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Title: Portraits of British Americans (1865-68) Volume 3 of 3
Date of first publication: 1868
Author: Fennings Taylor (1817-1882)
Photographer: William Notman (1826-1891)
Date first posted: February 3 2013
Date last updated: February 3 2013
Faded Page eBook #20130202

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





                              PORTRAITS

                                  OF

                          BRITISH AMERICANS

                                  BY

                              W. NOTMAN,

                     PHOTOGRAPHER TO HER MAJESTY,

                     WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES,

                                  BY

                           FENNINGS TAYLOR,

                            DEPUTY CLERK,
             AND CLERK ASSISTANT OF THE SENATE OF CANADA.

                              VOL. III.

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

                                1868.




[Illustration]


     THE HONORABLE SIR JOHN BEVERLY ROBINSON, BART, C.B., D.C.L.,

  CHIEF JUSTICE OF UPPER CANADA, AND CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
                      TRINITY COLLEGE, TORONTO.

                The general voice
  Sounds him for courtesy, behaviour, language,
  And every fair demeanour, an example:
  Titles of honour add not to his worth
  Who is himself an honour to his title.


It was in the reign of King Charles the Second, that two brothers
bearing the respective names of John and Christopher Robinson, of
Cleasby in the county of York, descendants of John Robinson, Esquire,
of Crostwick, in the parish of Romaldkirk, in the same county, either
for merit of their own, or for services rendered by their family to
the restored monarch, appear to have been marked for royal favor. The
elder entered holy orders, and rose from one degree to another, until
he arrived at the dignity of Bishop of Gloucester. In 1713, he was
translated to the see of London, and in the same year selected to
represent his country, as chief plenipotentiary at the treaty of
Utrecht. The younger brother, Christopher Robinson, emigrated to
America, having been appointed private secretary to Sir William
Berkeley, the Governor of Virginia. He resided at Rappahannock, in the
county of Middlesex, in that colony. Subsequently he was promoted to
the office of Provincial Secretary, and died in 1696. John Robinson,
his second son, who was born in Virginia, and became President of the
Council, married Catharine, a daughter of Robert Beverly, Esquire,
formerly of Beverly in Yorkshire. Of this marriage, there was issue
seven sons, one of whom, Beverly Robinson, of the British army,
married Susanna, daughter of Frederick Phillipse, Esquire, the
proprietor of a large estate on the banks of the Hudson. According to
the record found in Burke's Peerage and Barontage, he died, in
England, in 1772. He had several sons, including "Beverly Robinson the
younger," as he was styled in the New York confiscation act,
Christopher Robinson, and as we believe, others beside Commissary
General Sir William Robinson, and General Sir Frederick Phillipse
Robinson, of the British army. The family was one of the influential
as well as the historical families of the old American provinces. At
the revolution which resulted in the independence of those provinces,
the members of that family cast their lot with king and country, and
fought and suffered for the royal cause. The episode of Arnold's
treachery and André's sacrifice, acquire interest from the
circumstances that the old homestead of the family, "the Robinson
house," on the banks of the Hudson, was the head quarters of the
traitor General, and that Colonel Beverly Robinson, the owner of that
house, was the friend, confidant, and associate of the high minded and
gallant Major André, on the mission which resulted in his capture and
execution. Christopher Robinson, the brother of the last mentioned
Beverly Robinson, was born in 1764, and educated at "William and Mary"
college, Virginia, of which his ancestor of the same name was one of
the first trustees. He left that institution at the age of seventeen,
and obtained a commission in Colonel Simcoe's regiment of Queen's
Ranger Hussars. After the treaty of peace, he with other members of
his race, sought and found sanctuary in the province of New Brunswick.
He lost no time in adapting himself to the new conditions of his lot,
and of testifying his admiration for the principles for which the
family possessions had been sacrificed. He married Esther, the
daughter of the Rev. John Sayer, of Fairfield, Connecticut, a
clergyman of the episcopal church, and at the time of the revolution,
a missionary in the service of the venerable society for propagating
the gospel. Mr. Sayer's sacred office awakened no respect, and his
holy life afforded no security. The merits of both were in the
estimation of his persecutors counterbalanced by his earnest endeavor,
as he touchingly wrote, "to keep a conscience void of offence towards
God and towards man, continually striving to discharge his duties to
his master, his king, and his people." Thus it happened that in the
year after the peace of Versailles, by which the independence of the
United States was recognized, Christopher Robinson, not then of age,
married Esther Sayer, whom we have no doubt was as conspicuous for the
tenderness of her youth, as we have been informed she was for the
attractiveness of her beauty. There was, we incline to think, but
little fortune to embarrass the union of these representative
sufferers in the cause of church and state. The settlements were
probably of the simplest kind, for they occasioned no anxiety on the
part of curious friends. To faith and hope, an entail of hereditary
loyalty and of actual love, there remained but little besides a clear
conscience for a possession, and forfeited estates for a remembrance.
The world was all before them, and a very rough wild world it must
have been, for it was fresh from the lap of nature and fashioned
according to such forms as time bestows on soils innocent of tillage.
The project of dividing the province of Quebec into Upper and Lower
Canada was much talked of, and the former province especially became a
place of great attraction. Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Robinson turned
their faces westward, and in about the year 1788 found themselves
residents of the parish of L'Assomption in Lower Canada. Afterwards
they removed to Berthier, where their son, John Beverly Robinson, the
subject of this sketch was born, on the 26th of July, 1791; the year,
it may be remarked, in which the constitutional act was passed which
divided the former province of Quebec into the provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada. There was at least a poetical fitness in the incident.
It was seemly that one who was destined for half a century to fill
the most prominent place in the political and judicial history of
Upper Canada, should have begun his life in the year in which that
province commenced its statutory existence.

General Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, an
officer of the revolutionary war, was as much beloved by the loyalists
as they were admired by him. It was a part of his policy to attract
people of congenial principles to the province he had been appointed
to rule. It has been said that at least ten thousand of such persons
became settlers in Upper Canada. The number of course included members
of the more prominent as well as of the less conspicuous of the exiled
families. Of the former, few if any received or deserved more respect
than the descendants and representatives of Beverly Robinson. On the
recommendation of General Simcoe, Christopher Robinson and his family
moved to Kingston. In that town he lived, and for six years practiced
law. He was one of the first benchers chosen by the Law Society, and
also a member of the House of Assembly, having been elected in 1796 to
represent the county of Lennox and Addington. Two years afterwards he
left Kingston and moved with his family to Toronto, where, after a
short illness, he died on the 2nd of November, 1798. Thus, at the age
of seven years, in the melancholy season of the year, when the woods
were stripped of their foliage and the meadows of their verdure, John
Beverly Robinson entered upon the hard discipline of orphanhood, his
worldly possessions being a good name, which he inherited; and a kind
friend, whom he found in Mr. Stuart, the father of the late Archdeacon
of Kingston. Mr. Stuart lost no time in placing young Robinson under
the tuition of Mr. Strachan, the present Bishop of Toronto, who then
resided in Kingston. There he continued until the teacher, having
taken orders in the Anglican Church, moved to the town of Cornwall,
where he not only fulfilled the duties of his holy calling, but
continued the work of school teacher. Young Robinson, with other
pupils, accompanied Mr. Strachan to Cornwall, and continued there
until his education was completed. No doubt the traditions of his
family, and the teachings of his reverend instructor, aided the result
they were well calculated to produce. Besides the classical,
scientific and general information which Mr. Strachan possessed, and
which he was well fitted to impart, that gifted teacher was endowed
with certain underlying traits of character, a compound of fascination
and force, which all his pupils have been ready to admit and few have
been able to explain.

At the age of sixteen, he commenced the study of the law, in the
office of the Honorable D'Arcy Boulton, at that time the acting
Attorney General of the province. Like the late Sir Allan McNab,
during the term of his indentures, he also obtained employment as a
writing clerk in the office of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada,
where he probably acquired some insight into the law and practice of
parliament which proved very useful to him in later life. In 1810 Mr.
Boulton had occasion to visit England. In running the gauntlet of the
Atlantic, he and the ship in which he had sailed became war prizes to
a French privateer. Mr. Boulton was carried into France, and confined
as a prisoner in the fortified town of Verdun. There he continued
until 1814, when the peace of Fontainbleau set him at liberty. In the
meanwhile his former pupil, the subject of this sketch, had
transferred his articles of indenture to Mr. Attorney General
Macdonald, Mr. Boulton's successor in office. Though educated for a
lawyer, that gallant gentleman had the tastes of a soldier, for he
served as aide-de-camp to, and was slain with General Brock at the
memorable battle of Queenston Heights. Thus it chanced that Mr.
Robinson's professional chiefs illustrated in their persons the
necessity and the duty of sacrifice, for though in opposite
hemispheres and to different enemies, one contributed his liberty, and
the other his life for his flag.

The war of 1812, between Great Britain and the United States,
disturbed every engagement of civil life, for the loyal men of Canada,
of whatever occupation, were called upon to enrol themselves in the
ranks of the militia, to do as their fathers had done, and to fight as
their fathers had fought. To apply the words of the Chief Justice, in
writing on the subject, we may truly say that--

     "Their loyalty was sincere, for it led to the sacrifice of
     property, of country, of kindred, and friends; and the feeling
     which has since predominated with them and their descendants is
     a feeling of satisfaction and pride in the exertions and
     sacrifices by which their fidelity was proved. They have been
     troubled by no visitings of repentance for having performed
     their duty.... These feelings sprang from a pure source; they
     do not seem to have been always understood by public men in
     this country (i.e. England), but they still exist in all their
     strength; and if they do not long continue to animate the
     population which inherits them, the fault will not be theirs.
     Those who have hitherto obeyed their generous impulse have felt
     that they were but discharging their duty to God, to their
     sovereign, and to their country; but they have not seldom had
     the mortification to find that their open and steady support of
     principles and institutions which they knew to be justly
     entitled to their obedience and respect, has been placed to a
     less creditable account."

In 1812, Mr. Robinson laid aside his pen and his law papers, and, as a
worthy son of a chivalrous sire, he gave his services to his
sovereign. He received a lieutenant's commission in a regiment of York
militia, under the command of Colonel the Honorable William Allan, and
he had the honor of serving under the immediate orders of
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, at the capture of Detroit; where it is
reported the articles of capitulation were drawn up by him; and also
at the victory of Queenston Heights, where, to use his own words, "it
required much more courage to refuse to follow Brock, than to go with
him wherever he would lead." Colonel Coffin, in his Chronicle of the
War, thus writes:--"The British had been greatly exasperated by the
fatal event of the morning (the death of Brock). The men of Lincoln,
and the 'brave York volunteers,' with Brock on their lips, and revenge
in their hearts, had joined in the last desperate charge, and among
the foremost,--foremost ever found!--was John Beverly Robinson."
After the close of the action he was despatched with prisoners to
Kingston, and on his return to Toronto he was met by several friends
who congratulated him on his appointment to what he was sanguine
enough to believe might have been a captain's commission, but to what
he was astonished to learn was to the office of Attorney General for
the province. The surprise, we may well conjecture, was increased by
the fact, that he had not then been called to the bar.

In 1814, the Hon. D'Arcy Boulton walked out of his prison house at
Verdun, to resume in the following year the position and duties from
which he had been temporarily withdrawn. Whereupon Mr. Robinson
accepted the office of Solicitor General, which he held until Mr.
Boulton's elevation to the bench in 1818, when the former situation
was again given to him. Previously, however, in 1817 he went to
England, and kept his terms at one of the Inns of Court. Nor was it
law alone to which he paid his addresses; for he marked his visit by
marrying Emma, a daughter of Charles Walker, Esq., and a niece of
William Merry, Esq., who was for many years Under Secretary of State
for foreign affairs. This estimable gentlewoman survived him for a
short time only.

In the year 1821, he took his seat as a member of the House of
Assembly, and at the same time became the acknowledged leader of what
was then known as the tory or government party. Parliamentary
government, or government "according to the well understood wishes of
the people as expressed through their representatives," as it is now
practiced, was then beyond the reach of colonial comprehension; for it
was deemed to be not only inconsistent with, but absolutely opposed to
the condition of colonial dependence. The responsibility of ministers
to parliament was supposed to be incompatible with their
responsibility to the crown. The interests of the two were considered
to be antagonistic, and he who ventured to advocate the popular side
was consequently suspected of having a moral screw loose somewhere,
perchance of being related to a Jacobin, if not actually outlawed as
a conspirator. Party lines were sharply drawn, and men of liberal
tendencies suffered from the political and social avoidance of those
who controlled the government and kept the pass-key to what was
unquestionably the nice society of the capital. But though popular
rights were practically denied, the earnest demand for them could not
be silenced; and thus the Attorney General found himself continually
engaged in an exciting struggle with the liberal party, meeting their
arguments with his eloquence, and by means of his personal influence,
neutralizing the advantage which was considered to be due to their
greater numbers in the House of Assembly.

Apart from the fact that ministerial responsibility as a condition of
parliamentary government was then less understood than it is now, it
should not be lost sight of that the early settlers, the U. E.
Loyalists and their children, had no especial reason to regard with
favor any extension of what were termed popular rights. Loyalty with
them was a doctrine of sacred import, to be interpreted according to
the canons of the eighteenth century politicians. "The image and
transcript of the British constitution," included in the opinion of
the majority, a church established by law, and a state wherein the
king not only reigned but governed. Church and king had been objects
of especial hate in the old provinces, and for that, as well as for
higher reasons, they were objects of especial reverence in the new.
American loyalists deemed it to be their mission to preserve in their
new homes what American republicans had destroyed in their old ones.
Such sentiments blossomed in their speech and were enfoliated with
their thoughts; they supplied flowers to their rhetoric, passion to
their eloquence, and vigor to their action. Moreover political
sympathy walked hand in hand with social intercourse; such mutual
endearments being occasionally supplemented by intermarriages between
the members of families who thus knew and respected one another. Such
results were natural and desirable, and it is only matter for
surprise that they did not more frequently take place. However, the
comparatively few examples afforded convenient ground for objection
and enabled political opponents to indicate such alliances by a name
which, though innocent enough in itself, was obnoxious to historical
disfavor in other lands, and to local jealousy in their own. Thus the
term "family compact" in Canada, like the term nepotism elsewhere,
became a phrase of offence, and did much to prejudice the party to
which it was applied. There was enough of truth in it to make it
stick, and enough of evil to be deduced from it to make it injurious;
and since no one could reason successfully against the parish
register, or cleverly overcome what the clergyman had certified to be
true, men were constrained to give a qualified acquiescence to what
they could not actually explain away.

If, however, the crown and sceptre, the mitre and crozier, symbolized
to the church and king party of Canada the sources through which all
authority flowed; that party appeared nevertheless to be imbued with
the old whig doctrine, that such authority should be administered in a
patrician way, and by the representatives of families who had been
conspicuous for their faith and devotion to the king's cause. Thus the
practice of the eighteenth century whigs in England seemed in a very
emphatic way to be appropriated by the nineteenth century tories in
Canada, for though the two parties differed in their principles of
government, they were tolerably well agreed on the mode in which
government should be administered. The English whigs were of opinion
that the ministers of the crown should be selected from members of
those great families who had made sacrifices for the revolution, and
had mainly contributed to its success. The Canadian tories in like
manner were of opinion that such ministers should be chosen from the
members of those royalist families who had lost everything but honor
in the King's service in America. Neither were reasons wanting to
sustain their view. In opening the first session of the first
parliament of Upper Canada at Newark, now Niagara, on the 17th of
September, 1792, His Excellency Lieutenant Governor Simcoe thus
addressed the two Houses:

     "The great and momentous trusts and duties which have been
     committed to the representatives of this Province in a degree
     infinitely beyond what ever, till this period, have
     distinguished any other Colony, have originated from the
     British nation upon a just consideration of the energy and
     hazard with which the inhabitants of this Province have so
     conspicuously supported and defended the British Constitution."

The idea thus promulgated that special privileges had been conferred
for special services, and that such privileges included among other
advantages the blessing of living under a constitution, which in the
words of the Governor last quoted was to be "the image and transcript
of the British constitution," had taken fast hold of the popular mind.
Upper Canada was to be the theatre of a fresh experiment, and the
earliest inhabitants in "consideration of the energy and hazard" they
had shown in the King's service were to be entrusted with the duty of
applying that experiment. The constitution of the mother country in
church and state was, as the most of them believed, to be naturalized
there, and American royalists who had lost their properties by
revolution were to enjoy their principles in peace.

After the wars in Europe and America had come to an end, the tide of
emigration set strongly towards Canada from the United States and from
Europe. The class of new arrivals included, of course, a large number
of American immigrants, who had renounced monarchical institutions,
and a large number of English and Scotch ones, who disliked them. The
intrusive opinions of such unwelcomed settlers very soon became
apparent in the new forms which political agitation assumed. The
following extracts will enable us to glimpse at the novel tactics, and
teach us how such tactics startled the parliament of that day.

In 1818, when Mr. Robinson was Attorney General, though without a seat
in parliament, Sir Peregrine Maitland in opening the Legislature on
the 12th of October, 1818, took occasion to recommend that "should it
appear that a convention of delegates cannot exist without danger to
the constitution; in framing a law of prevention, your dispassionate
wisdom will be careful that it shall not unwarily trespass on the
sacred right of the subject, to seek a redress of his grievances by
petition." In their answer, His Majesty's faithful Commons observed
that, "we remember that this favored land was assigned to our fathers,
as a retreat for suffering loyalty, and not as a sanctuary for
sedition." And they concluded with an intimation, "that they would
carefully distinguish between such conventions and the lawful act of
the subject in petitioning for a redress of real or imaginary
grievances." Two days afterwards, the following very significant
resolution is found in the journals.

Moved by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Vankoughnet, and

     "Resolved,--that no known member of the meeting of persons
     styling themselves delegates from the different districts of
     this Province, shall be allowed a seat within the bar of this
     House." The resolution was adopted. Two members only, Messrs.
     Secord and Casey, voting "nay."

Examples might be multiplied in illustration of their belief, who
conscientiously held that the "Province of Canada was set apart as a
retreat for suffering loyalty," and who, therefore, felt bound to
protect their "retreat" from the machinations of those who would turn
it into a "sanctuary for sedition." Although it is easy to sneer at
what in modern parlance would probably be termed a Japanese policy, it
is nevertheless fair to remember at what sacrifice, the "retreat" had
been obtained, for whose especial use it was in the first place set
apart, and by what guarantees it was supposed to be secured.

Besides such considerations, the old loyalists did not addict
themselves to the habit of rapid thought. Thus when the nineteenth
century was thirty years old, they had scarcely moved beyond the
historical cycle in which the eighteenth century opinions were
formed. They were the war politics of old England, which they had
studied and which they continued to study; the politics of immobility
and resistance, of scorn and defiance, of prejudice and
contempt,--such politics as were probably adapted to the duties and
exigences of very perilous times, when the constitution was battered
by those storms of opinion which beat against it from republican
America and revolutionary France. The majority of the loyalists were
Episcopalians, and thought as men were accustomed to think at that
day, that "church and state" were one and indivisible. They attached
value to the protests and subscriptions which guarded the former, and
the oaths and tests which fenced the latter. They caressed a prejudice
or an aversion with as much tenderness as they obeyed a law or
reverenced a custom. In short, they were "good old tory gentlemen of
the olden time," who followed the course of English history with
leisurely deliberation, and analyzed every change of English opinion
with suspicious avoidance, and who consequently found themselves
unprepared to discuss a project of amelioration, or a question of
reform, in any other attitude than the attitude of resistance, or with
any other arguments than those which time had rendered threadbare or
which experience had made worthless.

In passing, we may observe that in Upper as in Lower Canada, the
principle of representation according to population appears, from the
introduction of constitutional government in 1791, to have been the
guiding principle. In furtherance of this principle, a bill was passed
in 1819, by which a progressive increase in the representation was
provided for, and it was in virtue of this enactment, that in the year
1821, the Attorney General took his seat as member for the town of
York. In the following year, he went to England as a commissioner to
arrange some important matters connected with the revenue at that time
collected at the port of Quebec. For his services on that occasion, he
received the thanks of Parliament. In 1824, he had to contest his
election against Mr. Duggan, the late coroner, and he won it by a
majority of three votes only.

In the course of that parliament, he introduced his famous alien
bills. The first was to naturalize aliens, and the second to provide
for the disposition of the estates of aliens. It is said that these
bills occasioned much excitement, and were disliked, because they were
supposed to be especially beneficial to the party whose chief had
introduced them. There is little doubt the prejudice existed, though
we are not aware of the reason for it. In those days, it was contrary
to public policy to offer encouragement to foreigners to resolve
themselves suddenly into British subjects. The bill was introduced, it
may be conjectured, because in the interests of property, as well as
of individuals, an alien law was required. Moreover, had the
initiative not been taken by the tory party, the liberal party would
most probably have committed themselves to a more extreme measure of
relief, and thus have added a new care to their anxieties, who wished
to preserve unimpaired "the retreat for suffering loyalty." The bills
passed both houses, but they were reserved for the signification of
the King's pleasure, and did not become laws.

While thus engaged in his contest over the alien bills, the Attorney
General was offered the appointment of Chief Justice of the island of
Mauritius, which he declined. In 1825, it was proposed to elevate him
to the bench as Chief Justice of Upper Canada, but he then preferred
his place in parliament and his practice at the bar. In 1827, he
engaged in his last election contest, beating his opponent, Dr.
Morrison, by a respectable majority. Sharp political battles were
waged in those days, and as a matter of course, the Attorney General,
as crown prosecutor, was always retained on the side of authority and
law. It was not the custom then, to treat a newspaper libel with
silence. A falsehood like any other venomous thing could not be
propagated with impunity. Such offences against morals and decency
were regarded as nuisances to be abated. Hence arose indictments,
fines, and occasionally criminal convictions. Whatever advantage
society derived from the punishment of such offences, the result was
then, as now, in matters of libel, attended with a loss of goodwill
to the prosecutor, and the gain of sympathy to the culprit. In the
course of his duty, the Attorney General conducted cases for political
libels against the publishers of the _Colonial Advocate_, and the
_Freeman_ newspapers, published at Toronto, and the _Herald_ published
at Kingston. One editor was condemned to a £50 fine, which was paid
without difficulty by public subscription, and to one year's
imprisonment, of which no sympathy could relieve him. That it was
easier to wheedle the public than to cajole authority, will occasion
no surprize.

The time, however, had arrived when the Attorney General was to be
relieved of such disagreeable duties, and exchange the foremost place
at the bar for the highest one on the bench. In 1829, on the
retirement of Sir William Campbell from the office of Chief Justice,
he was appointed his successor. On the 1st of January, 1830, during
the administration of Sir John Colborne, he was called to the
Legislative Council, and on the following day, nominated Speaker of
that house. On the meeting of parliament on the 8th of January, he was
introduced by the Archdeacon of York and the Hon. Mr. Baby, and "took
his seat." From then until the close of his political career, the
journals and records of parliament bear ample testimony to the steady
consistency, unwearied industry and scrupulous fairness with which he
discharged the duties of his office. As may easily be supposed, his
conservative thought tinges almost all the important papers of the
period, for his style may be easily detected even in documents that do
not bear his name. Not only was he the official head of that council,
but to a great extent his was the governing mind as well as the
governing party of the house. In the first session in which he
presided, a very long and interesting report, which evidently bears
the impress of his brain, although it is signed by another member as
chairman, occurs against the passing of a bill sent up from the House
of Assembly, for the more equal distribution of the property of
persons dying intestate. The report is interesting for its own sake,
but it is especially so as illustrating the persistent tenacity with
which the Chief Justice clung to English customs and English laws. The
law of primogeniture is referred to with unqualified complacency.
Neither are reasons for such opinions concealed. In the absence of a
titled aristocracy, it was we think, a cherished conceit of his to lay
the foundation of a settled landed influence in Canada. On matters
ecclesiastical, he appears to have concurred generally with the Bishop
of Toronto in opinion, even to the extent of thinking that the
established church of England and Ireland was, by the constitution,
the established national church in all the dominions of the crown,
except Scotland, and, consequently, the established church of Canada.
Wherefore, he steadily opposed their efforts, who sought to lower the
status or appropriate the property of the Anglican Church. The church
lands called clergy reserves, had been, in his opinion, solemnly set
apart for religious uses, and from such uses they should not with his
consent be withdrawn. The like rule governed his proceedings with
respect to the spoil of the university of King's College. He resisted
both, not only because they were in his opinion contrary to law and
right, but because they were opposed to true religion and sound
morals. His ear was not attuned to the music of reform, neither was
his mind attracted towards persons because they were reformers. He saw
nothing but difficulty in the dogma of responsible government, he
doubted its excellence, and was moved by no affected alarm when he
expressed the fear that a government based on such a dogma could not
co-exist with a state of colonial dependence.

Reforms that are worth having are generally brought about slowly, and
it may be, that in the interests of law and order, the public is as
much indebted to the caution of one party, as to the enthusiasm of the
other. The Chief Justice belonged to the party of resistance. As evils
of monstrous growth frequently proceed from the minutest seed, so was
it that his loyal mind discovered the germ of peril in almost every
concession, and a tendency to revolution in almost all reform. The
great constitutional changes, which immediately preceded the time at
which he became Speaker, as well as those equally important
alterations in the law which were contemporaneous with his tenure of
that office, were calculated to exert and probably did exert an
influence on his mind, for they were destined very materially to
increase the power of the popular party in the Legislature of Canada.
The western frontier of the province was so far secure, that any
American opinion which crossed the line was commonly regarded as
attainted and revolutionary. It sufficed that it came that way to be
branded as unworthy, for the old loyalists would no more receive their
politics from a republic than they would receive their morals from a
penitentiary. Now, however, the liberal tide had set in from the
opposite quarter. Intelligence from the British Islands rolled over
the Atlantic with startling rapidity that measures of amelioration and
reform were being prosecuted there with continuous perseverance. The
repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, Catholic Emancipation, the
Reform Bill, and the Bill appropriating the revenues of the Irish
Church, followed one another with bewildering haste. People soon
learned, if indeed they required to be taught, that there were no
grievances that could not be removed by persistent agitation, and no
questions that were beyond, or above, the jurisdiction of parliament.
In turning to the Canadian narrative of those times the observation
will probably occur to many, that all the great questions by which the
country was then agitated, and which were opposed, and conscientiously
opposed by the Chief Justice and his party as dangerous or
revolutionary, have been carried not only without revolution or
apparent danger, but as hopeful people think with every promise of
security and content.

The Chief Justice had conscientiously supported the policy of Sir
Peregrine Maitland, Sir John Colborne, and Sir Francis Bond Head, and
they in turn had firmly upheld the party of which he was the
unquestioned leader. Sympathizing in opinion with Sir Francis Head, he
had steadily opposed the project for re-uniting the provinces of Upper
and Lower Canada. Towards the Earl of Durham he felt little respect,
and with his opinions he had no sympathy. The plan recommended by that
nobleman for the future government of Canada was contrary to his
views, and the animadversions contained in the report on the party to
which he belonged were felt to be unfair, opposed as some thought to
good taste, and inconsistent as many believed with strict truth. It
was suggested, and with much reason, that the history and services of
the loyalists and their descendants deserved a better acknowledgment
than a sneer.

In 1839, the Chief Justice applied for and obtained leave of absence.
He made a long visit to England, where his society was especially
sought for by all who took any interest in Canada or its affairs.
Among the numerous social attentions which he received, he had the
honor of being the guest of the Duke of Wellington, at Strathfieldsaye,
and his recollection of the Duke at home appeared, as it was very well
calculated to be, a pleasant episode in his history. It was, we believe,
during this visit, that he received from the university of Oxford the
complimentary degree of D. C. L.

Although he went to England to recruit his health, it was neither a
quiet nor an idle time he was allowed to pass there. The Legislative
Council of Upper Canada thought the opportunity favorable for letting
all whom it concerned know that they were game to the last, and in
spite of Earl Durham's report, in spite of the conclusions of English
statesmen and of the hopeless character of the proceeding, they
resolved on the 4th of April, 1839, "that the sentiments, opinions,
and remedies set forth in their report of the previous session on the
state of the province, had undergone no change." They sent a copy of
their resolution to the Chief Justice, by way of strengthening his
hands in the course of opposition which they were desirous he should
take. And as if such a general commission were insufficient, on the
11th of the following month, they adopted the following resolution by
way of ryder to the first:--


                                                       11th May, 1839.

     "Resolved,--That the Honorable John Beverly Robinson, Chief
     Justice of this Province, now in England, be requested on
     behalf of this House to bring under the notice of our most
     gracious Queen the financial affairs of this Province with a
     view of inducing Her Majesty's Government to extend its credit,
     to obtain a loan by means of which our present embarrassments
     may be relieved and our public works completed, and generally
     to represent the interests of this Province."

Thus it was that the Council over which he presided laid upon him the
ungracious and hopeless task of opposing the scheme for re-uniting the
provinces. Of course he did what was expected of him and he did it
well. The practical separation which has since taken place of the
provinces, whose union he sought to avert, should we think be accepted
as a compliment to his sagacity and foresight. His pamphlet, though
interesting and voluminous, produced but little effect. As an
historical and descriptive essay on Canada it was useful as well as
instructive. Such objects, however, were but secondary to the great
purpose for which it was written, and that purpose it failed to serve.

While he was thus shewing cause in England why the Canada bill should
not become law, a nobleman of singular ability, subtle knowledge and
intuitive perception, was laying the foundation of a very unique
triumph, at the expense of the party whose opinions the Chief Justice
had been charged to advocate. Moreover the operation was going on at
Beverly house, Toronto, his own residence, which was temporarily
occupied by that nobleman, His Excellency Baron Sydenham, the Governor
General of the Province. The piece of strategy was nothing less than
to bring about a reversal of the recorded opinions of the Legislative
Council and House of Assembly as published in their elaborate reports
on the state of the province in 1838; and in the case of the former
body reiterated with a dashing emphasis in 1839. We need scarcely add
that His Excellency's flank movement was amusingly successful. Happily
the Chief Justice did not again take his seat as Speaker of the
Legislative Council, and he was therefore not required to be present
at the performance of those remarkable somersaults which certain
middle aged gentlemen accomplished with surprising adroitness. Such
proceedings in the house of his friends, and with their opinions to
the contrary so recently recorded, would have been a spectacle of
humiliation from which he would gladly have averted his head. If,
however, some of the members of that Council forgot their previous
votes, or saw reason to change them, not one of them forgot their
absent and high minded Speaker, or the honor which was due to his
worth and character. On the last day of the last parliament of Upper
Canada the following resolution is found on the journals.


                                                  10th February, 1840.

     "Resolved,--That the members of this House before separating at
     the close of probably their last session, desire to express
     their regret that indisposition should have caused the
     prolonged absence of the Honorable Mr. Robinson from his seat
     in this House, and they unite in the hope that he will speedily
     be restored to the country to pursue with renovated health and
     strength that laborious and distinguished career which has been
     so fruitful of honor to himself and of benefit to his fellow
     subjects."

It was then eighteen years since the Chief Justice began his
parliamentary career, the period of his services being about evenly
divided between the two houses. Like other persons he had probably
become conscious of the modification of some opinions and of the
change of others. His impressions of men generally were more generous,
and his estimate of their convictions more fair. In some instances he
may have reversed the judgment of his youth, and in others have
qualified it with the grace of charity, for he was too wise a man to
be controlled by a prejudice which would not discriminate, or to be
governed by an opinion when the reason for it had passed away. Still
the leading principles of his early life were conspicuous to the last;
loyalty to his Queen, and duty to his country according to the old
version, were with him the root of conduct, and the end of endeavor.

Physically, morally, and intellectually, he was the _beau ideal_ of a
loyalist, for on his fair and ingenuous brow nature had stamped the
lineaments of gentleman. To rare facial beauty were added great powers
of physical endurance. He had the inclinations of a sportsman, and the
tastes of a naturalist, though he had not the time to gratify one or
to cultivate the other. His lithe, handsome, well-knit figure was
rarely seen to greater advantage, neither was the mood of his mind
more naturally displayed, than when with a step buoyant with
elasticity, he walked across the common in the vicinity of Toronto, as
if he were treading the heather, and from sheer playfulness of
thought, or the sense of seclusion, would level his umbrella, as if it
were a fowling piece, at a stray duck or pigeon that might cross his
path, or stoop to examine a wild flower that had grown among the
grass. He was of fair complexion, and as the Apollo is represented,
with little or no whiskers. Our photograph will better illustrate than
we can describe the form of his well-balanced head, poised to
perfection, his unembarrassed brow gracefully mapped with the delicate
lines of thought, forming a fitting crown to features as regular in
their outline as they were benevolent in their expression. Such
accessories are advantages, for they produce at once what men less
favored of nature must work for if they would win, namely, a good
impression. Moreover, taste, culture, and association added their
contributions to the wealth which nature had bestowed, making the
question of difficult determination whether she or her accessories had
most to do in combining the graces of "a right gentleman." In truth
there were brought together in his manner, points that are not
commonly found in the same character. He was frank, cordial, and
courteous. He could listen with as much apparent earnestness as he
could speak, and it was therefore pleasant to observe the high-bred
patience with which he seemed to receive information on matters upon
which the spectator knew him to be fully informed. Unquestionably he
held strong opinions on many subjects, and yet it is difficult to
recall the occasion on which he expressed such opinions in any other
language than the language of gentleness. Though he was not in the
popular sense an impassioned or a forcible speaker--he was an elegant
and a correct one, for he spoke as he wrote with exactness and
precision. His thoughts were always clothed in the drapery of
well-chosen words, and those words were by him rhythmically modulated,
and syllabled to harmony. In his manner, there were combined physical
repose and intellectual earnestness, for he used little or no action
when speaking, neither was his face disturbed by feeling or distorted
by gesture. On the contrary, he appeared to speak with his lips only,
and the flexible cadences of which his voice was capable, were
apparently produced with no greater effort than that which an
accomplished flutist displays when he bids his instrument breathe
music. It may easily be conjectured that from inclination and taste he
was better suited to the serene atmosphere of the Legislative Council,
than to the rougher breezes of the House of Assembly. Indeed it was a
curious and pleasant spectacle to note the former body in "the good
old times" when the Chief Justice was Speaker, when Dr. Powell was
clerk, when the Rev. Dr. Phillips was chaplain, when Colonel Stephen
Jarvis was black rod, and when Lewis Bright, aged eighty-eight,
fulfilled the double duty of chief messenger and page. The members
were few in number, for six only were required to form a quorum, yet
they seemed to make up in dignity what they lacked in variety, as a
becoming state was observed by them, and an elaborate one by the
officials when the House was in session. The Speaker, Clerk, Chaplain,
and Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod always appeared in full dress,
unless properly excused, including breeches, buckles, and the various
accessories of the ancient style. Such observances were not without
advantage, for they encouraged the notion that one and all, from the
Speaker to the Page, should endeavor to do everything well; that no
work, however insignificant, should be slurred, and no duty, however
trifling, should be slighted. Method and punctuality, order and rule
were conspicuous in everything the Chief Justice did; what he said was
spoken with scrupulous propriety, what he wrote, whether for the
Legislature or for the Courts, was written with singular care. Extreme
exactness marked all his proceedings, from such seeming trifles as
dress and costume to the gravest duties which he was called upon to
perform. The influence which he thus exerted in small as well as in
great things, had a purifying as well as an elevating tendency, for it
not only guided the tone of debate, but it seemed to control the
language in which debates should be carried on. Having assimilated his
conduct to his principles, it was not difficult for him to illustrate
both in his sentiments and behavior. All men honored him, many men
loved him, and even those who differed from him in opinion, and had
opposed him in politics, were ready to admit that he was a gentle as
well as a chivalrous enemy, incapable of meanness, and guiltless of
revenge.

It was, if we recollect right, soon after the rebellion had been
suppressed in Upper Canada, that he was offered and received
permission to decline the honor of knighthood. Subsequently he was
created a Companion of the Bath, and on the 21st September, 1854,
raised to the dignity of a Baronet.

Events hurried on apace. The Provinces were united and the Chief
Justice was relieved of all further duty in Parliament. Thenceforward
his history and career must be looked for either amongst the charities
of life, or in the records of the court of which he was a chief
ornament. From the time when his connection with political affairs
closed, he ceased to be the property of a party. Then, and to the end
of his life, he belonged to the province, and consequently his pure
character and ripe benevolence exerted their natural influence. He
grew irresistibly and with noiseless force in the good will and
affections of the whole people. The hard feelings of former days had
become modified. Time, the healer, had softened many asperities. The
course of events had done much towards clearing up what was obscure,
while greater knowledge, and perhaps a broader charity combined with a
healthier tone of feeling had induced a fairer judgment on the past.
Men no longer remembered the ardent politician and his skirmishes at
elections; they only recollected the upright judge, and his consistent
and laborious life. Thus when it pleased Her most gracious Majesty to
select him for honor, his countrymen recognized the excellence of the
choice, and accepted the compliment with grateful pride, as if indeed
they had some share in its fame. There was no mental reservation in
the general verdict, for all concurred in opinion that he was worthy
for whom their Queen had done this.

Sir John Beverly Robinson continued to discharge the duties of his
office until 1862, when age and the increased violence of that fell
enemy to rest, hereditary gout, admonished him that he could no longer
fulfil them with satisfaction or advantage. Whereupon he resigned his
office and accepted the less onerous one of President of the Court of
Appeals. For thirty-three years he had filled with singular ability
the situation which the heavy hand of time now admonished him to lay
aside. Obedience to the admonition, required that he should separate
himself from duties which for the most part had constituted his life,
and from friends who had done much towards making that life enjoyable.
The kindly intercourse which had existed between him and the bar could
not be brought to an end without a twinge on his part and a regret on
theirs. As is usual with English people, when they "welcome the coming
or speed the parting guest," the farewell celebration took the form of
a social solemnity--one of those grand ceremonies of Anglo Saxon
civilization, which seemed to have been specially adapted to the uses
and suited to the habits of the race. A banquet, described at the time
as the most magnificent that had ever taken place in Upper Canada, was
given by the Law Society in honor of the Chief Justice. It was not
only the most usual, but perhaps the most convenient way of gathering
in one hall those who were anxious to show their personal respect to,
and at the same time to hear the last official words of one, the
record of whose worth and services would remain among the precious
historical possessions of Canada.

Our space permits only a desultory sketch of Sir John Beverly
Robinson, but there was a phase of his character which should not be
overlooked, for doubtless the principle it represented exerted a most
important influence on his life. He was a sincere and steadfast member
of the Anglican Church; he reverenced her authority, gloried in her
history, and loved her with a jealous love. No doubt he shared their
disappointment who discovered that the established church of England
was not the established church of Canada. No doubt, too, he
sympathized keenly in their regret, who had been called upon to
witness the spoil of church property, and the alienation of clergy and
college lands. But, mourn as he might, the issue had been tried and
decided against him. He had not the power, perhaps not the wish to
alter the decision. Grievous as were the losses which his church had
thus suffered, they were not without at least one equivalent. The
sneer of the scoffer was silenced, who objected that the Anglican
church in Canada was merely a political organization for party
purposes. To the honor of the Chief Justice be it written; neither
indifference nor inaction succeeded to disappointment. On the
contrary, he took his familiar place beside his Bishop, and earnestly
addressed himself to the duties which the occasion called forth. If
the church of his fathers and of his affections, we may suppose him to
have said, is not established by law, then it is time it were
established in the hearts of the people. It is time that it should be
as popular in its influence as it is liberal in its doctrines. It is
time that the weary should find rest within its walls, and that the
humble should be exalted in its courts. Let us seek in love what has
eluded us in law, and thus obtain from the free will offerings of
christian people some compensation for the alienation of the free
gifts of a christian King. Hence it followed that in church society
organizations of different kinds, the Chief Justice was always a
zealous co-operator. Again, when the charter of King's college was
destroyed, and its name, together with the chief purpose of its
incorporation, blotted out of our laws, he gave all the aid in his
power, and it was no slight aid, to the Bishop of Toronto, in his
project to erect and endow Trinity college. The writer well remembers
the day on which that college was opened for work. Indeed, the thrill
of emotion with which the Chief Justice concluded his impressive
speech, like some remembered notes of a forgotten overture, still
vibrates in his ear. In the ecstatic accents of devout passion, from
the very fulness of his heart, from the very depths of his soul, he
reverently rehearsed to a sympathetic audience that

     "Ours is no new faith. It is not from the Reformation that the
     Church of England dates her existence. We are not separated
     from other Christian communities in consequence of any recent
     adoption on our part of a doubtful interpretation of some text
     of scripture, or any modern scruple in regard to forms. Nothing
     else that we most fondly venerate--not the glorious flag of
     England, nor the great charter of our liberties, has, from its
     antiquity, so strong a claim to our devotion as our Church. It
     is the Church which, from age to age, the sovereign has sworn
     to support; centuries have passed since holy martyrs have
     perished at the stake, rather than deny her doctrines; and the
     soil of England is hallowed by the dust of countless worthies
     who have sunk to their rest professing her creed, and invoking
     blessings on her labors, after lives illustrated by piety and
     learning, and devoted in the purest spirit to the welfare of
     mankind."

The Chief Justice was unanimously elected the first Chancellor of the
university which he had thus helped to found. The incident may supply
a biographical parallel. It was more than a century and a half since
Christopher Robinson, the first member of the family who settled in
America, was elected as one of the first trustees of "William and
Mary" college, then recently built in Virginia. Generation after
generation had sunk to rest, cradled it may have been with the prayers
of the church they had loved so well, when the son of another
Christopher Robinson, the founder of the Canadian branch of the same
family, was chosen as the first Chancellor of the newly erected
university of Trinity college at Toronto. Neither the whim of a "vain
fancy," nor a pride that affects humility: neither knowledge that too
frequently usurps the place of goodness; neither time, nor distance,
nor adversity had shaken the devotion of the family to the church of
their fathers. It was their "mother dear" before and through all those
rolling years. In prosperity and in perils the race seem to have
cherished the same faith and worshipped according to the same
forms--and who shall wonder that religion as practiced by Sir John was
"beautiful exceedingly" bright, glistening, and glorious, for he
exemplified in his life the hallowing charms of holiness. Religion
with him was no intangible thing. It was a pleasure, for it visibly
increased his apparent happiness. It was a habit, whose root was
nourished by exact duty. It was a rapture, but it was not dependent
for its subsistence on the caprice of feeling. His faith was neither
noisy nor disputatious. It did not chatter piteously like an ague,
when menaced with the fever, or moan plaintively like the east wind
when it beckons the storm. On the contrary, it was cordial and
smiling, humble and sincere. It was distressed by no doubt,
embarrassed with no difficulty, and desirous of no change. No change!
except indeed that blissful one on which christian people fervently
believe the good Sir John entered when on the 31st January, 1863, he
laid aside the burden of life; closed his tired eyes

               "And gave the sign to parting friends."




[Illustration]


                     THE HONORABLE JAMES MORRIS,

                            OF BROCKVILLE.


Was born at Paisley, in Scotland, in 1798, and accompanied his family
to Canada in 1801. He was educated at Sorel, by Mr. Nelson, the father
of the late Dr. Wolfred Nelson of Montreal.

