, it was
not difficult to make them believe that he was still less fit to
represent a large constituency in the Imperial House of Commons.
Though he made an excellent fight, he lost the election, and with it
he abandoned all hope of taking a seat with the "knights, citizens and
burgesses" of that ancient assembly.

Residence in England did not satisfy him. With a return of health he
was involuntary impelled to retrace his steps to the land of his birth
and service. He arrived in 1860, and immediately took advantage of a
request made by the electors of the Western Division to present
himself as a candidate to represent them in the Legislative Council,
as the successor of Colonel the Honorable John Prince, who had
accepted the appointment of Judge for the District of Algoma. The
contest was a close one, but Sir Allan was returned at the head of the
poll.

In 1856, Her Majesty had been pleased to confer on Sir Allan the honor
of a baronetage; and now that act of grace was supplemented by his
being elevated, with Sir Etienne P. Taché, to the honorary rank of
Colonel in the British Army, and aide-de-camp to the Queen. In the
latter capacity he was attached to the suite of the Prince of Wales,
and had the honor to attend His Royal Highness in his tour through the
British American Dominions. His strength at the time had evidently
become weakness, but his loyal heart enabled him to accomplish a
service to which, by reason of his feeble health, he was physically
unequal. The duty must have been in the highest degree congenial to
his feelings. Like a cavalier of the earlier times, he had always
mingled reverence with his allegiance. The sovereign with him was not
only a dignity to be admired, but a person to be loved; neither can we
doubt that his ebbing life was for the occasion flooded with fresh
vigor, when he was able to welcome to the Province of his birth the
Heir apparent to the Throne. Time, however, had visibly touched him.
It was not difficult to see that a fabric of great physical beauty was
crumbling to its fall. The mind, too, appeared to sympathize with the
body. The nerve and resolution of the former partially gave way with
the strength and vigor of the latter. His manner of presiding over the
deliberations of the Legislative Council, of which he was elected
Speaker on the 20th March 1862, was very different from the manner in
which he had presided over those of the Legislative Assembly; for
irresolution and indecision had succeeded to firmness and control.
Time and suffering had in every way weakened him, provoking many, as
they compared his performance with his repute, involuntarily to
exclaim, "can this be MacNab?"

During the latter part of the session, Sir Allan by reason of ill
health, was unable to preside in the Legislative Council. Parliament
was prorogued on the 9th of June. His chief anxiety appeared to be to
go home. "I shall soon be all right," he said, cheerfully to the
writer, "after I get to Dundurn!" Hamilton and its associations
exerted their natural influence on his mind. The inhabitants had been
true to him, and he had been true to them. Such reciprocal trust was
mutually beneficial, for it chained his affections to the place where
his interests lay. Moreover, he was a vigilant representative; for it
is said that for thirty years he was not absent for one consecutive
week from his place in Parliament. This habit of close attention to
public duty could not but be satisfactory to those who laid such duty
on him; and such satisfaction was exhibited in the unwavering
confidence they placed in him from first to last.

Partial recovery followed Sir Allan's return home. On an early day of
the next month he was able to go to St. Catharines, and attend the
funeral of his old friend and brother officer, the Honorable William
Hamilton Merritt. The last public act he performed was to sign the
warrant for the new election which that death occasioned. His own end
hurried on apace. "Darkness came, and also the night," for on the 8th
of August, 1862, the brave old Baronet was gathered to his fathers.

Happily our business is to narrate and not to pry. Much was said of
that closing scene on which we can offer no opinion; much was
published that we care not to repeat. All that need be epitomized, is
that within a few days of his death, Sir Allan was professedly a
member of the Anglican Church. He had mingled outwardly in her
worship, professed audibly her faith, and partaken actually of her
sacraments. Towards the close of his illness, when time was weary and
death was near; when the shadows of evening were lengthening into
night; when heart and flesh were failing; when his hand was on the
latch, and the gates of immortality were opening to his view, the
clergy of the Church of Rome by especial request attended him. From
them he received the last offices of religion, and by them he was
interred according to the rites of their Church.

It were wise to draw the curtains and put out the lights, and with the
reverence of erring men await the sentence of the unerring Judge. It
were wise to invoke the charity which believeth all things, to hide
from our view the tumult of a troubled soul at war with itself,
groping for untried supports, and in the midst of "the valley of the
shadow of death" changing for another "the staff" on which it had
leaned from infancy to the grave. Surely such indecision at such a
time is at best a spectacle of humiliation. It awakens no transport;
it soothes no anxiety; it resolves no difficulty; it creates no calm.
It is no seemly thing to witness vacillation where one looked for
courage; to see a name which was a light to many flickering
uncertainly, and going out uncertainly. Such a sight is a shock to the
religious sense; it ruffles the path that should be pleasantness, it
racks the end that should be peace; for the flesh is stirred and the
spirit distressed when doubt and incredulity, like moral malaria, can
thus gather about a dying man's bed, to obscure religion, to weaken
fortitude, and to render worthless the weapons wherein he trusted, the
"shield," the "sword," and the "helmet" of the faith. It is not thus
the Christian soldier should lay aside his armour and enter into rest.
All comment is vain. Religion falters in her interpretation of such
matters, and reason fails. Let us roll up the scroll, and remember
only its brightness while we forget its blots. The mystery of those
last days will not be made clear to us; we must be content to "scan
gently" and not presume to pass judgment on what we can now see only
in part, and what peradventure in this life we can never understand
perfectly.

  Who made the heart, 'tis He alone
    Decidedly can try us,
  He knows each chord--its various tone,
    Each spring--its various bias;
  Then at the balance let's be mute,
    We never can adjust it;
  What's done we partly may compute,
    But know not what's resisted.

[Illustration: CHARLES JOSEPH COURSOL, ESQ.]




CHARLES JOSEPH COURSOL, ESQ.,

JUDGE OF THE SESSIONS OF THE PEACE, MONTREAL.