We have elsewhere, in our notice of the Honorable William Morris,
referred at some length to the family narrative, and it will therefore
suffice in this place, to observe that on leaving school, Mr. James
Morris followed his brother's example and engaged in commercial
pursuits. Like him, though in a less striking degree, he mingled
reflections on public affairs with his occupations as a trader, and
hence when he retired from business he was not without the local
repute of possessing qualifications to serve the state.

Another circumstance added to the influence he exerted in the
neighborhood. On withdrawing from business he was appointed manager of
the Commercial Bank at Brockville. In those days bankers did not deem
it to be inconsistent with a sound policy to multiply small loans. Mr.
Morris in the interests of the bank was accustomed to make advances of
convenience to farmers, on the security of their promissory notes.
This policy of accommodation was attended with substantial benefits to
farmers, for it supplied them with capital to turn forests into
fruitful fields; as well as with advantage to the shareholders whose
profits were supposed to be increased by such transactions. The double
result re-acted favorably on Mr. Morris, for when he presented
himself as a candidate for parliamentary honors, many whom he had
befriended as a banker, voted for him as a member. The bank
authorities too, having an eye to casual advantages, were probably not
without hope that his parliamentary influence might occasionally be
turned to profitable account. Neither were the policy of the banker or
the expectations of the bank discredited by the result. On the
contrary, it was asserted by Mr. Morris as a matter of boast, that no
loss had befallen the bank by his transactions with farmers; and it
was published by him as a matter of fact, though we decline to discuss
the moral aspect of the admission, that substantial advantages had
accrued to the bank from the political influence he had exerted in its
behalf.

In 1837, he was elected to the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, as
one of the members for Leeds, and at the union of the provinces, in
1841, he was re-elected for the same county. On the 27th November,
1844, he was called to the Legislative Council. On the 22nd February,
1851, he joined the Lafontaine-Baldwin administration as Post Master
General, of which office he was the first incumbent. On the 17th
August, 1853, he was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Council,
which office he retained until the 10th of September, 1854. On the
formation of the Brown-Dorion administration, in 1858, he was
re-appointed Speaker of the Legislative Council with a seat in the
cabinet. The administration lasted for three days only. Being its only
representative in the Legislative Council, Mr. Morris found his
position to be in the last degree uncomfortable, for apart from
questions of order with which he was officially called upon to deal,
he was required in a very troublesome way to explain the policy of his
colleagues, on certain important matters on which neither he nor they
were either fully informed or fully agreed. Moreover, as an address of
want of confidence in the administration had been adopted by the
Legislative Council, he as "mouth of the House" was required to read
it to the Governor General, to whom it was addressed. Duties of form
are not necessarily inseparable from twinges of feeling, and it must
have been a trial to flesh and spirit for a gentleman so placed, to
have read a document so expressed.

He remained in opposition until the 24th May, 1862, when on the
formation of the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte administration he was
appointed Receiver General and leader of the government in the
Legislative Council. When thus engaged he was seized with severe
illness, and on the 10th May, 1863, he was compelled to resign. His
health became more feeble, and notwithstanding his conscientious
desire to attend to his duties in Parliament, his ability to do so had
passed away. He made, if we recollect aright, one effort more in the
following session to appear, but nature refused to second the
exertion. He sorrowfully turned his back for the last time on
occupations with which he had been familiar for nearly twenty years,
and on a place which was to know him no more for ever. The remainder
of his days were we believe such days of weariness and such nights of
unrest as generally go before the long night that comes to all. At
last, surrounded by his family and solaced by his friends, on the
autumn festival of St. Michael and all angels, in the year 1865, he
"faded as a leaf," and was gathered to his rest.

As a public man Mr. Morris was conscientious and painstaking, a lover
of exact work and an observer of exact seasons. With few salient
points of character, he nevertheless exerted a good deal of influence.
Though a kind and a virtuous man, his mind as we think was
preternaturally anxious, and his temperament was overtoned with
despondency. He attached himself with fidelity to the fortunes of the
reform party, and apparently voted with it because it was their due
rather than his preference. He was we think more influenced by
individual character than by individual opinion, for like a Quaker he
attached great virtue to the quality of respectability. While he
coveted for himself the best gifts, he set no light value on small
accessories, such as neatness and method, (for he relished details,)
becoming language and suitable apparel. He liked office, and though
wealthy, was not indifferent to its emoluments, but he shrank from
responsibility. He appreciated honors, but he disliked criticism. He
had a morbid dread of newspaper animadversion, and a speech delivered
with violence or accompanied with gesture would make him take refuge
in silence. On the other hand compliments soothed him, and popular
applause, such for example as that which associated him with the act
for cheap postage, was flannel to his heart. His dislike of
responsibility was we think illustrated in his desire to relieve
others of a burden which distressed him. Thus, as a member of the
Legislature his policy was to put responsibility into commission by
laying on irresponsible committees, burdens which belonged to
responsible individuals. But notwithstanding this peculiarity of his
character, his services on committees were especially sought for by
successive administrations. He looked vigilantly into items, for Poor
Richard's maxim on "taking care of the pence," was by no means
undervalued by him. He was singularly careful on the subject of
economic details, but curiously indifferent to the greater value of
economic principles. He would give votes "in the interests of the
people," without regard to the fact that expense and such votes too
frequently went hand in hand, and he would recommend retrenchment in
the interests of the country irrespective of the causes which
occasioned the waste. We do not know that Mr. Morris held the opinions
so playfully quizzed by Canning, that virtue might be promoted through
the agency of counteracting vices; yet there can be little doubt that
he did seek by one excess to overcome another; by the vice of
parsimony for example he sought to neutralize the vice of prodigality,
as if the evil of extravagant principles could be overcome by the
application of astringent details. But though his political principles
were frequently crossed by his commercial habits, his desire to do
what he believed to be right was always uppermost.




[Illustration]


                       WILLIAM PRICE, ESQUIRE,

                       OF WOLFESFIELD, QUEBEC.


Though an Englishman by birth, Mr. Price always wore the leek in his
heart if not in his hat band on St. David's day, for his parents,
Richard Price and Mary Evans, as well as their more remote ancestors,
were natives of Glamorganshire in the principality of Wales. During
their temporary residence at Hornsey, Middlesex, their third son, the
subject of this sketch, was born on the 17th September, 1789.

He was educated at Hammersmith College, in the vicinity of London,
and, subsequently, articled to his father's cousin, Mr. Lloyd Jones,
of the Inner Temple. Before six months had elapsed, his father died,
and his son's circumstances were so changed by the event, that he
abandoned the profession he had chosen, and entered the counting house
of Christopher Idler & Co., merchants of London. After six years
service, he was sent by his employers to Quebec, where he landed on
the 10th May, 1810. He had been charged by them with the responsible
duty of carrying out their contracts for supplying the British Navy
with timber, masts, and spars.

After his engagement with Messrs. Idler & Co. terminated, Mr. Price
commenced business for himself at Quebec. He entered into partnership
with the late Honorable Peter McGill of Montreal, Mr. Kenneth Dowie of
Liverpool, and Messrs. James Dowie and Gould of London. The business
thus established was very extensive. It was carried on not only on the
Ottawa and its tributaries, but from Lake Superior to Gaspé, and the
coast of Labrador. In 1838, however, such transactions were somewhat
contracted in their extent, as Mr. Price desired to alter the
character of his operations by embarking more exclusively in the sawed
lumber business at the head of the river Saguenay. Thus extensive
mills were erected there, and thus, through the energy and liberality
of Mr. Price, was that important section of the country opened to
colonization and settlement.

Those manufacturing establishments which now present picturesque
attractions to tourist and traveller, were at that time shut out from
approach by the most serious natural obstacles. Except the liquid
pathway afforded by the Saguenay river, which is useless for winter
service, there was no road to the new works. As, however, it was
necessary for the proprietor to visit his possessions, Mr. Price was
obliged, at least, once during each winter, to walk to and fro, a
distance of nearly two hundred miles on snow-shoes, to accomplish his
object. No better monument could be erected for him, as an old friend
of Mr. Price's touchingly observed to the writer, than the one he
built to his own memory in the settlement of the Saguenay country.

During the American war of 1812, having received the King's commission
of major, Mr. Price raised a troop of cavalry, and afterwards
organized a battery of artillery at Quebec. In the following year, he
was selected by Sir George Prevost, to carry despatches to Halifax.
The journey was necessarily performed through British territory, and
in the safest as well as in the most direct manner. The season was
winter, and the route was therefore made partly by land and partly by
water, in a sleigh where a road existed, but generally on snow-shoes.
It was accomplished in the short space of ten days. Having discharged
his duty, he stayed at Halifax for pleasure. Not only did he there
acquire an enviable stock of charming navy stories, but he remained
sufficiently long to witness a sight he was never likely to forget,
and to experience a sensation that became a rapture for the remainder
of his life. He saw the victor's trophy in as fair a naval duel as was
ever fought by gallant men for the honor of their flags. He saw the
American frigate _Chesapeake_ towed into Halifax harbor a prize to the
_Shannon_! The extraordinary excitement which that heart stirring
scene occasioned, used to repeat itself in his description, as he
narrated how well Vere Broke had fought his ship "in the brave days of
old."

As a Canadian politician Mr. Price was liberal and tolerant, and hence
his name is cherished as a household word in many a wayside cottage.
So indifferent was he to mere local issues, that for nearly
fifty-seven years he was scarcely known to record a vote at an
election. He was content to recognize differences of opinion on many
points, if all agreed that these noble provinces should remain part
and parcel of the British Empire. As an English politician he belonged
to the old tory school, for "ships, colonies and commerce," were his
watchwords. He detested the "Manchester sect," and never concealed his
conviction that sooner or later the Empire would be disgraced, if not
dishonored and dismembered, through their mischievous counsels. He had
no inclination to enter political life, and though repeatedly invited
by one Governor General after another to take a seat in the
Legislative Council, he steadily declined the proffered honor.

Mr. Price lived in an unpretentious oblong cottage, with several
gables, suited to the modesty of his tastes. The situation was
naturally beautiful and historically attractive, for it was a
lawn-like enclosure which was once used by the conqueror of Canada as
the vestibule to one of the decisive battles of the world. Between it
and the river St. Lawrence are those precipitous cliffs, and
intimidating defiles, through which the genius of Wolfe led his army
to the heights of Abraham, and, on the 13th of September, 1759, to
the victory of Quebec, a victory which apparently gave the American
continent to the undisputed sway of the Anglo-Saxon race. There, on
that historical plateau, fittingly called "Wolfesfield," Mr. Price
lived admired and beloved, and there too, on the 14th March, 1867, in
his ripe old age, he died honored and lamented by all who have been
taught to appreciate virtue or pay tribute to worth.

We may add that he married Jane Stewart, the third daughter of Mr.
Charles Grey Stewart, in his lifetime comptroller of the Imperial
Customs at Quebec. He survived this lady seven years. Death generally
suggests mournful reflections, but it is especially calculated to do
so when a class, so to speak, expires with an individual. The late
Bishop of Quebec, Mr. LeMesurier, Mr. Price, and a few who still
remain, so few, alas! that we might count them on the fingers of one
hand, represented a type of the genus gentleman whose style and manner
one searches for in vain in the present day. It is not that they were
more charitable, or more open hearted, or open handed than men in
their position are now, but what they did was differently done, and
what they said was differently spoken. In truth, and we cannot express
it more clearly, they belonged to the "old school." The school whose
manners were cordial, whose anecdotes were racy, and whose hospitality
was as warm as the plates on which it was served. We trust that the
charming old stories which gave brightness to the old times, have not
vanished from Wolfesfield with the old Madeira which flavored them. If
the wine be spent let us hope that the stories are "green sealed," and
put away in some of the precious bins of memory to be used
occasionally when the nights are longest, when the fires are
brightest, and the festivals include all that constitutes the
happiness of home. At such a time betwixt smiles and tears, betwixt
weeping and laughter, may many of the legatees of a good man's
recollections rehearse anew the unforgotten "twice told tales" of
other days, and thus keep fresh and green the memory

       Of a fine old English gentleman, one of the olden time.




[Illustration]


              THE HONORABLE CHARLES TUPPER, C.B., M.D.,

                        HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA.


All whom we have met with, or of whom we have heard, who bear the name
of Tupper, traced their genealogy to one family, and to one place; for
Guernsey is, and has for centuries been, its home and headquarters.
But the quality and metal of the owners of that name have frequently
been displayed beyond the island in which the race was cradled. The
spirit of military adventure which besets a Guernsey man has carried
representatives of the family to distant portions of the globe. Some
have earned in South America a soldier's fame and found a soldier's
grave; giving their lives for people who were not worthy of one drop
of gentle blood being spent in their behalf. Others have found warlike
occupations, and some have found peaceful ones, in the northern part
of the same continent. But whether they settled in the United States,
or in the colonies which now compose the Canadian Dominion, it is not,
we venture to think, improbable that all derive from the same intrepid
stock and the same sea-beat isle. Ferdinand Brock Tupper in his memoir
of his uncle, Major General Sir Isaac Brock, mentions as a local
tradition, that early in the seventeenth century, one of his direct or
collateral relatives, a clergyman, settled at Barbadoes. Furthermore,
that he or his family left that island and emigrated to the British
provinces of North America. Thus then it may have chanced that like
the ancestors of Mr. Joseph Howe, the progenitors of Mr. Tupper took
root in the royal as well as in the republican provinces. But to bring
our speculative gossip down to the point which gave rise to it, we
shall supplement what we have said by repeating an observation made in
our hearing by one who, many years ago, saw the author of "Proverbial
Philosophy," and in 1864 saw the subject of this sketch. On Mr. Tupper
being pointed out, the gentleman in question remarked a likeness to
his literary namesake, and suggested to the writer that the delegate
from Nova Scotia was probably a member of the old channel island
family, whose roots lie deeply embedded in Guernsey soil.

Dismissing all fanciful conjectures, for they are nothing more, we may
mention that the Hon. Charles Tupper is the son of the Rev. Charles
Tupper, D.D. That he was born at Amherst, in the county of Cumberland,
Nova Scotia, and is a graduate of Acadia College, in that province,
where he studied medicine. In the course of time he went to Edinburgh,
and won his degree of M.D., as well as his diploma of member of the
Royal College of Surgeons of that university. On his return, he
practiced his profession in his native place.

People, generally speaking, have confidence in their doctors, and
doctors possess many facilities for strengthening such confidence.
This mutual good feeling is not unfrequently manifested in the desire
of the patient to forward the views of the doctor, and in the desire
of the doctor to turn such good will to account by forwarding his own
views. Such co-operation when it takes a political direction, is
apparently opposed to the interests of both parties, for should
success crown exertion it leads not only to the separation of the
physician from his practice, but of the patient from the physician.
Thus it may have happened in 1855, for when Mr. Tupper offered himself
in the conservative interest as a member for Cumberland, he found
little difficulty in obtaining his return. His party soon discovered
that they had gained a valuable ally in securing him. Indeed, he made
his parliamentary mark as a debater at once. His style, as we
conjecture, from glancing at the reports of the period, was
argumentative as well as rhetorical, replete with substance, and by no
means deficient in spice. On the 20th February, 1857, the liberal
administration resigned, and the conservative party succeeded to
power, Mr. Tupper accepting the office of Provincial Secretary. At the
general elections in 1859, he was again returned as one of the three
members for the county of Cumberland. In the following year, on a vote
ad verse to the administration being carried by the opposition, he
retired from office, but continued to reside at Halifax, where since
1857, he had practiced his profession.

Prior to the general elections in 1863, a feeling generally hostile to
the liberal government had arisen, which gave the conservatives their
own way at the polls; Mr. Tupper and two other gentlemen of his party
being returned by acclamation for Cumberland. On the meeting of
Parliament, the liberal administration were defeated and resigned.
They were succeeded by their opponents under the lead of Mr. Attorney
General Johnston, with Mr. Tupper, in succession to Mr. Howe, as
Provincial Secretary. On the elevation of Mr. Johnston to the bench,
Mr. Tupper became the leader of the government.

In 1858, Mr. Tupper had been chosen by his colleagues to go to
England, and there in concert with representatives from New Brunswick
to advance to the best of his ability the project of the Intercolonial
Railway. Such a mission to any man was likely to be attended with a
great increase of knowledge. The opportunity of seeing government
conducted on a grand scale, of listening to parliamentary debates that
were neither dwarfed by littleness nor stained with personalities,
represented no inconsiderable advantages to one who had gained respect
as a debater and was seeking to qualify as a statesman; for such
lessons being fairly acquired and temperately applied, re-act with
advantage on all, especially on assemblies which take the House of
Commons for their model.

Apart from such contingent benefits, it is probable that his
reflections on the advantages of a commercial union among the British
provinces in North America, by means of a railway, may have
pre-disposed him to consider the greater advantages which might be
expected to flow from a political union of those provinces. Whether he
did so or not we cannot know certainly, but the ripeness of his
convictions and the conclusiveness of his view, when the question was
discussed at Quebec, five years afterwards, gave rise to the belief
that the subject in all its bearings had engaged his serious thoughts
as a patriot, and his anxious study as a statesman.

The question of the political confederation of British America, so far
as the Maritime Provinces were concerned, was not considered ripe for
discussion. Some misconception had arisen between the Sandfield
Macdonald-Sicotte administration, and the administrations of those
Provinces, with respect to the previous question of a commercial union
by means of an Intercolonial Railway, which created uncertainty and
gave rise to doubt. Hence the immediate consequence of such
misconception appeared to be the indefinite postponement of both
questions. In the meanwhile opinions favorable to a legislative union
of the Maritime Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island, had so strongly impressed the minds of their
inhabitants, as to induce their respective Legislatures to agree to
uniform resolutions as a basis for the proceedings which were to
follow. The Nova Scotia resolution, which was introduced by Mr. Tupper
and carried unanimously, runs thus:

     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 goverments of New
     Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, 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
     goverment 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."

In pursuance of the powers conferred by the foregoing resolution, five
delegates from each province met at Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Island, on the first of September, 1864. They had scarcely assembled,
when new guests bearing a portfolio of new propositions unexpectedly
arrived, in the persons of seven of the twelve members of the Canadian
administration, who being duly accredited, sought and obtained leave
to submit a plan for a general union of all the provinces of British
North America. The enlarged project being more attractive, as well as
more statesmanlike, displaced the smaller one, in the estimation of
all who were required to form a judgment on its merits. The fifteen
delegates at once determined that the Charlottetown conference should
be adjourned _sine die_. Mr. Tupper had on several occasions, as his
speeches very clearly shew, previously well considered and made his
mind familiar with the question in all its bearings. The new project
was not new to his thoughts. It was no surprise picture, no poetic day
dream, no fond conceit of a flighty imagination. On the contrary, it
was based on diligent research, and confined within exact
calculations. Moreover, it was fortified by the needs of the times,
the admonitions of duty and the promptings of affection. Honor and
self interest, patriotic pride and loyal passion all combined to
teach, though in different ways, one great lesson and one great truth.
There was policy in union; there was strength in union, there was
safety in union. Commercial intercourse could only be carried on with
satisfaction when not crossed by conflicting laws. Military operations
could only be directed with effect, when not paralyzed by opposing
commands. Celerity of movement and unity of plan, the prime conditions
of security, could only be obtained through a goverment directed from
one centre and common to all the provinces. Such objects, and many
beside of the like importance, could be secured by dismissing the
Charlottetown project for creating a small maritime province, and
substituting for it the Canadian one of a great northern nation. What
could be done ought to be done, and therefore, Mr. Tupper is reported
at the dinner in Charlottetown among other things to have said,

     "He felt assured that all would indorse the sentiment, that it
     was our duty and interest to cement the colonies together by
     every tie that can add to their greatness. A union of the North
     American Provinces would elevate their position, consolidate
     their influence, and advance their interests; and at the same
     time continue their fealty to their mother country and their
     Queen, which fealty is the glory of us all. The British
     American statesman who does not feel it his duty to do all in
     his power to unite, politically, socially, and commercially,
     the British Provinces, is unworthy of his position, and is
     unequal for the task committed to him."

What followed is matter of recent history, and need not be dwelt upon
in this place. It must suffice to state, that after leaving Prince
Edward Island, and visiting Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the
Charlottetown party with others, representing in all thirty-three
delegates, met at Quebec on the 10th October, 1864, and having
continued their labors until the 27th of the same month, they
unanimously agreed to, and individually signed, the seventy-two
resolutions of the famous Quebec conference.

Before the resolutions could be embodied in an act of the Imperial
Parliament, it was necessary that they should be confirmed by the
Legislatures of the provinces proposed to be united. In carrying out
the last mentioned condition, a by no means unimportant question
arose, which was pressed with considerable ingenuity and great
apparent fairness by those who were either opposed to the principle of
confederation or to the persons who had assumed the duty of bringing
it about. While admitting the unlimited power of Parliament, it was
observed by the objectors that such power did not, and could not,
possibly include the power of self-destruction. Granting therefore, in
the interests of the state, that such power was required to be
exercised, it was at least decent and becoming that it should be
exercised with solemnity and without semblance of surprise. But
whatever merit attached to the view thus presented, and we are by no
means disposed to underrate it, the objection as it related to Canada
was, it must be confessed, only of a rhetorical kind. People of all
parties had generally, and for a long time, made up their minds to an
event which many desired and few regretted. Consequently the large
majority of voters were by no means anxious that the question should
be embarrassed with any pretext, however plausible, which would
postpone but could not alter the result. In New Brunswick the
difficulty was avoided by a general election, but in Nova Scotia, as
in Canada, the subject was dealt with by the Parliament then existent,
and which had been elected in the ordinary course of law. For reasons
with which we are unacquainted, the Honorable Joseph Howe created no
small surprise to those who were familiar with his previous opinions,
by sternly opposing the whole scheme. Now, whatever Mr. Howe
undertakes to do he does with all his heart. Since he had determined
to fight the question _coûte que coûte_, no one who knew him was
surprised to see him vault into the ring, take an imposing attitude,
turn up his sleeves, throw away his gloves, and deliver a succession
of well meant blows, with all the literary strength of his trained
right hand. Neither being weary nor the worse for his local exertion,
no astonishment was expressed when he evinced his intention of
"carrying the war into Africa." To pack his portmanteau, to roll up
his pens, ink and paper, to cross the Atlantic, were, we incline to
think, but trifling impediments under the circumstances. For the
object of his intrepid mission was nothing less than to call "a halt"
in the House of Commons itself, and ask the Imperial Parliament to
"stop the way," and by the intervention of mature wisdom to stay the
career of what he suggested was immature folly. Thus it chanced that
when Mr. Tupper, as a member of the board of delegates in London, was
endeavoring to facilitate what Mr. Howe was endeavoring to impede, the
necessity was laid on the former, of answering Mr. Howe's feverish and
ill-advised presentment. The task was not difficult for Mr. Tupper,
since Mr. Howe, in his published letters and speeches, had by
anticipation answered himself. Hence Mr. Tupper's pamphlet, as it
related to the matter in dispute, was a cleverly put case of Howe vs.
Howe, wherein the public was left to decide whether it most liked the
new or the old views, the later or the earlier arguments of the
eloquent objector. It must of course be conceded, that public men,
like other men, are not to be absolutely and immovably bound by a
given set of opinions. Yet when such men think fit to change those
opinions, their apology for doing so becomes a challenge, which every
one has the right to scrutinize with suspicion and weigh with
exactness. Mr. Tupper with Shakespearian art presented the two
pictures, apparently quite content as to which would receive honor
from the judges and on which the choice of the nation would fall. Mr.
Howe could scarcely hope, all things considered, to win for his new
and menacing views, the approving judgment of the English people. The
policy of the times, the inclination of opinion, and the weight of his
better arguments lay so heavily in the opposite scale, that even his
"winged words" could scarcely be expected to produce a change. Thus by
means of Mr. Howe's reasons Mr. Tupper answered Mr. Howe's rhetoric,
and, as the reviewers thought, with a fair approach to success.

We have not the space, even were our information perfect, to enumerate
the measures with which Mr. Tupper's name is particularly associated.
They must be sought for, where they will most readily be found, in the
minutes of council in the journals of parliament, and in the laws of
the province. The part he has taken in the great work of confederation
is known and appreciated within and beyond the five provinces of
British America. He never wavered or halted in his work. Neither
opposition nor discouragement caused him to lose hope, for the faith
that animated him at first was conspicuous to the end of his important
labors. Nor were his services unrecognized in the highest quarter, for
on the birth-day of the Dominion, he was by the Queen's command,
created a Companion of the most honorable order of the Bath--and his
name was thus placed on the roll of worthies who had received honor
for service.




[Illustration]


                  THE HON. FREDERIC AUGUSTE QUESNEL,

                              MONTREAL.


Mr. Joseph Quesnel, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a
native of France, and emigrated to Canada after the conquest, where he
obtained letters of naturalization, and continued to reside until the
time of his death. He has been described as a gentleman of cheerful
temperament and nice tastes, who was happy in promoting the happiness
of other people. He is still remembered as the author of some dramas
and drawing-room operas, which at the time were very popular with the
French Canadian population. He departed this life at the age of
fifty-nine years, leaving two sons and one daughter. The last
mentioned married Mr. J. Coursol, an officer of the Hudson Bay
Company, whose son the Judge of the Sessions of the Peace of Montreal,
as we have elsewhere stated, was adopted by and became the heir of the
younger of the above mentioned sons.

The elder son, the Honorable Jules Quesnel, who died in 1842, acquired
some distinction in the political history of Lower Canada. The younger
son, the Honorable Frederic Auguste Quesnel, the subject of this
sketch, served the province in different capacities for nearly half a
century, and with an accuracy of judgment that deserves much praise.
He was, we believe, born at Montreal in February, 1785, educated at
the seminary of the Sulpicians, studied law, and was admitted to the
bar in the early part of the century.

At the elections in Lower Canada, consequent on the death of George
the Third, in the year 1820, Mr. Quesnel was returned as a member for
the then county of Kent, now better known as the county of Chambly.
Though he was always loyal to what was called the national party, and
though he generally cast his vote with Mr. Papineau, there is reason
to believe that his confidence in the eloquent French Canadian leader
was occasionally mingled with distrust. Such distrust gradually grew
stronger until the time for expressing it arrived. In the Session
which met on the 7th January, 1834, on the question for adopting the
famous ninety-two resolutions, the House of Assembly took into
consideration the state of the province. Mr. Papineau had by his
candour involuntarily cleared the matter of some of its difficulties.
Either from ingenuous motives or from unguarded ones he threw away his
mask, if he wore any, and his monarchical principles, if he possessed
them, and mingled with a good deal of dangerous invective, a grave
discourse on the absorbing mission of democracy in America. Such
sentiments from such a quarter prompted some who heard him to examine
closely into the nature and tendency of the principles they had
espoused; for a point had been reached from which there were diverging
paths. Mr. Papineau made his choice, and took the course which was
supposed to lead to the goal which his fancy had fashioned. He seized
the metaphorical standard of the future, with its magical stars and
emblematic stripes, and crossed the rubicon, accompanied, strange to
say, with apparent enthusiasm by the great body of his devoted
followers. Such a result was a compliment to the quality of his
rhetoric, rather than to the clearness of their reason, for very few,
we incline to think, attempted to disentangle his eloquence from its
illogical issues. They failed to perceive that absorption by the
American republic, the avowed aim of Mr. Papineau's later policy,
involved the surrender, if not the annihilation of those points which
as a national party they had banded themselves to secure. Thus, for
example, the American people are much scandalized if they would not
treat special affections, such as "laws and institutions" as obstinate
boulders to be blasted without compunction, and broken up after
MacAdam's fashion, and then blended promiscuously with the fragments
of those numerous nationalities which represent the unity of the
American nation. Mr. Quesnel was a genial, kindly, French gentleman of
the old school, whose political desire was to remain British, and
whose social one was to continue French. He probably saw that Mr.
Papineau's policy would have the effect of reversing both desires and
of carrying him exactly where he did not wish to go. Other members of
the party agreed with Mr. Quesnel. Consequently it happened that a few
who had theretofore marched to Mr. Papineau's music fell out of the
ranks and refused to go further. They included in their number calm
thoughtful men who were remarked for sagacity and caution. To this day
their moderation is quoted with approval as worthy not only of
imitation, but of gratitude. The small band embraced the honored names
of Nielson, the Nestor of his party, Cuvillier, and Quesnel whose
judgment was rarely at fault. They were men whose advice was always
sought for with solicitude, for it was not only conspicuous for
wisdom, but not unfrequently pointed with foreknowledge. Like the
seers of the earlier times they were honest truthful men removed alike
by their circumstances and their temperament, from the desire to
indulge in specious opinions or to adopt passionate counsels. If they
appraised the value of a proposition it was done with temper. If they
examined its drift it was done with impartiality. Thus when the
strange compound of personal complaint and political amelioration was
presented for the acceptance of the House of Assembly in the shape of
the memorable ninety-two resolutions, they turned away from the
prescription as men might be expected to do who disliked the remedy,
and had lost faith in the physician.

Mr. Quesnel's convictions came too late to be of use to his friends.
Other counsels were more controlling than his, and hence he could
scarcely impede, much less prevent, the violence which was to overtake
his country. However, he acted up to what he felt to be the point of
honor and of duty, and gave the Earl of Gosford what assistance he
could as a member of the Executive Council. The troubles came,
followed by the suspension of the constitution and the temporary
retirement of the French Canadians from the theatre of affairs. In the
first session after the union Mr. Quesnel represented the county of
Montmorency in the Legislative Assembly. On the 8th of September,
1848, he was called to the Legislative Council, of which body he
continued to be a member till his death on the 28th of July, 1866.
Besides being a Legislative Councillor, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel of
Militia, and he also filled several important offices in the city of
Montreal. He was for many years President of the People's Bank, and
President of the St. Jean Baptiste Society of that city. In all
situations, and in every relation of life, he fully sustained the
reputation he had acquired, and which the Honorable John Ross very
feelingly expressed in the Legislative Council, when he referred to
his character and expressed regret at his loss. In the debates of the
Legislative Council, as published in the _Globe_, Mr. Ross is reported
to have said--

     Hon. Mr. Ross wished to bear testimony, as an Upper Canadian,
     to the worth of their departed brother, Mr. Quesnel. He, Mr.
     Ross, had taken a seat in the Legislative Council in the same
     session with their departed brother and friend. In addition to
     his great ability, Mr. Quesnel was remarkable also for a sound
     judgment, which was almost unerring. During the years when he
     was able to devote himself to the business of the session,
     notwithstanding the conflict of parties and the violence of
     partizan feeling, Mr. Quesnel always commanded the attention
     and respect of the House, because his words were those of
     wisdom and prudence; and honorable members without distinction
     of party, were always rejoiced when he addressed them, because
     he managed to pour oil upon the troubled waters, and were glad
     to accept the views he propounded upon every subject which
     engaged his attention. He (Mr. Ross) regretted him, not only as
     a valued friend, but also as a man whose loss they must all
     deplore, because of the great ability, wisdom, and prudence,
     which characterized all his utterances in the Legislative
     Council.




[Illustration]


            HIS EXCELLENCY THE HON. FRANCIS HINCKS, C. B.

                 Tories don't like me, Whigs detest;
                 Then in what quarter can I rest?
                 Among the Liberals? most of all
                 The Liberals are illiberal.


His Excellency the Honorable Francis Hincks, C. B., is the fifth and
youngest son of the Reverend Dr. Hincks of Belfast, for many years
Professor of Oriental languages in the Royal Institution of that town.
Of his four brothers, three survive: The eldest[1] is the Rev. Edward
Hincks, D.D., formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and now
Rector of Kellyleagh, and is especially known to antiquarians as the
author of several valuable papers in the transactions of the Royal
Irish Academy on subjects connected with Egyptian, Persian and
Assyrian archæology. The second brother is the Reverend William
Hincks, who, on its foundation, was appointed Professor of Natural
History in Queen's college, Cork, and is now filling the like
situation at the University of Toronto. The third is the venerable
Thomas Hincks, Archdeacon of Connor. The family, as we learn from
Burke's History of the Landed Gentry, is of English extraction, for it
was for some time settled in Cheshire.

Francis, the youngest son and the subject of this sketch, received his
earlier education at Fermoy school. Afterwards he was sent to the
Royal Belfast Institution, where he remained only a short time. We do
not know what plan of life had been formed for him. It is, however,
probable, that the field of letters in which his father had found, and
his brothers were seeking, distinction, was conjecturally, at least,
set apart as the sphere wherein his own talents would most naturally
be displayed. If such were the thoughts of those who at that time were
expected to think for him, they were not his thoughts. His acute
intellect and resolute will appear neither to have been solaced by the
discipline, nor satisfied with the rewards of scholarship. At the end
of six months he left college, having previously expressed a wish to
follow the pursuits of commerce. We are not aware of the kind of trade
to which he devoted himself, but in 1830 he was charged by his
employers in furtherance of their business to go to the West Indies,
and especially to note the attractions which Jamaica, Barbadoes,
Trinidad, and Demerara, offered to the trader. At the second of the
above named islands he met a gentleman, a resident of Canada, who
persuaded him to visit Toronto and Montreal, and observe the
commercial capabilities of those cities and of the Provinces in which
they were situated. It is probable that the two voyages to the Lesser
Antilles, separated though they were by an interval of twenty four
years, have often been contrasted, for such contrasts are well
calculated to excite reflection. On the first occasion he landed at
Barbadoes unknown and unwelcomed, the salaried servant of a trading
firm. On the second occasion he landed at the same island to the music
of artillery, and the pageant of military display. On the first
occasion he was passed without notice; on the second, curious and
eager crowds welcomed him with such words of homage as a loyal people
is accustomed to pay to the representative of their Queen. At his
first visit he left the island dissatisfied, if not disappointed,
because there was no reason in commerce why he should stay. At his
second visit he left the island with complacency, if not with delight,
because there was a reason in duty why he should go, for Her Majesty
had graciously promoted him to higher honors and a more responsible
government. Who the Canadian gentleman was who advised him to "look at
Toronto and Montreal," we are not informed. He seems, possibly without
knowing it, to have possessed the gift of "gramarye," for very magical
and romantic issues lodged in the lap of his casual advice. Mr. Hincks
did then as he continued to do throughout life. He listened to his
friend's advice, and acted on his own judgment. He saw Canada as a
tourist and liked the country. He stayed at Toronto as a visitor and
determined to live there as a citizen.

In 1831 he returned to Belfast a wiser man than he left it the
previous year. His plan of life had already been determined on, and we
must add with tolerable completeness. He resolved to emigrate, and by
way of rounding his resolution, and making it complete, he also
resolved to marry. The latter was the picturesque prologue to the
serious act of settlement, albeit the transaction included the actual
duty of taking a house and the possible one of furnishing a nursery.
Such considerations did not in his case--happily they do not generally
in the case of youth--assume intimidating shapes. On the contrary,
they possess the fortunate knack of veiling themselves in the robes of
fascination which poets say hope borrows from love. But whatever
appearance they may then have worn it was sufficiently assuring to
satisfy the contracting parties: for in the following year the subject
of our sketch perfected his preliminary plan of adventure by marrying
the second daughter of Mr. Alexander Stewart, a merchant of Belfast.
Soon afterwards he sailed with his wife to America. On arriving at New
York he proceeded to Toronto, where he became the tenant and neighbor
of Dr. Baldwin, an Irish gentleman who had formerly resided at Cork.
Thus it chanced that he at once found himself included in a circle who
were attracted by the virtues of the Doctor and who sympathized with
the opinions of his patriotic son, the Honorable Robert Baldwin. Not
indeed that there is reason to think that Mr. Hincks' sentiments on
public affairs were wanting in tone or deficient in color, for both
were, we believe, determinately tinged with the liberalism of the age.
The political and social state of the times in Europe as well as in
the United Kingdom; the prevalence of misery and destitution; of
failure and disappointment; of every form of agricultural distress,
and every phase of commercial embarrassment; exerted either a
wholesome or a dangerous influence on the minds of all who had hearts
to feel or heads to think. Principles theretofore supposed to be plain
in their beneficial effects, became of doubtful repute, and men began
to look for succor if not for blessing in things theretofore deemed
evil. The past seemed to teach no certain lessons. Those of the
present were too contradictory to be read aright, and hence it became
a fashion with youth to turn from guides whose wisdom had been
discredited by events, to other teachers, who at least promised better
fruit for their labor. It is probable that Mr. Hincks had already
begun to study the doctrines of that school of political economy,
whose graduates were multiplying with noteworthy rapidity. It is also
probable that he caught the spirit of their philosophy, who saw all
things new. At all events he was not unprepared to apply it when the
occasion offered. In the meanwhile he found himself, with a mind ill
at ease with things as they were and disposed to sympathize with the
advanced politics of the future, brought face to face with, and
commanded to venerate the quaint old politics of the past, as they
were swaddled and coddled by the charming old loyalist of Canada; the
"true blue" politicians of other days, who declined to remember, much
less to apply any other principles of government than those which were
fashionable when George the Third was king, and the younger Pitt his
trusted minister.

But the storms which had shaken thrones and shattered goverments in
Europe, had in a mild way muttered mischief to the venerated idols of
Canada. The influence of the party gained strength which desired to
obtain the constitutional changes that have since been brought about.
As in the United Kingdom history was acquiring a new form by contact
with new agencies, so in Canada the government was about to gain
popularity by recruiting its forces from classes theretofore deemed
ineligible, if not untrustworthy. In both countries the result was to
be defeated or advanced by struggle and by endurance. Mr. Hincks did
not require to choose his side, for his choice was already made and
his place taken in the ranks of that reform party of which he was
destined at a day not very remote to become the acknowledged leader.

There can be little doubt that the knowledge which Mr. Hincks
subsequently displayed in matters of finance was noticed at an early
period by those who had the capacity to appreciate the bent of his
mind. Thus in 1833 when a Parliamentary investigation was ordered on
the accounts of the Welland Canal, Mr. Hincks, who had but recently
arrived in the country, was appointed one of the examiners. Shortly
afterwards, on the formation of the Mutual Insurance Company at
Toronto, he was selected as the secretary; and again when the Peoples
Bank was incorporated, he was chosen as the cashier or chief manager
of the institution.

While he was thus employed by interested stockholders in directing the
business of joint stock companies, the public affairs of Upper Canada
were attracting an unusual amount of attention in England and
elsewhere. Mr. Baldwin with wise persistence was photographing the
public mind with one picture, but that picture represented in a
condensed form the shadow of things to come. Like the alarm note of a
cuckoo clock he suffered himself to articulate but two words, but
those words included meanings of the most comprehensive kind, meanings
which were learned with reluctance and applied with dismay. They were
"responsible government." Mr. Mackenzie, on the other hand, unlike the
"needy knife grinder" had a story to tell, and he indulged the story
teller's privilege of mingling a good deal of imagination with his
facts. Without dwelling on or undervaluing his report on grievances,
we may observe that Sir Francis Head was afraid of "responsible
government," and looked awry when it was explained to him. At that
time it was a subject hard for a King's representative to understand
and difficult for him to apply; and, moreover, having become infected
with the suspicions of others that danger to the state lurked in the
application, Sir Francis fell upon a bold course of action, and
dismissed the matter and his ministry at the same time. Mr. Baldwin
was not unfamiliar with the discipline of disappointment. He and those
who thought with him, had patience to wait as well as industry to
work. But in the meanwhile a crop of perilous opinions sprang up,
whose fruit matured with pestilent rapidity. The revolutionary party
broke away from the reform party, and forthwith exemplified their
insanity by substituting physical for moral force. The party of
impatience chose their weapons, and they were contemptuously routed by
the weapons they had chosen. Although their failure was fortunate for
them and for the province, the effort was followed by a result which
was not unnatural. Reform, as a phrase, was discredited, and
reformers, as a class, were put under the ban. The reform press in
some cases had become revolutionary, and was suppressed, and in other
cases it ceased to shed light and was snuffed out. In Toronto the
party spoke in whispers and met by stealth, and acted as the members
of a family may be excused for acting who have been disgraced by a
relative. With the loss of voice, they lost heart, for no accredited
journal was then found to do battle for their fallen and dishonored
cause. Mr. Fothergill, at one time King's printer, started _The
Palladium_, but it was shortlived. Moreover it did not pretend to
speak for the reform party. It was looked upon as the organ of the
British as opposed to the "native" portion of the community, and it
was chiefly supported by the class who considered that they had been
used by the government in its need, but not trusted by the government
after its recovery. It was at this dismal juncture that Mr. Hincks
saw his opportunity. He abandoned his other occupations, and by
establishing the _Toronto Examiner_ newspaper gave to reformers the
organ they required, and imposed on himself the work he enjoyed, of
editor and director of a political journal. Many will remember the
vigor, the zeal and the address with which he carried on his new
duties. The moment too was auspicious, for he was in a position, when
the time arrived, to give his support to the administration of the
Earl of Durham as well as to that of his acute successor Baron
Sydenham. Having qualified himself in the columns of the reform press
it was natural that he should be asked to do service in Parliament.
The reformers of Oxford invited him to stand for the county, and he
thus acquired his first experience of a closely contested election,
for he was returned by a majority of thirty-one votes only over Mr.
Carroll, his opponent. In the session which immediately followed he
found himself seriously embarrassed, not only by Mr. Baldwin's sudden
withdrawal from the administration of which he had been a member since
the union of the Provinces, but by his alliance with gentlemen who
were conspicuous for their hostility to such union and to the act on
which it was founded. It followed that during the first session of the
Parliament of Canada, the two friends, Mr. Hincks and Mr. Baldwin,
were uncomfortably separated, for they voted on opposite sides.

Lord Sydenham, as we learn in his memoirs, was inconvenienced by his
inability to find any one in Canada who thoroughly understood, and was
willing to advocate, his measures on finance and banking.
Notwithstanding such complaint, it was generally supposed that on such
subjects Mr. Hincks enjoyed the greatest share of his confidence. In
the meanwhile, the office of Inspector General, or Minister of
Finance, was so to speak, put into commission; the commissioners being
the Hon. John Macaulay, and Mr. Joseph Cary, the respective Inspectors
General for the former provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. In the
following year, viz: on the 9th June, 1842, the two offices were
united, and Mr. Hincks accepted the situation of Inspector General
for the whole Province. In so doing he then, or shortly afterwards,
became the colleague of Messrs. Ogden, Draper, Day and Sherwood, as
well as of Messrs. Sullivan, Harrison, Dunn, Daly, and Killaly. At the
close of the session, Mr. Day was placed on the bench, and on the 16th
of September, 1842, Messrs. Ogden, Draper, and Henry Sherwood retired,
and were succeeded by Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine. Mr. Hincks
retained his place in the administration, and from thenceforward
shared the counsels and fortunes of Mr. Baldwin, and gave that
gentleman his unwavering support and assistance, until his final
withdrawal from public life. On the 28th November, 1843, he concurred
with his colleagues in resisting Lord Metcalfe's interpretation of
responsible government, and retired from office with them. At the
elections, in the following year, he shared the defeat of his party in
Upper Canada, and lost his seat in Parliament. If the loss was acutely
felt, he met it manfully, and addressed himself with his usual vigor
to the duties which the occasion required. The British party in Lower
Canada generally concurred in supporting Lord Metcalfe in the issue
raised between him and his late advisers. The newspapers published in
the English language for the most part enforced the views of the
party. It was therefore deemed desirable that a new organ in the
interests of the reform party should be started in that Province, and
published at Montreal. The duty was naturally assigned to Mr. Hincks,
and as a consequence "_The Pilot_" newspaper was commenced.