A short time only has elapsed since the name of Judge Coursol filled a
prominent place in the newspapers of America, while the St. Albans
raid, with which it was associated, became the text of much animated
criticism. His photograph will gratify the friendly wish of some, and
the natural curiosity of all, who desire to see the likeness of one of
whom much was written and a great deal more was said. Apart from such
considerations, Mr. Coursol's career possesses many features of
interest which are not unworthy of being grouped with our other
jottings of men of the time. He is a native of Upper Canada, for he
was born at Malden, in the County of Essex, in 1820. His father, Mr.
J. Coursol, was an officer in the Hudson Bay Company's service, as
well as an intrepid explorer of the remote wilds of America. His
mother was a daughter of Mr. Joseph Quesnel, who is favorably known in
Canadian literature as the author of some poems of much local
popularity, as well as of certain plays and operas which were
performed at the Provincial theatres.[5] From his father he probably
inherited tastes which are commonly associated with the sports and
occupations of a forester's life. Such tastes are nurtured in the lap
of adventure, and are mainly nourished with freedom and fresh air.
They are allied to the faculty of perception, to the cool head, the
cunning hand, and the keen eye. We should expect Mr. Coursol to be
what we believe he is; an ardent sportsman, an unerring shot, and a
fearless rider. From his mother, it may be conjectured, he derived his
intellectual properties, including the twin gifts, imagination and
fancy, which are the poet's especial heritage; and which, very
possibly, animated the heart and colored the thoughts of her on whose
bosom he was hushed. His father's tastes and his mother's culture may,
perchance, be found united in the character of the son. It is remarked
that Mr. Coursol has paid a very creditable degree of attention to
physical as well as to intellectual gymnastics. Action with him is
generally conspicuous for energy, no matter whether it requires the
co-operation of an educated head or an instructed arm.

In the year after his birth, his father died. His mother, in the
course of time, married secondly Mr. C. S. Cherrier, Queen's counsel
of Montreal. That gentleman is the present representative of the Viger
family, and, we may add, the residuary legatee of the estate of the
late Honorable D. B. Viger. When only an infant, her orphan son, the
subject of this sketch, was adopted by his maternal uncle, the
Honorable F. A. Quesnel, whose name, for half a century, has been
creditably associated with the history of the Province. We may add
that at the death of the last mentioned gentleman, his nephew and
adopted son was appointed, by will, the sole legatee of his large
estates. He was educated at the Montreal college. In 1841, he was
admitted to the Bar, where his success equalled his repute, especially
in criminal cases. He married the daughter of Colonel the Honorable
Sir E. P. Taché. It may be easily conjectured that the period of his
education was contemporaneous with the most exciting and least happy
season of Canadian politics. It is idle to inquire whether the heat of
that day took its rise in patriotism or prejudice, in virtue or
distemper. It is sufficient to observe that it fastened itself on the
fervid character of young Coursol with the violence of a moral
epidemic, and developed itself in the angry, as well as the energetic
form of patriotism. Thus, at the first elections that took place after
the union of the Provinces, he not only became the warm supporter of
his party, but he is suspected of having contributed no inconsiderable
amount of muscular aid to his favorite candidates. Until disqualified
by his official duties, he never shrank from affording help, which at
least had the merit of being energetic and above board, at the
elections whereat his friends were candidates.

In 1848, he was appointed Joint-Coroner for the District of Montreal.
He represented the ward of St. Antoine in the City Council of
Montreal, where his name and exertions are especially remembered in
connection with the important sanitary act to prohibit interments
within the city limits. From time to time he has been chosen to serve
on important Government commissions. As a volunteer, his public spirit
has been displayed on different occasions, and in various ways. He
raised a troop of cavalry which he commanded for several years. During
the "Trent difficulty," he recruited a regiment of Chasseurs, and
received therefor the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and the command of
the regiment. During the Fenian troubles he was ordered with his
regiment to the Frontier, to watch the machinations of those singular
marauders. Besides his repute as a successful and learned lawyer, Mr.
Coursol is critically conversant with both the English and French
languages, and enjoys the enviable ability of speaking with equal
fluency in either. With such qualifications it seemed natural enough
that he should have been appointed "Judge of the Sessions of the Peace
at Montreal, and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the District of
Montreal."

It was during his tenure of those offices, on the 19th October, 1864,
that the "St. Albans' raid" took place. Apart from its criminality,
the outrage was a blunder, of which it is believed the Confederate
authorities repented when it was too late to repair. The prisoners and
their gains passed into the possession of the Canadian Courts. The
former were brought up for examination before the subject of this
sketch, who discharged them on the ground of want of jurisdiction.
With their release their ill-gotten spoil was released too. Evidently
there was a miscarriage of justice somewhere. Such miscarriage was
more to be regretted, since it was calculated to create a
misunderstanding between the governments of Great Britain and of the
United States. The Canadian Administration was sensibly alive to the
importance of the case, from both points of view, and they lost no
time in suspending Mr. Coursol from his offices, and issuing a
commission of enquiry. Mr. F. W. Torrance, of Montreal, was the
commissioner selected. Mr. Torrance's report, which was very
elaborate, has received due consideration. The stolen money has been
restored under the authority of a vote of the Parliament of Canada,
and the public interest in the event has subsided. It is only
necessary to state in this place, that although Mr. Torrance differed
from Mr. Coursol on several important points, he did not hesitate to
exonerate him from anything beyond what in his opinion was an error of
judgment. The ordeal, though absolutely necessary, was considered by
some to be needlessly harsh. However, Mr. Coursol came out of it so
satisfactorily, that the government reinstated him in the offices from
which he had been temporarily removed.

[Illustration: THE REV. MATTHEW RICHEY, D.D.]




THE REV. MATTHEW RICHEY, D.D.,

OF CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE CANADA
CONFERENCE OF THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH.