Mr. Kaye, in his life of Lord Metcalfe, and probably re-iterating the
expressed opinions of that nobleman, describes Mr. Hincks as "in many
respects a remarkable man," who by the ability with which he had
conducted the _Toronto Examiner_, "had rendered it a formidable
political organ." "Even the most strenuous of his opponents admitted
his fitness for the office" which Sir Charles Bagot had conferred on
him; "for he was an excellent accountant and financier." It was
represented to Lord Metcalfe, "that he was by far the best man of
business in the Council--clear-headed, methodical, persevering, and
industrious." "But" the biographer continues, "as a partisan, he was
vehement and unscrupulous; with a tongue that cut like a sword, and no
discretion to keep it in order." Without assenting to the accuracy of
the outline, it is worthy of a place in this paper as the sketch of
one who had been accustomed to observe and form opinions of men. Such,
then, was the individual who, in the estimation of a keen critic, had
undertaken the task of creating a British reform party in Lower
Canada, and of editing a newspaper that should be equal to the duty.
The "clear head" and the "sharp tongue" were no mean auxiliaries in
carrying on the new work. Happily for Mr. Hincks they did not stand
alone. The "clear head" looked out of eyes of restless brightness,
whose powers of perception appeared to be equal to all emergencies.
Moreover the "clear head" and restless eyes were nourished by a
temperament of feverish activity. It seemed that no toil could exhaust
his frame and no discouragement could overcome his perseverance.
Discretion was, we venture to think, one of the hard lessons he was
required to learn, and though he may have addressed himself to the
duty with knitted brow and compressed lips, it was not easy for that
seething brain to be cool. It was hard work for that "sharp tongue" to
calm enmity with a soft word, when it could crush it with a rough one.
The unruly member would not always consent to repose in a lap of
velvet, or sheathe its point in satin. Forbearance was a penance as
well as a difficulty. It was more natural for him to rasp his
antagonist into shape with stern discourse, than to reduce him with
soothing emollients. Some may conjecture, but few can know, the amount
of restraint he disciplined himself to practice or the degree of self
control which accompanied his labor. If ability is to be estimated by
success, a fitting illustration will be found in the triumph of his
party at the elections in 1848, when the reform side won by large
majorities in both Provinces.

Mr. Hincks was again elected for Oxford over his old opponent, but
some exception being taken by a voter to his qualification, the
Returning Officer, being perplexed, acted on the advice of the
Solicitor General, and returned Mr. Carroll as the sitting member. Of
course Mr. Hincks could not forgive the Returning Officer for his
doubt any more than he could excuse the Solicitor General for his
decision. He was in the position of one who felt himself to be
defrauded by a technicality, or cheated by a stratagem, since he
possessed but did not enjoy a right to which most persons considered
him entitled in virtue of his majority of three hundred and
thirty-five votes. Parliament lost no time in correcting the opinion
of the Solicitor General, for the Returning Officer was ordered to
attend at the Bar and amend his return. Nor was that all. As Mr.
Hincks could not reach the author of erroneous advice, he determined
to punish the agent. Being moved by a sense of wrong, and blinded by
temporary passion, he gave the rein to his "sharp tongue" and pursued
the Returning Officer with resolutions which were as contrary to his
usual generous character as they were conspicuous for their lack of
wisdom. Indeed the proceedings were unquestionably harsh, and they
brought about a result the reverse of what was desired. Without
inquiring whether the Returning Officer, Mr. Vansittart, had done
right or wrong, people generally concurred in thinking that by
resorting to the best advice he could obtain, he had not only shown a
disposition to do right, but he had divested himself of responsibility
should it turn out that he had done wrong. Hence the moral effect of
the censure of Parliament was not only neutralized, but it was capped
with a compliment to the Returning Officer in the shape of an address
of sympathy and a presentation of plate. Moreover, the proceedings
helped to increase Mr. Vansittart's popularity in his county, and
probably did much to strengthen the opposition he was enabled to make
at the next election, when he contested that county against Mr. Hincks
with such a close approach to success, as to make the friends of the
latter very anxious indeed for the result.

On the formation of the Lafontaine-Baldwin administration, on the 10th
March, 1848, Mr. Hincks was re-appointed to the office he had formerly
filled, of head of the finance department. Though he succeeded to an
empty exchequer, and a very uncomfortable prospect in the matter of
ways and means, he nevertheless, by the boldness as well as the
simplicity of his tariff legislation, at once restored the public
credit, and avoided all resort to the peculiar system of financial
re-adjustment which had discredited the projects of his predecessor
and rendered them unpopular. From thenceforward Mr. Hincks took an
honorable view of the public service, and a generous one of the public
servants. Few Executive Councillors have attained greater popularity
than he, and very few, if any, have been more loyally served. He
looked upon government as a science, and the public service as a
profession, and his effort was directed towards the intellectual and
social elevation of all who diligently sought to serve the state.

By the retirement of Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine, on the 27th
October, 1851, Mr. Hincks became the leader of the Upper Canada
section of the cabinet. The period was important, as inaugurating
those great projects of improvement on which the Province was about to
enter, involving the expenditure of large sums of money, and the
consequent negotiation of extensive loans. Foremost among those public
works was the construction of a grand trunk line of railway from
Quebec to Lake Huron. Furthermore, an agreement was made by the
Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, under certain
separate, as well as under certain joint conditions, to construct,
with the assistance of the Imperial Government, a railway from Halifax
to Quebec, and thus connect the Maritime Provinces with the Canadian
trunk line of railway. We have not space to enter into exact
particulars. It must suffice to state that the line selected by Major
Robinson of the Royal Engineers, and recommended to the British
Government on account of its military advantages, was not the line
considered to be best adapted to the commercial wants of the people
of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Thus the interests of the mother
country and the colonies appeared to diverge and fall asunder. For
while the colonists were naturally disinclined to pledge their revenue
to build a road which would be of little use in a commercial point of
view, the British Government was equally disinclined to extend their
guarantee to a road pronounced to be worthless in a military point of
view. The interests of commerce and war were at issue, and the
negotiators found themselves playing at cross purposes and working
very uselessly in separate circles. It were idle at this day to revive
a discussion on which the public men of Canada were much divided at
the time, whether greater consideration on one side, and less
petulance on the other, would not have resulted more beneficially to
the Provinces. It is only necessary to say that the Canadian
negotiator was weary of procrastination, and impatient of further
delay. Moreover, the discipline which had restrained his temper had
given the rein to his tongue, and with the human mercury at fever
heat, he wrote a highly characteristic letter on the first of May 1852
to Sir John Pakington, from which we make some pointed extracts. It is
probable that such a letter had not been addressed by a colonist to a
Secretary of State since Franklin left England for America, on the eve
of the revolutionary war. After some deprecatory remarkes on the
impediments which had been offered by Her Majesty's Government to the
progress of the negotiation, Mr. Hincks proceeds:

     Observing by the report in the "Times," of this morning, of a
     conversation which took place last evening in the House of
     Commons, that it is not the intention of Her Majesty's
     Government to come to any final decision without communicating
     information to the House, and apprehending that much delay may
     yet be contemplated; I feel that it is my duty, on the part of
     the province whose interests are entrusted to my care, to
     explain frankly, but most respectfully to her Majesty's
     Government, that it will be quite impossible for Canada to
     continue any longer a negotiation which has already involved
     her in much expense and trouble, and which has naturally
     retarded other arrangements which can be made for securing the
     construction of the most important sections of a great
     Canadian trunk line of Railway. I am anxious that Her Majesty's
     Government should understand most distinctly, that I have not
     been sent to England as an humble suitor on the part of Canada
     for Imperial aid. Canada was invited by the Imperial Government
     to aid in the great national work under consideration, and I
     must be permitted to say, that she has generously and
     patriotically responded to the invitation. Much time has
     unfortunately been lost, though not from any fault on the part
     of the Government or Legislature of Canada; and I therefore
     trust, that my present formal appeal to Her Majesty's
     Government will not be attributed to impatience, but to an
     anxious desire to promote the interests of my country. It seems
     to me far from improbable that, on some ground or other, this
     negotiation will prove a failure. If so, it is of the very
     highest importance to Canada that the fact should be known as
     soon as possible. I have reason to believe that I can effect
     arrangements on the spot with eminent capitalists, to construct
     all the railroads necessary for Canada with our own unaided
     credit. I have likewise reason to know that the European line,
     from Halifax to the frontier of Maine, can be constructed by
     the unaided credit of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We cannot
     afford to lose the opportunity of effecting such an important
     object to us, which will afford communication between Halifax
     and the western frontier of Canada. I am convinced that Her
     Majesty's Government, if unable to meet our wishes by granting
     us the aid spontaneously offered by the late Government, would
     regret extremely that we should lose the opportunity of
     effecting other desirable arrangements, and that they will not
     deem me importunate or unreasonable in respectfully begging for
     an answer, after being delayed nearly seven weeks in England. I
     must leave this country by the steamer of the 22nd instant, and
     I cannot possibly effect the arrangements which must be carried
     out, whether the negotiation of Her Majesty's Goverment
     succeeds or fails, in less than a week. I therefore most
     respectfully request of you, sir, that you may give me a final
     answer by the 15th instant; and I must add, that if Her
     Majesty's Government are unable, either from want of time or
     from the necessity of consulting Parliament to come to a
     decision by that period, I must beg it to be understood that
     Canada withdraws from the present negotiation, and that I shall
     deem it my duty to enter into arrangements, which if confirmed,
     as I believe they will be, by the Government and Legislature,
     will put it out of the power of the province to negotiate on
     the present basis.... I cannot conclude this letter without
     expressing my deep regret that so little confidence has been
     manifested by Her Majesty's Goverment, in Mr. Chandler and
     myself, being, as we are, sworn confidential advisers of the
     Crown.... Communications have been made to the Colonial Office
     on the subject of this railway, hostile to the views of the
     Goverment and Legislature of the three provinces of Canada,
     Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, supported as those views are by
     the Queen's able representatives in those provinces. No
     communication of those papers, the existence of which I only
     know by current rumour, has been made to us. Our position has
     been in no way recognized by Her Majesty's Government; and I
     cannot but express my conviction, that such withholding of
     confidence has not conduced to the interests of the Queen's
     service.

Without dwelling on the disappointment which the failure of the
negotiation occasioned to many, we may observe that people not prone
to despondency were soothed and comforted by the piquant qualities of
the letter. Public men irrespective of party, agreed in opinion that
Mr. Hincks had clearly expressed what many of his predecessors had
acutely felt, namely: that a colonist, no matter what his position or
credentials, was received without honor or distinction in the mother
country. It is not improbable that the letter in question may have
done much towards mitigating an acknowledged evil. At all events it
informed the Queen's advisers in no equivocal terms of the new status
which "responsible government" had conferred on Provincial Privy
Councillors, and of the greater consideration which was on that
account due to their position and character when accredited to
represent their governments.

Had the task not been embarrassed with a misunderstanding there would
have remained difficulty enough to daunt the boldest. Nature had
provided a streamway through Canada from the great lakes to the
greater ocean. Art was now called upon to construct a railway as
continuous as the streamway, and which in like manner should stop only
at the Atlantic. Nature had chosen her own channel unembarrassed by
the whim or the waywardness of man. Science, on the contrary, was not
only impeded by the difficulties of nature, but it was beset by human
selfishness and embarrassed by local prejudice. It is therefore
probable, that the sarcasm pointed by Burke at the Earl of
Buckinghamshire, might have been applied with equal force to some
persons in Canada. It was said, and unfortunately not without reason,
that the Grand Trunk Railway was impeded in its construction,
increased in its cost, and lessened in its benefits by the necessity
which arose for selling public interests by private contract. Such
transactions must be sufficiently humiliating to high minded men; yet
it is idle to be unduly disquieted by them; for like the incidents of
other great victories we know they must be. The advantages of a public
improvement must we fear be determined by the end it is designed to
serve rather than by the means by which the end is reached. Too much
knowledge is not desirable, for the mind is harrassed by the operation
of weighing a material gain against a moral loss. Taken all in all the
result may probably be expressed in the language of old Casper in
Southey's nursery epic, that "it was a famous victory." A victory
worthy of the conception and creditable to the perseverance of a
statesman who had the courage to utilize to patriotic ends qualities
that were base as well as qualities that were noble, and regardless
alike of covert suspicion or open censure dared to fuse good with ill
for the permanent advantage of Canada.

In the meanwhile interest which perhaps had not been conciliated, and
opinions which had scarcely been respected, were acquiring strength
sufficient to menace his authority and challenge his position. Mr.
Hincks as a matter of duty had to take his bearings afresh, and by
examining the political chart anew, discover whether and to what
extent he had steered amiss. The duty involved a consideration of his
relations to the parties which had opposed as well as to the party
which had supported him. It may be conjectured that he did so very
anxiously, for in the first instance, the grave issue of his scrutiny
could scarcely have been apparent. It is not now difficult to see that
a great change had taken place in the relative positions of parties.
The line which separated the conservatives from the Baldwin reformers
had almost ceased to be a real line, for it was so reduced in its
proportions as to be little more than a slightly pencilled, almost
imperceptible curve. Official responsibility had taught both parties
moderation. The conservatives had on their side paved the way to an
approximate, if not to an actual union with the old reformers. On the
other hand the extreme liberals had separated themselves from the more
moderate section of the reform party by new issues that were regarded
by the majority in Lower Canada with aversion and by many in Upper
Canada with distrust. Then, too, as a matter of convenience,
political names when they expressed party names, were qualified by
political adjectives: thus, "liberal conservatives" and "conservative
liberals" became familiar terms, and being familiar they were
frequently interchanged, and applied indifferently to either party. It
may therefore have chanced that the new forms of nomenclature smoothed
the differences between "liberal conservatives" and "conservative
liberals," and perhaps increased the desire of both to get rid of such
differences.

Moreover, the elections which had recently taken place had not
weakened the conservative party, while in Upper Canada they had added
materially to the strength of the extreme reform party. The latter
from a sectional point saw at once that the position of the moderate
reformers was no longer tenable. Plans were therefore made, it was
said, though the statement is scarcely credible, with the acquiescence
and participation of some of his colleagues, to get rid of Mr. Hincks
and such of his friends as had become obnoxious for their moderation.
Though the ground was skilfully mined, it was still more skilfully
countermined by the opposing engineer. Mr. Hincks, with the quickness
which always marked his actions, at once determined that the enemy
should be "hoist by his own petard." On his own, as well as on behalf
of his attached friends, he would consent neither to political
isolation nor to political death. He, and they, being cut adrift by
their party, considered themselves free to take their own course and
form their own alliances; and the result was in the highest degree
creditable to their address. They surrendered no principle to the
party with which they coalesced, and they obtained from it almost
every concession they desired. Hence the transaction was not so much a
coalition as it was a fusion of parties, and this fusion was affected
not by the concession of the reformers, but by the capitulation of the
conservatives, and their conversion to the principles of the party
with which they became allied.

The period from 1848, when he re-entered the administration, to 1855,
when he left the province, represents but a short space of time, yet
it is marked with acts of great importance, many of which were
introduced by him, and all of which received his support. We have not
space to epitomize the important measures on the tariff--on municipal
reform, on local finance, on general assessment, on postal
intercourse, on cheap postage, on benevolence, and the relief to
English and French soldiers, which in their original and amended
forms, have directly or indirectly been attributed to him. The
journals of parliament, and the laws will supply the information, and
at the same time make the enquirer acquainted with the industry,
sagacity and courage which marked his career from first to last. Nor
should it be overlooked that when he had retired and could only give
the government an outside support, he nevertheless addressed himself
with his accustomed vigor to the final settlement of two questions,
which for upwards of thirty years had been fruitful in disquiet and
contention, namely, the Clergy Reserve and Seignorial Tenure
questions.

As a speaker, Mr. Hincks secured attention rather by the force of his
convictions than by the strength of his arguments. Men felt what he
said, not because they were convinced, but because they were charmed.
Indeed it was more his habit to assert than to reason. Nor was it the
least amusing feature of a debate, to note the temper in which he
would silence an interruption, snub an impertinence, or answer an
enquiry. Sometimes it was done in tones of surprise that ignorance so
inconceivable should exist; sometimes in tones of scorn that a
question so absurd should be asked; and sometimes in tones of
commiseration at the unaccountable obtuseness of people not otherwise
deficient in intelligence; but whatever its form, the interrogator was
generally obliged to be satisfied with the emphatic re-assertion of a
statement, for he was rarely answered with an explanation or a reason.
Mr. Hincks spoke very much as he wrote, and the letter we have
reproduced may be regarded as a specimen of his oratorical, as well as
of his epistolary style.

After the adjournment of Parliament in 1855, Mr. Hincks went home, and
the news of his arrival in England was made public by a London Journal
in the following words:

     "We have great pleasure in announcing that the Queen, upon the
     recommendation of Sir William Molesworth, has appointed Mr.
     Hincks, a distinguished member of the Canadian Legislature, to
     the Governorship of Barbadoes. This appointment is not so
     simple a matter as it would appear at first sight. It is the
     inauguration of a totally different system of policy from that
     which has been hitherto pursued with regard to our Colonies. We
     only trust that it may be carried out to its legitimate extent,
     and that the more distinguished among our fellow subjects in
     the Colonies may feel that the path of Imperial ambition is
     henceforth open to them. They are not Canadians, nor
     Australians, nor mere denizens of Jamaica, or at the Cape, but
     Englishmen above all and before all, Englishmen who have the
     same legitimate right to hold the highest offices in church or
     state, at home or abroad, as any person born within the four
     seas.... We trust that this appointment of Mr. Hincks to
     Colonial Governorship, will shew that at home we are really in
     earnest in the matter, and ask no better than to call into the
     service of the country talent, home grown or colonial; in fact
     talent wherever it may be found."

His Government of the Windward Islands was spoken of as wise and
successful, and hence he was promoted from Barbadoes to British
Guiana, where he now represents Her Majesty, and where his rule is
said to be popular and sagacious. A tropical climate, and duties of no
light kind, have, we believe, written their characters very legibly on
his face and somewhat changed his appearance from what he was in the
time of his Canadian service when our photograph was taken. It is,
however, the familiar face of familiar days that we present to our
readers, and it may on that account be more acceptable to all, and
especially to those who remember him with kindness, and his services
with appreciation.




[Illustration]


                 THE HONORABLE ROBERT BALDWIN, C.B.,

                               TORONTO.


     RESOLVED.--That in order to preserve between different branches
     of the Provincial Parliament that harmony which is essential to
     the peace, welfare, and good government of the Province,--the
     chief advisers of the Representative of the Sovereign,
     constituting a Provincial Administration under him, ought to be
     men possessed of the confidence of the representatives of the
     people, thus affording a guarantee that the well-understood
     wishes and interests of the people, which our Gracious
     Sovereign has declared shall be the rule of the Provincial
     Government, will, on all occasions, be faithfully represented
     and advocated.--JOURNALS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 3rd
     September, 1841.

The foregoing resolution was adopted by the Legislative Assembly of
Canada, on the 3rd September, 1841, in a House of eighty-four members,
with only seven dissentient votes. In the recognition, by Parliament,
of the principle enunciated in that resolution, Mr. Baldwin must have
enjoyed a personal as well as a political triumph; for the public
appropriation of his "one idea," as it was then called by some, of his
"great idea" as it is now designated by all, represented a
conservative revolution in the government, not only of his own
country, but of all the colonies of the British Crown. The resolution
is justly regarded as the charter of Canadian freedom--the corner
stone of her constitutional system. Nor was it a light matter that a
work so fair should have been wrought by one whose patriotism was as
conspicuous for its purity, as his character was for its truth. Canada
may, it is true, read on the roll of her worthies, the names of more
acute lawyers, more eloquent debaters, more expert tacticians, and
more accomplished statesmen, but she will scarcely find one to which
she can point with greater pride; on which her historians will dwell
with greater complacency; or which her people generally will cherish
with more loving warmth than the honored name of Robert Baldwin.

When the subject of separating the old Province of Quebec into Upper
and Lower Canada was under consideration, many of the inhabitants of
the British Islands were attracted to the western Province. Thus in
the year 1790, Mr. William Willcocks, the maternal grandfather of Mr.
Baldwin, a gentleman of some consideration and property in the city of
Cork, paid a visit of observation to Upper Canada. Being favorably
impressed with the natural and social attractions of the country, he
appears to have exerted the like influences on the minds of several of
his friends and relatives. The number included Mr. Robert Baldwin, the
grandfather of the subject of this article, who having disposed of his
Irish homestead, arrived in 1798, with his family, in Canada, and
settled on a farm in the Township of Clarke. He named his new
possession Annarva, but whether the property now retains that name, we
are unable to say. The stream, however, which flowed hard by, was
then, and we believe is still, called Baldwin's Creek. With the
subsequent history of the two grandfathers we are not required to
deal. But it is necessary to relate that their son, the Hon. William
Warren Baldwin, more familiarly known as Dr. Baldwin, very soon turned
his back on Annarva to seek his fortune at Toronto, the newly chosen
capital of Upper Canada.

At that day there were scarcely any professional men in the country.
Clergymen were myths, and lawyers and doctors were equally at a
premium. Dr. Baldwin was a member of the medical profession, and a
graduate of Edinburgh, but he rightly considered that the way to
wealth and influence lay less in the tranquil paths of healing than in
the stormy ones of strife; and if he did not actually, like Macbeth,
"throw physic to the dogs," he, at all events, shut his medicine
chest, and in virtue of an act of Parliament, supplemented with the
Governor's special license, he opened a law office. Moreover he
studied the mysteries of his new profession with such rapidity, and
practiced them with such success, that the name of "Dr. Baldwin,
barrister and solicitor," soon became a name of repute in the courts,
and of influence in the country. He lost little time in qualifying for
domestic life, for he married Phoebe, a daughter of Mr. William Wilcox,
and, as we assume, a connection by marriage of his family. Of his
marriage there were two sons, Robert and William, the latter of whom
survives. Robert Baldwin was born on the 12th May, 1804, and educated
at one of the best schools the country afforded. In due time he
studied the profession his father had adopted, and was called to the
bar in Trinity Term, 1825, when he entered into partnership with his
father. The business name by which they were then known was "W. W.
Baldwin & Son." Subsequently, on the 1st March, 1829, Mr. Robert
Baldwin formed a partnership with his cousin Mr. Robert Baldwin
Sullivan, under the names of "Baldwin & Sullivan." This arrangement
continued until 1837, when Mr. Sullivan retired, and was, in due time,
succeeded by Mr. Adam Wilson, who appears to have been professionally
adopted by the principals, as the firm reverted to the old style of
"Baldwin & Son." On the 31st May, 1827, Mr. Robert Baldwin married his
cousin, Augusta Elizabeth, a daughter of Mr. Daniel Sullivan, and
sister of Mr. Robert Baldwin Sullivan, before mentioned, by whom he
had two sons and two daughters, all of whom survived him. On the 11th
January, 1836, he lost his wife by death. This great trial, followed
as it shortly was, by his release from responsibility as an adviser of
Sir Francis B. Head, prompted him to seek in other lands for the peace
and rest which, for a time at least, eluded him in his native
Province. He visited England and the Continent, where he had the
advantage of witnessing, among other things, the amenities of
statesmen, and of observing, what one fails to see on this continent,
government carried on as a science by men who, for the most part, have
been educated to rule. Though not honored with an interview, he took
the opportunity, which his presence in London offered, of placing
before the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in a series of papers,
his views on Colonial Government as it then was, and as it ought
thereafter to be administered in Canada.

In referring to Mr. Baldwin's political career, it may be as well to
observe that his father, Dr. Baldwin, was at one time an officer of
the two Houses of the Legislature, from the service of both of which
he was removed for reasons as amusingly absurd as they were
offensively arbitrary. A wronged man is sure to become a troublesome,
and if he possesses ability, he is apt also to become a dangerous man.
Legislative tyranny released Dr. Baldwin from official restraint, and
promoted him to the character of an official martyr; and thus, from
his position, his influence and his ability, he became a sympathetic
centre for all who had complaints to prefer against the ruling party
in Upper Canada. Moreover, the peace of Europe not only added to the
distress which had weighed heavily on the inhabitants of the British
Islands during the war, but it had the further effect of opening with
determinate violence, the sluices through which the tide of suffering
emigrants could be floated to America. A great number of such,
including a large proportion whom want had soured, and misfortune had
made miserable, arrived in Canada. Scotland and the manufacturing
districts of northern England, especially contributed their quota of
irrepressible radicals, men whose brains were as clear as their
pockets were empty, to compete with the old royalists and their
descendants for whatever was to be had in the way of employment, or to
be scrambled for in the way of property. The fresh arrivals gave an
extraordinary impetus to political discussion, and public opinion
suddenly became active, and, as the old settlers thought, dangerous.
The year 1820 is commonly regarded as the commencement of a new era
in the political history of the Province. The accession of the fourth
George to the throne did not increase the respect which was felt for
kings and persons in authority, and the new immigrants were not for
the most part given to hero worship, and especially if the idol were
no hero. Thus their old aversions, unlike their old clothes, were not
worn out in the voyage to Canada; on the contrary, those aversions,
whether they sprang from secular or religious roots, were strong
enough to be turned to valuable account by all who desired to build up
a party of resistance to the governing families of the Province. Dr.
Baldwin was the chief of the "Adullamites" of that day, to whose
metaphorical cave all were encouraged to flock, who had grievances to
remember or wrongs to redress.

The general elections which took place in 1820, consequent on the
death of George the Third, introduced some new blood in the House of
Assembly, which especially shewed itself in the earnestness with which
tender subjects were approached, and the warmth with which they were
discussed. In 1827, the party of aggression acquired consideration, as
well as strength, by the arrival from England of Mr. John Walpole
Willis, who had received the appointment of Puisné Judge in Upper
Canada, and who, it is stated, attracted the ill will of the dominant
families by resolutely refusing to identify himself with the governing
party. We have not space for particulars. It must suffice to say that
in the year 1829, for causes which satisfied him, His Excellency Sir
Peregrine Maitland, suspended Mr. Justice Willis from his judicial
functions, and obliged him to seek redress in England. The reasons for
such an extreme exercise of prerogative were deemed by the reform
party so insufficient and objectionable as to warrant a remonstrance,
in which the reader may see very distinctly the bold outlines of Mr.
Baldwin's colonial policy; neither will the student of English history
be embarrassed in discovering whence that policy may be traced. We
shall give the concluding paragraph of the address to Mr. Willis, and
add a few noteworthy extracts from the petition to the King, which was
adopted at the same time. The former ends thus:--

     "Seeing that you are abandoned by the provincial administration
     and their dependants, we have, in addition to those private
     arrangements which your limited knowledge of the country may
     enable you to provide, appointed for our public satisfaction, a
     committee to watch over the interests and insure the protection
     of Lady Mary and family, that Her Ladyship may, during your
     absence, the less feel the remoteness of her native country and
     of her noble friends. This committee consists of William Warren
     Baldwin, Esq. and lady, and John Galt, Esq. and lady, to whom
     is added Robert Baldwin, Esq., as her Ladyship's solicitor."

In their petition to the King, after humbly thanking His Majesty, for
appointing the Hon. John Walpole Willis to the office of Judge, and
testifying to his "private virtues, acknowledged learning, blended
with high and uncompromising principles uniformly evinced in the
impartial discharge of his judicial duties," and after representing
that the country had been "deprived of one of its greatest blessings
in the arbitrary removal of a Judge who, by the impartial discharge of
his duties, had become endeared to the Canadian people," the
petitioners further represent:

     "It has long been the source of many grievances, and of their
     continuance, that the Legislative Council is formed not of an
     independent gentry, taken from the country at large, but of
     executive counsellors and place-men, the great majority of whom
     are under the immediate, active, and undue influence of the
     person administering your Majesty's Provincial Government,
     holding their offices at his mere will and pleasure. Hence
     arises, in a great measure, the practical irresponsibility of
     executive counsellors, and other official advisers of your
     Majesty's representative, who have hitherto, with impunity,
     both disregarded the laws of the land, and despised the
     opinions of the public.

     From the impunity with which the greatest abuses have hitherto
     existed, and the difficulty in such a state of things of
     applying an efficient remedy, most of our grievances have taken
     their origin and growth....

     The undue influence which the mingled duties of legislative and
     executive advice have on the judicial functions....

     The want of carrying into effect that rational and
     constitutional control over public functionaries, especially
     the advisers of your Majesty's representative, which our fellow
     subjects in England enjoy in that happy country....

     That the supreme judges of the land hold their offices during
     pleasure, and are subjected to the ignominy of an arbitrary
     removal....

     That the Judges of the Court of King's Bench be not Legislative
     Councillors, nor Executive Councillors, nor Privy Councillors,
     in any respect in the Colony.

     That the judges be made independent as in England, holding
     their offices not as at present in this province, but during
     good behavior, to be enquired into by impeachment alone, in the
     Provincial Parliament, before the Legislative Council, when
     that body is so modified as to become an independent branch of
     the Legislature.

     That a legislative act be made in the Provincial Parliament, to
     facilitate the mode in which the present constitutional
     responsibility of the advisers of the local government, may be
     carried practically into effect; not only by the removal of
     those advisers from office, when they lose the confidence of
     the people, but also by impeachment for the heavier offences
     chargeable against them."

The paper from which we have made the foregoing extracts has been
carefully filed and initialled by Mr. Baldwin. It shews even at that
early day, how thoroughly he had consulted the history of the old
American colonies, and with what clearness he foreshadowed the
remedial measures which were necessary for his own Province.

At the general elections in 1838, Mr. Baldwin, in conjunction with Mr.
J. E. Small, offered themselves as candidates to the electors of the
county of York, but that appreciative constituency preferred their
opponents Mr. Ketchum and Mr. William Lyon MacKenzie. In the following
year, the then Attorney General, Sir John Beverly Robinson, was
appointed Chief Justice; wherefore Mr. Baldwin, in succession to Sir
John, presented himself to the electors of the town of York, as
Toronto was then called. Although he was elected by a majority of
votes over his opponent, he was unseated on Petition, the writ of
election having been irregularly issued. On again offering himself he
was returned in opposition to Mr. Sheriff Jarvis, but this triumph was
of short duration, as he sat for a part of one session only. Before
Parliament assembled, George the Fourth had departed this life. A
general election took place, when Mr. Jarvis defeated Mr. Baldwin.

Though a young man, Mr. Baldwin appears to have been in a very marked
way influenced by mature opinions. Thus his defeat at the age of
twenty-six was scarcely a disappointment, for he had become
thoroughly convinced that his presence in Parliament could serve no
good or useful purpose. Nor could it be denied that in the absence of
ministerial responsibility, it was alike dispiriting and useless to
wage warfare with a system which it was easy to derange, but difficult
to get rid of.

In the month of January, 1836, Sir Francis Bond Head, described in the
printed placards on the Toronto walls, as "a tried reformer," arrived
at Toronto in succession to Sir John Colborne, "a fossil tory" who had
desired his recall. Sir Francis appears to have lost no time in
sending for and in advising with Mr. Baldwin on several obstinate and
knotty matters connected with the administration of public affairs.
Incidentally, by way of preliminary to a mutual understanding of the
subject, a memorable discussion took place on the position which an
English Governor fills in a colony, and the relation which his
constitutional advisers hold with respect to him on one hand, and to
Parliament on the other. The argument on both sides, as published in
the official papers, is very interesting and very fairly put, but we
shall merely confine ourselves to an extract from Mr. Baldwin's
summary of the proceeding, as related by him at the time, in a letter
to Mr. Peter Perry.

     "I therefore beg leave to state that His Excellency having done
     me the honor to send for me, explained the position in which he
     found himself placed on assuming the government of the
     Province, and declaring himself most anxious to do the best he
     could to ensure to the Province good and cheap government,
     expressed himself most desirous that I should afford him my
     assistance by joining his Executive Council, assuring me that
     in the event of my acceding to his proposals, I should enjoy
     his full and entire confidence. I informed His Excellency of my
     extreme reluctance again to embark in public life; and
     proceeded to state, notwithstanding such reluctance, and
     reserving to myself the option of declining to accept the seat
     which His Excellency had tendered to me, on private grounds
     merely, I yet felt that as His Excellency had done me the honor
     of sending for me, I would not be performing my duty to my
     Sovereign or the country, if I did not, with His Excellency's
     permission, explain fully to His Excellency, my views of the
     constitution of the Province and the change necessary in the
     practical administration of it, particularly as I considered
     the delay in adopting this change as the great and all
     absorbing grievance before which all others in my mind sank
     into insignificance; and the remedy for which would most
     effectually lead, and that in a constitutional way, to the
     redress of every other grievance, and the finally putting an
     end to all clamor about imaginary ones, and that these
     desirable objects would thus be accomplished without in the
     least entrenching upon the just and necessary prerogatives of
     the Crown, which I consider when administered by a Lieutenant
     Governor through the medium of a Provincial Ministry
     responsible to the Provincial Parliament, to be an essential
     part of the constitution of the Province.

     That these opinions were not hastily formed, but they were, on
     the contrary, those which I had imbibed from my father, who
     though for some years as well as myself unconnected with public
     life, had formerly held a much more distinguished position in
     the politics of the country, than I could pretend to, and that
     they were opinions which the experience of every year had more
     and more strengthened and confirmed.... That they were nothing
     more than the principles of the British Constitution applied to
     that of this Province, and which I conceive necessarily to
     belong as much to the one as to the other.

     That the call for an Elective Legislative Council which had
     been formally made from Lower Canada, and had been taken up and
     appeared likely to be responded to in this Province, was as
     distasteful to me as it could be to any one, as all that
     appeared necessary or desirable was the constitution as it
     stood, fully and fairly acted upon, and that I was convinced
     that had such a course been adopted some years ago, we should
     not now have the public discussing the expediency of an
     alteration in the constitution by the introduction of a
     provision for an Elective Legislative Council, that I feared it
     might now be too late, but as I was not sufficiently aware of
     the exact state of the question to speak decidedly, I sincerely
     hoped that by the prompt adoption of a responsible Provincial
     administration under the King's representative, the question
     might even yet be set at rest."

The remainder of the letter is taken up with a recital of the
objections that were urged by Sir Francis, and how they were met by
Mr. Baldwin. The negotiation ended in an agreement on the part of the
latter to enter the administration on certain conditions being
observed with respect to the gentlemen who should be associated with
him. Those conditions, though somewhat modified by mutual concession,
appear to have been satisfactory to both parties, as Mr. Baldwin
undertook the responsibility of forming an administration.

After meeting his newly sworn-in Executive Councillors, and receiving
from them, in a formal paper, a statement of what they proposed to
accomplish, and the way in which it was to be done, including the
uncomfortable results to the incumbents of certain offices, whicht
the new views would necessarily involve, Sir Francis appears to have
become startled and troubled with serious misgivings, for in his
written answer he very frankly told his advisers that he dissented
from their opinions altogether, and as plainly hinted that their
resignations would not be disagreeable to him. Whereupon the first
ministry under responsible government mentioned in our colonial
records, consisting of Messrs. Peter Robinson, George H. Markland,
Joseph Wells, John H. Dunn, Robert Baldwin and John Rolph, tendered
their resignations, which were very graciously as well as very gladly
accepted. Then followed a vote of want of confidence by the House of
Assembly in their successors in office; the stoppage of the supplies;
the dissolution of Parliament; the new elections, and the return of a
majority prepared to support His Excellency in the old Downing street
policy, which he had enunciated.

Mr. Baldwin again courted the retirement which he had reluctantly
abandoned; but the charms of privacy were soon to be noisily broken,
and in a way and for a purpose of which he had no foreknowledge, and
could have had but little expectation. In the result of the elections
Sir Francis B. Head had achieved a victory, but unfortunately for his
fame, he missed his opportunity, and did not conquer a peace. The
head, so to speak, of the reform party accepted defeat with dignity,
and withdrew in silence from the strife, but the tail of the party,
like the tail in some species of animal life, discovered violent
symptoms of muscular vitality even when the head was at rest.
Conspiracy succeeded defeat, which on the 4th of December of the
following year shewed itself in the form of open revolt. Large bodies
of armed men under the lead of Mr. William Lyon MacKenzie, marched
towards and menaced the capital. Moreover had they been imbued with
the audacity and animated with the pluck of their extraordinary chief,
it is difficult to believe that Toronto would have escaped the
destruction with which it was threatened. His Excellency, though
somewhat of a knight errant, was dismayed and affrighted, as he had
good reason to be, for the circumstances were of the gravest with
which he was required to deal. In his difficulty he not unnaturally
turned to two gentlemen for assistance, who possessed great popular
influence, and who had once enjoyed his confidence as members of His
Majesty's Executive Council in Upper Canada. Those gentlemen were Mr.
Robert Baldwin and Dr. Rolph, and the missive with which they were
charged was, to use His Excellency's language, "parentally to call on
the rebel leaders and in the name of their Governor to avoid the
effusion of human blood." What occurred on that occasion, so far as
one of the negotiators was concerned, has been embarrassed with very
perplexing criticisms, on which we are not required to offer an
opinion. The press of the province took indiscriminating advantage of
the obscurity of those transactions with respect to one, to assail
both of the ambassadors. Thus Mr. Baldwin as well as Dr. Rolph became
the object of violent attack from one end of the Province to the
other. The former, unwisely as we think, relying on his unsullied
honor, his unchallenged character, and his unquestionable integrity,
thought it inconsistent with his fame to answer with his pen
accusations which were rebutted by his life. When, however, Sir Allan
Napier MacNab stooped so low as to take advantage of such silence, and
repeat in the House of Assembly the charges which had done much to
bring discredit on the press, then Mr. Baldwin rose in his place, and
on the 13th October, 1842, set the question forever at rest in the
following unadorned but convincing words:--

     "The Hon. member for Hamilton had thought to drag into the
     discussion allusion to a matter that was personal to himself,"
     (referring to a transaction which had been frequently urged
     against Mr. Baldwin, as something derogatory to his public
     character, and of a nature to disqualify him from holding a
     situation in the government of his country). "However little
     that matter had to do with the question before the house, he
     had yet no objection to enter upon it. He would beg to recall
     to the mind of the Hon. and gallant member for Hamilton that
     his (Mr. B's) share in that transaction was not a matter of
     choice with him, but was in a manner forced upon him. He had,
     indeed, as the Hon. and gallant member affirmed, gone out with
     a flag of truce to the armed men who had approached Toronto;
     but at whose instance? (Hear, hear.) It was at the personal
     desire, and upon the urgent solicitation of the panic-stricken
     government of Upper Canada, which came to him in the person of
     the High Sheriff, to request his interference to stop the
     deluded men who were approaching the city. He complied, and
     went out with a flag of truce. He was sent back for some
     evidence from the head of the government that he really came to
     them in the character and with the authority he pretended to
     have. And what was the return he received at the hands of the
     very man who sent him out? Sir Francis Head, through the same
     functionary, refused to give him a single line to shew that he
     had really gone out under his sanction; and this humiliating
     refusal he was compelled to return and announce to those before
     whom he had but recently appeared as a party clothed with the
     authority of the government. Sir Francis Head had not the
     magnanimity to avow his own act.

     This was the position in which he had been placed before his
     country by that man who was the idol of the Hon. and learned
     member. He (Mr. B.) was made to appear in a most equivocal
     light, and as a man of bad faith, who was trifling with the
     very lives of his fellow-men under false pretences. And this
     was the man at whose call he was expected to take up arms!
     (Hear.) He had acted then as he would now under similar
     circumstances, and if condemned by that House, which he did not
     fear, his own heart would sustain him. His country, which had
     honored him with its confidence, would not condemn him. He had
     often been assailed upon this point. He had been held up as a
     rebel and a traitor--not by the Hon. and gallant member, but by
     the ribald press which was the organ of his party, and whose
     chief business it appeared to be to heap calumny and abuse in
     every form that ingenuity could devise, upon their political
     opponents. But he cared not for this ribald abuse. He passed it
     over as unworthy of notice. He thanked God that he had a
     reputation, and he was perfectly willing to rest that
     reputation upon the verdict his country would pass upon the
     passages in his career upon which he had been most assailed.
     (Hear, hear.) Notwithstanding all the abuse which had assailed
     him in his own country, which had been repeated against him in
     the mother country, and spread throughout Europe, what was the
     result? He had had the honor of being appointed to offices of
     high confidence by three different representatives of his
     sovereign, and of having these appointments sanctioned by the
     Sovereign herself, and that confidence continued to him by a
     fourth representative of the Sovereign, the present head of the
     Provincial Government. This was his justification--this his
     best defence against the taunts of his enemies."

The rebellion brought disgrace on the reform party of Upper Canada,
for though the old style of government was scarcely worth fighting
for, still it represented for the time being the rule and majesty of
England, and every form of armed resistance was therefore denounced
by all who desired such rule. When revolt actually took place, people
did not stay to discriminate between what was and what was not
constitutional in the form of their government. All such inquiries
were postponed, for rebellion had overtaken them, clad in its
customary horrors. In the meanwhile the cause of reform had been
discredited and thrown back. The cry of the old loyalists that reform
and rebellion sprang from the same root, received corroboration on the
spot, and all who called themselves reformers suffered in repute, and
many suffered in their persons, from the passionate extravagance of
some of the least considered members of their body. Under such
circumstances there was nothing for Mr. Baldwin to do but to await the
course of events, and like charity, to suffer long, and to be kind.
The season of suspense was soon to terminate, and a bright beam of
approval, from an unlooked-for source, was about to fall across his
path, for the Earl of Durham, as the Queen's Commissioner for
administrating the affairs of the Provinces, lost little time in
lending the weight of his great name to the opinions which Mr. Baldwin
had sought to advance. Neither was the Earl's acute successor, Baron
Sydenham, afraid of the practical consequences of such opinions.
Imperious though he was, he was, nevertheless, willing to accept them,
for he knew the strength of his will, and felt able to work them out.
But apart from all abstract considerations, Lord Sydenham was
especially anxious that his Executive Council should be chosen from
the moderate, in contradistinction to the extreme parties, which had
theretofore divided the Province--both of which he was anxious to
destroy. Thus Mr. Draper, as Attorney General, and a moderate
conservative, was associated with Mr. Baldwin, as Solicitor-General,
and a moderate reformer. Moreover, they had for colleagues such
liberals as Messrs. Sullivan, Dunn, Daly, and Harrison, and such
conservatives as Messrs. Ogden and Day. The ministry was a ministry of
amelioration and compromise, whose chief duties were to reconcile and
restore, to re-organize and construct, to perform that kind of
delicate initiatory work which is usually assigned to coalition
governments. The members of the administration were sworn in on the
13th February, 1841, and continued, so far as the public were
informed, to work in harmony until the 13th June following, the day
before Parliament met, when, to the surprise of everybody, Mr. Baldwin
not only resigned his office, but took his seat in the ranks of the
opposition. The proceeding necessarily occasioned a good deal of
animadversion, for admitting that Mr. Baldwin had reasons for the
course he pursued, the transaction was generally regarded as unusual,
ill-timed, and needlessly embarrassing. Seen by the light of
subsequent events, it wears a less ungenerous and more patriotic
aspect than it presented at the time, as from some cause, not
sufficiently explained, the French Canadians, who were not represented
in the administration of that day, because, as it was said, they would
not accept the union act, from uncompromising opponents, became the
faithful supporters of that act. In fifteen months after his
resignation of the office of Solicitor-General, we find Mr. Baldwin as
Attorney-General for Upper Canada, working cordially with his
colleague, Mr. Lafontaine, who held the corresponding office for Lower
Canada, in carrying out that much decried act of union. As we have no
more right to question Mr. Baldwin's foresight and sagacity, than we
have to question his steady and intelligent pursuit of what was fair
and right, so, also, may we assume, from the result in 1842, that he
had sufficient reason for his conduct in 1841. It is probable that his
wisdom and generosity of character commended themselves to the Lower
Canada party, and, perhaps, went far towards disposing that party to
regard with favour, and accept with confidence, his "one idea," and
its lesson; a Provincial Ministry responsible to the Provincial
Parliament as the true secret of constitutional government. At all
events, the fact is noteworthy, that the list of those who voted for
the memorable resolution, which is the text of this article, includes
the name of every French Canadian who was present at the division.