"Do you know the Rev. Dr. Richey, the Methodist minister?" was the
question which a Chief Commissioner of the Board of Works on his
return from Montreal to Kingston put to the writer, in the month of
March, 1843, or 1844. "If his preaching be as good as his company, we
might both of us be the better for hearing him" he added by way of
explaining his question. The impression of a casual acquaintance has
frequently been corroborated by strangers, as well as friends. The
opinions of both classes have been published, and may be found in the
newspapers of England and America. Those who know Dr. Richey
personally, rejoice at and lovingly relish the opportunity of speaking
his praise. Admiration is expressed by different critics not only in
conversation, but in letters, some of which we have seen. Such
opinions are the more valuable in the present instance, as the writer
has not had the advantage of forming any of his own. "We were in
hopes," writes a gentleman of the Wesleyan connection, residing at
Montreal, "that our city would again be favored with his eloquent and
able ministry." "His brilliant talents," remarks another, "would
secure for him respect and admiration in any sphere of life." "In the
pulpit," observes a third, "he is the most eloquent and accomplished
speaker of all the Methodist connection in the Dominion of Canada."
Nor are such impressions confined to the laity, for the ministers of
the Wesleyan Conference at London, Canada West, on the 14th June,
1855, adopted a resolution, which though more subdued in its
phraseology than the partial criticisms we have quoted, was
nevertheless a touching tribute of admiration to one whose eloquence
and learning did not, in their estimation, constitute the highest
attractions of his character.

And yet Dr. Richey differs from his neighbors chiefly in being, as we
think, more zealous than some, and making, as we believe, greater
sacrifices than others for the cause to which he has devoted his
talents. At the outset of life, he was endowed with no special mark of
fortune. His parents, who were in humble rather than in affluent
circumstances, had been taught by experience that success commonly
depends on exertion. Therefore, they counselled their son to make the
most of his opportunities, to rely on himself, to regard education as
a business, and learn as much as possible in the shortest possible
time. They lived in the village of Ramelton, in the north of Ireland,
where their son, the subject of this sketch was born. They were
Presbyterians of earnest, perhaps of severe piety, who indulged the
dream, which is so often nothing more than a dream, that their son at
some future day would take orders in the church of which they were
members. They were encouraged to magnify this hope by the good report
they had of his moral and intellectual promise. They trusted, how
earnestly it were impertinent to ask and idle to conjecture, that his
heart and mind would acquire a sacred direction, and that he would
walk heavenward in the path through which they were journeying. At
fourteen, he was, as we have been informed, singularly conversant for
his age with the Greek and Latin classics. But like many gifted boys,
he seems to have been as much remarked for what he did not do, as for
what he did. He always said his lessons, but he was rarely observed
to learn them. His father, who could not satisfactorily reconcile his
seeming indolence with his actual proficiency, resorted to an
expedient, which some will think more adroit than fair. He promised
his son a shilling if within an hour a given lesson was committed to
memory. The task was accomplished, the lesson said, and the fee
pocketed. Whereupon his father insisted that the measure of that one
hour's learning under the pressure of a shilling, should for the
future, represent the measure of his son's work, irrespective of such
stimulus; forgetting, as it seems to us, that it was the love of
shillings, and not the love of learning, that quickened exertion and
anticipated success. However the incident makes us acquainted with the
anxiety of the father, and leads us to think that the grass was not
allowed to grow idly in the educational pasture of his son.

The wishes of parents with respect to their children very rarely
harmonize with the wishes of children with respect to themselves.
Matthew Richey was no exception to the common rule, and though the
divergence was less than it might have been, it was sufficiently
marked to disappoint the hope and deaden the affection of the father
for the son. When about fourteen years of age, young Richey
accompanied a school-fellow to a Methodist prayer meeting. The
devotions in which he found himself engaged produced in his mind a
transport of ecstacy, for the religious temperature of that house of
prayer glowed with fervor, and was passionate with feeling. The boy
worshipper inhaled the ether of a spiritual delight, which to him at
least, was more exhilarating than the crisper atmosphere that gathers
about the glacier-like solemnities of the covenant. "The people called
Methodists" captivated his imagination and converted his heart. He at
once cast his lot with a society whose members, as he thought, had
caught some of the brightest beams of the Divine favor; who were one
with one another, united by the bond of a common faith, the tie of a
common experience, and the anticipation of a common joy.

In taking his place in the new society, he lost his place in his
father's heart, and with it the attractions of his father's house.
Wherefore, he sought for and obtained permission to shape his own
course and take his own way in life. With good attainments, good
health, good character, and one sovereign in his pocket, he landed at
St. Johns, New Brunswick. He obtained employment in the office of a
lawyer who, recognizing his abilities, assisted him to procure the
situation of assistant teacher in the principal academy of that city.
The desire of his parents that he should be a minister of the gospel
was probably known to him, for it now took irresistible possession of
his mind. He resigned his office of school teacher, and on offering
himself as a candidate for Wesleyan orders he was accepted on
probation and, incredible as it must appear, before he attained the
age of seventeen his preaching was attended by crowds who travelled
far to hear him. In 1825 he was ordained, and in the same year he
married. For private reasons he spent the winter of 1830 in
Charleston. While there, he generally did duty in the Presbyterian
places of worship. It is no figure of speech to say that people ran
after him. Indeed those religious runners became such nuisances, that
it was actually necessary to guard the doors of the churches where he
preached against their intrusive inroads, until the regular
congregations were housed and seated.

The late Rev. Rowland Hillis reported to have said that he never knew
of a minister accepting a call from £200 to £100 a year. We however,
have heard of ministers declining such calls, notwithstanding the
pecuniary inducements being expressed in as many pounds as they were
theretofore paid dollars. Dr. Richey may be added to the short list of
examples. Two Presbyterian congregations at Charleston desired to
secure his services on some such terms. Had the love of money been a
constraining love, he might perchance have yielded to the enticing
temptation. Under similar circumstances, many persons would have heard
"a call" which he did not hear, and perhaps have recognized the "hand
of Providence" in a way he did not see, in thus reconciling the
interest of a son and the desire of a father, with an income of
pleasant proportions. Such a transaction would, poetically at least,
be represented as a solace to the heart of a beloved parent if living,
or a touching tribute to his precious memory if departed. Dr. Richey
had been tried in the refiner's fire, and had no inclination to soothe
his conscience with a cheat. What he had honestly done in his youth,
he deliberately stuck to in his manhood. He preferred his Wesleyan
church and his British country, to money or praise.

  Unlike the cameleon, who is known
  To have no colours of his own,

he stood by his faith and by his flag, and doubtless his loyal heart
beats all the more serenely for such fidelity. Moreover those whom he
most disappointed most honored him. As they could not tempt him to
remain, they would not let him depart shabbily, or only in "sandal
shoon." If he had walked into the city, he should drive out of it; for
a well-chosen horse, a well-appointed carriage, with suitable
equipments, were placed at his disposal as a parting gift.