It devolved on Sir Charles Bagot, the successor of Lord Sydenham,
practically, to carry out the theory of government which that
resolution embraced, and there can be no doubt that he did so with
singular fidelity and courage. He attached plain meanings to plain
words, and he accepted, without cavil or casuistry, the responsibility
which such meanings imposed. He called to his councils, Mr. Baldwin
and Mr. Lafontaine, as representing the majority at that time in the
Legislative Assembly, and charged them with the duty of forming an
administration, giving them, the assurance of his full confidence and
thorough support. Thus on the 16th September, 1842, after an exact
agreement had been arrived at between the representation of the
Sovereign and his constitutional advisers, was the first responsible
ministry of united Canada sworn in, and thus was set the official seal
of approval to the persevering labors of Mr. Baldwin's life.

On the untimely death of Sir Charles Bagot, Lord Metcalfe succeeded to
the government. That excellent and high minded nobleman took a view of
responsible government different from the view which had been taken by
his immediate predecessor, and we may add, more in unison with that
which had been held by Sir Francis Head; for, like the latter, Lord
Metcalfe desired to be a British minister and not a Canadian monarch.
He soon quarreled with his advisers, and on the 28th November, 1843,
accepted their resignation. In the autumn of the following year he
dissolved parliament, and appealed to the people. The new elections
gave His Excellency's new administration a harassing maximum majority
of six votes, and consequently placed Mr. Baldwin and his party in
opposition. The next general election occurred in 1848, and resulted
favorably, in both provinces, to the reform party. On the 10th March
of that year, the Earl of Elgin, the then Governor-General, laid his
commands on Mr. Lafontaine and Mr. Baldwin to assume the
responsibility of forming a new ministry. The administration thus
formed, with some modifications and changes, continued in power until
the 27th October, 1851, when the two friends and leaders, amidst the
regrets of their party, retired permanently into private life.

In 1841 Mr. Baldwin was returned as a member for two counties, viz:
Hastings and the North Riding of York. He was elected to sit for the
former, but when he appealed to that county for re-election in the
following year, on his accepting the office of Attorney-General, he
found himself successfully opposed by the late Mr. Murney. He
therefore took refuge in the Lower Canada county of Rimouski, whose
member very gracefully made way for him. In the second and third
parliaments he sat for the North Riding of York. When he presented
himself for re-election in 1851, he encountered opposition in the
person of Mr. Hartman, and what may seem more surprising, he met with
defeat. The history of that period is too recent to require recital
here. The reform party was, perhaps, too ponderous to be kept
together; its weight was probably its weakness; at all events, it fell
asunder, and the separated parts represented its moderate and extreme
elements. Mr. Baldwin sympathized with the former while his
constituents bestowed their affections on the latter. His experience
had taught him that in the interests of public safety, minorities
required protection, while their sentiments instructed them that in
the interests of retributive justice, minorities required punishment.
As the advocates of extreme measures (for liberals are often
illiberal) the gentleness of their representative was displeasing to
them, they had little patience with his scruples on the subject of
vested rights, and none at all with them when such rights had their
roots in clerical or collegiate properties. Thus the reformers of the
North Riding accepted the rupture of their party with cheerfulness,
and they chose their side with complacency, and having done so, they
were consistent enough in preferring Mr. Hartman to Mr. Baldwin. The
following is the address of the latter to the electors when the state
of the poll was declared. It is eloquent for its truth, touching for
its generosity, and almost terrible for the incisive delicacy of its
reproaches. Certainly, there was a moral victory in the political
defeat, for Mr. Baldwin had rarely appeared to greater advantage as a
public man, than when he thanked his friends, forgave his enemies, and
spoke his farewell to public life.

                    NORTH RIDING--THE DECLARATION.

     The Returning Officer having, from the hustings outside,
     declared the state of the poll, and the return of Mr. Hartman,
     a desire was intimated to adjourn to the adjoining Court House,
     to hear what was to be said. This being concurred in, those
     present, to the number of 100, moved into the Court House, and
     Mr. Baldwin, followed by Mr. Hartman, ascended a sort of
     elevated desk. Mr. Baldwin first addressed the meeting. He said
     the audience had just heard the declaration of a fact that
     severed the political tie which had, for the last eleven years,
     connected him with the North Riding of York. It might be said,
     and no doubt was said by many, that he ought to have withdrawn
     from the representation of the Riding, rather than contest it
     under the circumstances which led to the result just announced.
     He did not view the matter in that light. He felt that a strong
     sense of duty required him to take a different course, and not
     to take on himself the responsibility of originating the
     disruption of a bond which they had formed and repeatedly
     renewed, between him and the electors of the North Riding. So
     far as he was able impartially to review the course he had
     hitherto, and especially for the last four years, pursued, he
     could see no change in himself, nothing which should have
     induced them to withdraw a confidence repeatedly expressed at
     former elections. All circumstances duly considered, he could
     not recall any act of importance which he had performed, or for
     which he was responsible, that his sense of duty to his country
     did not require, or, at least, did not justify. In the course
     of the canvass just ended, he had frequent opportunities of
     explaining his views to those who sustained, and occasionally
     to those who opposed him. It was unnecessary for him then to
     repeat those views; but he felt it due to his own sense of
     right, and to the opinions of his friends, to say that, under
     present circumstances, he saw no reason to withhold a sincere
     re-assertion of them. In his own mind he could find nothing
     that would justify him under all the circumstances, in pursuing
     a different course from that which he had taken. He had the
     satisfaction of knowing that there were intelligent men of a
     noble spirit in this Riding who concurred with him--staunch
     friends of former days, who had on the recent occasion given
     him their assistance and votes, in the face of, as the result
     showed, very discouraging circumstances. Principles so approved
     in his own mind, and so supported by such friends, he could not
     abandon. Until constitutionally advised to the contrary by the
     votes of the majority, he felt bound to believe that what he
     had always supported, what his constituents had frequently
     affirmed at former elections--what he still believed to be
     right--what he knew to be still sustained by men of valuable
     character, was also still concurred in by a majority at least
     of his constituents. He believed, indeed, that his successful
     opponent did not differ from him in his view of his (Mr.
     Baldwin's) position. Under those circumstances he felt he would
     not be justified in accepting any evidence of a change in the
     minds of his constituents less doubtful than that of their own
     recorded votes. It could not now be said of him in leaving,
     that he had abandoned them. These considerations had impelled
     him not to shrink from the ordeal of a contest, nor from the
     announcement now made of its result, however discouraging that
     result might be considered. It only remained for him now to
     return his cordial thanks, first and most especially to the
     staunch friends who in the face of disheartening circumstances
     had manfully recorded their votes for him, and actively
     assisted him at the polls and otherwise. To these he felt he
     could not adequately express his obligations. He would also say
     that his acknowledgments were due to those who had been his
     supporters on former occasions, not excepting out of this
     number his successful rival, for the kindness he had met with
     among them, and for the courteous manner to himself personally,
     in which the opposition to him had been conducted. They would
     part, but part in friendship. They had withdrawn their
     political confidence from him, and he was now free from
     responsibility to them. There were among the points of
     difference between him and their member elect, some not
     unimportant principles, but although he could not without some
     alarm observe a tendency which he considered evil, still to all
     of them personally, he wished the utmost prosperity and
     happiness they could desire. To his friends, then, of the North
     Riding, gratefully and not without regret, to his opponents
     without any feeling of unkindness, he would now say, FAREWELL.

Such was Mr. Baldwin's last appearance on the hustings. True in heart,
in action and in thought, and arrayed in the symbolic vestments of
that quality which "thinketh no evil" he gracefully withdrew from
public life. It is true that in 1858, a large number of the electors,
irrespective of party, resident in the York Division, requested
permission to nominate him as a candidate for that division in
Legislative Council, but it is equally true, that he declined the
proffered honor. There is no reason to believe his opinions had
undergone any change on the inexpediency of the act which made the
Upper House elective, for time had failed to instruct him wherein the
advantage lay of having two chambers instead of one dependent on the
same suffrage. But in the absence of his specified reasons we may
assume that he was then, as formerly, disinclined to give the
sanction of his name to an innovation which was as contrary to his
judgment in 1858 as it had been in 1829. The temptation was no doubt
surrounded with attractions to one who like Mr. Baldwin was by no
means indifferent to the goodwill of his countrymen, for he was the
last man to disparage or undervalue personal distinctions, no matter
whether they fell in the form of honors from the hand of his sovereign
or were bestowed in the shape of trusts by the suffrages of her
subjects.

In looking back to his career we may note that there were some
desirable things which he sought to do, but failed to accomplish, and
that there were other things which he brought about in a patient
unswerving way, that excited the envy of many and will command the
admiration of all. In the former list may be included his act for the
suppression of secret societies. However desirable such a measure may
have been in the abstract, the particular bill was ill-timed, and thus
became obnoxious to the suspicion of being, under cover of a general
law, directed against a particular society, and hence it was resisted
because it seemed to be less an act of principle than an act of
punishment. But in spite of the drawbacks which surrounded the
transaction, there were many persons, and their number is increasing,
who deem it to be undesirable that societies incorporated to
perpetuate national or religious distinctions should be cheered with
unnecessary smiles, or protected against admonitory frowns, and who
consequently endeavor, through the influence of their example, to
diminish the number of such associations. Mr. Baldwin sought to make
men think less of their separate origins and more of their common
country; less of the enmities of their ancestors, and more of the
brotherhood of their children; less of old world feuds, and more of
new world peace. Love of country with him was a passion, and the union
of its inhabitants, irrespective of creed, race or language, became
one of the chief aims of his patriotic policy.

As a legislator and a law reformer, Mr. Baldwin will hold a place in
Canadian history second to none of his contemporaries. He surrendered
himself wholly to the good of his country and to the duties which that
surrender implied. His works were labors of permanent utility most
thoughtfully constructed, such as would wear well and bear the strain
of time. He has been called, but perhaps with too little regard to
exactness, "the father" of our municipal system, and thus "the
grandfather" of the system has been overlooked. Mr. Baldwin adopted
and expanded the principle of Mr. Draper's excellent Bill for the
establishment of local and municipal authorities in Upper Canada; but
he was too just a man to undervalue the great work of his gifted
predecessor. Certainly Mr. Baldwin's amendment of the municipal law is
such a monument of labor and wisdom, as the municipal councils of
Upper Canada might acknowledge by erecting a statue to his memory at
their expense. But the municipal law of Upper Canada is not only an
example of his patience, wisdom, and perseverance, it is also an
evidence of his reverence for antiquity. He was fond of old pictures,
old books, old newspapers, and old fashions. Hence in forming his
municipal system he revived disused or forgotten names, and dug
assiduously beneath the crust of centuries for descriptive terms, for
the new officers which his act created; the meaning of which few
modern English dictionaries have preserved. The honor of being a
"Reeve" for example, drew many a smile from the ignorant and provoked
many a question from the curious. Our jury system was wholly revised,
and in a great measure completed by him. The Upper Canada _Law
Journal_ truly observes,--"Had Mr. Baldwin never done more than enact
our municipal and jury laws, he would have done enough to entitle his
memory to the lasting respect of the inhabitants of this province.
Neighboring provinces are adopting the one and the other almost
intact, as an embodiment of wisdom, united with practical usefulness
equally noted for simplicity and completeness of detail not to be
found elsewhere." But these great measures were not all: he
constituted the Court of Common Pleas for Upper Canada, and
re-modeled and, at the same time, made popular the Court of
Chancery--and although the latter measure was turned temporarily to
his hurt, the public, as well as the profession, have since learned
how much they are indebted to him for amending its constitution.

Unlike his partner, the Hon. B. B. Sullivan, Mr. Baldwin was not, as
we incline to think, either a rapid thinker or a fluent speaker. His
mind, like his gait, was rather slow than active in its motions, for
his abilities were more of a solid than of a brilliant order. He had
little imaginative power, and therefore he rarely dazzled. His was a
character rather to command respect than to inspire enthusiasm. He was
a sure footed rather than a swift footed leader; if the difficult
ground would not bear him he declined to bound over it. He marched
with steadiness, but he rarely attempted a manoeuvre, for he was not a
skilful tactician. His view of official duty was free from alloy and
beyond the reach of littleness. Power with him was a means and not an
end, and place with him was a possession held in trust for the
advantage of others, and he would stoop to no littleness to use the
one or keep the other. Had he possessed the poet's heritage, invention
and fancy, he would probably have treated such properties with
distrust and suspicion, lest they should mislead him, or dispose him
to lead others into error. His character was made up of industry and
assiduity, of intelligence and integrity; of purity and truth. No
judge would have required his oath, for no suitor ever doubted his
word. He would not discredit his character by misrepresenting the law
to a Judge or the facts to a jury. He would no more suppress a
reference than he would misquote a statute. Even while acting as
advocate for his client, he seemed to constitute himself the legal
adviser of the jury. He was by no means unsuccessful as an advocate,
but he was probably more at home as a counsel. In the latter character
his advice was invaluable, not only because he was a sound lawyer but
because he saw both sides of the case, and shewed what he saw to the
mind of his client. In his profession as in parliament, he always
wore the "white flower of a blameless life," and he fairly won the
moral homage of all, even of those who most persistently opposed his
policy.

Nor may we omit to notice the graceful compliment which the Commons of
Canada paid to his memory in the last Session of their Legislature. As
Canning, after the death of Pitt, acknowledged no political leader, so
Mr. Sandfield Macdonald, after the retirement of Mr. Baldwin,
recognized no parliamentary chief. None therefore with greater fitness
than he could have proposed the resolution which Mr. Holton seconded,
and which was carried unanimously, to appropriate a certain sum of
money for the purpose of procuring a marble bust of the Honorable
Robert Baldwin, to be placed in the Halls of Parliament.

Mr. Baldwin was elected a Bencher of the Law Society in 1830,
appointed Solicitor General in 1841; Queen's Counsel and Attorney
General in 1842, and at the Michaelmas Term, 1850, he was elected
Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada. In December, 1854, he
was created by Her Majesty a Companion of the Bath, a distinction
which gratified the people of Canada as much as it did the statesman
whom the Queen had "delighted to honor." His name fills a large and
important space in the history of Osgoode Hall, where his memory is as
lovingly cherished as his quiet, thoughtful face is affectionately
remembered. Students recall as a treasured recollection his
encouraging smile in their ordeal of trepidation, and practitioners
then on the threshold of their profession, remember the generous
helping hand that was ever ready to assist them. Neither was his grave
face typical of a morose mind, or his quiet manner the expression of a
severe nature. On the contrary, there was an amount of underlying
playfulness in his character of which the mere observer could have had
but little suspicion. There are many living who will easily recall the
"good old times" before the age and its inventions caused every man to
be, or affect to be, in a hurry, before railways were constructed in
Canada; when there was leisure for mirth, as well as space for
wisdom. Such persons being members of the legal profession, may recall
the Canadian modification of the "high jinks" of Pleydell, as
portrayed in Guy Mannering, as they were enacted at Osgoode Hall, or
of the professional carnival as related by Lord Campbell in his lives
of the Chancellors, when for the amusement of the Judges the
barristers danced with each other in the Inns of Court. The Judges of
the Canadian Courts, notwithstanding their reputation of gravity, are
not incapable of being amused, or of discovering a wholesome medicine
in amusement, and thus it came to pass that the professional "jinks"
as performed at Toronto, were as much appreciated by the Bench as by
the Bar, for fun glided gradually from wisdom to mirth, but unlike
that of Paulus Pleydell, it halted before it touched extravagance.
Several years ago it was customary for the Osgoode Society to
celebrate the close of Trinity Term with a Bar dinner, but this
festival, like a tragedy in five acts, was only the solemn prelude to
the "screaming farce" which, like the sugar plum after the senna, is
intended to soften and qualify the previous flavor. A Court was
improvised in all respects as opposite as it could be to the Courts by
law established. Thus the youngest barrister on the roll was in honor
of his youth and inexperience nominated Judge. The offenders were
accounted guilty until they could be proved innocent, while the Judges
of the country, whose duty required them officially to preside in
other places, besides being the chief guests at the dinner, were
regarded as the outside public and mere spectators of the ceremony.
The success of the "jinks" depended more on the fitness of the
improvised Sheriff than of the accidental Judge, as the former officer
was, in fact, the master of the revels. It was his special duty to
maintain impossible order, to preserve impossible silence, and to
arrest, perchance, the most innocent, and pass by the most hardened
offenders. At such merry makings Mr. Baldwin, as we are assured, was
the most popular of sheriffs. He forgot his gravity, he forgot
responsible government, the clergy reserves, and university
questions, and like a boy fresh from school at Christmas time, he
caught the spirit of the carnival and abandoned himself to its
guidance. He thus became the life of the party, and performed with
infinite zest any duty which the Court laid upon him. He would
manfully seize the indicated offender, and haul him before the Judge,
and see to it that fine and punishment were summarily enforced. The
former being collected, the latter in obedience to the direction of
the Court, was administered by the Sheriff, as a sentence of libation,
whereat the offender was obliged to do homage to everybody, and drink
a bumper of cheerful beverage to his better luck in time to come.

In drawing our sketch to a close we must note one or two traits of
character which should not pass unobserved. Mr. Baldwin was singularly
exact, as well as laborious, for method and order were conspicuous in
all he did. From the outset of his career he lengthened his days, and
it is to be feared shortened his life, with work. His attendance at
his office commenced at seven in the morning, and continued with the
interruption of short seasons for meals until nine in the evening. He
was a most diligent law student and he was proud of his profession.
During the currency of his articles he succeeded, in connection with
others, in establishing a club called the Trinity Class Club, which
proved useful enough to be recognised and accepted by the Law Society
as a means of affording aid in the study of the law. In the family
circle Mr. Baldwin's pure and simple character shone with congenial
brightness. At home he was cheerful and kindly, considerate and
natural. Always inclined to think more for others than for himself, he
was never unwilling to make his contribution to the happiness of those
about him. If one were needed to complete a game, or to make up a
dance, he would smile acquiescence and become that one; not that he
enjoyed games or had pleasure in dancing, but that he had pleasure in
putting away from him the vice of selfishness, and of making
sacrifices for the happiness of others. The enemy of no one, he was
the staunchest, truest, and most reliable of friends. One who had
enjoyed the opportunity of observing him intimately for years, said to
the writer, "Mr. Baldwin was the best man I ever knew."

It is scarcely necessary for us to add that Mr. Baldwin was in the
best sense a truly devout man, who shewed in the humility of his life
and character the gentle bearing of a high bred Christian. He was a
devoted member of the Anglican Church and religiously observed all her
rites and ceremonies, and conscientiously kept her appointed fasts and
festivals. He gloried in her liturgy, and shared the common sentiment
of admiration on the touching beauty of her common prayer. He
reverenced her forms, recognized the validity of her orders, believed
her creeds, and found blessing in her sacraments. More than this, he
appreciated and set no light value on the liberality of her doctrines
at a time when it was most usual to insist on their exclusiveness. He
saw then distinctly what the theologians of that day appeared to see
less clearly, that the Anglican Church was a sacred and not a secular
organization, and that her relation to man was something apart from
any particular form of temporal government. It was instructive to
observe Mr. Baldwin at church, for he bore in his serene manner those
marks of reverence, attention and devotion which we seek for more
commonly than we find in the congregations of those who, nevertheless,
profess to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."

He died on the 9th December, 1858, and he was buried in the "sepulchre
of his father" at the family estate at Spadina. As the office for the
burial of the dead was ended, as the old familiar words of prayer and
hope died on the crisp wintry air, as the peaceful benediction became
hushed in the soft "amen," a thought arose in the minds of some, which
found expression in the words of the Psalmist,

                 FOR SO HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP.




[Illustration]


               THE HONORABLE P. J. O. CHAUVEAU, L.L.D.

 PROVINCIAL SECRETARY, AND CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE
                         PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.


To have been educated and brought up in the ancient capital of Canada
should have been of especial advantage to Mr. Chauveau; for the
charming surroundings of that charming locality are well calculated to
call into play the light and fanciful, as well as the more severe and
exact qualities of his mind. Sentiment and poetry, in a very marked
way, are enfolded with the fibres of his thoughts, and frequently
interlace the utterances of his lips. They cross and recross one
another like the shuttle of a skilful weaver, and impart, we scarcely
know by what process, a camera-like colouring to his mental fabric,
which is sometimes peculiar, sometimes capricious, but always
attractive. If however the woof of his character is variable in its
hues, the warp is fast, and we may add distinctly dyed with the "true
blue" tints of his nationality. With a mind naturally inclined to
sympathise with external objects, Mr. Chauveau's lot has been cast in
the midst of objects calculated to stimulate such sympathy. The place
of his birth, to an unusual extent, is associated with history and
fable, with truth and fiction, with strife and faith. It is,
comparatively speaking, rich in historic treasure; for the archives of
Quebec contain curious chronicles, while its colleges have produced
enthusiastic scribes. Besides being in the highest degree picturesque,
the environs of that city may, so to speak, be regarded as living
witnesses as well as silent monuments of the past. The mountains
which surround the quaint, old, half-modern and half-middle-age place,
like grave old chancellors in brown and white wigs, look as if they
were the accredited keepers of the rolls and muniments, the actual
history, and the pleasant legends of the past. The lakes which,
mirror-like, gleam among the hills, smile misleading smiles, as if
their dimpled faces could, if they liked, shadow forth other and
brighter objects than the grim and solemn mountains by which they are
enclosed. The shores which fringe those crystal basins, and the rivers
which flow into them, have been used as the highways of some curious
and some heroic exploits, while the plains which stretch beyond their
margins may be regarded as the tablets whereon strange records are
inscribed. Within the three centuries since the adventurous sailor of
St. Malo's took possession of the country in the name of his
sovereign, and planted the cross on the banks of the St. Charles, in
the name of his Saviour, many deeds have been done to interest the
historian and move the poet. In one place such facts are written by
the hand of war in the rough characters of blood; in another they are
pointed with the finger of faith in the sacred cyphers of
Christianity. Here they instruct us how multitudes were dispersed by
the sword, and there they inform us how tribes were attracted by the
cross. They tell us, too, how people who were irreconcilable enemies
in Europe, have lived together happily as friends in America, and how
men who might not without peril worship at different altars in the old
world, have done so in the new without fear either of the faggot or
the cord. Moreover, Quebec proper is in itself a place of pleasant
contrasts, as well as of curious contradictions. It is an old world
city in a new world country; a fortress and a mart; a depot for arms
and an emporium for trade; and to complete the paradox it is the
peaceful abode of races whom war had separated for centuries.

     "Few cities, says Mr. Marmier, in his letters from America in
     1860, offer as many striking contrasts as Quebec, a fortress
     and a commercial city together built upon the summit of a rock
     as the nest of an eagle, while her vessels are everywhere
     wrinkling the face of the Ocean, an American city inhabited by
     French colonists, governed by England, and garrisoned by Scotch
     regiments; a city of the middle ages by most of its ancient
     institutions, while it is regulated by all the combinations of
     modern constitutional government; an European City by its
     civilization and its habits of refinement, and still close by
     the remnants of the Indian tribes and the barren mountains of
     the north; a city with about the same latitude as Paris, while
     successively combining the torrid climate of southern regions
     with the severities of an hyperborean winter, a city at the
     same time Catholic and Protestant, where the labours of our
     Missions are still uninterrupted alongside of the undertaking
     of the Bible Society, and where the Jesuits driven out of our
     own country find a place of refuge under the aegis of British
     puritanism."

Such are the physical, social, and political attractions of the city
wherein Mr. Chauveau was born on the 30th May, 1820. His ancestors for
generations had resided at Charlesbourg near Quebec, where, as we have
reason to infer, they were respected and influential. Perchance they
were connected with the "brave Pierre Chauveu," whom Champlain left to
govern the colony, when he embarked for France in the year 1610. Mr.
Chauveau's father died when the subject of this sketch was very young,
and perhaps to this seeming misfortune may be attributed the fact of
his having been withdrawn from rural occupations and brought up to
professional life under the direction of his uncle, who seems to have
acted in the capacity of a friend as well as of a guardian. He was
educated at the seminary of Quebec, where, as we have been informed,
he attracted a good deal of notice. On leaving college he was articled
as a law student, in the first instance to Messrs. Hamel and Roy, and
subsequently to Mr. O'Kill Stuart, of Quebec, with whom he completed
his indentures of service. The incipient yearnings of his nature made
themselves conspicuous in the early part of his career when he gave
the rein to literature and placed the curb in law. In his eighteenth
year, when youths very commonly rattle jingles, or cap rhymes, he sent
poetical contributions to _Le Canadien_ newspaper, which were of
sufficient merit in the opinion of the fastidious editor to find a
place in its columns. After attaining his majority, he glided from
poetry to politics and became the correspondent of _Le Courrier des
États-Unis_, then and now published at New-York, as well as an
occasional contributor to other less known publications. His letters
as we learn were copied into _Le Canadien_ as well as other papers
published in the French language and were criticized with some care by
the readers, but with no loss of repute to the writer. Indeed they
became his "letters of credit," and were honoured as such by his
countrymen when the proper time came.

That time arrived in the autumn of 1844. Having disagreed with and
dismissed his advisers, Lord Metcalfe dissolved the Parliament and
appealed to the people. The Hon. D. B. Viger had supported Lord
Metcalfe, and the Hon. John Neilson, who was the attached friend of
Mr. Viger, though he had declined office, was suspected of
sympathizing in the sentiments which his venerable friend cherished
towards the benevolent Governor General. As in 1834, Mr. Neilson's
moderation had caused him the loss of his election for the county of
Quebec, so in 1844 a somewhat similar line of action moved that large
constituency to transfer to his youthful rival, Mr. Chauveau, the
trust which they had for so long a time reposed in him, for the latter
was elected by a majority exceeding one thousand votes.

The position taken by the French Canadian party was very embarrassing
to the administration of the day. Almost all the representatives from
Upper Canada supported Lord Metcalfe, while those from Lower Canada
took sides with his dismissed advisers. Thus was the united province
governed by means so thoroughly sectional as to be hurtful and to
appear scandalous. In 1846 the present Chief Justice Draper, at that
time the Attorney General for Canada West, in a clever, albeit a
decidedly diplomatic, and a somewhat hazy way, endeavoured to attract
the Canadian party by appealing through Mr. Caron, to its chief, Mr.
Lafontaine, for assistance in carrying on the government. The effort
resulted in failure, and Mr. Draper soon afterwards retired from the
administration. In the following year Mr. Cayley sought to break the
Canadian phalanx by appealing to Mr. Caron in the hope apparently of
attaching the Quebec section of the party to the conservative party of
the Western Province. The negotiation did not succeed at the time, but
it was not without influence on some who took no part in it. The idea
enunciated in those letters fell like yeast in the conservative
element, which is more or less latent in all minds, and in due time
set it rising, albeit the result was probably delayed by the
determination of Mr. Cayley and his colleagues to dissolve the
Parliament and appeal to the people.

The result was fatal to the government, for their party was utterly
routed at the polls in both sections of the Province. Thus when Mr.
Lafontaine was called upon to form an administration in 1848, he was
strong enough, so it was alleged, to have done so without paying any
special compliment to the Quebec section of his supporters. Whether
any slight was actually offered to those supporters we have no means
of knowing, but for some reason with which we are unacquainted, Mr.
Chauveau occasionally voted with Mr. Papineau and against Mr.
Lafontaine.

On the 12th November, 1851, on the reconstruction of the government
consequent on the retirement of Messrs. Lafontaine and Baldwin, Mr.
Chauveau was appointed under the Hincks-Taché administration,
Solicitor-General for Lower Canada, and on the 31st August, 1853, he
was preferred to the higher office of Provincial Secretary with a seat
in the Executive Council. The latter office he resigned in January,
1855, when he retired with Mr. Morin from the administration. In July
of the same year, he was in succession to Dr. Meilleur, appointed
Chief Superintendent of Education for Lower Canada, an office which he
still continues to fill, and for the duties of which he has sought to
qualify himself by foreign travel and by closely observing the
educational systems of the continent of Europe as well as those of
the British Islands and of the United States of America.

The duties of Chief Superintendent of Education under the most
favourable circumstances are not, we venture to think, easily
discharged, but in a community of mixed races, of different languages
and of antagonistic forms of religious faith, where men are on the
alert to discover concealed leanings, to detect latent weaknesses, or
to descry hidden faults, it is almost a matter for surprise that they
are discharged at all. That Mr. Chauveau has been able to perform such
duties with credit and satisfaction, is of itself no small matter for
congratulation. The fact may be accepted as an evidence that those
essential administrative qualities, wisdom, temper and discretion are
never absent from his mind or from his office. Of a sensitive, and as
we should conjecture, of an impulsive temperament, Mr. Chauveau has
nevertheless had the sagacity to discipline his thoughts to patience,
and though he may occasionally have been tempted to be partial, he has
always so far as we are informed, shewn the courage to be just. The
Chief Superintendent of Education is rather the moderator for a
Province than the minister of a party, and, therefore, his proceedings
should be conducted with the fairness of a judge rather than with the
feeling of a politician. The equitable habit of thought which is
inseparable from a proper conduct of affairs has enabled Mr. Chauveau
to distinguish between prejudice and wrong, while his position and
force of character have given him the opportunity, directly or
indirectly, to allay the former with an explanation, and to remove the
latter by law. Mr. Chauveau has continued to fill this important
office from 1855 to the present time. Its difficult duties have become
easy and agreeable to him, and we only repeat the common opinion, in
saying that he has by his discharge of those duties, justified the
selection which the ministers of the Crown made when they recommended
his appointment. In striving to deserve success, men may occasionally
command it. Mr. Chauveau has, we think, thus striven. He has done
more than his duty, for he has not been content to perform only the
minimum amount of work which his office requires; on the contrary, he
has labored with enthusiasm as well as industry, to be generally
useful as well as actually efficient. If we would read the history of
his exertions, we must do so not only in the records of his office; in
his numerous contributions to contemporary literature; in his Journal
of Education; and in the School history of Lower Canada; but in those
outside and extraneous efforts with which his career is conspicuously
marked. As in the case of Mr. D'Arcy McGee, so also in that of Mr.
Chauveau,--where speeches are to be made, essays to be prepared, or
papers to be read, the English speaking part of the community seem, as
a matter of course, to call on the former, while the French speaking
portion of the community pay the like compliment to the latter. In
both cases they appear to suppose that gifted men are like musical
boxes, who can involuntarily, and without preparation, in obedience to
a sign, or in answer to a touch, charm, amuse and instruct any number
of all sorts of people.

Like other men in official station Mr. Chauveau has found recreation
as well as pleasure in that particular kind of literature which
English statesmen have occasionally chosen as a popular channel for
conveying political opinions, or for advancing party interests. Thus,
in 1853 he published an exceedingly presentable and well got up novel,
entitled _Charles Guerin roman de moeurs Canadiennes_. A work of
fiction of such pretence was a novelty in the Province. It was
naturally received with favor in Canada. In France it was read with
avidity and pronounced by the critics to be an exceedingly good book.
He also wrote a narrative of the visit of His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales to British North America, which was pleasant to read
and picturesque to look at, for it was studded with illustrations.

As a speaker Mr. Chauveau is a fair Parliamentary debater, always
fluent and sometimes impassioned. He is naturally decorous and
conciliatory, never prosy, and generally attractive. As a speaker out
of parliament he is known and appreciated for the felicity of his
efforts. He was, as we think, eloquent and happy when he spoke at
Montreal on the tercentenary of Shakspeare's birth; and on the other
hand he was more eloquent than happy when he delivered his oration
over the grave of his friend the author of the history of Canada. In
making the comparison the fact should not be overlooked that in the
former case his thoughts were under the influence of reason,
controlled by a criticism that was iced and clarified in the common
refrigeratory of three centuries, but in the latter they were directed
by affection too sincere to be critical;--too ardent to be chilled
within the interval of a few days. The subject in the one case was, so
to speak, "a storied urn or a monumental bust" and in the other a
friend who might have been dearer than a brother, a friend, too, whose
death was so recent that he had scarcely lost the lineaments of life.
When our human instincts are deeply stirred the words in which sorrow
finds expression may neither be wise nor well chosen. But when grief
has ceased to be recent, and reflection has succeeded feeling, it is
probable that our judgment will be found in harmony with the common
judgment of men, and we shall shrink dissatisfied from a ceremony
which includes the substitution of panegyric for prayer. Doubtless we
may excuse, but it is difficult to admire the "voice of the charmer,
charm he never so wisely" when that voice attunes itself to the soft
syllables of flattery, and at the very mouth of the grave, drops the
honied words of compliment into the "dull cold ear of death."

In the month of August, 1867, after Mr. Cauchon had discovered that
the duty of forming an administration for the Province of Quebec was
attended with unforeseen difficulties, he at once resigned the task.
Whereupon the public mind concurred with the ministerial mind in
suggesting that Mr. Chauveau should be invited to undertake the
responsibility. The negotiations were successfully carried out, and
the administration, of which he is now the chief, was speedily
announced in the _Canada Gazette_.

Great changes have passed over the Province since Mr. Chauveau retired
from the government in 1855. Though removed by the duties of his
office from active participation in political affairs, he nevertheless
is much too thoughtful and patriotic in disposition and character, to
have been an indifferent or an unobservant spectator of the drama
which was passing before him. Scene succeeded scene, and act followed
act; the past with all its contrarieties, picturesque enough when
viewed through the charities of memory; and the future with all its
uncertainties, still bright enough to be garlanded with the pleasures
of hope. Thus the curtain fell on the imposing tableau of the
Delegates in council; and thus the old Province of Canada, with its
pleasant recollections and unpleasant regrets, like a dissolving view,
melted away in light. It concerns those who are now high in station
and great in influence, who are the builders, if not the architects,
of the new Dominion, to see to it that that light does not become
darkness. It concerns them to study very patiently the new problem of
union in all its aspects, moral and religious, political and
commercial, social and economical, for it should be the chief aim of
the patriot and the chief duty of the statesmen to knit and bind
together the various parts of our mixed population in one perfect and,
if possible, symmetrical whole. It is true policy as well as true
wisdom, to remember that the first condition of national stability and
strength must be sought for in the union of the people which
constitute the nation; not in a geographical union of territories
merely, but in an actual union of sections and races also. Intangible
lines of latitude and longitude will be found alike weak and
worthless, if the hearts and minds of the people which those lines
enclose, be not drawn together by the stronger chords of interest and
affection. "Oh statesmen! guide us, guard us!" By every patriotic
consideration, by the responsibilities of your position; the treasures
of your experience, the power of your eloquence; and the force of
your example; by every influence you can exert, and by every lesson
you can impart, teach us the higher law; teach us by what process time
should sweeten memory, and in what way those roots of bitterness which
flourished in the past, may be buried in the future; teach us what we
"owe to our new born nation;" for be well assured that by means of the
littleness that is latent in our nature, by the passions that corrupt,
and the prejudices that control us, we shall discover without teaching
what is due to our section or to our race.




[Illustration]


                 THE REVEREND WILLIAM ORMISTON, D.D.,

                         HAMILTON.--ONTARIO.


Ormiston Hall, on the westerly border of Haddingtonshire, the seat of
the Earl of Hopetoun, derives its name from the parish in which it is
situated. Among the incidents of interest which attach to the parish
may be mentioned that in 1546, George Wishart, whose memory is
cherished in the Scottish calendar of martyrs, was dwelling in the old
house, the site we believe of the present hall, where he preached
occasionally under the shadow of a yew tree, which then grew, and we
believe still flourishes there. While thus occupying himself he was
seized by the Earl of Bothwell, acting under the orders of Cardinal
Beaton, and led away to death. We have no information of the Orme from
whom the parish derives its name, neither do we know whether his
descendants in the sixteenth century took sides with the protestant or
with the catholic party. We can only say that if the blood of the
founder of that parish flows in the veins of the subject of this
sketch, we have in Canada no craven representative of those principles
for which the martyr of Ormiston perished at the stake at St. Andrews.

Without dwelling on a passing conceit we may observe that William
Ormiston was born in the parish of Symington on the banks of the
Clyde, and furthermore that he commenced his life in a sensational
way, for he paid a neat compliment to the titular Saint of "merrie"
England by making his appearance in the flesh on St. George's day,
1821. His father, who was a humble minded, but, as we infer a severe
Scot, was a tenant farmer. The farm he occupied was overshadowed by
the hill of Tinto, and sloped towards the dale of Clyde. From his
vigorous parents, he derived a more than ordinary share of good
health, from their example he acquired industrious habits, and from
their instruction he received a religious training. He was naturally
accustomed to cherish bright views of life, views which happily for
him were never jaundiced by ill health, or soured by ill usage. When
eight years old, like an incipient Norval, he herded his father's
cows. Idleness formed no part of his home life, for Scotch youths at
that day were not allowed to indulge in the dangerous luxury of doing
nothing. His parents were good disciplinarians who neither declined
work for themselves, nor avoided it for their son. The latter, for
example, was required by his father every day, and in all weathers,
when cattle could be abroad, to be up and out at five o'clock in the
morning. His mother, in her way, seconded the zeal of his father,
never failing to have ready for him the food convenient; of which we
have little doubt, before sun set, the sturdy urchin rendered an
excellent account. In the winter season he attended the parish school,
the master of which was wont to gratify pupil and parents by making
favorable reports of the progress of his scholar.

In his tenth year his father moved to a farm situated near Habbies
How, in the midst of memorials consecrated by the sufferings of the
covenanters, and, we may add the scene of Allan Ramsay's _Gentle
Shepherd_. While there young Ormiston attended two schools, the first
at Linton, and the second at Nine-mile-Burn. He and others may
remember the lines appropriated by a local innkeeper and placed by him
for the encouragement of tippler and traveller on the inn sign of the
village:

  Gae farer doon the burn to Habbies How,
  Where a' the sweets o' spring an' simmer grow,
  And when you're tired of prattling side the rill,
  Come back to Nine-mile-Burn and tak' a gill.

And many who read the lines of the _Gentle Shepherd_, followed their
seductive advice; but not so our herdsman,--like a true son of Rechab,
he shunned then and has avoided since the steaming attractions of a
bailie's toddy, or the sterner temptations of a shepherd's grog.
Indeed, we doubt if he would now "tak' a gill" even though it should
be presented to him with the honors of a stirrup cup at the
Nine-mile-Burn.

A change in fortune was about to take place. The elder Ormiston
determined to emigrate with his family to Canada. To secure school
advantages for his children he deemed it to be prudent to spend the
winter of 1833-4 in the old town of Lanark, where we have little doubt
the ardent mind of his son William became excited in a Caledonian way,
as well as impressed in a patriotic one, by being brought face to face
with the statue of Wallace, which then stood over the parish church
door. It is possible that, after a boyish sort, he there caught the
spirit of high endeavor, which the subject suggested, and which he has
subsequently displayed. Perchance he there resolved in a rational, as
well as in a rhetorical manner, to "do or die."

With a good deal of undisciplined thought in his head and an equal
amount of indefinite resolve in his heart, he accompanied his parents
in the spring of 1834 to Upper Canada, and settled with them in the
Township of Darlington, now famous for its fine farms, superb stock,
and prosperous people; but at that time a comparative wilderness. The
new immigrants found the work of settlement to be a very real as well
as a very lonely occupation, for they lived five miles from any
neighbor, and were required by the duties of their situation to study
anew their lessons on agriculture and tillage. In his childhood, for
example, William Ormiston had learnt how to herd his father's cows. As
a youth, the more difficult task was imposed on him of driving his
father's oxen. We recommend those who think such occupation an easy
one to try their hand with the first "Buck and Bright" they meet with
in the same yoke. Such persons will probably find as a result of the
experiment that angry thoughts will arise in their minds and naughty
words will make rough efforts to escape their lips. "Buck and Bright"
will care as little for the one as the other. Moreover the application
of indiscreet violence will only hasten the probable crash. Now among
other lessons which we have no doubt that William Ormiston learned at
the parish school was the notable one, with an illustration, "that
stratagem is better than force." Thus, when he drove or attempted to
drive his father's oxen, he resorted to stratagem, for "Buck and
Bright" resented force and were not amenable to Lowland coaxing.
Whereupon he actually tested, and as we are credibly informed, with
signal success, an experiment which might be added to the list of
examples illustrative of the beneficence of "Martin's Act." He found
that creatures whom he could not drive might be enticed. A few
handfuls of corn were discovered to be a decoy sufficiently attractive
to provoke his beeves to climb, without goading, the most rasping
hill, or to cross without wincing the most intimidating ditch. The
friends of the lowing family might take a hint from his ingenuity and
try similar experiments under similar difficulties.

Five years of a laborious life were thus spent in the backwoods.
William Ormiston was strong, willing, and popular. Moreover, he
fulfilled his duties with cheerfulness even while he looked
unfalteringly to a career beyond those duties. Gradually his tastes
and his pursuits fell away from one another; duty and happiness played
at cross purposes, for while the former found an outlet in manual
labor, the latter was gratified by mental toil. To soothe his
intellectual longings he scoured tho country for books. He collected
what he could, and he read all that he collected. They were a
miscellaneous assortment--including the works of the puritan divines,
some of the standard poets, old English ballads, Scottish tales, the
Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe, the charming fictions of the author
of Waverley, and the sublime truths of the sacred Scriptures. The list
included food for the mind, and fancy for the imagination, and if the
prose was somewhat severe, the poetry was decidedly delicious.
Altogether it was a promising medley, which needed but a little
animating yeast, or a few grains of manly resolve, or perhaps
something still better and holier to set it rising. That something had
been working for years. Before he saw the light it had been the
subject of his mother's humble prayer, that a son might be born to her
who should some day be a minister of the Gospel. During his childhood,
the privation and self-denial were not pain which enabled his parents
to give their son a mental outfit which should qualify him for the
duties they desired he should discharge. At length their wishes and
his met together. He communicated to them his intention to obtain if
he could a liberal education, and devote himself eventually to the
work of the ministry. Their pride in his choice was shewn in the
desire of his father to sell a portion of his farm to defray the
charges of his education, while the independent and self-reliant
character of the son were manifested in his resolute refusal to accept
any pecuniary assistance whatever. Thus with a light heart, and a
still lighter pocket, for he did not possess a solitary coin, William
Ormiston left his father's house, richly freighted, as he is
accustomed with becoming reverence to say, "with a loving mother's
blessing, and a pious father's counsel." He then began to study, and
afterwards to teach, nor was it surprising that he at once made his
mark as a teacher. Upon the strength of his improved circumstances, he
bought a few new books, and some new clothes. The double investment,
if it did not cause him to fall in love with himself, probably
smoothed the way to his falling in love with somebody else. The
experiment was followed with the success which seems to wait on all
his proceedings for the somebody else, whether she asked papa or not
we cannot say, agreed to become his wife, and live her life with him.

Divinity students must be irresistible people, for they generally win
the wreath of love, before their lay rivals even think of asking for
a flower. It surprises no one, when a young man who has scarcely
assumed the order of deacon, hastens to gratify the aspirations of
some excellent young lady, who has become seriously excited on the
subject of husbandry. Marriage with a quick step, too commonly follows
ordination, and thus the clerical benedict finds himself called upon
to give immature opinions on tractarianism and teething, on the
Colenso controversy and milk for babes; to say nothing of being
occasionally compelled to write his sermons and rock the cradle at the
same time.

In spite the bondage of his affections, William Ormiston did not miss
his path or become oblivious to the goal he had set himself to reach.
In the autumn of 1843, he went to Victoria College, Cobourg, whereof
the Rev. Egerton Ryerson was the Principal. Thus a friendship
commenced which, like good wine, has only grown better for growing
older. The Principal, with characteristic discernment, observed the
merits of his new pupil, and took measures to attach him to the
College staff, and the pupil, seeing the advantage of the preferment,
felt flattered as well as grateful for the selection. For two years as
an undergraduate he held the office of tutor in English and
mathematics, and for two more years in classics. In 1847, he took his
B. A. degree, and was immediately appointed professor of moral
philosophy and logic. The "chair" was no cushioned seat, nor did the
duties with which it was associated permit repose. Besides the usual
lectures which must have been a task of no ordinary kind for one so
young, the new professor had classes in Greek and Hebrew. He was also
obliged to find time to study theology, and pass quarterly
examinations before the Presbytery. Neither was Sunday a day of rest
to him, for during this period of his College life he preached once at
least on each Lord's day.

But through this ordeal of hard exacting work there ran a thread of
tender sympathy, which, like a ray of silver light, shed beauty on
success, and served to brighten toil by connecting early struggles
with future happiness. His hours of ease were few and far between, but
when they arrived they were probably rendered pleasant with the memory
of those days when he made his modest purchase of apparel, and the
hope of those days when he should realize his dream of home. In 1848,
he married, and we have no doubt that his real life, like the lives of
other men, has neither been cloudless, nor free from crosses, for of
his six children, three dwell with him, and three rest with God.

We do not know when or by whom he was ordained, but in 1849 he served
a small congregation in the township of Clarke. At the same time, he
was the teacher at a select private school as well as the
superintendent of the public schools of the county of Durham. He also
gave lectures on education; and a little later, in 1852, he itinerated
through the Province discoursing on temperance, and kindred virtues;
and a very earnest advocate the social improvement causes found in
him. In the spring of 1853, he was appointed mathematical master and
lecturer on natural science at the Normal School, Toronto, which
situation he continued to fill for the space of eight years.
Concurrently with such duties, he was for three years an examiner in
the University of Toronto, and when a board was created to approve of
candidates for masterships in grammar schools he was appointed a
member of it. During the period we have referred to, he was beset with
a prodigious appetite for work. Thus he visited every county in the
province and lectured at mechanics institutes, or before library or
other associations, on different subjects in almost every city, town
and village of Upper Canada. On leaving the Normal School he was
presented with a highly complimentary address, accompanied with
valuable tokens of regard by the master and pupils of that school.

In 1857 he was invited to become, and he became, the minister of the
Central Presbyterian Church at Hamilton. In the year 1860 the
University of New York conferred on him the degree of D. D.
Furthermore we have learned from a friend of his, a gentleman of acute
observation, and we may add a Senator of the Dominion, that he has not
been allowed to remain where he is without some effort to attract him
elsewhere. Other congregations have, it seems, coveted their
neighbour's minister, and have sought to beguile him with "a call" to
more lucrative charges. But though such temptations have been
presented in tones rich with persuasion, though they have come from
England and the United States, as well as the gold-bearing countries
of California and Australia, it is refreshing in these days of
rapacity to find one who can listen to such syren-like voices without
emotion, and who can find in the path of duty, and in the approval of
conscience, a recompense whose value is "above rubies." In 1862, and
again in 1867, he took leave of absence, and his congregation to make
such absence pleasant as well as invigorating, added a purse
containing no inconsiderable sum. They were right as well as kind in
doing so, for a holiday without a "tip" is at best but a seedy sort of
affair. He lost no time in dropping his cash over the continent of
Europe, and of spending some of it in the British Islands. He visited
old scenes as well as new countries, probably including among the
former, the hill of Tinto, Habbies How, and the Nine-mile-Burn, where
we have no doubt he still declined the tempting "gill."

Besides sermons and lectures, for in respect of preaching his
excursion was a doubtful holiday, he gave his countrymen at Edinburgh
a glimpse of his opinions in the shape of a speech. While it may be
read as a specimen of his style, it is deserving attention for the
lesson it teaches. We may mention that the speech from which we have
made our extracts was delivered at the General Assembly of the Free
Church of Scotland at Edinburgh, in May, 1862. The Canada Presbyterian
Church, which was formed by the union of the Free and United
Presbyterian Churches was then scarcely a year old. The explanation is
necessary if we would understand some of the points in Mr. Ormiston's
speech. Let us listen:

     "Our union enables us to economise both men and means in
     Canada, and that is a great advantage; for we are practical men
     out yonder. We economise all the active energies of the Church,
     which before were not unfrequently distracted and dissipated by
     divided counsels and multiplied agencies. As an illustration,
     conceive to yourselves, in some new, sparsely settled locality,
     each of the three Presbyterian churches endeavouring to uphold
     a feeble, flickering cause, mutually jealous of each other, the
     adherents of each saying 'there's nae minister like our ain
     minister'--the others not having the proper twang, thump, or
     nod, or other orthodox peculiarity--all displaying quite as
     much jealous rivalry as could be called Christian competition.
     As a proof of this, I might adduce the influence of previous
     habits and associations on our church architecture, which is
     frequently marred, I might say murdered, by slavish imitations
     of certain old, cramped, cantankerous, purgatorial churches in
     Scotland.

     In thus economising the labour, properly expending the
     liberalities, and in concentrating and directing the efforts of
     the church--we are the better able, undistracted by
     differences, and not weakened by multiplied agencies, to go
     forth to the accomplishment of the work given us by the Head of
     the Church to achieve the work of service required at our
     hands.

     About one-fourth of the population of Canada may be said to be
     under our care and influence, and that is saying much; when, as
     you have heard, there are men there of every creed, and I will
     add, of no creed at all. I believe the church of which I am a
     minister is destined to exert a mighty moulding influence upon
     the forming institutions of that new country. The members of
     our church are wielding a large share of the political,
     literary and moral power in the colony, and I can say without
     any disparagement to other respected sections of the Christian
     church, that, if faithfully worked and adapted to the
     exigencies of the people, the Presbyterian church will exert a
     controlling influence over the intellectual, moral and
     religious character of the Province. The class of Scotch
     emigrants who have settled there, if not the aged, pious,
     contented, or wealthy of your land, neither are they by any
     means the lowest or least instructed among you, most of them
     being young, vigorous, ambitious, energetic, determined
     men--men who can and who do think for themselves, and who
     require good mental pabulum; hence the necessity of sending out
     as their pastors ministers who can feed and satisfy them. Men
     who can do that were always welcome and will be welcome still.

     We do not want those who require to be prayed with and
     entreated to come--and to be bolstered up after they do
     come--men who love their own land too well to leave it behind,
     and who, wherever they go, carry it with them; nor timid men
     who are ever seeing lions in the way, and there are scores of
     them yonder. But they whom the Church wishes to see in her
     midst are men with the grace of God in their souls, the love of
     souls in their heart, their lives in their hand, and whose
     tongues can speak at both ends 'aye ready'--men whose energies
     are exhaustless and whose minds are unwearied--a band of men of
     the type of the Moderator. (Dr. Candlish, of Edinburgh, was in
     the chair.) Clear-headed, large-hearted, heroic men will be
     gladly welcomed, and will accomplish an inconceivable amount of
     good. But there is a class of men who are not really needed--I
     mean those who cannot get on at home; and I will just state,
     but will speak it in a whisper lest it hurt any one, that if
     probationers have been long on the list they had better not
     come at all, because the Canadians smell them from afar and
     suspect the fact without being told. What we want are real and
     true men, men of zeal and prudence and pulpit power; and if
     such men come, their Canadian brethren will not only welcome
     them, as has been said, to their harvests, but to their hearts,
     homes and pulpits, and will share with them their last loaf.

Mr. Ormiston, we have reason to think, is an effective preacher. His
style seems to be terse, vigorous and occasionally epigrammatic;
sometimes as sharp as a needle, at others as hard as a nut, and then
again as fanciful and feather-like as thistledown. His views seem to
be a Canadian modification of the Scottish original. Though not less a
Presbyterian, he seems to be less in bondage to prejudice than some of
his "cramped and cantankerous" brethren at the north of the Tweed. In
civil as well as in ecclesiastical affairs, he is a liberal, with the
tendency to illiberality which is so frequently characteristic of the
Scotch type of thought. At his ordination he joined what was termed
the United Secession branch of the Presbyterian Church, so called from
being formed by the union of numerous bodies of seceders which had
arisen in the Scotch Church between 1712 when the act of patronage was
passed, and 1820 when they joined one another under the name of the
United Secession Church. In 1847 a further fusion was made by the
union of the Secession and the Relief churches. The new partnership
became known as the United Presbyterian Church, which in Canada, in
1861, became incorporated with the Free Church under the name of the
Presbyterian Church of Canada, a church of which Mr. Ormiston is a
prominent minister. From first to last he has been a "voluntary" and
consequently a steady opponent of patronage and the rights of patrons.
He worked hard to secure the secularization of the Clergy Reserves,
and he succeeded. Old fashioned Anglicans, while they deny not the
credit which is due to success, prefer to take their chance with
those who failed.

"The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places; yea, we have a goodly
heritage" were the words of a text chosen by Mr. Ormiston for a
thanksgiving day sermon on the 4th December, 1862. In reading that
discourse and in following the preacher through passages bright with
the combined lights of patriotism and religion, we linger and in the
spirit of speculation inquire what the difference might have been had
those pleasant lines been crossed with strife, or that goodly heritage
disturbed by persecution. Had the preacher, like Knox, fallen on an
age of violence, would he, like him, have been as inflexible in
asserting what he believed to be true and in upholding what he felt to
be right. Would he, like the men of ancient days, like the martyr of
Ormiston, unflinchingly and without compromise, have defended both to
the death? It is not for us to know how any man would act under trial,
and yet there are men whose characters correspond with their
appearance: in whose countenances no vein of vacillation can be
discovered; whose faces are mapped with every line but the line of
weakness, and traced with every hieroglyphic but such as are wavy with
fear; whose very hair is crisp with power, as if it were dressed with
the essential oil of electricity. We have not had the advantage of
meeting with the gentleman whose portrait prefaces this sketch, but
physiognomy we incline to think must be only an indifferent teacher if
the Wallace-like resolve to "do or die" be not as deeply ingrained in
his character as it seems to be legibly chiselled on his brow.




[Illustration]


           THE HON. JOHN HILLYARD CAMERON, Q. C., D. C. L.,

      CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TRINITY COLLEGE, TORONTO.


It is about thirty years since the writer accompanied a friend to what
he called "our club." The club alluded to was a very unpretentious
association in itself, but very popular in its objects; for it was a
literary and debating society, where young men were encouraged to
think and required to speak. The room in which the club meetings were
held was situated at the westerly end of King Street, Toronto, in the
upper part of a building at that time occupied by Mr. Henry Rowsell,
the well-known bookseller of that city. The room was small enough and
shabby enough; for it derived no dignity from its furniture. The floor
had no carpet, the windows no curtains, and the seats no cushions. The
President's chair was an unadorned specimen of elementary cabinet
work, remarkable only for its apparent strength and its actual
ugliness.

The club consisted, for the most part, of law students, young men who
were attracted towards each other by college recollections or social
ties, and who had, on that account, acquired the habit of speaking of
and to one another in those familiar terms of intimacy which near
relations commonly employ. In answer to enquiries, we learned that the
chairman for the occasion--a tall fellow with a manly vigorous frame,
and a handsome mischievous face, whose cheerful thoughts looked out of
eyes that dilated and flashed in their hemisphere of smiles, like
throbbing stars on a frosty night, was "Tom Galt." Another member,
equally tall, but apparently less robust, with an oval face, and
delicately cut features, as if they had been chiselled by a dainty
hand, after a Grecian model, was "John Hagarty." A third, whose
Scottish parentage was written conspicuously in his face, and whose
Scottish pride, according to phrenological theories, rose Ben-Nevis
like from the crown of his head, was "John Hillyard Cameron." A
fourth, who differed from all in the quiet thoughtfulness of his
manner, was--alas! that we are obliged to write and think of him in
the past tense now--"Fergusson Blair," the eldest son of the "Laird of
Woodhill;" and a fifth, who was a small, compact well-knit, soldierly
stripling, in a rifle uniform, was "George Denison," about the best
drill, we were told, in Colonel FitzGibbon's volunteer rifle company.

We do not remember the question before the club on that particular
evening; we only recollect that, like Mercurius, Mr. Cameron was the
chief speaker and leader of the debate on one side, and that Mr.
Hagarty was the leader on the other. The former spoke with such exact
verbal accuracy as to suggest the idea that the speech had previously
been committed to memory. Each syllable seemed to have been critically
inspected, and each word separately passed for service. Thus his
speech sounded like a carefully prepared college recitation, and it
was delivered somewhat in the way a military chaplain delivers his
sermon; with a soldierly intonation and an adjutant's emphasis, for it
seemed to be controlled by considerations which were sounding, as well
as precise. His thoughts were apparently massed with care, and were
certainly moved with adroitness, sometimes with caution, but generally
with celerity. Words assorted themselves into sentences, and then with
a free and unembarrassed air, stepped together, so to speak, as if
they heard the "Pipers" in the distance, and desired to emulate the
march of the "Cameron men." The speech was answered by Mr. Hagarty in
those quiet, seductive tones which refined art knows how to employ.
There was neither hesitancy nor hindrance in the flow of his words,
and while occupied in following his argument the listener was charmed
with the subtlety and tenderness of a voice which was light and clear
as filtered water, and fell soothingly on the ear like rain in summer.
In the fulness as well as in the fluency of his reply, Mr. Cameron,
even at that early day, afforded abundant proof of his great
abilities. The idea of his opening speech being written and committed
to memory was dismissed at once, and consigned to the grave where
common errors and unjust suspicions lie and perish. His command of
manly and felicitous language was sufficiently apparent; for his words
were invariably well chosen, and his sentences as invariably
constructed without crevice or flaw. The composed, unimpassioned,
argumentative style in which he speaks now, was observable then. It is
a style suited to his cast of thought; for his sympathies must be
searched for in the higher intellectual latitudes where reason reigns,
and not in the common shallows where folly revels.

Mr. Cameron is the son of Mr. Angus Cameron, who was latterly
paymaster of the Royal Canadian Rifles, and formerly an officer of the
79th or Cameron Highlanders. He is descended from the Camerons of
Glenevis, in the Lochaber country, and we have little doubt that he
possesses a tolerably exact knowledge of the history of his heroic
clan. Though a Scotsman by descent, Mr. Cameron is a Frenchman by
birth, for he was born at Beaucaire in Languedoc, on the 14th of
April, 1817, during the time when the allied armies occupied France.
In 1825, his father's regiment, the 79th, was ordered to Canada, and
in 1831, it was stationed at Toronto, when the subject of this sketch
was sent to Upper Canada College. On leaving college, where he greatly
distinguished himself and won many of its highest honors, he was
articled, firstly, to the Honorable Henry John Boulton, a barrister of
acute intelligence, and at that day second to none at the Upper Canada
bar as a special pleader; and secondly, to Mr. Vice Chancellor
Spragge. During the currency of his indentures the rebellion broke
out, and he served for six months with the rank of captain in the
Queen's Rangers under the command of Lt.-Colonel Samuel Peters Jarvis.

On the 7th of August, 1838, he was admitted to practice as an attorney
and solicitor; and in the Michaelmas term following he was called to
the bar. In the same year he formed a partnership with Mr. Spragge.
The firm, as we have reason to believe, commanded a very lucrative
business, Mr. Cameron winning his place at once in the foremost rank
of counsel. In 1843, he was appointed Reporter to the Court of Queen's
Bench, and in 1844, he published "the Rules of Court and Statutes
relating to the practice and pleading in the Court of Queen's Bench,
Upper Canada, together with the criminal and other acts of general
reference and a few practical points." In 1845, he published a work
known as _Cameron's Rules_, entitled "Reports of cases determined in
the Queen's Bench and Practice Courts in U. C., from 7th to 8th
Victoria." In 1846 he retired from the office of Reporter to the Court
of Queen's Bench, and commenced the publication of the reports, which,
since then, have been regularly carried on by his successors in
office. In the last mentioned year he was created a Queen's Counsel,
and though we anticipate our narrative, we may here mention that on
the death of Sir J. B. Macaulay, he was elected treasurer of the Law
Society--an office which he still retains.

At the general elections in 1844, he was returned as member for the
town of Cornwall. On the 1st July, 1846, he was appointed Solicitor
General, and on the 22nd of May following he was preferred to a seat
in the Executive Council, a compliment the more marked since no such
honor, we believe, had previously been conferred upon a Solicitor
General. At the election in 1848, he was again returned for Cornwall,
retaining his former position in the cabinet. Those elections,
however, resulted adversely to the conservative party; for on
Parliament meeting soon afterwards, a vote of want of confidence was
passed which led to the resignation of the administration, to the
formation of the Lafontaine-Baldwin government and to the eventual
demoralization and overthrow of what remained of the tory party of
Canada.

Mr. Cameron did not offer himself as a candidate at the elections
which took place in 1851, but, at those consequent on the dissolution
of Parliament by His Excellency the Earl of Elgin, in 1854, he was
returned with Mr. Bowes as one of the two members for the city of
Toronto. The defeat of the Hincks-Morin administration in 1854 led to
a coalition of the conservative and moderate section of the reform
parties of Upper Canada with the Lafontaine party of Lower Canada. On
this administration, subsequently known as the MacNab-Taché
government, the duty devolved of settling the Clergy Reserve and
Seigniorial Tenure difficulties. With respect to the former, Mr.
Cameron did not vote on the motion for the second reading of the bill.
It is probable that he was not present on the occasion; and from the
opinions which he was supposed to hold on the sacredness of Church
property, we may conjecture that such absence was not attended with
any poignant grief to him. At a subsequent stage of the proceedings,
on the motion for secularizing those reserves and distributing the
proceeds among the municipalities, we find him on every division
voting an emphatic "nay." Later still we find him by his vote
exhibiting an apparent willingness to acquiesce in a moderate form of
compromise. For example, he voted "yea" to the proposition to apply
the moneys realized from the sale of such lands to the promotion of
religion and education; but although such a qualified compromise may
have cost him a twinge, it produced no such effect on the majority of
the members, for it was voted down by the House. Whereupon Mr. Cameron
contented himself with putting on record, in the form of a motion, the
principles on which he was willing to settle the question. The motion
being lost on a division, Mr. Cameron seems to have turned away from
further discussion, and to have declined all further responsibility,
for his name is not found in the divisions which subsequently took
place. Having quieted his conscience and preserved his consistency by
the course which duty prompted him to take, it is probable that Mr.
Cameron, in common with the remnant then left of the old church and
state party, were of opinion that the question could not be fought
with safety much longer, and that in the interests of their church it
was best to capitulate, and especially as the terms they were then
able to make were more favorable than any which they might expect to
obtain at a later day. The bill was passed, and Mr. Cameron very
zealously co-operated with the late Bishop of Toronto and others in
making its provisions as advantageous as possible to the permanent
interests of the church.

In 1856 Mr. Cameron introduced a bill to enable members of the united
Church of England and Ireland to meet in Synod. This particular bill
was withdrawn to facilitate the passing of another bill with the same
title and object which had been introduced in the Legislative Council
by the Honorable Mr. de Blaquière. The measure was one of great
importance, and the practical operation of it has given rise to
emotions which are by no means free from anxieties. There can be no
doubt that very grave duties have devolved on the members of the
Anglican Church in Canada; but the question often arises whether such
duties could not be discharged in a less questionable, and, may we not
add, in a more scriptural manner than has hitherto seemed practicable:
whether they could not be conducted with less preliminary canvass and
more trust in the Divine direction, with less strife and more prayer.
The mode, for example, in which bishops are chosen, seems to be
deficient in reverence. It does not, as it seems to us, resemble, as
nearly as it might resemble, that first recorded election of a bishop,
when St. Matthias was chosen in the place of him "who by transgression
fell." Mr. Cameron, as a learned, eloquent, and influential layman,
might, we venture to suggest, in conjunction with the fathers, elders,
and brethren of the church, do much good in the respective Diocesan
Synods, as well as in the Provincial Synod, if he were to propose a
more devout, and as we believe, a more satisfactory system of
procedure.

In 1856, on the second reading of the Bill for rendering the
Legislative Council elective, the division list presents one curious
feature of agreement, for Mr. Cameron's name occurs with the name of
the Honorable George Brown, in the list of "nays." Being caught
together in the same lobby should have been, perhaps it was, the
occasion of a merry jest. In the same session a good deal of feeling
was manifested, and with reason, in respect of the alleged failure of
justice in the trial of those who were charged with the murder of a
man named Corrigan in the parish of St. Sylvester. Mr. Cameron moved
for a copy of the judge's charges to the jury on the occasion of the
trial, which after warm debate and a close division was agreed to.
Three days afterwards a motion was made by Mr. Attorney General
Drummond to rescind the resolution for the address as well as the
order for presenting it; but the motion was superseded by the
intervention of "the previous question." On the following day a
message was sent to the Assembly by the Governor General, wherein His
Excellency declined to accede to the prayer of the address.
Subsequently, on the motion of Mr. J. C. Morison, a select committee,
which included in its number the name of Mr. Cameron, was appointed to
investigate the matter. These proceedings on the part of Mr. Cameron,
apart from their real merit, won for him the sympathies of the
Protestant population of the province and the especial admiration of
the Orange Society, of which he then became a member and of which in
1859 he was chosen the Grand Master, an honor that probably increased
his political at the expense of his personal influence. Many of his
warmest friends experienced a feeling of unalloyed regret when they
saw him in a position which added nothing to his fame as a politician,
and, on the whole, seemed to be rather hurtful than otherwise to his
party. However, the step was not without some compensating advantage,
for in the following year, on the occasion of the visit of His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, Mr. Cameron, as Grand Master, was able
to exert a wise and temperate influence in the Orange Society, and
thus prevent at Toronto a recurrence of the proceedings which had
proved so mischievous at Kingston.

In 1858 he opposed the re-election of Mr. Brown for Toronto, when the
latter undertook with Mr. Dorion the duty of forming an
administration. The contest was a very severe one, but it ended in the
triumph of Mr. Brown. In 1861 Mr. Cameron was returned for the county
of Peel, for which county he has subsequently been twice re-elected
and now continues to sit.

On all questions that affect the sacredness of property set apart for
religious uses, Mr. Cameron is accustomed to think seriously and to
speak warmly. Thus with respect to the University of King's College,
as with the Clergy Reserves, his course was clear and consistent. In
both cases he was strongly opposed to the alienation of property from
the uses to which it had originally been set apart. Thus on the 18th
of March, 1845, being a member of the House of Assembly, he was heard
as counsel at the bar against the second reading of the Bill for the
abolition of King's College, and for erecting in its place a
university under the name of the University of Toronto. People, at the
time, were too pleasantly occupied with a question of casuistry, to
pay unreserved attention to Mr. Cameron. They were assiduously
weighing the merits of Mr. Draper's eloquent speech for the new Bill
against his more eloquent speech against it two years before, and this
ordeal of moral and political analysis disqualified them from doing
strict justice to Mr. Cameron's powerful appeal. Though it may not
have changed a vote, the speech was probably instrumental in staying
for a time at least, the impending fate of the college. Four years
afterwards, during the Lafontaine-Baldwin administration, it was laid
"even with the ground," its name was abolished, and its primary
purpose as a theological seminary for the education of youth for holy
orders in the Church of England and Ireland, was utterly and entirely
abolished. The bill became law, which the members of the Anglican
communion, as loyal subjects, were bound to obey, though they were not
required to like. To inquire into what was amiss, and recover what was
lost, they assembled, under the guidance of their chief pastor, the
Venerable Bishop of Toronto, and having taken counsel together, they
determined by private effort to repair the injury which had been
publicly inflicted on them with the concurrence of the Legislature.

On the 25th of July following, Mr. Cameron presented a bill to
incorporate Trinity College. The Bill was merely introduced and laid
on the table. This initiatory proceeding was probably necessary since
it served as a basis for subsequent operations. The Bishop of Toronto
went to England to awaken the sympathy of friends in the mother
country, and especially to obtain from Her Most Gracious Majesty a
royal charter for the college he sought to establish. In the
meanwhile, those members of the church in Canada who were favorable to
the object, bestirred themselves, and according to the measure of
their ability sought to help the Bishop here, in the work he was
prosecuting there. Speaking at a public meeting, and referring to the
Bishop's pastoral, Mr. Cameron is reported to have said:--

     "He felt that the language used in that document would be
     admitted by all who read it to be literally and strictly
     applicable--that it was indeed a feeling and a powerful appeal.
     It was, unhappily, not more powerful than the circumstances to
     which it referred were deplorable and unprecedented.

     Not contented with depriving the Church of England of her
     interest in a Royal endowment, as if the gift of a King were
     unworthy the respect accorded to that of any private citizen,
     her enemies had consummated their injustice by taking away the
     very charter of her University also. Churchmen might, perhaps,
     had that been left them, have felt less cause of complaint; for
     there was Christian piety and liberality enough in the body to
     furnish, if needful, another endowment; but it was hard that
     the result of years of toil and wisdom should be swept away in
     a moment, and the Church be reduced to the necessity of
     re-constructing from the foundation, all of which they had
     witnessed the growth, and hoped, with God's blessing, to see
     the fruit also. "Down with it!--Down with it, even to the
     ground!" is the cry of those who would see the Church
     abolished, that the restraints of religion might be abolished
     also; of those who would see the altar overthrown, because of
     the glory that burns upon it, and the temple destroyed, because
     of the voice of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to
     come, that is heard within its walls.... He felt that it was
     high time for the true sons of the Church to put forth their
     strength, and to show to their rulers that the rights of
     200,000 people were not to be trampled on with impunity. The
     University had been liberalized, but that was not enough....
     The Legislature had changed the character of the
     University--the fiat had gone forth, and the law must be
     obeyed; but could not the Church of England build and uphold a
     college of her own in Upper Canada, through the piety and
     munificence of her children? If the Roman Catholic and the
     Presbyterian and the Methodist, had each a seat of learning,
     could the Church of England fail to establish a University
     which should extend the blessing of a sound religious education
     to the remotest posterity, and out of the evil of crafty and
     designing men create permanent and abiding good? Education
     should never be separated from religion; and yet the whole
     system in Canada was founded upon that separation, as if the
     thought of prayer and praise were never to weigh with the
     aspirations for intellectual cultivation, and the deadening of
     the heart to every Christian feeling and duty, were the highest
     object of legislation in a still professedly Christian land. It
     had been said, that the attention of Churchmen should first be
     turned to the Common Schools--that there should the
     purification be commenced; but how was such a change to be
     effected until the lawgivers of the Province were brought to
     acknowledge that secular and religious instruction should go
     hand in hand? He thought that we were beginning in the proper
     place. Let a University be established--let the youth of the
     Church be educated there--and they will go forth to their
     various avocations, throughout the length and breadth of the
     land, strong in faith, and in the belief of the purity of the
     doctrines of their Church; and through them the people will
     learn and appreciate the blessings of religious education.

     It was but a small thing that each was called upon to do; but
     how much good would the aggregate effect, and a feeling would
     be aroused in the Province that would awake the hearts of those
     who had been slumbering for years, and show to the Christians
     of every other denomination that the members of the Church of
     England were no longer supine, but with the aid of the Divine
     Power were determined to labor unceasingly to obtain sound
     religious instruction for their children and their children's
     children."

On the 9th of June, 1851, Sir Allan Napier MacNab as the leader of the
conservative party, introduced a new bill to incorporate Trinity
College, which was warmly supported by Mr. Cameron, who had presented
a similar measure in the previous session. This bill received the
royal assent on the 15th of the following month. On the 17th of March,
1851, the first sod was dug towards the foundation of the college. On
the 30th April following, the corner stone of the new building was
laid with becoming ceremony, on which occasion the young rifleman of
"our club," Major, now Colonel G. T. Denison, acted as marshal. On the
15th January, 1852, the college, with great solemnity, was opened for
work, when two other members of "our club" were thus bracketed
together among the enrolled officers of the college.

                         FACULTY OF LAW.

                    J. H. HAGARTY, ESQ., Q. C.
                    THE HON. J. H. CAMERON, Q. C.
                    P. M. VANKOUGHNET, ESQ., Q. C.

In 1854, Mr. Cameron received from Trinity College the honorary degree
of D. C. L., and at about the same time he founded the "Cameron
Scholarship" for the special benefit of the sons of clergymen seeking
a university education. We cannot pretend to enumerate, nor would it
be agreeable to Mr. Cameron that we should do so, the services which
he has steadily rendered to this important university. He has watched
its interests, worked for its advancement, and associated himself with
its fortunes with all the fervor of his first love. Neither has he for
one moment lost heart or hope in its permanent success. When its first
Chancellor, the Honorable Sir John Beverly Robinson, departed this
life, the mantle which he had dignified and worn so gracefully,
appeared to fall naturally on Mr. Cameron, who was duly installed in
the high office of Chancellor, on the 17th January, 1864, when he thus
addressed the convocation:

     Mr. Vice Chancellor, I feel deeply the congratulatory remarks
     you have addressed to me, as I felt deeply the confidence
     reposed in me by the Corporation of Trinity, when they
     conferred upon me the honor of Chancellorship. You have well
     dissected the character of the late Chancellor. In every
     relation in life he stood pre-eminent, and, to those, who like
     myself, for upwards of twenty years enjoyed the privilege of
     close communion with him, as their chief, there is no power in
     language to portray their high estimate of his ability. His
     sweetness of temper, his gentleness of manner, his courtesy,
     were proverbial, and in the long roll on which this University
     shall write the names of her future Chancellors, no name will
     ever be found of brighter lustre than the first. It is now
     upwards of twenty years since the venerable prelate at my side,
     on the opening of King's College, congratulated himself that he
     had lived to see the work of forty years accomplished. But
     clouds were already rising in the distance to obscure the
     glorious prospect, and a storm soon burst upon him, which swept
     that inheritance of the Church away forever. Did our noble
     bishop despond when he saw his cherished hopes in the dust? Did
     he give up his efforts to establish a Church University,
     because that endowment was taken away? No, with the energy and
     determination which have ever marked his character through his
     long life, he resolved at "three-score years and ten to buckle
     on his armour again, and in conjunction with our late
     Chancellor, those two great men, reflecting back light and
     lustre, each upon the other, Churchmen in Canada and in the
     Mother Country contributed of their means, a Royal Charter was
     obtained, and the University of Trinity College arose from the
     ashes of Kings.... As Chancellor of this University, I shall
     endeavor, faithfully, to fulfil my duty to it by doing all in
     my power to uphold the views which I have expressed, and I
     shall expect that each and all of those who hold office in it,
     or claim, or hope to claim it as their _Alma Mater_, shall bear
     their part both at home and abroad, within the walls of the
     College, and without in the world, to establish Toronto as

                  PULCHERRIMA, HONESTISSIMA, OPTIMA.

In and out of office Mr. Cameron has stood firmly by his principles,
and has given a general support to his party. Apart, however, from
such considerations, his great abilities have freely been placed at
the disposal of the Legislature. Members of Parliament, on both sides
of the House, who are most conversant with public affairs, have
frequently expressed their sense of his manifold services in the work
of legislation irrespective of the source, or the side of the House,
whence good measures have proceeded. Canada has no rewards for her
statesmen, and few if any, worthy of the acceptance of her great
lawyers. A judgeship has, on more than one occasion, it is said, been
placed at Mr. Cameron's disposal, but he has had the wisdom to decline
a retreat which would add little to his consideration, nothing to his
ease, and less than nothing to his income, for the bar in Canada
affords better remuneration and greater freedom than the bench, to
such as are qualified to wear the ermine.




[Illustration]


                     THE HONORABLE JOHN HAMILTON,

             SENATOR FOR INKERMAN, EVANDALE, HAWKESBURY.


     CREST. Out of a ducal coronet, or, an oak tree, fructed and
     penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame saw,
     proper, the frame of the first. Motto THROUGH.

The above peculiar and instructive crest is borne by the Ducal house
of Hamilton, and by several of the untitled families of the name in
other parts of the United Kingdom. We do not know the history of the
crest, or under what circumstances it was acquired. It may have been
appointed to illustrate a particular fact or perhaps to indicate a
general virtue. In either case the design is sufficiently suggestive,
for it warrants the assumption that amongst other qualities the person
to whom it was at first applied was, to use the more ancient form of
the word "thorough" and resolute, as enduring as an oak, and as
tenacious as steel. Besides the poetical fitness of this illustrative
crest, there may have been, for philosophers have a knack of peering
into futurity, a glimmering idea that the picturesque design might, in
time to come, acquire prosaic fitness, and that such fitness would be
illustrated after a fashion undreamt of by the knights of old. The
tree in the coronet, and the saw in the tree thus became typical of
family interests in reversion which could scarcely have been imagined
when the crest was sketched, for the masters of war did not then
foresee the triumphs of peace. It needed the penetration of a sharp
set seer, or the gift of second sight, to overtake the period when the
grand seigneurs of commerce would exceed in the number of their
feudatories some of the great chieftains of those lawless days; when
the retainers of industry would be counted by the thousand, and
wrought too of such stuff as a hero might envy and a general would
gladly choose for perilous adventures. But the organized vassals of
trade though well enough adapted for war, are not now enrolled for the
hurt of their species. On the contrary, they are, in the new world at
least, the _avant_ couriers of civilization and settlement, banded
together for the purpose of subduing forests, unknown when the
symbolic oak was placed in the coronet, and by means of implements
little thought of when the little fretwork saw was drawn transversely
across its trunk. Go into that gas-lighted pandemonium, the Hawkesbury
Mills, and witness the machinery in motion; look at the saws in all
their diversity of shapes, and all their peculiarity of service; look
at them! the horizontal and the circular, the inclined and the
perpendicular, the independent and the enclosed, the rippers and the
rotaries of modern invention in all the agony of violent exercise.
Even when fettered and motionless they gleam brightly enough to appal,
for they look so cold, cruel and relentless. But see them at work,
look at those monsters with their heads in the roof and their feet in
the pit, with great intimidating teeth like the fangs of a dragon in
the jaws of a whale,--teeth up and down, teeth all round, teeth "to
the right of you," teeth "to the left of you," shimmering like light,
and hissing and shrieking like fiends in a rage. Look at them, and
then look at the meek little irritant in the crest, and wonder that
such a diminutive ancestor should have been parent of such an array of
terrible descendants.

The family to which the subject of this sketch belongs is of Scottish
origin, for Hugh Hamilton, who settled in Ireland in 1616, was a
younger son of Sir James Hamilton of Evandale in the kingdom of
Scotland. On referring to "Burke's History of the Landed Gentry" we
learn that Charles Hamilton, a descendant of the last mentioned Hugh,
in addition to other properties, became possessed of the estates of
Hamwood in the County of Meath, and that he married Elizabeth, a
daughter of Crewe Chetwood Esq., of Woodbrook in the Queen's County.
There were several children, issue of this marriage, including a third
son, George, who emigrated to Canada and married a Miss Lucy Craigie.
He lived occasionally at Quebec, but his latest and best known
residence was at Hawkesbury. The third son of this marriage is the
Honorable John Hamilton, of Evandale House, Hawkesbury, so named after
the ancestral place in Scotland; his elder and younger surviving
brothers being Mr. Robert Hamilton, the proprietor of Hamwood, a
charming residence near Quebec, so named after the Irish estate owned
by his grandfather, and the Rev. Charles Hamilton, a graduate of
Oxford, and now doing clerical duty at that quiet and attractive place
of worship, the free chapel of St. Matthews, Quebec.

Mr. George Hamilton, the first settler of the family in Canada, was,
as we conjecture, a gentleman of no ordinary worth, and more than
ordinary force of character. His social influence was considerable and
his commercial transactions were extensive. Though the duties which
his position imposed on him were of an exacting kind they did not in
his opinion absolve him, as in too many cases they seem to do others,
from the obligation to serve the state to the best of his ability. It
is therefore no matter for surprise that he lived in the esteem and
goodwill of his neighbors, or that he died amidst their regrets; for
faith, truth and charity, were, we may say it without exaggeration,
conspicuous in every act of his useful life. In his address to the
grand jury of L'Orignal, the late Chief Justice, Sir John Beverly
Robinson, when speaking of Mr. Hamilton's death, which occurred in
1839, thus referred to his life and services:

     "Mr. Hamilton was a native of the County of Meath, in Ireland,
     where he was born on the 13th of April, 1781. He emigrated to
     Canada at an early age, and after a long sojourn at Quebec,
     where he was extensively engaged in business for several years,
     he retired from that city, and took up his permanent residence
     on his extensive property in Hawkesbury, in the year 1811; and
     has, with a few slight intervals, remained there until his
     death. His talents and acquirements became early known to the
     government, and on a formation of the district of Ottawa, in
     the year 1816, he was appointed to the judgeship of the
     District Court, an office which he continued to discharge with
     exemplary integrity and correctness during the rest of his
     life.

     He was also for many years chairman of the Quarter Session, and
     contributed greatly, by his energy and strict enforcement of
     the laws, to create and maintain the high degree of social
     order and quietness for which the Ottawa district has been so
     long favorably conspicuous. He held also several other
     honorable and confidential situations under the government, the
     duties of which he invariably fulfilled with distinguished
     fidelity and judgment. His political predilections were rigidly
     conservative, though far removed from sycophancy and
     subserviency; and although compelled by the circumstances of
     the times to assume the chieftainship of his party, his
     unflinching firmness and the caustic severity of his eloquence
     were at all times agreeably relieved and modified by the
     suavity of his demeanor and the generosity of his conduct. He
     was repeatedly invited by the local government to accept a seat
     in the Legislative Council, but he invariably declined the
     proposed honor, on the patriotic ground that he could be of
     much greater service to the government by watching over its
     interests at home. As lieutenant-colonel Militia, he had been
     ordered to superintend the formation of several reserve of
     companies for possible active service against the American
     brigands, and to inspect occasionally their state of
     organization and discipline. On the fourth day of December,
     1838, he travelled for this purpose to Plantagenet, where he
     inspected and reviewed the reserve Company of that township,
     commanded by Captain Kearnes. The weather was intensely cold
     and stormy, and it was while reading the general orders to the
     men, and addressing them at length upon the occasion, that the
     first symptoms of his illness manifested themselves. These were
     still further increased on his journey home, where he arrived
     at night, almost dying with cold and exhaustion; and,
     notwithstanding the instantly applied, and unremittingly
     continued cares and assistance of several medical gentlemen, of
     high standing, he languished until the 7th of January, 1839,
     when death relieved him from his sufferings.

Burke informs us that the Hon. John Hamilton of Hawkesbury, the third
son of the last mentioned, was born in 1827, and Mr. Morgan in his
useful _Canadian Parliamentary Companion for 1867_ supplements the
information by adding that the event took place in the vicinity of
Quebec. He was educated at Montreal, but we are not informed at what
school, neither do we know whether the racy manliness of his character
shewed itself playfully in any of those forms of mischief to which
vigorous youths are prone. On leaving school he identified himself
with the fortunes of his family, and as the fourth of his name, he
furnished another Canadian illustration of the symbolic crest. Young
as he then was he lost no time in entering into partnership with Mr.
Charles Low, and on the decease of that gentleman he continued his
transactions in timber as one of the firm of Hamilton Brothers. He
succeeded his father as the chief inhabitant of Hawkesbury and
resident partner in charge of the Hawkesbury Mills, which, we may add,
were founded in the early part of the century, and have continued to
be the property of the family for about sixty years. The houses and
tenements of the persons employed in and about the mills are
necessarily very numerous. The mills themselves are, as we learn,
among the finest and most perfect in the country. They are lighted
with gas, manufactured on the premises, and are in all respects as
complete in their arrangements as art and money can make them. The
country through which the rivers Rouge, Gatineau and DuMoine flow is,
in part, the timber preserve of the firm, where their operations are
carried on; and the rivers we have mentioned are the streamways on
which their forest crops are rafted to Hawkesbury. Those rivers fringe
many of their farms, for besides being "merchant princes," the
"Hamiltons" are landlords with enviable rent rolls and numerous
tenants. Their chief places of business are Hawkesbury, Ottawa, and
New Liverpool opposite Quebec.

Being perhaps the most occupied as well as the most influential man in
the locality, his friends and neighbors seem to have thought that, as
they could add nothing to his honors, they would at all events add
something to his duties; wherefore they elected him Reeve of the
Municipality. Having addressed himself with his customary energy to
his new functions, and as we suppose given satisfaction in his manner
of discharging them, he was promoted from the degree of Reeve to that
of Warden, in which character he was three times elected for the
united counties of Prescott and Russell. The Municipal Councils are
the normal schools of the House of Commons, and as Mr. Hamilton became
an adept in municipal affairs he was often asked, and as often
declined to offer himself as a member of the Legislative Assembly.

In 1860, when it became the duty of the inhabitants of the Electoral
Division of Inkerman to choose a member to represent them in the
Legislative Council, their thoughts naturally turned to their chief
man, the subject of this sketch. Now, though

  To the Commons House he declined to go,
  "The Lords" was a different place you know,

and Mr. Hamilton, therefore, accepted the canditature. The Division
includes the Counties of Argenteuil, Ottawa, and Pontiac, territory
enough for a principality. Therefore, to be returned for the Division
represented, the operation of three single gentlemen being rolled into
one, for the area which sent three members to the Legislative
Assembly, returned only one to the Legislative Council, and that one
the subject of this sketch.