It may be here observed that the ministers of the Methodist
denomination are itinerants. It is a marked feature of Wesleyan policy
that their preachers should go from place to place. They remain for
two, or for reasons stated, at most for three years at a station. Like
the members of the Society of Jesus, they obey orders and go where
they are sent.

On leaving Charleston, Dr. Richey returned to Nova Scotia, and resided
at Halifax from 1832 to 1835. He was then sent to Montreal. In 1836,
he was appointed the first principal of the Upper Canada academy,
which had lately been established at the town of Cobourg. There he
remained to the close of 1839. The following three years were passed
at Toronto. In 1843 and 1844, he did duty at Kingston, where he was
chairman of the District and superintendent of missions in Upper
Canada. On leaving Kingston, he was presented with an address by the
Orange society, accompanied with a handsome piece of plate, as a mark
of their appreciation and regard. This gift was the more noteworthy
from the fact that, although a sincere protestant, Dr. Richey is not
an Orangeman. From 1845 to 1848, he was for the second time stationed
at Montreal, where, at the request of the late Sir George Simpson, he
assumed the direction of the Wesleyan mission in the Hudson's Bay
Territory. While at Montreal, he dedicated the three large churches
which at that time were occupied by the Methodists, and he was chosen
to represent that body at the Evangelical Alliance Association in
London.

In 1849 he was appointed acting President of the Canada Conference,
and in the three following years President of the Conference. In 1851
he was again sent to Halifax, and he continued in Nova Scotia for
several years. In 1855 the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Bermuda were organized under
the name of "Methodist Conference of Eastern British America." Of this
conference Dr. Richey was in 1855 appointed acting President, and from
1856 to 1860 President. In 1861 he went to England on leave of
absence, and rested for one year. In 1862 he returned to New
Brunswick, and did duty at St. John until 1864, when he was appointed
to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he now is. His term
there will close in June next, when it is said he will assume for the
second time, and by appointment of the British Conference, the office
of President of the Conference of Eastern British America.

Not only is Dr. Richey an eloquent preacher, he is also an industrious
as well as a forcible writer. For some time he edited "The Wesleyan,"
a weekly newspaper of repute in Upper Canada. Besides a volume of
sermons, which has been favorably noticed and widely circulated, he
has published a memoir of the late Rev. W. Black, a Wesleyan minister
of Nova Scotia. This memoir is much eulogized as an interesting as
well as valuable contribution to the religious literature of modern
days. Neither can we doubt the attractiveness of the work, for Mr.
Black was the friend and associate of the Rev. John Wesley; and he was
especially employed by that wonderful man as his agent and
representative to organize and perpetuate the Wesleyan polity in
British North America.

The lives of men teach us strange lessons. Wesley for example suddenly
abandoned his effort to convert the savages of Georgia that he might
Christianize those pariahs of civilization whose abiding places were
near the mines of Cornwall, in the coal-fields of Northumberland and
amidst the factories of Lancashire. The church, alas! of that unhappy
time was too idle, and the state too busy to take thought of them.
Religion and philanthropy closed their eyes or averted their heads,
and like "the Priest" and "the Levite" passed by on the other side.
The Wesleyans were the Samaritans of that day, for they had pity and
showed mercy. They stooped that they might raise, they ministered that
they might bless. They poured the oil of healing into the moral wound,
and the wine of revival upon the bruised spirit. Had the Anglican
Church of that day been true to herself and to her sacred
calling,--had she done then what she is striving to do now, Wesley and
Whitfield would not, we venture to believe, have withdrawn their great
talents, and their glowing affections from her communion and
fellowship. Unhappily she did not see then what she is anxious to
discover now, how to utilize such enthusiasm. Thus it followed that
instead of an order, a sect was created, which has given to the age
the most wonderful chapter in the history of Protestant nonconformity.
Wesley was compassionately spoken of by the great Earl of Chatham as
he pointed to his room at Christchurch as a "spoiled statesman," and
Bishop Lavington, as he noted the points of analogy between his system
and the system of the Roman Church, could not do otherwise than extol
him as an expert administrator. We may without impropriety connect the
subject of this sketch with Dr. Lavington's work on the "Enthusiasm of
Methodism and Rome compared," for it will give us the opportunity of
contrasting the numerical results in Canada of the system which he
philosophically compared in England. No comment is needed. It is only
necessary to add that the statistics are taken from the Canadian
Almanac for 1867, and that they affect to give the number of the
ministers belonging to the four great denominations.

  Methodists                                                       1,003
  Roman Catholics                                                    905
  Church of England                                                  420
  Presbyterians                                                      415

It must, we should think, be nearly half a century since Matthew
Richey landed at St. John, New Brunswick. At all events it is
forty-five years since, as a stripling of seventeen, he began to
preach to men and women of the amazing love of God. Time has now laid
his silver hand upon his head. The almond tree, the glory of age,
flourishes where soft brown curls, the envy of youth, once grew. The
lithe figure of his earlier manhood has yielded to the pressure, and
bowed gracefully to the presence of threescore years. But it is said
of him that while the tricks of time have left their marks on his
frame his serene spirit is unconscious of decline. Neither is it
difficult to believe that he who, in obedience to what he deems to be
the will of God, labors for the happiness of man will ever miss the
solace of a mind at rest. Such an one may occasionally pause in his
work to scan the past and to glimpse the future. But it will be for a
moment only. His business is "to seek a country," and though it may be
"afar off," his eye "of faith" will survey without perturbation, and
his untroubled soul will pass without dread

  The smooth short space of yellow sand
  Between this and the greener land.

[Illustration: THOMAS DOUGLAS HARINGTON, ESQ.]




THOMAS DOUGLAS HARINGTON, ESQ.,

DEPUTY RECEIVER GENERAL, AND FOR SEVERAL YEARS GRAND MASTER OF THE
FREEMASONS OF CANADA.


          T. D. Harington, he
  Has the "bankable" name it is cheery to see;
          On the face of a Bill,
          At the foot of a Note,
  It is better than rhino to keep one afloat.