If his constituents, the lumbermen of the Division, celebrated his
election, with such cheers as they know how to give, then the three
times three with "a tiger" to finish off with, must have been
something to hear and something to remember if one might hope to
survive the experiment. Since that day of popular triumph he has been
honored with Her Majesty's mandamus to continue to discharge for life,
the duties which in the first instance were laid upon him by the free
and independent electors of the Ottawa valley. Were Mr. Hamilton
catechised as to his political tenets, we have some doubts as to the
exactness of his answers. In any case whether precise or not, they
would be frank, honest and outspoken. In times now past, when parties
were separated by great questions, when the political landmarks were
broad, well-set, and highly colored, then Mr. Hamilton was a
conservative. Now, however, when almost all party lines are dyed with
neutral tints, and smudged and intermingled with one another, when
great distinguishing questions have been got rid of, when a principle
is scarcely looked upon as worth a contest, when whigs and tories, for
the most part, seem to agree with radicals; and radicals find it
difficult to agree among themselves; it is not easy for a spectator to
indicate the party of a public man, or even for a public man to
indicate his own party. Imperial and Provincial legislation have
travelled on grades of similar inclination; for besides the local
subjects which separated parties in Canada, there were questions
connected with the politics of England which secured the suffrages of
the conservatives in Canada to the corresponding party in the United
Kingdom. To say nothing of ecclesiastical and educational questions,
there were questions of political economy and identity of interests,
that united the Imperial and Colonial representatives of the tory
party together in the bonds of a common policy. Duties on foreign corn
or foreign timber, on one hand, and the free imports of Colonial coin
and timber on the other, constituted a policy as profitable in itself
as it was pleasantly conservative in its effects. But alas! with the
reversal of that policy, as well as from other causes, the
conservative party in Canada, as in England, seems to have wilted and
fallen away, while its members in both countries are required to bear
a good deal of banter as they fumble for new flags, and clamor for new
cries. D'Israeli, according to Earl Granville, "has dished the whigs,"
what he has done with the tories is a question which, happily for us,
we are not required to answer. Mr. Hamilton must, we incline to think
for the present at least, be politically lodged at "Doubting Castle,"
a place neither uncongenial nor unfamiliar to the rising race of
statesmen; gentlemen of cheerful temperament, loyal hearts, and
hopeful dispositions who pleasantly philosophize on what their fathers
were, but who neither know what they shall be, nor very accurately
discern what they are. In the midst of such party disorganization, Mr.
Hamilton is, with many others content, and very sensibly so, to remain
in chrysalis condition, and await the operation of nature or the
influence of time before they plume themselves on the colors they have
inherited or make any declaration of those which they mean to wear.

But while it may not be easy to indicate by a phrase the party to
which Mr. Hamilton may be said to belong, or indeed to affirm that he
belongs to any party at all, we may at least be sure of this, that the
generosity of his character will be seen in the moderation of his
conduct, and that such conduct win illustrate the quality of his crest
and be THOROUGH to the last. Several circumstances meet in his history
which concur in teaching one lesson and pointing one moral. His
education and his business have necessarily brought him into intimate
and familiar contact with both races. His place of abode is on an
Island situated midway in the Ottawa River, the beautiful border
stream between the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, between English
and French, between protestant and catholic Canada; a stream which
separates and yet unites territories, peoples, and religions. This
accident of residence has enabled him to observe both races at home,
and each race under the influence of its civil and municipal, its
social and sacred surroundings, with the various appliances which
constitute the happiness of national and domestic life. The
observation has probably enforced this important lesson, that all,
irrespective of origin, creed or nationality, are his constituents as
well as his neighbors: that they are so in the wide and catholic as
well as in the exclusive and parliamentary sense, and as such in the
eye of law, as in the mind of their representative, they are equally
entitled to similar consideration, to analogous rights, and analogous
privileges. Justice, in whatever form or in whatever language
administered, knows no border distinctions, for, under all
circumstances, and at all seasons, it should, and so far as Mr.
Hamilton's influence and power extend, we venture to believe it will
be thoroughly fair and thoroughly impartial.

Like his brothers at Quebec, Mr. Hamilton is a member of the Anglican
Church, and in this respect the motto of the crest indicates not
inaptly the way in which church principles are illustrated by them.
"THOROUGH" is the fitting word here as elsewhere. The policy of
convenience does not seem to be the "Hamilton" policy. In their
interpretation of Christian duty they neither use divers weights nor
divers measures. On the contrary, they act up to the honest man's
belief that plain words have plain meanings--meanings which for their
parts they neither desire to weaken much less to mystify or explain
away. It might be for the happiness of individuals as it would, we
humbly think, be for the advantage of true religion, were members of
the Church generally, to imitate Mr. Hamilton's example, and we may be
allowed to add, without being indicted for poaching on the preacher's
manor, to the extent of their means, to emulate his munificence.




[Illustration]


                 THE HONORABLE LOUIS JOSEPH PAPINEAU.


It should be steadily borne in mind, that the "adventurers," whether
gentlemen or otherwise, who first colonized the northern part of
America, represented the two typical branches of the human family
which generally fought for, and alternately controlled, the affairs of
Europe. The Latin and Teutonic races, as represented respectively by
the powers of France and England, had been continually at strife.
Though attracted by common interests, the two peoples, in their policy
of colonization, had been impelled by different principles, and, as a
matter of course, rewarded with different results. Government, being
regarded as the expression of opinion, seemed to have assumed shapes
congenial to the experience and tastes of the two races. Monarchy, for
example, in the higher and more absolute form, is commonly regarded as
the especial property of the Latin race; while monarchy in a limited
or semi-republican form, is as commonly looked upon as the peculiar
heritage of the Saxon race. The exaggeration of the form may become in
one case rank despotism, or in the other rank democracy; but the
parentage of the form, whether exaggerated or not, will most probably
be found deeply seated in the manners and customs of the race in which
it takes its rise.

By way of illustration, we may note the conditions under which the
first emigrants from France and England, respectively, settled in
North America. The French colonists included in their ranks, though in
an embryo form, those orders and degrees which have their springs in
feudality, and which in their complete social organization are
generally found in European communities. There were nobility and
clergy as well as artizans and peasants, and each class seemed to fall
into, though it did not always fit, the place it had been accustomed
to fill. The sovereigns of France deputed their authority to some
accredited representative, and thus the fabric of French society, in a
modified form, was as complete, if not as stable, in New France, as it
had been in the old land from which its name was derived. Could we
have turned from the territories bathed by the St. Lawrence, to look
at those whose shores frown defiance at the Atlantic, we might have
seen a very different social and political picture. Massachusetts, for
example, was, to a great extent, planted by disaffected emigrants from
the British Islands; people who had wrongs to remember, and as they
believed, injuries to avenge; people who were generally imbued with
the principles of republicanism, and very commonly confessed their
belief in the doctrine of human equality. Church and king,
ecclesiastical establishments and royal authority were in their
estimation obnoxious institutions, which they knew only to shun.
Avoided at home, and uncared for abroad, those English settlers were
left to themselves, to make their own laws, to fashion their own
government, and to follow their own faith. Thus, with their
recollection of oppression, their experience of hardship, and their
dread of disaster, they set their faces like a flint against all
gentle influences, and amidst neglect and obscurity, royal aversion
and priestly contempt, they worked like men who had a mission to
fulfil or a vow to perform. They studied in a rude way the science of
human government, and they learned with severity, as if their
knowledge had been tested with acids, how to rule themselves somewhat
in accordance with the principles, if not in agreement with the
habits, of their Saxon forefathers.

The lessons learned in the two schools of politics, very soon
manifested themselves, when the scholars of those schools, in the
shape of competitors, were brought face to face under the same
government. The monarchical traditions of the French race showed
themselves in the desire to be ruled by a nominated council. The
republican instincts of the English race shewed themselves in the
effort to secure what was termed a free parliament. One section wished
to be governed by a board of selected notables; the other by an
assembly of chosen representatives. Each race wished to strengthen its
influence and dominate over the other; and both were then, and
afterwards, consistent in choosing the means by which the end was to
be gained. For it should not be forgotten that the laws of England,
though shortly afterwards modified in their relation to Canada, at
that time excluded Roman Catholics from sitting in parliament. Under
such circumstances, a free parliament meant an assembly of members who
were ignorant of the language, knew nothing of the laws, and abhorred
the religion of their constituents. It was manifestly not for the
advantage of the French population that the plan favored by the
British race should be adopted. Hence, the former looked for security
in a nominated council, because such council would include members of
their own faith and race, while the latter saw their advantage in an
elected assembly because by reason of prohibitory oaths and tests no
member of such faith and race might sit as a representative in such
chamber. To the amazement of the British race the Act imposing the
oaths or tests above referred to, was repealed in so far as it related
to Canada, and new lessons had to be learned. The tactics were
changed. The combatants not only occupied each other's ground, but
they appropriated each other's weapons, and one, at least, fought all
the more successfully for the barter. The discipline of experience
taught the British inhabitants of Lower Canada that their views could
most effectually be advanced by nominated councils; while the French
learned that their strength lay in representative institutions. The
Special Council which the English-speaking population had objected to
in 1774, was desired by them in 1839; and the representative assembly
which the French-speaking population had petitioned against in 1791,
was prayed for by them in 1840.

Nor should the fact be lost sight of, that at and for some years
before the conquest, the subjects of the French crown in Canada had no
especial reason for liking the government which had been provided for
them, for they had had dire experience of the despotism and had rarely
enjoyed the paternity of the Bourbon's rule. The words used in the
proclamation which Wolfe issued from the Island of Orleans were
historically and prophetically true. "France in her weakness" said the
heroic soldier, "leaves you to your fate," "England in her strength
will befriend you." The Canadians were by no means insensible to the
truth of the first declaration, and in the absence of experience, they
were scarcely in a position to discredit the last. Moreover they
yearned for peace. Their hearts had sensibly sickened at a bootless
quarrel, and their minds informed them that the time for closing it
had arrived. Having done all that brave men could do, they sought to
reconcile themselves to their new lot, and found consolation in the
hope that the voice of war would be hushed and that the olive branch
would again beautify their homes. In truth their pride in France had
been wounded, for besides being grievously disabled by her enemies,
she had become philosophically indifferent to her friends.--For some
time her Canadian subjects had reason to doubt her power and now there
was cause to question her affection. Moreover, the lily of the
Bourbon, in its relation to New France, was tarnished with moral
stains. Either the corruptions of the court, the exigences of the
state, or the habits of the soldiery sullied its purity and caused it
to become the symbol, if not of shame, at least of lawlessness and
extortion. The husbandman, for example, knew not if he should reap
what he had sown, and the laborer was uncertain whether he should
enjoy the fruits of his toil. Unparalleled monopolies on the part of
the Government disheartened the trader, while avarice and exaction
paralyzed commerce, and deprived industry of the power of exertion.
Beyond all, the solemn decrees of Courts which had been established to
dispense justice but too truly reflected the vices as well as the
necessities of the sovereign by whose authority they were held. Thus
were the forms of law given to acts of rapine, and thus were the
people in some measure prepared to turn away from rulers, whose
government had become too vicious to inspire respect, to a rival power
whose authority at least was not too weak to afford protection.

The state of Canada for some time previous to and at the era of the
conquest should steadily be kept in view if we would rightly
understand why the Canadian people became so soon reconciled if not to
the local government, at least to the general supremacy of their new
rulers. War is necessarily cruel. The victory of one side, means more
than the humiliation of the other. There must needs be actual
oppression as well as incidental injustice. Such conditions can rarely
be avoided and they were not absent from the conquest of Canada.
During the interregnum between the acquisition and the treaty, England
was obliged by means of martial law to provide for the material
security of her new possessions. Neither did irregularities cease with
the cession of the country, a good deal took place that ought not to
have occurred, and there can be no doubt there was great ignorance,
some impropriety, and consequently much miscarriage, in the
administration of justice. Indeed the question for a long time
remained undecided as to what should be done with the new possession,
or whether the forms of English law should or should not supersede the
forms of French law. The difficulty was at length settled by
compromise. The English criminal law was introduced, while the French
civil law was left as it was, Canadians being associated with
Englishmen in administering it.

The desire of the British Government to do what was then considered
to be fair, made as we infer a marked impression on the minds of the
Canadians. They had patiently watched the progress of amelioration and
they were not only sensible of the fact that there was progress, but
that their representations had been followed with generous concessions
on the part of their rulers. Thus when less than twenty years had
elapsed after they had passed by treaty under the dominion of the
British Crown they had the opportunity of choosing between their new
allegiance and their old love. France had cast her sword into the
scale of the rebellious subjects of England, and by the help of her
armies had enabled those subjects to wrest from the British Crown, the
thirteen rebellious Provinces. But neither entreaty nor blandishment
on the part of France or of French officers moved the Canadians from
their purpose. The latter did not dislike England sufficiently to take
part with France in her policy of revenge, neither did they admire the
republican Provincials sufficiently to exchange for their supremacy
the sovereignty of the British Crown. If not actually indifferent,
they remained obstinately neutral during the contest, and very
apathetic at the result.

Canadian historians have stated with more boldness than accuracy, that
concessions were wrung from the fears which would not have been
obtained from the justice of England. It would not be difficult, we
think, to refute such opinions, as far as they relate to Canada, by
the evidence to the contrary which such historians have supplied. It
may however be as well to bear in mind that although temptation was
then and subsequently encompassed with attractions, it did not
materially influence those whom it was intended to move.

Thirty more years elapsed, and English rule was again put to the test
of individual devotion, but with what result let the bright record of
those heroic times testify. The people who were indifferent in 1782
were impassioned in 1812, and they who at the former period had
signalized their loyalty by the negative quality of neutrality,
exhibited it at the latter period by the positive one of exertion.
Neither were reasons wanting to explain conduct which might otherwise
seem to be unaccountable. Much evidence might be adduced, but we shall
content ourselves with the testimony of two witnesses. On the 16th
October, 1752, the father of the subject of this sketch was born in
the city of Montreal. Though at the time we are about to refer to he
had passed the period of mature life he nevertheless remembered some
of the circumstances which attended the conquest. He was probably well
informed of the shortcomings which characterized the later years of
the French rule, and he had been able to observe personally in what
way the government had been carried on under the authority of the
British crown. Although there was no deficiency of high handed acts,
for Sir James Craig was the Governor-in-chief, still, the elder Mr.
Papineau was able to compare what he had been told with what he had
seen, and the conclusion at which he arrived as the result of the
comparison, may be gathered from his avowal that the new order of
things was worth fighting for. In 1810, he thus addressed the electors
of Montreal: "I have given proof of my devotion to the preservation of
a strict union of the provinces with the mother country, and I am
still ready to expose my property and even my life for the
preservation of the happiness we enjoy under the British government."

Neither was the elder Mr. Papineau singular in the sentiments he then
expressed, or in the sacrifices he was prepared to make. His son the
Honorable Louis Joseph Papineau emphasised his father's words with his
own deeds, for though he approved not of the cause of the war of 1812,
to his honor be it written, he did not hesitate to draw his sword for
his king and country when the war broke out, for he served with credit
in command of a volunteer company. Again, eight years afterwards his
opinion of British rule knew no abatement, for he thus addressed the
electors of the West Ward, Montreal, when he was returned by
acclamation in 1820, at the election which took place on the death of
George the Third.

     "Not many days have elapsed since we assembled on this spot for
     the same purpose as that which now calls us together--the
     choice of representatives. The opportunity of that choice being
     caused by a great national calamity--the decease of that
     beloved sovereign who had reigned over the inhabitants of this
     country since the day they became British subjects. It is
     impossible not to express the feelings of gratitude for the
     many benefits received from him, and those of sorrow for his
     loss, so deeply felt in this, as in every other portion of his
     extensive dominions. And how could it be otherwise, when each
     year of his long reign has been marked by new favors bestowed
     upon the country?

     To enumerate these and to detail the history of this country
     for so many years would occupy more time than can be spared by
     those whom I have the honor to address. Suffice it then at a
     glance to compare our present happy situation with that of our
     fathers on the eve of the day when George the Third became
     their legitimate monarch. Suffice it to recollect, that under
     the French government (internally and externally, arbitrary and
     oppressive) the interests of this country had been more
     frequently neglected and mal-administered than any other part
     of its dependencies. In its estimation Canada seems not to have
     been considered as a country which, from fertility of soil,
     salubrity of climate, and extent of territory, might have been
     the peaceful abode of a numerous and happy population; but as a
     military post, whose feeble garrison was condemned to live in a
     state of perpetual warfare and insecurity--frequent suffering
     from famine--without trade or with a trade monopolized by
     privileged companies--public and private property often
     pillaged, and personal liberty daily violated, when year after
     year, the handful of inhabitants settled in this Province, were
     dragged from their houses and families to shed their blood, and
     carry murder and havoc from the shores of the great lakes of
     the Mississippi, and the Ohio, to those of Nova Scotia,
     Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay. Such was the situation of our
     fathers--behold the change! George the Third, revered for his
     moral character, attention to his kingly duties, and love of
     his subjects, succeeded to Louis the Fifteenth, a Prince then
     deservedly despised for his debauchery, his inattention to the
     wants of his people, and his lavish profusion of the public
     moneys, upon favorites and mistresses. From that day the reign
     of the law succeeded to that of violence; from that day, the
     treasures, the navy and army of Great Britain are mustered to
     afford us an invincible protection against external danger;
     from that day, the better part of the laws became ours--while
     our religion, property, and the laws by which they were
     governed remain unaltered. Soon after are granted to us the
     privileges of its free constitution, an infallible pledge, when
     acted upon, of our internal prosperity. Now religious
     toleration; trial by jury (that wisest of safeguards ever
     devised for the protection of innocence); security against
     arbitrary imprisonment, by the privileges attached to the writ
     of _Habeas Corpus_, legal and equal security afforded to all,
     in their person, house and property, the right to obey no other
     laws, than those of our own making and our choice, expressed
     through our representatives; all these advantages have become
     the birthright, and will, I hope, be the lasting inheritance of
     our posterity. To secure them let us only act as British
     subjects and freemen."

The gentleman, whose eloquent words we have just quoted, was born in
the month of October, 1789,--and educated at the Seminary of Quebec.
After the usual study, he was in 1811 called to the bar. There can be
no doubt he displayed at a very early age the twin gifts of persuasive
and declamatory oratory by which he was distinguished through life,
for in 1812, he was the recognized as well as the enthusiastic leader
of the national party. It is worthy of note, that like the Right
Honorable Charles James Fox, Mr. Papineau was returned to parliament
before he was of age; for he was elected for the then county of Kent,
now Chambly, in 1808. In 1815 he was chosen Speaker, and from that
time, with the exception of the period when he was absent on public
business in England, until 1837, when the constitution was suspended,
he continued to fill that much coveted office.

In 1820, on the invitation of His Excellency, the Earl of Dalhousie,
he accepted the appointment of Executive Councillor, but for reasons
with which we are unacquainted he did not take his seat. The
misunderstanding, from whatever cause it may have arisen, was followed
by very untoward results. Personal dislike supplemented political
estrangement, and thus public questions were approached in a spirit
more conspicuous for bitterness than for patriotism.

The government and the mode in which it was administered were
denounced by Mr. Papineau and his party. Royal instructions were
scoffed at, and supplies for the public service were stopped. So
extreme were the measures of one party, and so vehement the resistance
of the other, that those who were responsible to the crown for the
conduct of affairs, began to look beyond the province for remedies
which they failed to find within its borders. Thus it happened, that
the project of a reunion of the Canadas was not only revived at
Quebec, but it was received with favor in London. Indeed the prospect
of success was so imminent that Messrs. Neilson and Papineau were sent
as delegates to England to arrest its progress, and it was mainly
through their intervention that the measure was postponed for eighteen
years. During Mr. Papineau's absence, Mr. Vallières de St. Real sat
for two sessions as Speaker. On Mr. Papineau's return he retired, and
the former gentleman was again elected. His triumph in England only
increased his own hostility and that of his party to the
Governor-in-chief in Canada.

Unquestionably there was much to provoke the Governor-in-chief who was
more or less frustrated in his efforts to conciliate, as well as in
his attempts to govern. Being reduced to comparative helplessness, His
Excellency was betrayed into actual anger, and he displayed the folly
which people usually exhibit when judgment is controlled by temper.
Thus when Mr. Papineau was next elected Speaker, the Governor so far
lost command of himself as to refuse his assent to the choice. The
transaction, which is curious as well as unique was as follows:

On Wednesday, the 20th November, 1827, the newly elected House of
Assembly met according to proclamation, and they were commanded in the
usual way to elect their Speaker. Having done so, they attended on the
following day at the bar of the Legislative Council, when Mr. Papineau
said,


     "_May it please your Excellency_,

     In obedience to your Excellency's commands, the House of
     Assembly of the Province of Lower Canada have proceeded to the
     election of a Speaker. I am the person upon whom their choice
     has fallen.

     When I consider, Sir, the arduous duties attached to that
     exalted station, and comparing my own talents and abilities to
     perform them in a manner corresponding with their dignity, I do
     most sincerely feel the inadequacy of my powers for that
     purpose, and I should in that consciousness have implored your
     Excellency not to suffer me to undertake the office, did not
     the Assembly by their once more electing me supersede my
     judgment."

This modest address neither soothed the temper nor conciliated the
respect of the Governor-in-chief, for the Speaker of the Legislative
Council, the Honorable the Chief Justice Sewell, by command of His
Excellency thereupon said,


     "_Mr. Papineau and Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly_,

     "I am commanded by His Excellency the Governor-in-chief to
     inform you, that His Excellency doth not approve the choice
     which the Assembly has made of a Speaker, and in His Majesty's
     name, His Excellency doth accordingly here disallow and
     discharge the said choice.

     And it is His Excellency's pleasure that you Gentlemen of the
     Assembly do forthwith again repair to the place where the
     sittings of the Assembly are usually held, and there make
     choice of another person to be your Speaker, and that you
     present the person who shall be so chosen to His Excellency, in
     this House, on Friday next, at two o'clock, for his
     approbation.

     And I am further directed by His Excellency to inform you
     Gentlemen of the Assembly, that as soon as a Speaker of the
     Assembly has been chosen with the approbation of the Crown, His
     Excellency will lay before you certain communications upon the
     present state of this Province, which, by His Majesty's express
     commands, he has been directed to make known to you."

Of course this act of extreme power was not likely to pass
unchallenged. Indeed it was an abuse of prerogative so flagrant and
offensive that many questioned whether it could be constitutional.
However, the members of the Assembly appeared rather to relish the
grotesque proceeding. They saw not only that their adversary had
dropped his guard, but that the advantage lay with them of
administering a blow whose force should be chiefly felt in the
violence of its recoil. Instead of rendering railing for railing, they
quietly and with marked unanimity re-asserted their own independence
by re-seating their insulted Speaker; and then, with cheerful
animation of manner, searched for precedents for His Excellency's
conduct and for theirs. They discovered at remote periods two
occasions on which sovereigns of England had resorted to similar
extremities; once in the days of the Tudors, and once in those of the
Stuarts. Thus it chanced that a transaction, which took place in the
reign of Charles the Second, served to instruct in Provincial House of
Assembly how to carry on a similar one in the reign of George the
Fourth. The late Mr. Cuvillier, who was a cool sagacious politician,
appears to have had charge of the delicate business. Five resolutions
were moved by him and adopted. The first declared that the Speaker
ought to be freely chosen. The second that Mr. Papineau had then, and
for six previous parliaments, been so chosen. The third and fourth
that the presentation of the person to His Excellency for approval was
an act of courtesy merely and not an obligation of law--and fifth that
the Assembly persisted in the choice of the person whom they had
already elected. On Mr. Papineau being again conducted to the
Speaker's chair, the minority who had opposed his re-election,
consisting of Mr. Solicitor General Ogden and Messieurs Stuart,
Christie and Young, not knowing what else to do acted with petulance
and retired from the Assembly.

An address was then adopted to His Excellency nearly in the words used
in the case of Mr. Speaker Seymour, as it is found in the Commons
Journal of the time of Charles the Second. It was sent to the Governor
by duly accredited messengers, who having delivered it, returned for
answer that His Excellency would not communicate with the House until
the day but one following. On which day a Proclamation, that had been
left on the previous evening at the residence of the Clerk of the
Legislative Council, was read proroguing the two Houses. Such was the
weak issue of an unseemly struggle. No surprise was occasioned when
Parliament again assembled in the following year that the Earl of
Dalhousie had been succeeded in the government by Sir James Kempt, and
we have no doubt that a ray of ironical triumph lighted the faces of
the assembled representatives, as His Excellency gracefully repaired
the mistake of his predecessor, by approving of the choice made by the
Assembly in electing Mr. Papineau.

Governor succeeded Governor, but the change of representatives was
unattended with any essential change of policy. Each party dwelt on
its special rights and overlooked its general duties--exaggerated its
powers and lost sight of its responsibilities. Doubtless there was
some excuse, for Parliamentary government as it is now interpreted,
was neither understood by those who advocated nor by those who opposed
it. The national party had studied English history in its fiercest
passages, and the British Constitution in its most trying struggles.
Moreover they had done so irreverently after the manner of impatient
students, and they applied it angrily like irascible professors, when
they reduced their knowledge to practice. Moreover they examined the
subject theoretically as it is described in books, but they did not
observe it practically as it is applied by statesmen. They seemed but
feebly to perceive that the three estates of our mixed monarchy are
not absolutely fashioned in cast-iron moulds, unyielding in their
forms and inflexible in their substance. They overlooked the
elasticity, the compensating powers, the balance movements, the
expanding and contracting forces by which those estates control and
regulate one another. Neither did they take sufficient account of the
traditional and hereditary elements, the custom and usage with which
their existence is intermingled. Consequently they missed so to speak
the human elements which temper and qualify the whole; the
consideration, the forbearance, the patriotism, and the common sense,
which in the English system go far towards reconciling seeming
contradictions and towards avoiding mere abstract difficulties--In
short they attached too light a value to the statesmanlike words of an
holy Apostle:--"The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life."

Matters moved on apace. The ardour of Mr. Papineau's zeal appears to
have received fresh warmth by contact with the ardour of a band of
young and enthusiastic adherents. But with the acquisition of the new
there was a declension of his old supporters. Men of greater
experience than the recruits began to inquire whitherward the policy
of passion tended, to what point they were drifting. Some of the more
aged men were thus thinking when in 1834 the celebrated ninety-two
resolutions were submitted and after debate adopted. The division list
on the question should have commanded more attention than it received
for it shewed a serious separation of the national party. But while
the number of those who seceded was insufficient to affect the general
policy of the party, it was probably enough to delay the unfortunate
issue which was raised in 1837 when in a frenzy of rage each side
appealed to the sword and one at least felt the consequences of the
act; an act which history has stigmatized as a blunder and which the
law could not do otherwise than deal with as a crime. Without
discussing what to us at least has appeared a policy of contradiction
on the part of its author we may mention that Mr. Papineau escaped to
the United States. After residing there until 1839 he went to France
where he lived for eight years. On the Queen's amnesty being
published, he returned to Canada we believe in 1847. He was shortly
afterwards elected a member of the Assembly. But it was soon observed
that while he had forgotten nothing, his countrymen had relatively
learnt more than he had during his exile. They had learned, but in a
different school, under a wiser, though perhaps a less gifted teacher,
the way to combine the two great principles of constitutional
government, loyalty to the throne and responsibility to the people,
and utilize both the peace, welfare and happiness of the state. The
embittered incidents of less happy times were gradually moving towards
the grave of perished recollections. Politic men declined to recall
them, and patriotic men cared not to dim the brightness of hope with
the vapours of memory. Contented with what the present promised, they
could speak philosophically of the past and mingle a great deal of
charity with their criticism. For the fire of adversity which had
devastated the province was also a fire of purification, and though it
destroyed much that merciful men would have spared, it destroyed more
that wise men would have got rid of; and thus it may have been that
the life of the province was saved by the blood which it lost.

It was under such circumstances when former things were passing or
had passed away, that Mr. Papineau re-appeared on the familiar stage
of public affairs. Time had dealt gently with him. His eye was
apparently undimmed, his figure unbent, and his intellect unclouded by
the encroachments of age. If, politically speaking, he had learnt
nothing new, at least he had forgotten nothing that he had learned.
The fond conceits of other days were as loyally cherished by him as if
their wisdom had not been discredited by experience and their fallacy
established by events. Thus when "the old man eloquent" swept those
chords of passion which in less happy days thrilled the hearts, fired
the imaginations, and moved the minds of men to madness, he found
either that his hand had lost its cunning or the instrument its charm,
or the audience its sympathy. The music though eloquent in persuasive
power, fell upon unheeding ears, or perchance on hearts from which the
evil spirit had been exorcised by influences which derive their
strength from deeds rather than from words. For oratory and eloquence
shrink and crumple like seared parchment in the presence of those
sublime attributes--justice and truth! When these are dispensed
without stint, those shed their spell, and fall, if not like idle
words on heedless ears, at least like a tale too often told to wearied
minds.

It is not easy to do justice to Mr. Papineau's style as a speaker.
Though in many respects his mind was, as we think, stencilled with
prejudices too curious to be intelligible, and stained with enmities
too sectional to be admired, he was, nevertheless, no ordinary
exponent of sublime principles. His thoughts on most subjects were
fervent in their heat, and glittering in their imagery. They flowed
majestically with the river of his speech, and they seemed, in the
variety of their appearances, to possess the qualities and
characteristics of a beautiful stream. There were depths and shallows,
brightness and rapidity, placidity and violence--all the changes which
mark the rush and saunter of water to the sea. Not only was his style
of speaking continuous and attractive, argumentative and declamatory,
it was separately complete. Each sentence was apparently constructed
with care; each word had its weight, each syllable its accentuation;
for Mr. Papineau seemed to heed what, unfortunately, too many persons
disregard, the exact mechanism of speech, the particular process by
which sounds are caught and language is conveyed.

Some men, in the words of Burke, "love agitation when there is cause
for it." Others like it from the force of habit, whether there is
cause for it or not. They cherish it for its own sake. The exertion of
ringing the alarm bell exhilarates, and the monotony of the tom-tom
soothes them. Thus noises which once represented work are relished as
a pleasant recollection, when the occasion for such noises has passed
away. Quiet is insupportable to those who have been nourished on
excitement. Mr. Papineau possessed all the qualities of an agitator of
the highest type, and such qualities had, as it were, been consecrated
by the habit of years. Since there was a cause, agitation was
congenial to him, and became, as it were, a part of his necessary
food. Yet, like other agitators, he was as frequently impelled by
feeling as by reason; more inclined to destroy than to create, more
careful to produce an impression than studious of the means by which
it was to be effected. It was not, therefore, surprising when the time
for serious action arrived, when physical was to be substituted for
moral force, that his judgment wavered, and his conduct failed. He was
brought face to face with the issue of blood, and he had no power to
stay its effusion. He then discovered his inability to control the
storm, much less to direct it to the point which he had proposed to
himself. He was unequal to the duty of protecting those who had
trusted to his lead, and whom he at least would not wantonly have
exposed to harm. We shall not permit ourselves to discuss the
disquieting question raised on one side by the late Dr. Wolfred
Nelson, and answered on the other by the Honorable Mr. Dessaulles, as
to the party especially responsible for the outbreak in 1837-8. No
advantage can attend the revival of such a discussion, and no
arguments will remove the impression that, happily for the country,
and for Mr. Papineau's countrymen, "somebody blundered."

With the departure of his influence, Mr. Papineau felt that his
occupation in parliament was gone. After 1854, he did not present
himself for re-election; but he sought, in the quiet of his seigniory
of La Petite Nation, situated on the banks of the Ottawa, the border
line between the old provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, a befitting
anchorage and a congenial home. There in the serenity of a green old
age, amidst the companionship of his books, the silent friendships of
wise experience, or the official chronicles of his public career;
after the manner of an old philosopher, he may often meditate on the
fluctuation of opinion in its relation to the chances and changes of
his eventful life, a life that included many controversies, imminent
forfeitures, and perilous risks. Though, on some distant day that life
shall have passed away, the incidents of it will remain, to be
analysed by the critic or discussed by the sage, but with what result
it were idle to speculate now. All that need be said is that his name,
for he was an enthusiast, will serve to point a moral, and his
history, for he was a fanatic, will help to adorn a tale. But though
both will be searched for in the muster roll of patriots, they will
less easily be found in the chronicles of statesmen.




[Illustration]


     THE HONORABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND JOHN STRACHAN, D.D., LL.D.,

                       LORD BISHOP OF TORONTO.


     "I will tell you," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Foster, referring to
     tho election of the Duke of Wellington as Chancellor of the
     University of Oxford, "what charmed me very much when I left
     the theatre, and was trying to get into my carriage; one man in
     the crowd shouted out, "There is old Eldon, cheer him, for he
     never ratted." I was very much delighted, for I never did rat.
     I will not say I have been right through life. I may have been
     wrong. But I will say I have been consistent."--_Public and
     Private Life of_ LORD CHANCELLOR ELDON, _by Horace Twiss, Esq._

There were very few persons in Canada who would not for the same
reason have given a cheer for the Bishop of Toronto. Not that they
wholly disbelieved the story of his early leanings towards the Scotch
Establishment; or, being Presbyterians, forgave his final preference
for the English Church; not that they sympathized with the grandeur,
or regretted the failure of his most cherished endeavors, but they
remembered how consistent and free from guile those endeavors had
been, with what ingenuousness and singleness of purpose he had labored
for what he believed to be right; and how conspicuously such labors
were marked with the sterling virtues of truth, courage, and
endurance. People who disliked his style, and took exception to his
manner, who could not concur with him in his opinions, or co-operate
with him in his policy, nevertheless acknowledged the fascination of
his character, and felt their hearts drawn with boyish sympathy
towards him, not only because he "never ratted," but because, like a
knight of a chivalrous order, he neither stooped to parley nor
listened to compromise; neither calculated the forces that were
opposed to him, nor counted the cost of defeat; but indifferent alike
to the odds or the issue, he closed fairly with the adversary,
prepared if need be, to accept the loss of all things for a cause he
was anxious to defend but not willing to betray. Though a vesture of
humility, his cassock covered as brave a heart as ever beat beneath a
breast plate; for he was in fact a "soldier" as well as a "servant of
Christ's church militant here upon earth;" the church which, according
to his belief, was by human law as well as Divine appointment,
established in the land--the church of his Sovereign and of his own
choice, whose beneficent influence, like a goodly cedar tree, should,
in his judgment, be fostered with care that it might overspread the
land with blessing.

The minds and affections of generous men, irrespective of party,
country, or creed, instinctively warm towards what is thorough in
character and heroic in conduct, and hence, many who opposed him
politically, and differed from him theologically, felt that human
nature itself was exalted in his person; for whatever the
peculiarities of his education, the infirmities of his judgment, or
the errors of his opinion, he was a fair and courageous, as well as a
high minded and inflexible opponent. Men knew where to look for and
where to find him. He took no tortuous course, for he detested all
crooked ways. Like Henry of Navarre, he was distinguished by the color
in his crest, and by his place in the battle; and he never sullied the
one nor slunk from the other. For nearly three-score years his banner
flag was blazoned with the same scroll, and illumined with the same
letters. Two words, _semper idem_, described his character. In the
sentiment those words expressed, and the conduct they inspired, was to
be found the key note of the complimentary cheer which soothed "old
Eldon," and which, for the same reason, might have gladdened the heart
of the Bishop of Toronto; for the Canadian prelate, like the English
peer, had "never ratted."

Unfortunately we have no space for the detailed narrative of a
historian. We can only find time for the condensed sketch of a
reviewer. Some other hand will, we hope, obtain access to materials
which are not within our reach, and, at a later day, supply what we
are compelled to omit. We know not whether the Bishop was an exact
journalist; much less do we know whether any autobiographical notes,
beyond those which may be found in his triennial charges, exist of his
own life and times. Such memoirs should possess more than a common
value; they would not only be coëval with the history of Upper Canada,
but they would represent the calm, thoughtful, and mature observations
of a very acute observer, of one who, as a divine and a politician, as
a teacher, and a statesman, stands by himself, distinct and
distinguishable in the gallery of Canadian worthies.

The Rev. Canon Dixon, of St. Catherines, in his touching sermon on the
death of the Bishop, mentions a circumstance, noticed also by Dr.
Melville in his interesting history of the "Rise and Progress of
Trinity College, Toronto," which has too commonly been overlooked. The
Bishop's mother, it would appear, was a member of what Sir Walter
Scott called "the suffering and Episcopal Church of Scotland," and her
son in his early youth was brought up in the faith, and according to
the formularies of that church. Such teaching bore fruit after many
days, but it did not seem to give much promise at the time, for a
saying is still quoted in Presbyterian circles at Montreal, to the
effect that, in early life, Mr. Strachan was accustomed to observe
that he did not care to go to church till "read prayers" were over.
Episcopacy in Scotland was at that day, and to some extent is still,
under a bann, for Prince Charles Edward, the heir of the Stuarts, then
lived, nor was it until after his death in 1788, that the old
Episcopalians of that country, who, for the most part, were
non-jurors, would read prayers for the reigning family of Hanover. Mr.
Strachan's parents (the name, by the way, seems to have been derived
from, and was probably a corruption of, Strathaen, or the "Valley of
the Aen"), resided at Aberdeen, where he was born on the 12th April,
1778. The time is noteworthy, for it was two months after France had
recognized the independence of the thirteen rebellious Provinces in
America, and had promised the material aid which contributed mainly to
bring that event about. The success of the rebellion was closely
followed by the exile and dispersion of the North American Loyalists,
and their partial settlement in Canada. Such men, representing the
best blood of America, were among the earliest and most steadfast of
those dear friends whom Mr. Strachan won and never lost. Their
opinions, as well as their aversions, very materially influenced his,
for, like them, he was a royalist, on whose broad brow, to use Colonel
Coffin's striking metaphor, the "Tower mark of stirling was indelibly
engraved." Like them, too, loyalty with him was a passion as well as a
sentiment--a resolve as well as a duty. He cherished a monarchical and
loathed a republican form of government. Could he have persuaded men
to think as he thought, then would he have established "in every
church a bishop, and in every state a king." In the language of James
Montgomery, he might with as much fervor have said of his adopted,
what the poet said of his native country:

      I love Thee:--next to Heaven above,
    Land of my Fathers! _thee_ I love;
    And rail thy slanderers as they will,
    "With all thy _faults_, I love Thee" still:

Though in narrow circumstances, and comparatively humble position, Mr.
Strachan's father and mother were high-minded and sagacious people,
thoroughly imbued with the national sentiment of the value of
education, which they spared no pains to impress on the mind of their
son. How earnestly, and under what difficulties that son followed
their counsel, it were more easy to conjecture than to describe, more
convenient to envy than to imitate. The result will be best told in
the Bishop's language:--

     "In 1796, having finished my terms at King's College, Aberdeen,
     and proceeded to the Master's degree, I removed to the vicinity
     of St. Andrews, and while there I contracted several important
     and lasting friendships, amongst others, with Thomas Duncan,
     afterwards Professor of Mathematics, and also with Dr.
     Chalmers, since then so deservedly renowned. We were all then
     very nearly of the same age, and our friendship only terminated
     with death, being kept alive by a constant correspondence
     during more than sixty years. After leaving St. Andrews I was
     for a time employed in private tuition, but having a mother and
     two sisters in a great degree dependent on my exertion, I
     applied for the parochial school of Kettle, in the county of
     Fife, and obtained it by public competition."

This ordeal represented one of the turning points of his life. Small
of stature, boyish in appearance, for the ruddy flush of youth had not
forsaken his cheeks, and nineteen years of age, he found himself in a
room, with forty-nine others, competitors for the mastership of the
parish school at Kettle. The chances did not appear promising, but the
indomitable pluck and perseverance which befriended him through life
then assumed those forms of persistent resolve which constantly shewed
themselves in his career. With Lord Brougham, he seems to have
regarded the word "impossible" as the mother tongue of little souls,
for his determination of character was commonly expressed in the
emphatic and well remembered words uttered, we need scarcely add, in
his much cherished but inimitable Aberdeen accent, which we can
neither speak nor spell, "I never give up." He did not "give up,"
then. On the contrary, he seemed from the first to bend men and events
to his will, and though he could not at all times command the success
he then achieved, he at least made great efforts to deserve it. The
examiners declared his to be the best papers, and him as a matter of
course the successful candidate. When the stripling made his bow and
claimed his prize, the elders who were assembled to bestow it, were
dismayed at his youthful aspect. Indeed they would have re-considered
the decision with a view to escape from its obligations, had not one
of their number, a writer to the signet, shrewdly suggested that such
a proceeding might expose them to the perils of a law suit; on that
account he suggested it would be safer for themselves, as well as
fairer to the lad, to keep to their contract; adding by way of
encouragement, that should Mr. Strachan be found unequal to the duties
they would be at liberty to dismiss him. Under such circumstances the
young schoolmaster took his place as the teacher of one hundred and
twenty-seven boys, some of whom were older and many were taller than
himself. We shall again quote the Bishop's words:

     "And here at the age of nineteen, I made my first essay in the
     great field of educational labor, commencing my career with a
     deeply rooted love for the cause, and with something of a
     foreknowledge of that success which has since crowned my
     efforts. It was my practice to study and note the character and
     capacity of my pupils as they entered the school, and to this
     discrimination, which gave correctness to my judgment, many owe
     the success which they ultimately achieved. Among my pupils at
     that time was Sir David Wilkie, since so well known as one of
     the first painters of the age. I very soon perceived Wilkie's
     great genius, and with much difficulty prevailed with his uncle
     to send him, still very young, to the celebrated Raeburn, then
     enjoying the highest reputation in Scotland. It is pleasing to
     remark, that after an interval of perhaps thirty years, the
     preceptor and scholar met in London, and renewed an intimacy so
     profitable to one and so honorable to both. They attended the
     meeting of the British Association at Birmingham together, and
     saw much of one another during my short stay in England. Often
     did Sir David Wilkie, at the height of his fame, declare that
     he owed every thing to his Reverend teacher, and that but for
     his interference he must have remained in obscurity. Commodore
     Robert Barclay, afterwards so unfortunate on Lake Erie, from
     causes over which he had no control, was another of my pupils.
     He was a youth of the brightest promise, and often have I said
     in my heart that he possessed qualities which fitted him to be
     another Nelson, had the way opened for such a consummation.
     While at St. Andrews, the Reverend James Brown, one of the
     acting Professors of the University, a gentleman of vast
     scientific attainments, became so exceedingly attached to me as
     to take me under his kind protection. After some time he was
     advanced to the chair of Natural Philosophy in the University
     of Glasgow, to which place he removed. Still interested in my
     welfare, he proposed to me to become his attending assistant,
     to prepare and make the experiments necessary for the
     illustration of his lectures, and in his absence from infirm
     health, which was not unfrequent, to read his prelections, and
     discharge such of his duties in the lecture room as I was
     qualified to undertake. But difficulties intervened to prevent
     this arrangement from being carried out when almost completed,
     and Dr. Brown was, as he intimated to me, reluctantly induced
     to retire on a pension. But our mutual attachment continued
     through life. This to me was a very bitter disappointment. A
     career of honorable usefulness had been opened in a way after
     my own heart, and it was in a moment destroyed. But I was not
     overwhelmed, for God had in his goodness given me a cheerful
     spirit of endurance, and a sanguine disposition as to the
     future, which it was not easy to depress, and a kind
     Providence, even before I had altogether recovered the shock,
     presented to me an opportunity of removing to another sphere of
     activity, and in the frame of mind in which I found myself, I
     was the more disposed to accept employment in Canada."

For three years before and during the time when Mr. Strachan was
teaching the parish school at Kettle, some noteworthy events were in
progress in Canada which were destined to give shape to his opinions
as well as to his career, but of which he then probably knew nothing.
Ten thousand United Empire Loyalists had obtained the King's license
to settle in the Western portion of the old province of Quebec. For
them, if not at their instance, that province was separated into the
provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, with distinct governments and
distinguishing laws. The thoughtful minds of England in church and
state endeavored to extract lessons of wisdom from adversity, and
apply them anew to the vexed problem of colonial government in the
infant province of Upper Canada. Unlike some of the older plantations
in America which had been used as coverts for outlaws and
penitentiaries for felons, Upper Canada, if not the theatre of a
poetical trust, was at all events the special allotment of a
praiseworthy destiny. At the outset the province was to be peopled by
men on whose characters the soil of crime had not rested, by men whom
virtue had ennobled, who had surrendered possessions for a sentiment,
and had suffered the loss of all things for the cause of their prince
and their flag. Neither were the king and parliament of that day
disposed to regard such sacrifices with indifference; on the contrary,
they honored the weakness of a patriotic affection, and did what they
could to treat it with respect. Statesmen did not accustom themselves
to sneer at the exuberant loyalty of the Canadian people, or complain
of being embarrassed by its demonstrative qualities. Dire experience
had taught them that the absence of that sentiment in the old colonies
had been followed by disaster, and that therefore the presence of it
in the new ones should be fostered as the condition of safety. Thus
was it that an exuberant loyalty was not only tolerated as a passion,
but was treated as a virtue. To utilize such loyalty and give
stability to the monarchical principles which it represented, the
constitutional act, as it was termed, was passed, and His Excellency
Major-General Simcoe, as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
Canada, was charged with the duty of giving force to its provisions.

In his opening speech to the Parliament of Upper Canada made at
Newark, now Niagara, on the 17th September, 1792, His Excellency
amongst other things said:

     _Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen
     of the House of Assembly_,

     I have summoned you together under the authority of an Act of
     the Parliament of Great Britain, passed in the last year, and
     which has established the British Constitution, and also the
     forms which secure and maintain it, in this distant country.
     The wisdom and beneficence of our Most Gracious Sovereign and
     the British Parliament, have been eminently proved, not only in
     imparting to us the same form of government, but also in
     securing the benefit of the many provisions that guard this
     memorable act, so that the blessings of our invaluable
     Constitution, thus protected and amplified, we hope will be
     extended to the remotest posterity.

In closing the same session, on the 15th of the following month, His
Excellency said:--


     _Honorable Gentlemen and Gentlemen_,

     I cannot dismiss you without earnestly desiring you to promote,
     by precept and example, among your respective Counties, the
     regular habits of piety and morality, the surest foundations of
     all private and public felicity; and at this juncture I
     particularly recommend to you to explain that this Province is
     singularly blessed, not with a mutilated Constitution, but with
     a Constitution which has stood the test of experience, and is
     the very image and transcript of that of Great Britain, by
     which she has long established and secured to her subjects as
     much freedom and happiness as is possible to be enjoyed under
     the subordination necessary to civilized society.

In 1793, the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada were erected into
a distinct See, and on the 13th of November of that year, the Right
Reverend Jacob Mountain, D.D., arrived in Canada, having previously
been created Bishop of Quebec. In 1795 that Prelate was summoned to
the Executive and Legislative Councils of Lower Canada, and on the
25th January, 1796, Lord Dorchester advised Governor Simcoe that His
Majesty had been pleased, under royal mandamus, to appoint "the Right
Reverend Father in God, Jacob, Bishop of Quebec and its dependencies,
to be of the Executive Council in the Province of Upper Canada." No
special explanation accompanied the order, but the student of English
constitutional history will have little difficulty in discovering a
reason for the proceeding in the analogous practice of the mother
country, where the senior Bishop of England, who is, of course, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, by ancient and prescriptive right is
entitled to be present at all meetings of the Privy Council,
irrespective of the consideration whether such meetings are
confidential or otherwise. It is therefore probable that the authors
of the Act of 1791, as well as those who were commissioned to carry
out its provisions, were desirous that the spiritual element should
not be absent from a form of government which was said to be "the very
image and transcript of that of Great Britain."

To make the constitution symmetrical, if not perfect in its
resemblance, the missing part was supplied, and hence it came about
that the church and state in Canada, as in England, were represented
in the same government. This practical commentary, taken in connection
with the words of the constitutional act, with the words of the
coronation oath, and with the debates which took place in Parliament
at the time, gave color to their opinions, who asserted that the "very
image and transcript" of the British Constitution included the Church
of England as truly as it did the law of England. How far such
opinions were accurate, is no part of our business to enquire, but
such, and kindred incidents, should be steadily borne in mind, if we
would fairly appreciate the character and conduct of the late Bishop
of Toronto; for the faults of his life, and the fame of his life, are
in no small degree traceable to the interpretation he attached to
those incidents.

On the 20th July, 1796, Governor Simcoe, in a despatch to the Duke of
Portland, recommended that the sevenths of the Crown lands should be
sold for public purposes: "the first and chief of which I beg to
offer, with all respect and deference to your Grace, must be the
erection and endowment of an University from which more than from any
other service or circumstance whatsoever, a grateful attachment to His
Majesty's government, morality and religion will be fostered, and take
root throughout the whole Province."

We have no means of knowing what answer was returned to the foregoing
recommendation, but that it was favorably entertained we may fairly
assume from the Bishop's narrative which we now continue:

     Among the many schemes contemplated by General Simcoe, for the
     benefit of the province, was that of establishing Grammar
     schools in every district, and a University at their head, at
     the seat of Government.

     Anxious to complete, as soon as possible, so beneficial an
     object, the Governor gave authority to the late Honorable
     Richard Cartwright and the Honorable Robert Hamilton, to
     procure a gentleman from Scotland to organize and take charge
     of such College or University. These gentlemen, whose memories
     are still dear to the province, applied to their friends in St.
     Andrew's, who offered the appointment first to Mr. Duncan, then
     to Mr. Chalmers, neither of whom were yet much known, but both
     declined. Overtures were then made to me, and, suffering
     severely under my recent disappointment, I was induced, after
     some hesitation, to accept the appointment.

     I sailed from Greenock towards the end of August, 1799, under
     convoy; but such was then the wretched state of navigation,
     that I did not reach Kingston by the way of New York and
     Montreal, till the last day of the year 1799, much fatigued in
     body and not a little disappointed at the desolate appearance
     of the country being, throughout, one sheet of snow. But a new
     and still more severe trial awaited me. I was informed that
     Governor Simcoe had some time before returned to England, but
     of which I had received no information, and that the intention
     of establishing the projected University had been postponed. I
     was deeply moved and cast down, and had I possessed the means,
     I would have instantly returned to Scotland. A more lonely or
     destitute condition can scarcely be conceived. My reasonable
     expectations were cruelly blighted, a lonely stranger in a
     foreign land, without any resources or a single acquaintance.
     But my return was next to impossible, and it was more wisely
     ordered. Mr. Cartwright, to whom I had been specially
     recommended, came to my assistance, and sympathized deeply and
     sincerely in this, to me, unexpected calamity, and after a
     short space of time proposed a temporary remedy. My case, he
     acknowledged, was most trying, but not altogether hopeless, and
     he submitted to me an arrangement which might be deemed only
     temporary, or lasting, as future events should direct. Take
     charge, said he, of my four sons and a select number of pupils,
     during three years; this will provide you with honorable
     employment and a fair remuneration, and if, at the expiration
     of that period the country does not present a reasonable
     prospect of advancement, you might return to Scotland with
     credit. He further added that he did not think the plan of the
     Grammar schools and University altogether desperate, although
     it might take longer time to establish them than might be
     convenient or agreeable. In my position there was no
     alternative but to acquiesce, and I was soon enabled to return
     to a healthy cheerfulness, and to meet some difficulties with
     fortitude and resignation. In the meantime, a strong attachment
     grew up between me and Mr. Cartwright, whom I found to be a man
     of great capacity and intelligence, of the strictest honor and
     integrity, and moreover a sincere Churchman from conviction,
     after deep inquiry and research. A similarity of feelings and
     tastes tended to strengthen and confirm our mutual regard,
     which at length ripened into a warm friendship, which continued
     without the slightest change or abatement till we were
     separated by death. I was left the guardian of his children,
     the highest and most precious proof of confidence that he could
     have conferred upon me, and I feel happy in saying that under
     my guardianship they became worthy of their excellent father.
     At Kingston, I formed other friendships, especially with the
     Rev. Dr. Stuart, the rector of the parish, and the Bishop's
     commissary for Upper Canada; a gentleman whose sound judgment,
     sagacity, and other high mental qualities were rendered more
     useful and attractive, by his kind and courteous demeanor, and
     a playful wit which seemed inexhaustible. From this gentleman,
     I received the most affectionate and parental attention and
     advice from the day of our first interview, and our friendly
     intercourse continued ever after without interruption. At Dr.
     Stuart's suggestion, I devoted all my leisure time during the
     three years of my engagement with Mr. Cartwright, to the study
     of Divinity, with a view of entering the Church at its
     expiration. Accordingly, on the second day of May, 1803, I was
     ordained Deacon, by the Right Reverend Dr. Mountain, the first
     Protestant Bishop of Quebec; and on the third day of June,
     1804, I was admitted by the same Prelate into the holy order of
     Priests, and appointed to the mission of Cornwall.

The opinion which the Bishop of Quebec had formed of the newly
ordained Deacon was sagaciously conveyed by that Prelate to the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts, as the
following note, which is extracted from the minutes of the proceedings
of that Society, will more clearly shew:

     "The Mission of Cornwall has been filled up by a Mr. Strachan,
     whom the Bishop ordained for that purpose, having been first
     mentioned to the Bishop by Governor Hunter, as desiring to
     obtain Holy Orders in the Church of England, and afterwards
     recommended by Mr. Cartwright, a member of the Legislative and
     Executive Councils, by Dr. Stuart, by Mr. Chief Justice
     Elmsley, and by many other gentlemen worthy of great regard and
     respect. And the Bishop further adds that upon examination he
     was so well satisfied with respect to Mr. Strachan's
     principles, attainments, conversation and demeanor, that he
     must confess that he shall be more than commonly disappointed
     if he do not become a very useful and respectable Minister."

Clergymen, often observe, what indeed laymen have much reason to
notice, that what are termed distinctive church principles were less
dwelt on seventy years ago than they are now; and this fact being
connected with the common belief at the time that the Church of
England was established by law in Canada may have done much towards
giving the direction which Mr. Strachan's ecclesiastical career was
destined to take. Old-fashioned members of the Church of Scotland had
an intense repugnance to being accounted dissenters. Rather than incur
such contumely or take their station in the outer court when they
might stand within the temple itself, it was by no means an unusual
circumstance for Scotsmen resident in England to conform to the
established church of that country. A native of Dundee, residing in
London, said in the hearing of the writer: "I like my religion to rest
upon a law basis. In Scotland I go to the established church, and in
England I go to the established church, and for the same reason in
both countries, because they are established." In like manner a native
of Aberdeen resident in Canada might not have been insensible to
similar considerations. If he intended to take holy orders he would
not at that day have been indifferent to the important contingency
whether by so doing he would become a minister of a church by law
established, or a preacher of a sect by custom tolerated. Change of
opinion, if it really took place, formed no exception in the case of
Mr. Strachan to the rule which commonly governs all such changes; that
is to say, it was gradual but progressive, unobtrusive but
continuous, where controversy was rather avoided than sought for, and
conviction, like conversion, was a process rather than a surprise.
Luther at the outset of his career made but slow progress towards
those opinions which rendered his later life illustrious, nevertheless
the fact that he had but partially ascertained the ground work of his
new opinions did not prevent his building in what he had ascertained.
Doctrinal disquisitions were then, more generally than they are now,
regarded by English people as the especial property of the spiritual
order with which the laity had but little to do. Read by the light of
some contemporary memoirs, such exercises seem to have been regarded
as theological gymnastics, possibly requisite for the mental health of
the clergy, but of no moral worth to the generality of the laity.
Simple country folk declined to disquiet themselves with subtleties;
they were content according to their capacity to believe those things
which a christian ought to know, and they illustrated their belief by
the duty of "holy living" as the prime requisite to "holy dying."
Moreover the earnest men of that day were called upon to engage in
other controversies than those which turned on distinguishing Church
principles. They had to take up the challenge of infidelity, and
wrestle with the aggressive forms of unbelief which showed themselves
at the end of the last and at the beginning of the present century.
This duty with respect to a common danger had a tendency to bring
together the religious elements of the community, and to unite them
for certain purposes in the bonds of a conventional brotherhood. Thus
the settlers in Canada, whether Episcopalians or Presbyterians,
learned to respect one another, and many of them having, in the spirit
of gentleness rather than of controversy, compared notes, began to see
the common advantage of ecclesiastical union, and from that time some
of the latter became earnest members of the Anglican Church. Let us
again listen to the Bishop's words:

     On entering upon the discharge of the duties of my ministry, I
     adopted the rule enjoined on Timothy by St. Paul, to avoid
     needless discussions on religious subjects, and never to
     forget that I was sent to proclaim and to teach the Gospel of
     our Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Therefore, when any
     came who manifested a sincere desire to know the truth, it was
     my duty, as it was my joy, to encourage and assist them in
     their enquiries; but if they came merely to dispute and wrangle
     for the sake of victory, I refused to indulge them. By such a
     course, I gradually acquired authority, and, notwithstanding my
     youth and inexperience, I was able to repress superciliousness
     and to expose ignorance. In the meantime, my walk and
     conversation and friendly bearing to all around me, increased
     my influence, not only with the young, but with the elderly
     part of the congregation. Moreover, I endeavored to be on all
     occasions prepared to give an answer with reverence to everyone
     of my parishioners, who asked me for a reason of the hope that
     was in me. With this view, I made the study of the Holy
     Scriptures, from which all the formularies of our Church are
     drawn, my daily practice; and after no little enquiry, found
     her Book of Common Prayer, her Creeds, her Thirty-nine
     Articles, her ministration of the Holy Sacraments and her other
     minor offices, in marvellous harmony one with the other. This
     conviction set my mind at rest, and enabled me at all times to
     speak with the boldness of conviction in favor of our beloved
     Church, and with an inward satisfaction and firmness of purpose
     which, under the Divine blessing, has never changed.
     Notwithstanding my careful preparation and my knowledge from
     personal intercourse that my people were kindly disposed
     towards me, I felt exceedingly agitated on preaching my first
     sermon. Looking at my audience, I was deeply struck with my own
     weak and slender attainments, and the awful responsibility I
     had assumed, and from which there could be no retreat. I was
     now, in the providence of God, occupying a station, if
     faithfully employed, of great social and religious influence,
     and of vast consequence both to myself and my people; and if it
     should happen the same congregation, or any member thereof, to
     take any hurt or hindrance by reason of my negligence, I knew
     the greatness of the fault, and also the horrible punishment
     that would ensue. More than fifty-seven years have passed away
     since that sermon was preached, and I still behold in the book
     of remembrance the whole of that scene as if it were yesterday,
     and I am at times even yet similarly affected. My congregation
     in Cornwall was, at first, very small, and confined to the
     village and neighborhood, consequently my clerical duties were
     so little burthensome as to leave me much leisure time. Thus
     situated, I was induced to listen to the solicitations of the
     parents of some of my pupils, who had not finished their
     studies at Kingston, to continue them at my new mission, and
     also to the urgent entreaties of many from Lower as well as
     Upper Canada, to admit their sons to the same privilege,
     because there was at that time no seminary in the country where
     the Protestant youth could obtain a liberal education. I spent
     nine years very happily at Cornwall; my time was fully, and on
     the whole, usefully and pleasantly occupied. My congregation
     gradually increased, and the communicants multiplied year by
     year. I sought recreation, occasionally, from what I called
     missionary excursions. I considered my parish to extend as far
     as Brockville, about sixty miles, and within this area I made
     from time to time, as my avocations admitted, appointments for
     divine worship, and for the administration of the sacraments.
     These services were delightful to myself, and gratifying to the
     people scattered through the wilderness. Hundreds are still
     alive who were baptized at these appointments, and many a
     mother's heart was filled with joy in beholding her child made
     a "member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the
     kingdom of heaven."

The Venerable Archdeacon Fuller in a sermon preached on the 10th of
November, 1867, at St. George's Church, Toronto, on the occasion of
the Bishop's death, says: "Having the charge of the parish of
Cornwall, he (the Bishop) had to visit a good deal among his
parishioners besides having to prepare his sermons for Sunday. He had
also to study every night quite as hard as the boys, "for I was not,"
as the Bishop elsewhere observed of himself, "much in advance of the
highest class in school. Those duties demanded sixteen hours every
day, and yet those nine years were the happiest years of my life." To
be sure, the nine years included an event of personal interest, the
prospect of which very commonly exerts an exhilarating influence on
the mind, and the realization of which is not unattended with
important results to the estates of men. The young clergyman's conduct
was worthy alike of praise and of imitation, for, if there be truth in
local traditions, he shewed his taste by marrying the prettiest, his
prudence by marrying the richest, and his good judgment by marrying
one of the nicest young gentlewomen in the old town of Cornwall. The
event took place in 1807, and the lady was Ann, a daughter of George
Thompson Wood, Esq., M.D., a retired surgeon of the army, and the
relict of Andrew McGill, Esq. Mrs. Strachan, by whom he had a numerous
family, died only a few months before the Bishop. In the same year,
1807, the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by the University of
St. Andrews, and that of D.D. by the University of Aberdeen. Though we
anticipate the course of our narrative, we may here note that in 1812,
he was appointed Rector of York; in 1827, Archdeacon of York; and in
1839, Bishop of Toronto.

The Cornwall school became a notable one. All who desired their sons
to receive their education from a Protestant teacher, and could afford
the expense, sent them to the Rev. John Strachan, D.D. The roll of the
school included such names as Sir James Stuart and his more gifted
brother Andrew; Chief Justice Sir J. B. Robinson and his brother, the
Hon. William B. Robinson; Chief Justice Sir J. B. Macaulay, Chief
Justice McLean, Justice Jonas Jones and his brother Charles, the Dean
of Montreal, and his brother, the present Bishop of Toronto. The
Honorable Henry John Boulton, and his brother, the Honorable George
Strange Boulton, Colonel Vankoughnet, Donald Æneas MacDonell, the Rev.
Wm. Macaulay, Mr. Soloman Chesley, and many others, who have reflected
honor on the country. Of his qualifications as a teacher, Archdeacon
Fuller, one of his "Toronto boys," says:

     "The Bishop had a great faculty not only for attaching his
     scholars to him, but also for inducing them to apply themselves
     most assiduously to their studies. He told me that he made it a
     rule, during the time he kept school, to watch closely every
     new boy, and at the end of a fortnight, to note down in a book
     his estimate of the boys who had passed through his hands. He
     had a remarkable talent for interesting boys in their work;
     and, by taking a deep interest in it himself, he led them to do
     the same. He was very original in many of his plans for
     promoting the good of his school. Amongst others, which I never
     met with elsewhere, was one of making the boys question one
     another on certain of their lessons. This made the boys quick
     at seizing on the leading points in the lessons, ready at
     shaping questions, and deeply interested in the questions and
     answers. The Bishop took as deep an interest in the questioning
     and answering of the boys as they did themselves; and thus this
     plan, whilst it was of great service to the boys in various
     ways, tended strongly to bind master and scholars together. He
     was never afraid of having his dignity lowered by liberties
     taken with him, and he always felt every confidence in his
     position and entered warmly and personally into many of the
     boys' amusements, and thus gained an immense influence over
     them. The influence over his pupils has been shown in the fact,
     that almost all of them embraced his principles; and the love
     and affection for him of his celebrated Cornwall school was
     shown many years ago, when the surviving members thereof
     presented him with a most beautiful and costly candelabra. Nor
     did his more recent scholars entertain less affection for him,
     though they never proved it so substantially as did those of
     his Cornwall school."

Of the Cornwall scholars few survive.--The "oldest boy" is probably
the present Dean of Montreal, now eighty years of age. His veneration
for his old master has known neither change nor abatement, and it was
a pleasing sight to see the two dignitaries, a few years since,
walking arm in arm within the cathedral close of Montreal, for it
showed that the wine of friendship had not spoiled by age. It was on
the occasion of that visit that the photograph was taken which
precedes this sketch.

The period of his residence at Cornwall was not only the happiest, it
was especially the poetic period of the Bishop's life. We have been
informed that he was a facile writer of verse, and that some of his
poetical compositions, in the form of odes and songs, are still
extant. The Dean of Montreal, in a letter lately addressed by him to
the writer, observes "the Bishop certainly wrote quite a number of
fugitive pieces, such as prologues and epilogues, for his annual
school exhibitions; also prose pieces, and even debates for the same
occasions." But though a ready rhymer and a lover of song, Dr.
Strachan was not suspected of a very intimate acquaintance with music.
It was, for example, his constant habit to whistle in a low soothing
way as he walked; but like the droning of an imbecile bagpipe, or of a
sleepy child, his notes indicated rather a tuneless sense of happiness
than a tuneful expression of melody. Some people persuaded themselves
that they could detect in those notes the air of a familiar song, but
we incline to think they knew as little of the tune which they
affected to be acquainted with, as the whistler did of the words to
which it was set. It is one thing to write songs and another to sing
them; for poets are not necessarily musicians. That he wrote the
former we have little doubt, but we have never heard that he attempted
the latter. Indeed his general character discourages such belief, for
it was not his habit to undertake what he had not the ability to
perform.

A new page in his life was about to open. The war of 1812 had broken
out. That heroic soldier, Major General Sir Isaac Brock, not only had
a bold man's appreciation of a brave man, but he also possessed a
statesman's perception of a useful man. There was a dearth of
intellectual culture in the country at the time, for there were few
persons who had enjoyed the advantage of an education equal to that
which was imparted at the Cornwall school; thus the master of that
school, though neither a very learned man nor a very ripe scholar, was
by comparison and in virtue of his position looked upon as a kind of
local encyclopædia of wisdom and culture. It is true that soldiers
were chiefly necessary, but the General was not unaware of the fact
that the sword could be sharpened with the pen, and that a good cause
might be greatly aided by a good commentator; by one who, like a
minstrel of the earlier days, could stir the hearts through the minds
of men. Hence, at the instance of Sir Isaac Brock, Dr. Strachan was
transferred from Cornwall to York, now Toronto, in succession to his
friend, M. Stuart, who was appointed to the town of Kingston. The
qualities of pluck and resoluteness which distinguished the former
through life, received more than one illustration during the
continuance and after the close of the war. Dr. Fuller mentions the
following amusing incident:

     On his way up the St. Lawrence in a small vessel, which
     contained his family and all his worldly goods, the courage of
     the late Bishop was put to the test. A vessel hove in sight,
     which the Captain supposed to be an American armed schooner,
     and it being during the war with the United States, he became
     alarmed, and came down to Dr. Strachan into the little cabin,
     and consulted with him about surrendering his craft to the
     enemy. The Doctor enquired of him if he had any means of
     defence, and ascertaining that he had a four-pounder on board,
     and a few muskets, he insisted on the Captain defending his
     vessel; but to no purpose, as he was entirely overcome by fear.
     The Doctor finding that he could not induce the Captain to
     defend his vessel, told him to intrust the defence of it to
     him, and to stay with the family in the cabin. This proposition
     was gladly acceded to by the Captain, and the future Bishop
     mounted "the companion way" fully determined to defend the
     little craft to the utmost of his power, but (as he remarked
     when detailing this incident to me some years ago,)
     "fortunately for me, the schooner bearing down upon us proved
     to be a Canadian schooner--not an American--for the
     four-pounder was fastened to the deck, and it pointed to the
     starboard, whereas the schooner came to us on the larboard
     bow!"

On his arrival at York he laid himself out for work. He was chiefly
instrumental in establishing "the loyal and patriotic society," and
was for many years its chief almoner. This charitable institution, it
was said, did as much towards the defence of the province as half a
dozen regiments. At the battle of York, the "little Rector" seems to
have combined the characters of priest, soldier, and diplomatist. As a
clergyman, he ministered to the wants of the wounded, and prayed with
the dying. As a soldier, he prevented plunder and recovered spoil, and
as a diplomatist, he did much towards saving the town from sack and
violence. Without dwelling upon the sacred duties of his profession,
we may mention one incident which will illustrate his coolness, and
another which will show his tact. A young volunteer of that day, but a
venerable ex-Legislative Councillor of the present time, mentioned to
him that two American soldiers, fully armed, had visited the house of
Colonel Givens, a British officer at that time with the retreating
army. Having menaced the unprotected occupants of the isolated
dwelling, the soldiers coolly helped themselves to what "loot" they
could conveniently carry, including a silver tea-pot, which they
secreted, with other valuables, about their persons. Acting under the
conviction that skulkers were cowards, Dr. Strachan boldly advanced
towards them and demanded their ill-gotten spoil. They answered the
challenge by leveling their muskets at the gallant little clergyman.
Nothing daunted, the latter stood his ground, and reiterated in bolder
language, his demand for the restoration of their plunder. In such
strangely contrasted styles, and with such different weapons, the
soldiers and the priest confronted one another, and the question
whether moral or material force would triumph, was still undecided,
when, through the vigilance of the young volunteer already mentioned,
a valuable ally was brought to the rescue, in the person of an
American officer, who at once put an end to a nervous pantomime, by
ordering the soldiers to surrender their booty. Again, when the
garrison magazine was exploded, and with fatal effect to General Pike
and a considerable portion of the invading force, General Dearborn
was not unnaturally exasperated, and threatened to revenge the
sacrifice of his soldiers on the unoffending inhabitants of the town,
by burning it to the ground. Hearing that such intentions were
entertained, the magistrates deputed Dr. Strachan to invite the
General to a parley. We shall quote the words of another:

     "His great firmness of character saved the town of York, in
     1813, from sharing the same fate as the town of Niagara met
     with some months afterwards. The American General, Pike, having
     attacked and routed the small force defending York, was shortly
     after killed by the blowing up of the magazine in the garrison.
     His successor, being enraged by the incident, though it was not
     attributable to any of the inhabitants of the town, determined
     to have vengeance on them and to burn down the town. This
     determination coming to the knowledge of the authorities, they
     deputed Dr. Strachan to remonstrate with the American Commander
     (General Dearborn) against this intended act of barbarity. He
     met him in the old fort; and I have been told by men who
     witnessed the interview between these parties, that words ran
     high between them; the American General declaring that he would
     certainly burn the town, and the future Bishop declaring that
     if he persisted in his atrocious act of barbarity, vengeance
     would be taken upon the Americans for such an unheard-of
     outrage; and that Buffalo, Lewiston Sackett's Harbor, and
     Oswego would in course of time (as soon as troops could be
     brought from England) share its fate. The earnestness and
     determination of Dr. Strachan moved the General from his
     barbarous purpose, and York was saved from the flames."

The war and its perils had given a well-merited celebrity to the
services which Dr. Strachan had been able to render. He had shewn
himself to be wise as well as courageous, and it was natural enough
that such qualities should have inclined men to think well of, and
place confidence in him. Thus the favorable impressions which had been
privately formed of his conduct and capacity were publicly confirmed
when the convenient season arrived, for he suddenly found himself
menaced with the calamity of those of whom all men speak well. So far
as we are informed, there is no evidence whatever to shew that he then
aspired to the political prominence at which he subsequently arrived.
On the other hand, it can scarcely be questioned that he had been
brought into positions perilous to his subsequent peace. He had
entered the delectable land, where the thirst for rule is more easily
acquired than quenched, where the mind becomes excited with its own
portraitures, and where irrepressible aspirations involuntarily spring
from the newly-awakened passion for power. Such a passion is no
slavish lust, though, in the intensity of its character, it may
resemble less elevated desires. On the contrary, it is noble in its
aim, for such aim is nothing less than to give shape and vitality to
those plans of virtue and purposes of good which the irresistible will
deems to be worthy of immediate attainment. Thus, it not unfrequently
happens, that a duty which a passing accident has imposed, becomes an
obligation from which there is no possibility of escape. For example,
Dr. Strachan's connection with public affairs was not of his seeking.
It arose out of the exigences of the times, and especially from the
menaced and imperilled state of the province. The continuance of his
connection with those affairs must be regarded as the logical sequence
of an accident; for the difficulties of government did not disappear
with a return of peace. On the contrary, when the enemy had withdrawn
within his own frontier, the high-spirited people whom he had ruined,
and the noble province he had ravaged, had to be ruled, and men of
approved sagacity were required for that purpose. The services which
Dr Strachan had rendered were neither unknown nor unappreciated, and
the loyal men of Canada found little difficulty in determining that
one who had proved equal to the duty of serving them by his wisdom in
a time of danger, would be equal to the duty of serving them by his
counsels in the time of safety. Moreover, the fact of Dr. Strachan
being a clergyman, may have been regarded as an advantage rather than
a drawback. At all events, it was not deemed to be a disqualification.
The constitution of Upper Canada had theretofore failed in one
important respect to resemble the constitution of England of which it
was said to be the "image and transcript." The missing element was
the church, for until then the state only had been represented in the
Upper House of the Legislature. Again, the war of 1812, like the war
of the revolution, which ended in the independence of the American
Provinces, had caused the people of Upper Canada to compare their own
political system with the system of government which obtained in
England, and if possible to make a closer approximation to uniformity
between the practice they had therefore followed and the practice they
were anxious to follow--to enquire wherein the analogy was incomplete,
and to take measures to supply what was wanting. That a connection of
some kind between church and state in Upper Canada was supposed to
exist, may be gathered from the circumstance already mentioned, that
the first Anglican Bishop of Quebec, on his arrival in Canada, was
appointed by Royal command to be a member of the Executive Council of
the Upper Province. The appointment seems to have been _ex officio_
only, for there is not, so far as we are informed, any record of that
prelate having taken his seat. After the war was ended, it is probable
that the question which had been theoretically met in the way we have
mentioned, came up again in a practical form, and with such force as
to demand an exact solution. There was no Bishop in Upper Canada upon
whom to confer political distinction, and it may, on that account,
have been thought desirable that the most eligible clergyman should be
chosen to represent the sacred part in a government which was to
include both the temporal and spiritual orders, since it was to be the
counterpart of the constitution of the parent state.

Such aims were probably as congenial to the mind of Dr. Strachan, as
they possibly were at that day to the people among whom his lot had
been cast. But in applying those aims, a path of life was opened
before him for which he had in no wise prepared himself, and wherein
to walk steadily would tax his efforts to the utmost since statecraft
and Christianity do not always go hand in hand. In leaving his native
land his ambition was circumscribed within the four imaginary walls
of a newly formed university. But the university which he had supposed
would be ready to receive him, was only dreamed of when he arrived; it
was not planned, much less built. "No thoroughfare" was legibly
written across his path. In a spirit of bitter disappointment he
turned aside, but, as it chanced, to find a wider field of exertion
and a greater space for usefulness. With reverence we may say that "it
is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." A plan of life seemed
to be appointed for him by hands other than his own, for a singular
combination of fortuitous accidents, like swathing bands divinely
wrought, appeared to enclose him as with a girdle. He may have drawn a
long anxious breath as he weighed his duties and responsibilities, for
in conforming to the obligations they entailed, he sacrificed ease and
peace to irksome toil and untiring opposition. No doubt he intended to
serve the church by accepting service in the state, for he wished by
the official contact of the former with the latter, to increase the
influence and add to the beauty of religion. And though it may be
questioned whether means so alien to peace did not do much towards
frustrating the end they were designed to serve, still it should be
borne in mind that in obeying the command of his sovereign to take
part in the counsels of the state, he was only seeking to perfect the
similitude between the Upper House of the Province, and the Upper
House of the Empire, and moreover, that he was doing so in the way
most persons at that day were inclined to advocate, for the Mandamus
by which Legislative Councillors were then summoned to the Upper
House, was expressed in these words: "Know ye, that as well for the
especial trust and confidence we have manifested in you as for the
purpose of obtaining your advice and assistance in all weighty and
arduous affairs, which may the state and defence of our Province of
Canada, and the Church thereof concern, &c." Thus, Dr. Strachan may
have been well excused if he regarded himself as the especial champion
and representative of the church in the state, since the peculiar
duties which were associated with his appointment were such as he
might neither omit nor evade. How thoroughly the church of his choice
had become the church of his affections is written in almost every
page of his published works. How ardently he desired "to lengthen her
cords and strengthen her stakes," is seen in every effort of his
active life. He neither questioned nor doubted the human blessedness
of her office. He believed that the union between the church and the
state which existed in the old country, ought not to be put asunder in
Canada, for with the Earl of Eldon he was of opinion "that the
establishment is formed, not for the purpose of making the church
political, but for the purpose of making the state religious."

The desire lay near his heart to make Canada resemble England,
resemble her in religion, in manners, in character, in institutions
and in laws. To this end he sought to establish rectories in stated
places, to cover the Province with a network of parishes, and to
establish in each parish a centre of religious and educational
influence, as well as of social and intellectual refinement. The
picture of the future, which his fancy sketched, may have resembled
the actual picture which Cobbett saw from one of the glorious uplands
of his native country, and which he has vividly described in his
nervous writings. In imagination, Dr. Strachan beheld a noble
Province, divided into parallelograms and apportioned into parishes,
each parish the centre of an accredited representative of that genial,
well mannered Christianity which is the popular characteristic of the
clergy of the national Church; the settled abode of one whose
character would be respected and whose influence would be seen in the
every day intercourse of common life. His desire was that religion and
learning, re-acting on one another, should sanctify taste, elevate
morals, purify manners, and blend with the hard and roughening
influences of the backwoods, many of the social refinements and home
attractions which grow around the old grey church towers and within
the trim parsonages of England. The machinery of church work through
the whole of its educational course, from the cradle to the grave,
formed in his mind a vision of present loveliness and future peace.
Moreover he wished to unite and consolidate the Protestant forces of
Upper Canada, and thus create, under the protection of Canterbury, a
power sufficiently imposing to avert the encroachments of Rome. To
make the ideal real, he gave his mind to thought, and his life to
toil. But alas! as the picture which Melnotte drew for Pauline, of the
hanging palaces by the Lake of Como, was evanescent as well as
beautiful, so also was the picture which Dr. Strachan painted of the
parochial system of Canada, as fabulous as it was fair, for he had no
sooner taken his seat in the councils of his country, than the first
shock of that moral earthquake was felt which ere long was to destroy
the fabric which his fancy had fashioned, and leave amidst the debris,
"leaded" as it were "in the rock," the old imperishable words "vanity
of vanities, all is vanity."

We do not, in this short paper, intend to dwell at any length on, much
less to consider critically, the public career of the late Bishop; but
it may, nevertheless, be of interest to some, if we extract from the
Parliamentary Papers of England, the first official expression of
doubt that we can find as to the meaning of the words "Protestant
clergy," accompanied, as it was, with the earliest effort of which any
record has been preserved, to open the clergy reserve question and
assail the clergy reserve properties.

On the 17th of May, 1819, Sir Peregrine Maitland addressed a despatch
to Earl Bathurst, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with a
petition from the Presbyterian inhabitants of the town of Niagara and
its vicinity, praying for a yearly grant of £100 towards the support
of a minister of the Church of Scotland, the patronage and selection
being offered to the Lieutenant Governor. The petitioners suggested
that the sum referred to "should be paid out of the money annually
collected on account of Clergy Reserves." This petition, His
Excellency observed, "involves a question on which I perceive there
is a difference of opinion, viz.: Whether the act intends to extend
the benefit of the reserves for the maintenance of a Protestant Clergy
to all denominations, or only to those of the Church of England. The
Law Officers seem to incline to the latter opinion." It will be
observed that His Excellency had been advised to state the case in a
very loose, not to say unfair way, for the question then raised was
not between the "Church of England" and "all denominations," but
between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. The effort
on the part of the friends of the former church to place the members
of the latter in the category of dissenters was exceedingly
injudicious, and helped to embitter the controversy which followed. To
questions of law and divinity there were added elements of
discourtesy, which were necessarily attended with a good deal of hard
feeling as well as with very embarrassing consequences, consequences
which were by no means qualified by the fact that the disputants, for
the most part, were hard-headed Scotsmen. In his despatch, dated 20th
May, 1820, in answer to the foregoing, Earl Bathurst noted the
distinction which Sir Peregrine Maitland had failed to make.

     His Lordship observes, "as to the right of Dissenting
     Protestant Ministers resident in Canada to partake of the lands
     directed by the Act 31 Geo. III, chap. 31, to be reserved as a
     provision for the support and maintenance of a Protestant
     Clergy. I have now to acquaint you that His Majesty's Law
     Officers are of opinion that though the provisions made by the
     31 Geo. III, chap. 31, ss. 36 and 42, for the support and
     maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, are not confined solely to
     the Church of England, but may be extended also to the Clergy
     of the Church of Scotland, yet that they do not extend to
     Dissenting Ministers, since the terms "Protestant Clergy" can
     apply only to the Protestant Clergy recognised and established
     by law."

The distinction thus made by Earl Bathurst included results which
would have proved fatal to Dr. Strachan's cherished plan of a state
church in Canada. Wherefore the Doctor, and those who thought with
him, determined to answer Earl Bathurst's _dictum_ with a
remonstrance.

The paper, which purports to be a "Petition of the Corporation for
superintending, managing and conducting the Clergy Reserves within the
Province of Upper Canada," is signed by John Strachan, D. D., as
Chairman, and dated York, 22nd April, 1823. It is interesting, for it
is written by one who understood the executive machinery of both
Churches. It is also instructive, for it shows how little the course
of general history is influenced by individual opinion, and how
commonly men fall into mistakes who overlook those powers which have
their roots in ignorance as well as in knowledge, in envy as well as
in truth, and which, whether they spring from virtue or from vice,
exert wonderful influences on the social structure and organization of
communities as well as in the political and religious government of
states. Without dwelling on such considerations, we shall only extract
the concluding paragraph of the petition:

     "That your Lordship's petitioners will not presume to state to
     your Lordship the strong feeling which they entertain of the
     irregularity and inexpediency of introducing at this day a new
     religious establishment in the Diocese of Quebec, and Province
     of Canterbury, but they are impelled by a sense of duty most
     earnestly, though most respectfully, to deprecate the rivalry
     to the Church of England, and those endless evils of disunion,
     competition, and irritation of which a compliance with the
     Ministers of the Kirk of Scotland cannot fail, in the opinion
     of your Lordship's petitioner, most widely to scatter the
     seeds. They deprecate the erection of a particular interest to
     strengthen prejudices which may exist against the establishment
     not otherwise insuperable, to alienate minds which are neutral
     and undecided from conformity to the Church, and by so doing
     cut away one of the surest and safest bands which might connect
     them with the state. They deprecate the extinction of that hope
     of religious unanimity, in the future generations of
     Protestants, who shall occupy these fine and extensive
     countries which can only be fostered and matured under the
     blessing of Divine Providence, by the judicious protection of
     the English Church establishment already formed, and the
     completion of the plan already provided by the wisdom of
     Government."

In 1818 Dr. Strachan was appointed a member of the Executive and
Legislative Councils, and his connection continued with the former
until 1836, and with the latter until the union of the Provinces in
1841. From the first mentioned year until 1854, when the clergy
reserves were finally sequestrated, Dr. Strachan courageously fought
his cause. Even when it was lost in the estimation of his supporters,
and when compromise was advisable as well as possible, he still
declined to be a party to what he believed was politically a great
evil, and morally a great sin. Like one of old he regarded not the
consequences, but refused to acquiesce in measures that had the taint
and flavor of sacrilege. He left to those who chose to assume the
responsibility, the work of appropriating to secular uses what had
solemnly been set apart for sacred ones. It is not difficult to see
the hand of Dr. Strachan in the despatches addressed by successive
Lieutenant Governors to successive Colonial Secretaries. There are
passages of irony almost bordering on banter in some of those
documents, difficult even now to read without a smile--a smile that
would be relishing could it be separated from the subject which
provoked it. But though the struggle of thirty years ended in the
defeat of the church party, that defeat was neither attended with
disgrace nor followed by ill-will. Even now, as the question is
dispassionately considered, there are not a few among the victors who
speak of their triumph, as an injury to the principles of the
reformation, and on that account would willingly have changed sides
with the enemy whom they vanquished--the fine old churchman who "never
ratted" but bravely fought his cause to the last.

Second only in importance to his effort to establish the Anglican
Church in Upper Canada, and to secure to her in perpetuity what he at
least regarded as her rightful patrimony, must be ranked his exertions
for half a century to erect and endow a university on the model of the
ancient universities of England. But his labors in this, as in the
matters already mentioned, were destined to end in disappointment. It
is true, indeed, that the existence of the University of Toronto, as
well as Upper Canada College, are indirectly due to his exertions; for
in procuring a charter for the predecessor of the first named
institution he laid the foundation of the present university. But
though he is fairly referred to in the language of compliment as its
founder, nevertheless the honor, so far as we are informed, was
neither claimed nor coveted by him. On the contrary, he made little
effort to conceal his feelings with respect to it, for he complained
bitterly not only as one who had been despoiled of his possessions,
but as one who had been robbed of his own fair child, and had been
offered in its stead the lean and ill-conditioned offspring of
another, alien in form, unlike in feature, and different in name, whom
he could neither press to his heart nor recognize as his own. The
Toronto University was not King's College. In those halls for
education which he had striven to raise he dreamt not of a perishable
home. The discipline of study, which he had hoped to see carried on
there, like the discipline of teaching, which was to be continued
elsewhere, was preparatory only. The matriculants in his esteem were
candidates for immortal honors, for degrees in "the house not made
with hands." The school, the college, the university represented the
approaches to the Church, and the Church was the vestibule of heaven.
They were essential parts of a prescribed pathway through which mortal
man might pass from "the city of destruction" to "the mount of God."

It is possible to imagine, though it is less easy to portray, the
bitter trial through which he must have passed, as one idol after
another was crushed at his feet, and scattered beyond his reach. It is
true, indeed, that his mind was severely disciplined to
disappointment, for the lamp of success very rarely brightened his
vale of years. Yet though we make allowance for the fact that he was
familiar with failure, it is not easy to analyse the emotions which
must have visited him as he took note of the gradual growth of the
Toronto University. Even a stranger is struck with the external beauty
of that visible expression of applied science. Like a gem of mediæval
art, fittingly set in a frame-work of verdure, it silently commands
the admiration it receives. But it is not difficult to suppose that to
the eye of the Bishop such unquestionable charms rather aggravated
than diminished the anguish of his heart. It was hard for him to see
such perfection of beauty separated, if not estranged from the supreme
author and source of beauty. It was hard for him to see those brave
old trees jubilant with joy, waving their glad arms around those
curious carvings and dainty fretworks, and not to feel within his
nature a root of bitterness with which they, at least, had no
sympathy. It was hard to see such "a fabric huge, rise like an
exhalation," on the very ground, near to the very spot which had been
prepared and set apart by him for a purpose so similar, and yet so
unlike; oh! it was hard to see and not to feel in the overthrow of
hope how exquisitely painful is the irony of joy. Moreover, it was
impossible for his clear mind to be insensible to the fact, that the
noble structure which adorned those college grounds, like a jewelled
casket, was correspondingly rich in its furniture of thought. There
was the requisite machinery, including many of the pleasant and most
of the necessary appliances for work, and there, too, were the human
parts, the professors and masters singularly well chosen, to control
and direct all. Beauty and culture were there, but the untravelled
heart of the venerable Bishop yearned for its Christian cloister, for
the voice of prayer and the song of praise, for the law and discipline
by which learning had been hallowed in the ages of the past. He missed
what he deemed to be the pivot of the system, for he saw not the
central glory from which all education in his judgment should proceed.
He mourned less for the success of his adversaries than for the slight
to his Church; less for their triumph over him than for the missing
Shekinah, the absent altar, the unoffered morning and evening
sacrifice, and for what he regarded as the virtual eclipse of faith
within those walls. Men may make light of creeds, catechisms and
confessions of faith, they may sneer at prejudices, discredit motives
and ridicule dogma. Nevertheless, the picture of a good man's sorrow
is no unworthy subject of contemplation. It is always touching for its
sadness, and sometimes eloquent for its sublimity. Such sorrow sobers
the sense, quickens the pulse, and touches the soul, for it appeals to
our better nature, and reminds us of the goodness from which we have
fallen. Thus, thought becomes cleansed and purified by contact with
heavenly things. It is inflamed with the brightness of the better land
and acknowledges the excellence of goodness in this. It throbs with
virtue, and thrills with immortality. Its yearnings reach from the
visible to the everlasting, from "the life which now is, to that which
is to come."