"He can do almost anything, but it will puzzle him to teach the old
Secretary navigation, if that's what he's driving at," were, as nearly
as the writer can remember, the words which were spoken in his
hearing, rather than to him, on a bright March morning, upwards of
thirty years ago. The ice was disappearing in the Toronto bay, and
saunterers were looking idly towards lake Ontario for the arrival of
the first ship. The occupants of the easternmost of the public
buildings, like the people outside, were beset with similar curiosity.
Two especially, who were then standing at an open window, appeared to
be unusually interested, for they seemed to have sighted the object
that all were endeavoring to see. They were the persons of whom the
remark was made with which we have commenced this sketch. The "old
snuff-colored genius with the maccaboy wig and high-dried Lundyfoot
complexion," was the Honorable Duncan Cameron, the provincial
secretary. The other was Mr. Harington, chief clerk in the office,
"whom everybody knew and everybody liked."

The latter was spoken of as a Canadian Crichton, who could "do
anything he had a mind to," from the command of a three decker on one
element, to playing a flute solo at the opera on the other.
Comparatively a stranger, the writer at that time was alike
unacquainted with the name or person of the gentleman who was thus
glowingly described. He therefore watched with interest the pantomime
that was being performed at the window, and listened to the marginal
notes of his street acquaintance. The aged secretary was striving, but
with evident difficulty, through the medium of a telescope, to sight
the sail which the energetic chief clerk saw with his naked eye. The
effort, whether successful or not, afforded material for a further
communication. "Tom Harington is a regular salt, a heart and soul
sailor," whom the gods, to spite Neptune, had pressed into the service
of Minerva. "Though a rare stickler for office duty, he makes a point
of keeping abreast of his old knowledge. Were it not for his
observations solar and lunar, we should not know what o'clock it is at
Toronto. Savage, the watchmaker, regulates by him, and the Artillery
sergeant, who fires the twelve o'clock gun, takes his time from
Savage's chronometer. The gun keeps the town right, but Tom Harington
keeps the gun right."

Such in effect, and almost in words, was the description we listened
to of Mr. Harington's tastes and usefulness. Nor was the
representation an exaggeration. In work or play, in duty or pleasure,
the post of preference in his case is the post of hard labor, for his
exuberant vigor is conspicuous everywhere, and tells on everything he
undertakes. At cricket, he generally covered more ground than any one
else in the field, and in his office, as the writer has reason to
remember, he could accomplish more work within a given space of time,
than any one of his competitors.

His sea tastes are inbred, and have become part and parcel of himself.
If he had the wish he has not the ability to get rid of them. We have
been informed that he entered the Royal Navy in early youth as a
midshipman, and that having the opportunity, he transferred his
services to the East India Company's Marine, where, it is not
difficult to believe, he was an energetic as well as an enthusiastic
officer. Neither did he leave his sailor habits behind him, when he
exchanged the quarter-deck of a ship for the quiet of an office. The
"crown and anchor" are as luminously stamped on his character as they
are legibly embroidered on a naval uniform. They shine and show
themselves everywhere and under all circumstances. Oceanic phrases
crop up in his conversation, and sea metaphors are familiar forms of
illustration. He walks as if on a quarter-deck; and his oblique,
upward glance when doing so, seems to be associated with the shaking
of an imaginary sail, and conjecturally, with the question whether he
could not haul himself half a point closer to the wind? On such
occasions, the observer may almost expect to hear the order to "luff"
as he sees his indicative thumb in a familiar way express a
"starboard" or "port" direction. His industry and perseverance, like
his courage and address, are unquestioned. No peril would stand
between him and his duty: whether to his country or his friend. It
might require a cogent reason to induce him to change the color of his
uniform from blue to red, or substitute a soldier's for a sailor's
drill; as it formed, we incline to think, no part of his education,
and perhaps still less of his habit, to "swell his instep," or to
"point his toe," or to "put his left foot forward." It is probable
that he would meet the order with an expostulation were he called upon
to perform the sword salute while "marching past" in slow time. When
the rebellion occurred in Upper Canada, his services were cordially
offered to and accepted by the Government, but there was a popular
belief at the time, that some secret articles had been agreed upon
between himself and his commanding officer, Colonel S. P. Jarvis,
which included a stipulation that he should be allowed to fight
whenever his regiment took the field, but that he should not be
required to "fall in." Thus when he accepted the commission of Captain
with the duty of paymaster in the Queen's Rangers, it was commonly
understood that on the occurrence of actual service, the charge of
the regimental chest was to be turned over to some brother officer of
less robust health, or less belligerent tastes than those with which
he was endowed.

At the union of the Canadas, when the Secretary's offices of the two
former Provinces were formed into one department, he was appointed the
Chief Clerk. On the 17th May, 1858, on the resignation of the Deputy
Receiver-General, he was selected by Government as his successor,
which office he has continued to fill from then till now.

But it is not only or chiefly by reason of his official position and
long services that he is so pleasantly known throughout the Provinces.
Many years ago, secret organizations of various kinds became suddenly
popular in Canada. Mr. Harington caught the epidemic in its least
objectionable form. Secrecy with him should be synonymous with
charity, brotherhood, and benevolence. He therefore joined the ancient
craft of "Free and accepted Masons," and, with characteristic ardor,
became an enthusiastic competitor for its honors, and a passionate
student of its mysteries. He ascended the Masonic ladder with rapidity
until he attained, as we have been told, the highest round that can be
reached in this country. Mr. Harington's photograph will not only be
acceptable to the Freemasons of Canada, but it will gratify many
persons who are not members of that ancient craft. Pleasant notes and
a familiar signature are apt to quicken the curiosity of the
recipient, and provoke a desire to see the shadow, if not the form, of
the person who has in some way become charmingly associated with his
necessities, and perhaps with his enjoyments. Though Mr. Harington's
likeness is not framed in a medallion, and does not look at us
encircled within the engraved letters "The Province of Canada will
pay," his handwriting gives to the promise its value, and makes it
acceptable as well as precious. Each and all of us may say or sing--

            On a green tinted  =X=
            Or a crisp feeling =V=,
  T. D. Harington's name is a treasure to me.

[Illustration: THE HONORABLE PETER McGILL]




THE HONORABLE PETER McGILL


Was the son of John McCutchon, of Newton Stewart, in the county of
Galloway, by Mary McGill, his second wife. He was born at Cree Bridge,
Wigtonshire, in the month of August, 1789, and received at his
baptism, on the 1st of September following, the Christian name of
Peter, which, unlike his surname, he neither had the inducement nor
the power to change. His parents were able only to give him the
patrimony of a good example, a parish school education, and a
discipline of industry. Nature was more affluent, for she bestowed a
sound constitution, robust health, and a frame that would have done
credit to the Life Guards, for he was if we mistake not, upwards of
six feet in height. He had a handsome face, and an eye, behind whose
tint of northern blue there lodged a greater amount of mirth and
mischief than are usually found looking out of the serious heads of
the Scottish race. We do not know what his occupations were between
the periods of his leaving school and his leaving Scotland. All that
we are able to narrate is, that in the memorable year of 1809, when
the war flame illumined all Europe, when the ocean was the play-ground
of privateers, and when sea risks of every kind amounted to
prohibitions, young McCutchon left his father's house by the Cree,
ferried his fortunes out of Wigton Bay, waved a cordial good bye to
the Mull of Galloway, and in a cheerful frame of mind arrived at
Montreal in the month of June. Inducements were not wanting to attract
him to Canada. His maternal uncle, the Hon. John McGill, a member of
the Legislative Council of Upper Canada, and at one time
Receiver-General of that Province, had accumulated wealth as well as
honor in his new home. Having no children and many possessions, he
very naturally sought in his own family for heirs of his blood. It may
have been personal feeling, or it may have been a genealogical
prejudice, but he determined to obtain by law what had been denied by
nature--an heir of his name as well as of his race. The impression
which the nephew made on the mind of his uncle must have been very
satisfactory, as on the 29th of March, 1821, and during the lifetime
of the former, a Royal License was issued under the sign-manual of His
Majesty George the Fourth, from which we shall make the following
extract:

     "Whereas Peter McCutchon, of Montreal, in the Province of Lower
     Canada, merchant, only surviving son of John McCutchon, of Newton
     Stewart, in the county of Galloway, gentleman, by Mary, his
     second wife, deceased, who was the sister of John McGill, of
     York, in the Province of Upper Canada, Esquire, a member of the
     Legislative Council, and late Receiver-General for the said last
     mentioned Province, hath, by his Petition, humbly represented
     unto us that his said honored maternal uncle having, in the
     consideration that he is now a widower, advanced in years,
     without any children alive, and the only survivor of the male
     branch of his father's family, by a letter bearing date at York
     aforesaid, the second day of January last past, signified his
     earnest wish and desire that the Petitioner should assume and use
     his surname; and the Petitioner, being desirous, from motives of
     affectionate regard towards the said John McGill, of forthwith
     complying with his wish so expressed; the Petitioner, therefore,
     most humbly prays our Royal License and authority that he may
     assume, take, and use the surname of McGill instead of his
     present surname. Know ye that We, of our Princely grace and
     special favor, have given and granted, and by these presents do
     give and grant unto him, the said Peter McCutchon, our Royal
     License and authority, that he may assume, take, and use the
     surname of McGill instead of his present surname, provided this,
     our commission and declaration, be recorded in our College of
     Arms; otherwise this our License and Permission to be void and of
     none effect."

Before he assumed his uncle's name, or inherited his property, Peter
McCutchon addressed himself to the duty of working out his own
fortune. With a hearty vigor he entered on that career of commerce
with which his history was to be chiefly associated. In the capacity
of clerk, he engaged in the service of Messrs. Parker, Gerrard, Ogilvy
& Co. After a few years' exertion, he had so far made his way as to
become a partner, and to see his name fill the third place with the
quadruple alliance of Porteous, Hancox, McCutchon & Cringan.

In 1824, the Hon. John McGill died, and the subject of this sketch
inherited the fortune for which he had been requested to lay aside his
paternal name. It was, we believe, about this time he formed an
English partnership with Mr. Dowie, of Liverpool, and if we are
rightly informed, a Canadian one with the late Mr. Price of Quebec.
The firm of McGill & Dowie lasted for some years, while the business
under the name of Peter McGill & Co. was continued for a still further
period. Though great pecuniary disasters overtook the firm, it was
wealthy enough to bear the shaking. It lost much metaphorical blood in
the form of money; but in saving its credit, it saved its actual life;
and it was only common policy to shed one in defence of the other. The
high-minded merchant entered into rest with the comfortable reflexion,
that his commercial honor had never been impeached.

In 1818, the Bank of Montreal was established. In the following year
Mr. McGill was elected one of the directors. In 1830, he was appointed
Vice-President, and in 1834, President of the Bank. The last mentioned
officer is chosen annually, and it is no light compliment to the
subject of this sketch that, without interruption, he continued to
fill the office until June, 1860, when age and ill health obliged him
to relinquish his connection with that great institution. On the 13th
February, 1832, he was married, by special license, at Brunswick
square, London, to Sarah Elizabeth, a daughter of Robt C. Wilkins,
Esq. Of this marriage two sons survive.

Mr. McGill was a wealthy and benevolent, as well as a sagacious and a
painstaking man, who not only applauded the sentiment, but really
enjoyed the labor of doing good to other people. He was courteous and
conciliatory to all, and thoroughly free from that kind of Dombeyan
pomposity which Dickens has satirized, and which many men mistake for
good breeding. His mind was cast in a gentle mould, and his heart was
a treasury of benevolence and charity. Such qualities, combined with
his social and commercial position, fitted him to be what he was, a
useful intermediary between extreme parties. His principles were not
deficient in outline, but such outlines were cut in Caen stone and not
in granite. They were therefore very sensible to the touch of time,
the influence of contact and the power of association. The Honorable
George Moffatt, who was his friend, might instructively be contrasted
with Mr. McGill. Both were high-minded honorable men. Moreover, they
started from the same point of the political compass. But there was a
great difference in the way in which they applied their knowledge. One
did what he thought was right, the other did what he thought was best.
One asserted the obligations of principle, the other insisted on the
considerations of expediency. Mr. Moffatt was governed by the rule and
square of imperious conviction. Mr. McGill watched, and to a great
extent was controlled by the course of events. Principle in one case
was inflexible and unyielding; in the other it was pliant and elastic.
The former character attracted more respect, and the latter more
affection; and thus people sometimes found themselves most liking what
abstractedly they least admired. The age in which we live is an age of
conciliation, with which compromise has a good deal to do. Mr. Moffatt
preferred the old-fashioned axioms to the new-fashioned age. Mr.
McGill accepted things as they were, and if he could not suit the age
to the axioms, he would adapt the axioms to the age. This policy of
observing the ebb and flow of public opinion, of being content to
follow the times and apply their lessons, has its advantages, which,
though of a negative character, may nevertheless represent a positive
benefit.

The community of mixed nationalities in which Mr. McGill lived, was
exactly the community where such a policy could find scope and be
appreciated. There is no more cosmopolitan population in British
America than is to be found in Montreal. All sorts and conditions of
men congregate there; men of all origins, all creeds, and of every
occupation--men who are attracted from parts the most remote, governed
by interests the most different, and engaged in pursuits the most
varied. Yet, notwithstanding such an accumulation of contrarieties,
Mr. McGill was able even in such a community to exert an influence
which was generally beneficial, because it was always moderate. Thus
his assistance and co-operation were commonly sought for in religious,
charitable, or useful works. In this way offices more onerous than
profitable, honors more burdensome than enviable, and duties more
exacting than desirable, gathered about his path with fatiguing
accumulation. He seemed to be associated with every undertaking that
needed direction; the head of almost every society that wanted a
chairman; and the co-operator with almost every charity that wanted a
friend. From 1834 to 1843, he was the President of the Montreal Branch
of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and when he resigned, an
order of Honorary Governors was instituted primarily for the purpose
of keeping his name on the roll of the Society. He was President of
the St. Andrew's Society from 1835 to 1842. In 1846, he was appointed
Provincial Grand Master of the Free Masons for the District of
Montreal and William Henry, and in the following year he was elevated
to the office of Superintendent of Royal Arch Masonry in the Province
of Canada. He was the first Mayor of the city of Montreal; and though
he was nominated by the Crown, we think the opinion includes no slight
to the citizens when we add that they have never chosen a more useful
and efficient chief magistrate. By way of adding strength to this
impression, we shall append a resolution which was unanimously adopted
at the close of Mr. McGill's civic career:

     On the motion of Alderman DeBleury, seconded by Councillor
     Bourett, it was unanimously resolved:

     That, whereas, the present Council will, from and after
     to-morrow, cease to exist, the present is a fitting moment to
     convey to his worship the Mayor, the Honorable Peter McGill, the
     most sincere and unanimous thanks of the members of this Council,
     for the very gentlemanly and courteous manner in which he has at
     all times conducted and performed the high and important duties
     connected with his office as Mayor of this city, and it is with
     deep regret they have learned that he is determined not to be put
     in nomination at the ensuing municipal election to sit again at
     this Board, where his acknowledged ability and services have been
     so pre-eminently useful; and the loss of such invaluable services
     cannot fail to be felt by the citizens generally.

Besides the offices already mentioned, Mr. McGill was for fourteen
years a Governor of the University of McGill College, and he was also
a Governor of the Montreal General Hospital, Chairman of the Canada
Branch of the Colonial Life Assurance Company, President of the Lay
Association of Montreal in connection with the Church of Scotland,
Chairman of the St. Lawrence and Champlain Railroad Company, from its
commencement to its completion 1835, when he declined re-election;
President of the Board of Trade in Montreal, in 1848; Director of the
Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada, President of the British and
Canadian School Society of Montreal, and a Trustee of the University
of Queen's College, Kingston. We must not omit to state that he was
President of the Constitutional Society from 1836 to 1839.

In 1820 he was promoted to the rank of captain in the Militia; in 1830
he was gazetted as major of Artillery, and on the 14th September,
1849, he was placed on the unattached list as lieut. colonel. His
political offices, though less numerous, were necessarily more
important than the local or military ones to which we have referred.
He was a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, having
been summoned thereto by His Excellency Viscount Aylmer, on the 8th
June, 1832. On the 2nd of November, 1838, he was appointed, and on the
19th January, 1839, re-appointed a member of the Special Council for
Lower Canada. On the 4th July of the last mentioned year, he received
from the Governor-General a communication accompanying a mandamus
under the Royal Signet, of which the following is a copy:

     To our trusty and well beloved Sir John Colborne, G.C.B.,
     Lieutenant-General in our army, our Captain General and Governor
     in Chief, in and over our Province of Lower Canada; or, in his
     absence, to our Lieutenant-Governor, or the Officer administering
     the Government of our said Province for the time being

     VICTORIA R.

     Trusty and well beloved, we greet you well. We being well
     satisfied of the loyalty, integrity and ability of our trusty and
     well beloved Peter McGill, Esq., have thought fit hereby to
     signify our will and pleasure, that forthwith, upon the receipt
     of these presents, you swear and admit him, the said Peter
     McGill, to be of our Executive Council of our Province of Lower
     Canada, and for so doing this will be your warrant.

     Given at our Court at Buckingham Palace, this fourth day of May,
     1839, in the second year of our reign.

     By Her Majesty's Command,

     NORMANBY.

     Peter McGill, Esq.,

     To be of the Executive Council,
     Lower Canada.

On the 9th June, 1841, he was summoned by His Excellency, Baron
Sydenham, to a seat in the Legislative Council of Canada. In 1843 he
declined, for private reasons, the office of Speaker, though pressed
on his acceptance by the Honorable Messrs. Viger and Quesnel, the
former of whom was, at the time, the chief Lower Canadian adviser of
Lord Metcalfe. On the 21st of May, 1847, the offer being repeated by
His Excellency the Earl of Elgin, it was accepted by Mr. McGill, who
was at the same time sworn in of the Executive Council. Personally,
there was no more popular member of the Legislative Council than Mr.
McGill. Probably no one could have presided with more dignity, and, so
it is stated, no one has dispensed the hospitalities which are
inseparable from the office with better taste, greater discernment or
equal frequency. Unfortunately for Mr. McGill, the peculiar state of
the Province appeared to counteract the grace which lent attraction
to his presidency. Until then the office had not been regarded as a
ministerial appointment; successive changes had taken place in the
administration, government had succeeded government, reformers had
displaced moderates, and conservatives reformers. But the Speakership
of the Legislative Council, like a judicial appointment, had remained
undisturbed, being, as it was supposed, beyond the reach of those
influences which regulate the tenure of political offices.

But it was not the application of the principle of ministerial
responsibility which constituted the chief difficulty of the
unlooked-for proceeding. The differences between Lord Metcalfe and his
Executive Council, which resulted in the resignation of the latter, on
30th September, 1843, were followed by the general estrangement of the
French Canadian party. This estrangement, Mr. Draper, and subsequently
Mr. Cayley, sought very earnestly to overcome. On both occasions Mr.
Caron, at that time the Speaker of the Legislative Council, was
selected as the negotiator. That he did not succeed must be attributed
rather to the difficulty of the duty than to any want of effort on his
part to make it successful. But the penalty of failure appeared to be
visited upon him. The administrations which he had sought to serve
discovered that the public interests would be advanced by cancelling
Mr. Caron's commission, and making his office as unstable as their
own. "Since you have failed to conciliate your countrymen, you shall
no longer preside in the Legislative Council," were not the words in
which Mr. Caron's removal was signified, but they expressed, as was
alleged, the ministerial reason. That act increased the difficulties
of the situation; for the substitution of a gentleman of British
origin for one of French descent added force to their grievances, who
complained of the exclusion of the latter from power. Thus it chanced
that Mr. McGill's personal popularity weighed but little against the
political necessities of the government. It was ineffectual to repair
a mistake, which was apparently more nearly related to resentment than
to sagacity. The error was fatal, for it caused the waverers of the
French Canadian party to unite as a compact body, and take service
under the flag of Mr. Lafontaine. The natural result speedily
followed, for on the 10th of March, 1848, the administration, of which
Mr. McGill was one of the most popular members, resigned. Though he
continued to give his occasional attendance in Parliament from then
till the time of his death, his political career may be said to have
closed on the last mentioned day.

Mr. McGill was not a man of marked genius or of conspicuous learning,
or of striking originality, but he was a man of nice honor, great
sagacity, and sound common sense. He possessed the qualities for which
Cicero recommended Pompey to the Romans for their general; he was a
"man of courage, conduct, and good fortune." Moreover, he was a frank
opponent, a fair partisan, and a fast friend. If he was not always
consistent, he was always conscientious. He did not care to balance
the logic of argument against the logic of facts. He was more anxious
that his acts should be separately wise than that they should be
collectively symmetrical; hence he took no pains to dovetail a vote of
one period with a speech of another. No political designation with
which we are acquainted very accurately describes his school of
politics. At times he was a conservative, and at times a reformer, but
he was always a royalist, and always an enthusiastic supporter of the
Queen's government. He was passionately so, when that government was
disturbed by rebellion or menaced with democracy.

A Scotsman by birth, he could, on any festive occasion, talk in
exhilarating tones of the "blue hills" of his native land, and express
at least a poetic affection for their hazy accompaniments of mist and
drizzle. But though he had neither the wish nor the ability to forget
his native land, we incline to think that his greater love was for the
country of his adoption. His constant hope and earnest endeavors were
to unite in one bond of fellowship and concord, of union and
strength, the different races with which it is peopled. Baptized and
brought up in the Church of Scotland, he continued to be, as we learn
from a sermon preached on the occasion of his death, a member of that
establishment to the last. The disease of which he died was
enlargement of the heart. It was of long standing. His robust
constitution had wrestled with it for twenty years, and did not give
way until the 28th of September, 1860, when he had entered his
seventy-second year. Many regrets were expressed at his death, and
many mourners followed his remains to the grave. Moreover the place of
usefulness which he filled, we incline to think, is still empty. No
successor has arisen in the Montreal community who unites in his
character and his policy the kindliness and generosity, the tact
influence and temper, of the Honorable Peter McGill.




FOOTNOTES:


[1] The subjects include papers on Columbus, Shakespeare, Milton,
Burke, Grattan, Burns, Moore, The Reformation, The Jesuits, The
English Revolution of 1688, The growth and power of the Middle Classes
in England, The Moral of the Four Revolutions, The Irish Brigade in
the service of France, The American Revolution, The Spirit of Irish
History, Will and Skill.

[2] O'Connell and his Friends, 1 vol., Boston, 1844; The Irish Writers
of the Seventeenth Century, 1 vol., Dublin, 1856; Life of McMurrough,
1 vol., Dublin, 1847; Memoir of Duffy, Pamphlet, Dublin, 1819;
Historical Sketches of Irish Settlers in America, 1 vol., Boston,
1850; History of the Reformation in Ireland, 1 vol., Boston, 1852;
Catholic History of North America, 1 vol., Boston, 1852; Life of
Bishop Maginn, 1 vol., New York, 1856; Canadian Ballads, Montreal, 1
vol., New York, 1858; Popular History of Ireland, 2 vols., New York,
1862; Notes on Federal Governments, past and present, Pamphlet,
Montreal, 1864; Speeches on British American Union, London, 1865.

[3] 1815.--Topographical maps of Lower Canada in two sections.
_First_, District of Quebec, Three Rivers and Gaspé. _Second_, the
District of Montreal.

Geographical map of British America and of the United States.

These maps, which were published on a very large scale, were
accompanied by a topographical description of Lower Canada. They were
moreover published simultaneously in English and French.

1831.--British Dominions in North America, 2 vols. 4to., elegantly
printed and illustrated with vignettes, views and plans.

Topographical Dictionary of Lower Canada. 1 vol. 4to.

Topographical map of the District of Quebec and Three Rivers.

Topographical map of the District of Montreal.

Geographical map of British America and of the Northern, Western, and
Central States of America. This map, though published by the subject
of our sketch, was, we believe, compiled by his eldest son.

[4] "Annual Report of the Royal Institution of South Wales, for 1839."
On the character of the beds of clay immediately below the Coal seams
of South Wales, and on the occurrence of boulders of coal in the
Pennant Grit of that District.

[5] Colas et Colinette, ou le Bailli Dupé--a comedy, 1788. Lucas et
Cecile--a musical operatta. Les Republicains Français--a comedy; a
Treatise on Dramatic Art. 1805.



[The end of _Portraits of British Americans Volume 2_ by Fennings Taylor]