But if such reflections disquieted the Bishop they produced no
corresponding effect on the minds of those who, with the property, had
won the right to control the educational system of the Province.
Having opposed the Bishop from considerations of conscience, or
motives of policy, such persons were neither required nor expected to
feel as he felt, or to be sorrowful as he was. They had been educated
according to another rule, and having graduated in a different school
of thought were governed by another principle of action. In their
judgment, the plan of the Bishop for uniting religious with secular
education was embarrassing if not hurtful, and included greater
difficulties than it overcame. They, therefore, separated the subject
from its accessories, and making light of the argument derivable from
its sacred obligations, they regarded the struggle as little more than
the effort of an able tactician to secure an advantage to a favoured
party. Thus was the question of education and the control of our chief
university removed from the privacy and quiet where such work can be
best carried on into a region of debate and contention, and thus it
came to be dealt with, as if it were some political annoyance, such as
a boundary or a franchise, the perplexity of one party and the sport
of another. In passing, it is difficult to dismiss reflections which
are more or less present to the minds of most thoughtful people. Our
effort to loose and to bind is, by no means, free from embarrassing
considerations and disquieting fears. One party, for example,
destroyed what another party had created, so the institution thus
created, proceeding as it does from a parentage of strife, contains
the germ of its own destruction, and may in the end become the prey of
all parties. At present, the state purchases forbearance by paying
tribute for peace; but let such tribute be withdrawn, let the leash be
cut by which fanaticism and self-interest are partially kept in check,
then may not the danger arise of an indecent scramble for a desirable
property? Canada may in the Toronto University possess her Prometheus,
and it is, perhaps, worth while to weigh the cost of unbinding him,
for the combined forces of local, sectional and religious rivalry,
which the myth represents, might, perchance, fall with fatal
impetuosity, if not on the building itself, at least on the endowments
by which it is supported. Such a result would be a national calamity,
which no wise man should provoke; but, nevertheless, which might be
generated in the lap of political craft and religious exasperation?

The marks of failure which were fatally impressed on the clergy
reserve and the University questions, were as indelibly stamped on the
Bishop's exertions with respect to common schools. In noting the ill
success of those efforts, the fact should not be overlooked that the
subjects were germain to one another, and that failure in regard to
one of them, like an epidemic, might be expected to run its course
through the whole. But if there was uniformity in the result, there
was also consistency in the plan, for his experience of defeat taught
him no new lessons of strategy. In his anxiety to obtain what he
deemed to be right, he took no account of what was possible. He aimed
at what was absolute and perfect, and rejected what was feasible and
mixed. It was contrary to his character to navigate as the sailor
steers, to observe the direction of the wind and turn as the ship
tacks; if he could not keep his course in a direct line he would not
attempt to do so by an oblique one, he neither calculated tides nor
observed currents, and hence in the opinion of many he failed to touch
the haven he might otherwise have reached.

Some persons are of opinion that no religious body in Upper Canada
could have exerted more influence than the Anglican Church in moulding
the common school system of that Province; and yet it is probable that
no religious body has shewn less aptitude for such work. Those who
have spoken for her have pitched their voice to a key unfamiliar to
the majority of her members. Such utterances may have been
theologically sound, but they were practically inapplicable and
positively inexpedient. The Bishop's opinions, like his character,
were not fashioned in a flexible mould, for they were not made of
malleable but of cast iron. He was unbending in purpose and unyielding
in action. His opinions were not sentiments but convictions; moral
properties of which he deemed himself to be the trustee, and from
which he would not abate one jot or relinquish one tittle. Compromise
was foreign to his experience, and concession was unsuited to his
temper. Hence he had little respect for their researches, and none for
their conclusions, who teach that the history of the church of
England, like the history of the realm of England, is in fact a
history of compromise.

But disappointment did not result in despair. There was dignity as
well as grace in the way in which he accepted defeat. Indeed his
character never shone to greater advantage than when he snatched a
triumph from an overthrow. His resources were as manifold as they were
inexhaustible. At the age of seventy-two he ceased from strife, and
bowing obediently to a painful law, he began with renewed industry to
build afresh what we regard as the fairest, and what we believe will
prove to be the most enduring monument of his fame. Sweet to him had
been the uses of adversity, for though his contest with the civil
power had been obstinate and exhausting, and though he had been
worsted in that contest, nevertheless, his ascent from the "valley of
humiliation" was luminous if not with victory, at least with hope. In
the strength of acquired wisdom and inherent faith, he appealed to
new agencies, and called into use new instruments of work. He took a
closer survey of the moral landscape, and examined afresh the most
approved codes of Christian warfare, and he soon learned how to move
and combine forces with which, until then, he was presumed to be
unfamiliar, and in which he had placed but little trust. Thus was it
that by means of what we may truly call "the weak things of the world
he confounded the things that were mighty." Turning from Princes in
whom he ceased to place his trust, and from laws, which, like reeds,
had broken beneath his weight, he appealed to sentiment and religion,
to faith and duty, to individual sympathy, and to individual
sacrifice. In the sacred names of truth and justice, he invoked the
aid of that voluntary principle which he had formerly discredited, and
sought in the free-will offerings of the many, what he had hoped to
find in the munificence of one. He appealed to honor and
self-interest, to the recollection of wrongs, and the conviction of
right, and his stirring words called into life the latent enthusiasm
of gifted souls. His heart was inflamed with the fire he had kindled.
He would scarcely give sleep to his eyes, or slumber to his eyelids,
until he had erected a college wherein the divine law should fill the
chief place in the circle of the sciences. Thus he turned from the
creature to the Creator, from human policy to the divine government,
from man to God. He shut the statutes that the sunlight might shine
upon the gospel. He endeavored "to forget the things that were
behind," that he might, with an untrammelled mind, "reach forward to
those that were before," and being impelled by memory and allured by
hope, he moderated his appeal to the intellect that he might intensify
his address to the heart. It was a brave sight to behold the heroic
Bishop playing the roll of a voluntary. It was a brave sight to see
one who had passed the period of life allotted by the Psalmist,
stooping afresh to take up its burden, and submitting once more to the
toils and sacrifices, the trials and disappointments which he had
some right to lay aside. It was a brave sight to see one who could be
indifferent to personal ease and conventional prudence, to the
suggestions of comfort and the seductions of policy, setting himself
to the duty of building in Canada a monument such as William of
Wykeham erected at Oxford, not only where the work of education might
be begun in the faith of Christ, but where, in the strength of the
adorable Trinity, it might be continued and ended to the glory of God.

We have no space to trace the history of King's College, from the time
the Royal Charter was granted, to the time when that Charter was
revoked by an act of the Legislation of Canada. It must suffice to
mention, that on the 1st January, 1850, the act which substituted the
University of Toronto for King's College, came into operation, and,
that in consequence of such act, the Bishop issued a stirring
pastoral, concluding with these emphatic words:--

     "I shall not rest satisfied till I have labored to the utmost,
     to restore the College, under a holier and more perfect form.
     The result is with a higher power, and I may still be doomed to
     disappointment; but it is God's work and I feel confident that
     it will be restored, although I may not be the happy instrument
     to live to behold it. Having done all in my power, I shall
     acquiesce submissively to the result, whatever it may be, and I
     shall then, and not till then, consider my mission in this
     behalf ended."

On the 10th of April, 1850, he left for Great Britain, and on the 4th
of November following, he again returned to Toronto. Three days
afterwards, the Medical School, in connection with Trinity College was
formally opened, and on the 30th of April following, the corner stone
of the College was laid by him with becoming ceremony. On the 15th
January, in the succeeding year, the College was opened for work, when
the venerable Bishop in his touching speech, very feelingly, described
his emotions as "the joy of grief," ending his eloquent address with
these words:

     "The rising University has been happily named the child of the
     Church's adversity, because it is the offspring of unexampled
     oppression--a solitary plant in a thirsty land, which may yet
     suffer for a season under the frown of those whose duty it is
     to nourish and protect it. But the God whom we serve brings
     good out of evil, and makes the wrath of man to praise him. We,
     therefore, take courage, and feel assured that as He has smiled
     upon our undertaking thus far, He will bless it to the end. In
     the meantime, I trust that Trinity College will henceforth be
     recognized by every lay and clerical Member of our Communion,
     as the legitimate child of the Church, and entitled to the
     benefit of their protection and daily prayer."

Thus were the hopes of half a century realized, and the labors of a
life brought to a successful close. The attractive Gothic structure
which adorns the western portion of Toronto should and we hope will be
regarded by the churchmen of Ontario as the most fitting monument to
his fame, who in life subscribed himself "John by Divine permission
first Bishop of Toronto."

In his _Bibliotheca Canadensis_, Mr. Morgan mentions that in the year
1811 under the signature of "Reckoner" the Bishop wrote no less than
seventy essays in the _Kingston Gazette_. It would gratify the
curiosity of many, and be interesting to all, could we only give the
titles of those essays; but alas! we have neither the facts nor the
space for such a recital. There can be no doubt that he was a
voluminous as well as a vigorous writer. The subjects of his pen
included sermons and tracts;--biographical, historical and statistical
papers. Letters on political, theological and ecclesiastical subjects.
Charges to his clergy, journals of his visitations, and pastoral
letters to his Diocese. He was a healthy scribe, and a keen disputant,
for he relished controversy. "The waters of strife" were not
distasteful to him, for he was accustomed to dare them; neither was
opposition without compensating advantages, since it called into
exercise the "native hue of his resolution." His sacred office and the
claims of his cloth generally served to tone his language, and keep
his temper in subjection to his will; yet the "old Adam" would
occasionally shew itself in the form of sharp set words; for when,
like the late President Lincoln, "he put his foot down," the muscular
exploit was occasionally attended with some noteworthy consequences,
including abrasions to courtesy, bruises to charity, and damage to the
pride if not to the argument of the assailant. But though there was a
sting in his style, there was no spite in his nature. He might throw
his antagonist roughly, but he would pick him up again kindly. Or
should the issue of the conflict be reversed he would accept his
defeat with the grace of one who could respect his victor. Being a
courageous, he was also a magnanimous man. His views were large views,
and when they could be indulged without violence to his religious
logic, they were generous views. Thus in his dealings with his clergy,
he recognized great latitude of opinion, for practically he had a just
appreciation of the religious liberty which is consistent with the
spirit and genius of the Anglican Church. His own principles were
clear and well defined, nevertheless he had a scholar's respect for
the learning as well as for the principles of other people, and hence
he neither required an Islington pass word nor a Liturgical shibboleth
from clergymen who desired to work in his diocese. In common with the
great body of Anglicans he may have preferred the principles of
Arminius to those of Calvin, but he did not on that account brand with
an anathema, or blemish with a prejudice, those weaker Christians who
could not receive the full measure of the Catholic faith.

The benevolence of the Bishop was practiced with systematic and
discriminating gracefulness. Misfortune rarely appealed to him in
vain, and poverty seldom left his house unrelieved; for compassion and
charity were as conspicuous in his character as fidelity and
endurance. With respect to projects connected with religion his
liberality was a proverb. There were few churches or parsonages in the
province in regard to which the striking imagery of the prophet
Habakkuk could not have been applied, for "the stone might have cried
out of the wall," and "the beam out of the timber might have answered
it," and each have told the other that its presence there was due to
the silver or the gold which were his gifts. Money with him was
apparently regarded as nothing more than a talent to be used, as a
trust to be administered. He loved it not for its own sake, and no
surprise was expressed that he saved little and died poor. To Trinity
College, the dearly loved "child of his old age," he had given his
ungrudging help and his frequent prayers, and though at his death he
had little besides his blessing to bestow, yet of that little he
bequeathed "to his dear College" his "joy of grief," as a mark of his
affection, the valuable library which he had accumulated, and the
costly plate which his Cornwall scholars had given to him.

In matters of charity and benevolence as well as in matters of general
philanthropy or local improvement, his were the sagacious counsels and
the strengthening words, the guiding hand and the generous heart, the
advice and co-operation that went far towards crowning exertion with
success. Moreover, there was a phase of charity which shewed itself
conspicuously in those exacting forms of civic courage which test our
metal, and are perhaps more trying to personal endurance than any act
of physical daring. "The pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the
destruction that wasteth in the noon-day" represent shapes of evil,
before which brave men have quailed, and from which even valiant men
have fled. But such terrors wrought no perceptible change in him. His
holy faith and his sacred calling nerved him with strength, and both
were harmoniously exhibited in his works. In fulfilling the duties
which seemed to lie in his path, he was not accustomed to take thought
of consequences. He believed that He who "considered the lilies" would
not overlook him. In the fearful cholera seasons of 1832-4 his
well-remembered figure seemed to be ever abroad, for the only
difference he made was to redouble his exertions, and stick closer to
his duty. In thus confronting danger with a Christian man's courage,
he reproached no one, while his example put many to shame, for he
calmly discharged services from which they, who ought to have
performed them, shrank with dismay. Having visited the sick, and
prayed with the dying, he was frequently called upon to shroud the
dead, to place them in hurriedly made coffins, and bury them in
hastily made graves. As a good citizen, as well as a laborious
minister, he endeavored to practice what he preached. Religion with
him was less a sentiment than a duty, and thus the pathway of his long
life was less beautified with the blossoms than strewn with the fruits
of benevolence. He did not seem to age in his tastes or his
occupations. His memory kept green long after the memories of his
contemporaries became seared and yellow. Youth always attracted him,
and his affections turned with especial fondness toward little
children, not only because they were the best human types of purity
and innocence, but because their natures were bright and hopeful like
his own. Many will remember with what unalloyed happiness he adapted
his conversation to their capacity, as well as the exuberant joy with
which his presence was looked forward to and greeted by them. He knew
how to combine the offices of a Bishop and a friend, and he set no
light value on the influence for good which might be exerted by one
who could, in his life and conversation, shew the truth of the
Psalmist's experience, that the ways of religion are "ways of
pleasantness, and that all her paths are peace."

But the period was fast approaching when he was to close his eyes on
the scenes of his toil and his fame. The hand of time it is true was
laid with rare gentleness on him, but he was not insensible to its
pressure. The duties which he had theretofore been enabled to perform
without difficulty became exacting and oppressive. His conscience
rebelled against the intermission of any of those duties and hence
arose his desire for relief and assistance. The Diocesan Synod
appreciated his wish, and interpreted it aright when they elected as
his coadjutor in the Episcopate, one who had been his pupil and was
his friend, who had shared his thoughts and sympathized in his plans,
and with whom he could confer with confidence, and act with affection.
In 1866 the venerable A. N. Bethune, D.D., and archdeacon of York, was
duly elected to the office, and in virtue of canons, passed by the
Synod in the previous year, he was on the 25th January, 1867, on the
Festival of St. Paul, consecrated as the Bishop of Niagara, with an
understanding that he should eventually succeed to the See of Toronto.

The year which opened thus suggestively, was destined ere its close to
fulfil the purpose for which its solemnities had made provision. The
seasons of flowers, fruits and faded leaves had passed away. "The
chaplet of the year" was dead, and the "angry winds" of winter were
ready to issue from their icy caves. The autumn festival of All
Saints, the last in the annual cycle of the services of the church,
the "drear November day" arrived, when the venerable Prelate, for whom
an assistant had been chosen, was to be separated from the cares of
his Bishopric, and when his soul, with "the souls of the righteous"
was to pass to "the hand of God," "where no torment shall touch them,"

    To soar those elder Saints to meet
    Gather'd long since at Jesus feet.

And with respect to the appointed fasts and festivals of the Church it
will occasion no surprise to learn that the subject of this sketch
solemnly marked such days for religious observance and holy worship.
This law of his conscience and of his church was strikingly
exemplified in the sermons prepared by him for such occasions. It is
true that the congregations to which those sermons were delivered were
censurably and unaccountably small, nevertheless he took no note of
numbers, for his discourses were as thoughtfully written for the "two
or three" who then met together, as they would have been for a full
congregation of worshippers. Such a practice sprang from a sense of
duty, and not a hope of applause, for the alloy of human ambition
found no place in his religious services. The ladder of pride was not
the means by which he was instructed to reach the dwelling place of
the Most High.

    THOU art mighty; we are lowly;
    Let us reach THEE, climbing slowly,

was his confession and his practice. "Let us reach Thee" if not
altogether at least one by one. "Let us reach Thee" who will

      Redeem us one by one
    Where'er the world encircling sun,
      Shall see us meekly kneel.

In speaking of preaching and public worship we must notice a
circumstance to which Canon Dixon has referred with natural
admiration. It would appear that the last sermon the Bishop delivered,
was singularly solemn in its lesson, and as the event showed, almost
prophetic in its application. Like love in death, the discourse was
laden with memory and hope, with experience and anticipation.

    It brightened backward through the past,
      And gilds the stormy path he trod;
    And forward, till it fades at last,
      In light, before the feet of God.

Heart, soul, and lips, the sympathetic triad, seemed to answer one
another, for they were "beauty laden" with the passionate language of
adoration. In the words of a holy Apostle the aged Bishop in the
closing words of his last sermon exclaimed with unwonted fervor: "I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

He who spake thus had nearly reached the age of fourscore years and
ten; and although his physical powers had very perceptibly given way,
the serene sunshine of intellect still lingered about his head, for
his mind continued bright and clear to the last. The frail body was
manifestly hastening towards earth, while the aspiring soul
peradventure was beating the bars of its prison house, and struggling
towards heaven. It was seemly that the festival of "All Saints," the
festival which the Church holds in especial reverence should have been
the day whereon he was to pass through the grave and gate of death, to
his reward and his rest, to his consolation and his crown; to the
great congregation of those who in the portion of scripture appointed
for the Epistle for the day are represented as "standing before the
throne and the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their
hands." It was the poet's picture reduced to experience. The vision of
the saintly Keble shewn in life.

  How quiet shows the woodland scene!
    Each flower and tree, its duty done,
  Reposing in decay serene,
    Like weary men when age is won,
  Such calm old age as conscience pure,
  And self commanding hearts ensure,
  Waiting their summons to the sky,
  Content to live, but not afraid to die.

In a notice on the subject which is to be found in the Journal of
Education for Upper Canada, the Reverend Dr. Ryerson very pertinently
remarks "that the Bishop had long outlived the jealousy of
distinctions and the enmity of parties. He ceased at once to work and
live, amid the respect and regrets of all classes of the population.
In truth he survived all his early contemporaries whether friends or
enemies. The descendants of the former mingled with their hereditary
love great personal admiration; while the removal of the occasions of
strife enabled the latter to feel that there remained enough of what
was sterling in his character to justify them in blending much warmth
with their respect. No such congregation of mourners had ever before
assembled within the walls of that large Cathedral, for almost the
whole community was stirred by a common grief for a common loss. Many
loved, all respected him, and not a few were there who had preserved
rare morsels of precious memories, which in thought at least, they
cast like votive offerings in the "unveiled bosom" of his "faithful
tomb."

The plate on the coffin bore the following inscription:

                   THE HONORABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND

                     JOHN STRACHAN, D.D., L.L.D.,

                       FIRST BISHOP OF TORONTO,

           _Born 12th April 1778. Died 1st November 1867._

The coffin, as we read, was carried to the hearse, and afterwards to
the grave, by old pupils of his Toronto school, whose names are among
the familiar household names of the Province of Ontario. They were the
Venerable Archdeacon Fuller, the Rev. W. MacMurray, D.D., the
Vice-Chancellor Spragge, Mr. F. H. Heward, Mr. William Gamble, and Mr.
John Ridout. The touching service for the burial of the dead was said,
the former part by the Rev. Canon Baldwin, A.M., and the latter by the
Dean of Toronto. The proper lessons were read by the Rev. Canon Bevan,
D.D. The garish light of day was excluded from the building, and the
jets of gas were permitted only to gleam with feeble lustre, here and
there, amidst the thick drapery of mourning which, pall like,
enshrouded the place where he had prayed for more than fifty years.
Darkness was indeed made visible, but light enough remained to
distinguish the silver plate which, like a luminous hatchment,
brightened, while it indicated the central cabinet of death. Men
perchance spoke in whispers of the "spirit that's gone," or with
becoming reverence of "the mortal" which had "put on immortality." The
breath of the living seemed to rise like incense to Him who had taken
to Himself the breath of the departed. It was the sacrifice of tears
and praise, of thanksgiving and memory, of prayer and faith, of hope
and peace, which was borne upwards on the wings of music and devotion,
to the throne above the stars. A thousand voices, some eloquent in
their sorrow, and others eloquent in their song, were laden with or
repeated the old words, which peradventure were old words when they
consoled the Patriarch of Idumea, and which, for the solace of "the
quick" and the hope of "the dead," have been borne down the stream of
time from then till now: "I know that my Redeemer liveth; and though
after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see
God."

The grave was placed in the chancel, in front of the holy table, hard
by the place where Christian people, "meekly kneeling upon their
knees," are accustomed to receive the renewing grace of the blessed
Sacrament; hard by the place where he, in his prime and in his age,
was most frequently seen, and from which, on Sundays and holydays, on
fasts, and festivals, he was accustomed to bestow the apostolic
benediction, the foretaste of that peace of which we believe he now
enjoys the fruition:

          THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING.




[Illustration]


                     THE HON. CHARLES DEWEY DAY.

                              MONTREAL.


The Hon. Charles Dewey Day, who has lately been chosen by the
Government of the Province of Quebec as arbitrator for dividing and
adjusting "the credits, liabilities, properties, and assets" of the
former Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, is not unusually selected
to discharge duties which require for their performance a mind
equitably regulated, and evenly balanced. When the choice was made,
people seemed at once to acquiesce in its propriety, and to wonder
that the name of the gentleman chosen had not occurred to them, as a
matter of course. While the government of Quebec may be accounted
fortunate in their arbitrator, we shall merely add a few facts and
dates as pendants to his appointment.

Mr. Day was called to the bar in 1827. In 1837 he was created a
Queen's Counsel, and in the following year appointed Judge Advocate in
attendance on the Courts Marshal which the political exigences of
those unhappy days made of frequent occurrence. In 1839 he was named
Solicitor General and called to the Special Council. In 1840 he was
summoned by Lord Sydenham to the Executive Council, and at the general
election which followed he was returned as member for the county of
Ottawa. He held his seat in Parliament, as well as in the
administration, to the 20th of June, 1842, when, to the regret of many
persons who had observed his political career with attention, who had
noted his temper and tact, his ability to speak, and what is too
little regarded, his ability to be silent, and who had accurately
judged that he possessed moral and intellectual qualities especially
adapted for service in Parliament; he brought his political history to
a close by accepting a judgeship in the Court of Queen's Bench. In
1849 he was transferred to the Superior Court. Ten years afterwards he
retired from the Bench, receiving the appointment of commissioner for
the codification of the laws, on which he labored with untiring zeal
until that prodigious work was brought to a satisfactory close in the
year 1867. In 1865 he was appointed in connection with Mr. Chancellor
Blake and Mr. Gustavus Wicksteed, the Law Clerk of the House of
Commons, a commissioner for settling the amount of the subsidy to be
paid to Railway Companies by Government for carrying the mails; and in
1868, as we have already mentioned, he was appointed under the British
North American Act of 1867, arbitrator for the Province of Quebec.

Mr. Day has not restricted his services to matters which may be
regarded as belonging to his profession or to his duties as a Judge.
On the contrary, he seems to have been beset with a propensity to be
useful, and to do good. Since 1857, for example, he has been the
President and Chancellor of the University of McGill College, and has
zealously sought to promote the welfare of that great institution. By
way of giving variety to his occupations, he has been chosen and, we
are informed, is now engaged in preferring certain claims of the
Hudson's Bay Company against the United States Government under the
treaties of 1846 and 1863. Had we access to all the facts, more, we
have no doubt, might be added, for we incline to think that Mr.
Justice Day's record is not only bright with industry and
intelligence, but that it is heavily weighted with assumed, or
imposed, burdens of honor or duty.




[Illustration]


                      WALTER SHANLY, ESQ., M.P.

                             OF MONTREAL.


The public taste, like individual taste, is variable as well as
capricious. It is alleged, for example, that the originals of some of
our portraits are so well known as to make copies matters of
indifference. Let us, remark such objectors, look at the likenesses of
men whom we have not seen, but of whom we frequently hear; who have
won, or who are patiently winning their way to honors; let us see
their shadows who have passed the critical point of public life which
has been termed "getting the eye" of the Speaker and "the ear" of
Parliament; who are regarded with esteem and listened to with
attention; and whose decorous manner of discussing all questions is
frequently referred to, and generally with approval. Some enquire for
the photograph of the member for Lambton, and being, as we conjecture,
impressed with the value of that gentleman's political opinions, they
very naturally plead for a likeness of his dashing commissary the
eloquent member for West Durham. On the other hand old fashioned
people of the "no surrender" type, whose opinions are not only formed,
but fossilized, ask for "reflections" from their side of the House,
the sunny side, perchance, where "old insurers run." Give us, say
they, the photograph of the member for the South Riding of Grenville;
while others enquire for that of the representative of Welland; or
mention a still younger scion of the Parliamentary family in the
person of the member for Mississquoi. Curiosity very commonly clusters
about unmarried people; the three last named gentlemen are bachelors
and may on that account be regarded as objects of personal as well as
of Parliamentary interest. Fortunately it happens that the mere wish
for a likeness not unfrequently falls in with our arrangements. We
constantly have space for a portrait and no room for a sketch, and
thus when we possess the former and have no data whereof to construct
the latter, we are able to satisfy the public wish and our own
convenience at the same time.

Mr. Walter Shanly, whose portrait precedes this sketch, represents the
South Riding of Grenville, and, to quote from Mr. Morgan's very useful
_Parliamentary Companions_ of 1864 and 1867, we learn that his family
is of Celtic origin, and of great antiquity in the County of Leitrim.
He was born at "The Abbey" in the parish of Stradbally in the Queen's
County, where his father, Mr. James Shanly, a member of the Irish bar,
then resided. In 1836 the family arrived in Canada and took up their
abode at Thorndale, in the County of Middlesex, in the Province of
Ontario. Mr. Walter Shanly was educated by private tuition, and in due
time became a civil engineer. His professional services were soon
taken advantage of, for he was appointed resident engineer under the
Department of Public Works, on the Beauharnois and Welland Canals from
1843 to 1848; engineer of the Prescott and Ottawa Railway from 1851 to
1853; engineer of the Western Division, between Toronto and Sarnia, of
the Grand Trunk Railway from 1852 to 1859. Within the same period,
from 1856 to 1858, engineer of the Ottawa and French River Navigation
Surveys, and from 1858 to 1862, General Manager of the Grand Trunk
Railway. He is President of the Mechanics' Bank, Montreal, at which
city he resides; and of the Edwardsburgh Starch Company. He is also a
Director of the Kennebec Gold Mining Company. He was returned in 1863,
for the County of Grenville, to the Legislative Assembly of the
Province of Canada, and he continues to represent the South Riding of
the same County in the House of Commons for the Dominion of Canada.
His constituents on both occasions thoroughly appreciated the
conservative inclination of his opinions, for they elected him by
handsome majorities over his opponent.




[Illustration]


                         WILLIAM MOLSON, ESQ.

                              MONTREAL.


The imposing free stone building at the westerly end of Great St.
James Street, Montreal, is sufficiently distinguishable to excite
attention and excuse inquiry. Its style of architecture, like the
columns of variegated marble, appears to be Italian; square, solid,
and substantial; it is apparently adapted to be a fit repository for
wealth, and a fair representative of credit. The words "Molsons Bank"
are legibly chiselled on the portico, while beneath, over the main
entrance, and forming the keystone of the arched doorway, is a
_bas-relief_ portrait of the chief living representative of the family
whose name the bank bears. The likeness is well preserved, and the
expression of benevolence, including the encircling smile by which it
is enclosed, have been well rendered by the artist, and well cut by
the lapidary. The arabesques with which the building is enriched, are
correspondingly suggestive. Plethoric moneybags, adroitly fashioned,
with streams of coins issuing from their open mouths, are clearly cut
on the face of the freestone blocks on either side of the bank door.
Such emblems of specie payments are calculated to suggest a contrast
between the bank and the beleaguered city in ancient story, whose
inhabitants attempted a diversion under difficulties by displaying
their moneybags and "making believe" that there were plenty more in
the public chest. The architect has, however, given a new reading of
the old story, for he has caused the metaphorical bags on "Molson's
Bank" to express present not absent wealth, and emblematic coins cut
in stone to represent actual coins cut at royal or republican mints.

Passing from such conceits to the subject of this sketch, we may
observe that Mr. William Molson is the second son of the late Mr. John
Molson, a gentleman of estate in the county of Lincolnshire, who,
having settled in Lower Canada in 1782, established himself as a
brewer at Montreal. The habit of drinking beer is more easily acquired
than laid aside. Thus "Molson's entire" seems to have been
appreciated, for, though a liquid commodity, it became the solid
foundation of the fortunes of the family. But Mr. Molson was not only
the first of Canadian brewers, he was also the first steamboat owner
in Canada. In 1809, the year after Fulton's steamer began to ply on
the Hudson, Mr. Molson started "The Accommodation" to trade between
Montreal and Quebec. At his death, his steamship property fell chiefly
to the share of his eldest son, Mr. John Molson, whose younger
brothers, Messrs. William and Thomas Molson, succeeded to the
extensive brewery and distillery establishments, which are still, we
believe, carried on by members of the family.

In 1837, the wave of commercial disaster, which periodically flows
from the United States, overspread the Provinces. The permanent
stoppage of the weak banks, and the temporary suspension of specie
payments by the strong banks of that adventurous people, obliged the
banks of Canada to obtain authority to avoid for a limited time the
redemption of their notes in gold. Paper equivalents for coin of all
denominations above twenty-five cents became necessary, and the
Molsons obtained permission from the Government to make such issues.
The new notes, as we have been told, were wonderfully popular in the
Canadian parishes; for the _habitans_ had unlimited confidence in the
firm which for years had purchased all the grain they could produce.
Not only were the notes never discredited, but, it is said, they were
regarded with more favor and held with greater confidence than were
the notes of some of the chartered banks. The experience of banking
thus acquired in 1837 was not forgotten in 1853. Family interests had
multiplied, and family wealth had increased, and hence "Molsons Bank"
was established, firstly under the Free Banking Act, but in the next
year under special charter. The new institution went into operation
with a paid-up capital of one million of dollars, the greater part of
which represented, if not the "loose change," at least the unemployed
cash of the Molson family. Unlike his father, or his elder brother,
Mr. William Molson has generally declined to take a prominent part in
politics or government. Not that he has shown any hesitancy in
expressing his opinions, or any difficulty in choosing his side, but
that public affairs possess very little attraction for him. He has
preferred another and a surer path to happiness, if not to fame--a
path wherein a good man may walk without any more unpleasant
interruption than the thanks of those whom he succors, and the
blessing of those whom he saves.

Mr. William Molson is a member of the senate of the University of
McGill College, and he has selected that seat of learning to be one of
the almoners of his bounty. It thus happens that the name of Molson is
associated with the name of McGill. They are placed together upon the
honor roll of the University, which the latter founded, and the former
enriched. It is probable, too, that when future generations of the
family shall have missed the link which connects them with the
Canadian founders of their race, the name itself will survive all
change of time and place, for it will be sacredly preserved in the
statutes of the university, whose chair of English literature was
founded by the benefactions of the three brothers, John, William, and
Thomas Molson. In this place, however, it is more especially our
business to speak of his liberality whose photograph prefaces our
sketch. Nor is it difficult to do so, for could the stone and the
timber, whereof the Library and Convocation Hall, the corridors and
class-rooms of McGill College, find a tongue, they would gracefully
syllable his praise at whose cost they were built, and in whose honor
they are named "THE WILLIAM MOLSON HALL."

It is not our intention to speak of the good deeds which, like
gold-colored crocuses, have incontinently crept out of their places of
concealment to beautify the pathway of Mr. Molson's life. Nevertheless
there are acts of noble beneficence in his history which his
injunctions could neither silence nor conceal. Two of the most
picturesque churches, for example, in Montreal represent similar
memorials of a devout affection. The handsome stone tower and spire of
TRINITY CHURCH, at the eastern end of the city, is associated with Mr.
William Molson, for it was erected by his wife to the glory of God and
to the memory of a much beloved relative now no more. In like manner
the stone tower and spire of the Church of ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE, with
its glorious finishings of stained glass windows, at the westerly end
of Montreal, was erected by Mrs. Charles Phillipps of that city, to
preserve from loss the name of one most dear to her, who rests with
God. Like the late Mr. Richardson, and the late Chief Justice Read,
Mr. Molson has not forgotten the sick and destitute. To comfort the
former, he has very lately contributed five thousand dollars towards
the endowment of the Montreal General Hospital; and to succor the
latter he has co-operated with others like-minded in establishing "The
House of Refuge." Such acts, it is true, are but parts of the records
of a good man's life, and, we may add, the necessary fruits of vital
Christianity. Here they are monuments that should be imperishable; and
"in the world to come," where "good deeds are had in remembrance,"
they may win HIS recompense who deigns to accept service done "to the
least" of the human brotherhood as service done to HIM.




[Illustration]


                     ALEXANDER CARLISLE BUCHANAN,

                   CHIEF EMIGRANT AGENT FOR CANADA.


In Mr. Harvey's valuable annual, _The Year Book and Almanac of Canada
for 1868_, the subject of this sketch is credited with the statement,
that from the year 1829 to 1866, 1,063,413 emigrants arrived at the
port of Quebec from Europe, representing an average of 28,740 per
annum. As Mr. Buchanan took charge of the office in 1835, and was
appointed by the British Government, Chief Emigrant Agent, in
succession to his uncle in 1838, it will follow, according to such
average, that during the period of his incumbency, he was more or less
connected with the personal history of over 900,000 emigrants. No
doubt there are thousands of settlers in Canada who have a pleasing
and in many instances a grateful recollection of the genial and high
minded public officer who first welcomed them to the "land of the
west;" who cheered them with kind words, nerved them with kind acts,
and strengthened their resolves by making clear to them the way in
which they might win independence for themselves, and happiness for
their families in the noble Province to which they had come. But
besides sensible advice, and official service, it would not be
difficult, were it proper to do so, to supply examples without number
of Mr. Buchanan's private exertions to promote the welfare of those of
whom it was his duty only to take public and official cognizance. What
he did under such circumstances is neither chronicled in a newspaper,
nor published in "Blue books." Nevertheless, such records are printed
"in red letter," and bound up in as many volumes as there were human
hearts to receive and treasure their impressions. In fact, Mr.
Buchanan contributed as much service to society, in the character of a
philanthropist, as he did to the state in the capacity of an agent.
The mere routine work of his office was heightened, and made
picturesque by the benevolence with which it was embellished. It was a
source of happiness to him to sacrifice much that he might assist all.
He deeply sympathized with the crowded out populations of the old
world, and rejoiced that there was room enough for them in the new. He
loved Canada with a loyal love, and thoroughly believed that nothing
was wanting to those, who with honest and good hearts, seriously meant
to acquire the competence which, he knew, lay within their reach. In
his useful tract published for the information of intending emigrants
he wrote thus:

     "The emblem of Canada is the Beaver, her motto," "INDUSTRY,
     INTELLIGENCE and _Integrity_." These qualifications are
     required by all who desire to make honorable progress in life,
     and when possessed and put into practice, cannot fail to
     command success. Many of our wealthy inhabitants landed in the
     country without a friend to receive them, and with little
     beyond their own industrious habits to recommend them; and
     many, to whom the future looks unpromising, annually resort to
     our shores. But in Canada success is to be achieved by the
     poorest through honest labor. Willingness to work will ensure
     comfort and independence to every prudent, sober man. No
     promises of extravagant wages are held out, but a fair day's
     wages for a fair day's work, is open to every man in a country
     where the necessaries of life are cheap and abundant."

Such may be taken as a specimen of the wholesome and practical counsel
it was his habit to give to all whom he had the opportunity of
influencing by his words. He frankly insisted that labor was the
condition of success, and that temperance and patience were the best
qualifications for labor. In his catechism for settlers there was no
royal road to wealth; persevering industry and persistent continuance
in well doing, were the conditions of prosperity. His representations
were symmetrical, but unvarnished; for he was too natural in his
character, and too pure in his tastes to gloss truth with tinsel, much
less to substitute fiction for reality.

As a public officer he was successful as well as painstaking. Local
bodies marked their approval of his character, in the usual way, while
the popular branch of the Legislature "cheerfully bore testimony to
his conspicuous ability." Nor in Canada only were his services marked
with approval. His worth was appreciated in England, and valued in
high quarters, as the following letter from Earl Grey dated Downing
Street, 29th May, 1848, to His Excellency the Earl of Elgin and
Kincardine will show:

     I have the honor to acknowledge your Lordship's despatch No.
     43, of the 20th April last, accompanied by the Annual Report of
     the Chief Emigrant Agent, for the year 1847.

     You will acquaint Mr. Buchanan that his usual punctuality and
     the great labor of the past year, as well as the illness from
     which, I was sorry to hear, he had suffered himself, in
     consequence of the sickness with which he was brought in
     contact, form an ample apology for his Reports arriving
     somewhat later this year than on former occasions, and I
     request that you will take this opportunity of acquainting Mr.
     Buchanan, that the care with which he annually prepares this
     statement, is fully appreciated, and that I attach much value
     to a document which, not merely affords to the Government the
     intelligence they most desire to possess, on the condition and
     distribution of such large bodies of Her Majesty's subjects,
     but also lends assistance by supplying accurate information
     towards any improvements which it may be desired to introduce
     for the benefit of emigrants, generally.

The season of 1847-8, to which Earl Grey made allusion, will be
remembered as a season of suffering and bereavement. The malignant and
fatal "ship-fever" not only carried thousands of emaciated emigrants
to their graves, but it filled a great many Canadian homes with
mourning. Its malignant influence spread with fatal effect especially
among those whom duty or charity brought within its reach. Mr.
Buchanan was a brave man, and like his father, the British Consul at
New York, was always actuated by that high sense of duty which took no
thought of consequences; for no question of personal safety ever
crossed the current of his exertions. The ship fever found him at his
post, and the sick and dying immigrants found him at their sides. No
wonder that the frightful disease fastened upon him with violence; and
though it did not slay him, it produced, so to speak, a blight on his
constitution, from the effects of which he never thoroughly recovered.
He escaped with his life; but, in the opinion of his physicians, with
a life abbreviated by several years. It was to the illness thus
acquired that Earl Grey so feelingly referred in his despatch to the
Earl of Elgin.

We have only space to add that Mr. Buchanan was the son of Mr. James
Buchanan, who, for nearly thirty years, filled the responsible office
of British Consul at New York. Like his father, he was a native of the
County Tyrone in Ireland, for he was born near Omagh, on
Christmas-day, 1808. In 1815, he accompanied his family on a visit to
England and France, and in the following year sailed with them to New
York, where his father had been appointed Consul. In 1819, he went to
Ireland for his education, which he received at a school in Derry. In
1825 he again returned to New York. After remaining there for three
weeks he found his way to Canada, for the old flag was to him a
talisman and an attraction, where, after some experience in commerce,
he was placed on the staff of the Immigration Office at Quebec, and on
the death of his uncle, the Emigrant Agent, he was appointed by the
Home Government to succeed him, on the 1st July, 1838. In 1840 he
married Charlotte, the fifth daughter of the Hon. Chief Justice Bowen,
who, with several children survive him. He departed this life on the
3rd of February, 1868, deeply mourned by a large circle of relatives
and friends, and kindly remembered from one end of Canada to the other
by people whom, for the most part, he had probably forgotten. His was
a fine example of a quiet, useful, unostentatious life. Those, who
knew him, find it difficult to determine which most to admire, his
public virtues or his private worth. To his intimates both are a
pleasant retrospect; to his friends they are a precious possession;
for many a day will pass ere "Carlisle Buchanan" will be forgotten in
those quiet home circles which he made bright and happy by his
presence.




[Illustration]


                 THE HONORABLE CHARLES RICHARD OGDEN.


Mr. Ogden's father, the Honorable Isaac Ogden, was a native of one of
the old North American Provinces, who, at the revolution, sacrificed
his possessions and bore arms for king and country. At the evacuation
of New York by the royal troops, in 1783, he went to England. In the
following year he arrived in Canada, and was appointed by Lord
Dorchester to the office of Clerk of the Crown and Judge of the
Admiralty Court, for the District of Montreal. In 1796 he was
appointed Judge of the Superior Court. He married, firstly, Mary
Brown, a young lady of Newark, by whom he had two daughters. Sarah,
the elder, married Major Andrews, of the British Army, and Mary, the
younger, continued to reside at Three Rivers, where she died,
unmarried, in 1858. Mr. Ogden married, secondly, Sarah Hanson, of
Livingston Manor, in the State of New York, by whom he had eleven
children. Five died at an early age; those who survived were David, a
barrister at Montreal; Peter, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company;
Henry, who died in New York; Isaac, the Sheriff of Three Rivers, who
died in 1867, Harriett Lawrence, who married the late General Evans,
C.B., and Charles Richard, the subject of this sketch, who was born on
the 6th of February, 1791. He was educated by the Rev. Mr. Doty of
Three Rivers, and Mr. Skakel of Montreal, where he studied law. On
being called to the bar, in 1812, he commenced his practice at Three
Rivers. Subsequently he returned to Montreal, and entered into
partnership with Mr. Buchanan of that city. The firm became eminent in
the profession, and the members of it enjoyed a very large and
lucrative practice. We shall take advantage of the narrative of a
friendly pen, wherein the chief points of a very active career are
well grouped and pointed.

     In 1815, he was elected a member of the Assembly for the town
     of Three Rivers, and continued to represent that constituency
     during seven successive Parliaments, and until he was advised
     by Lord Aylmer that, in the opinion of the Colonial Office, it
     would be better that the public officers of the Province should
     exercise "a cautious abstinence" from the great political
     questions of the day. On this very intelligible hint, Mr. Ogden
     being then H. M. Attorney-General, resigned his seat in the
     Assembly, and retired from political life, as he supposed, for
     ever. In 1815 he had received a silk gown from Sir Gordon
     Drummond, and in 1818, the Duke of Richmond had appointed him
     to act as H. M. Attorney-General for the District of Three
     Rivers. In 1823, Lord Dalhousie, in very flattering terms,
     recommended him for the office of Solicitor-General, and His
     Majesty was pleased to confer that office upon him,
     accordingly. In 1833, he was appointed Attorney-General for
     Lower Canada by King William the Fourth, and was re-appointed
     to that office by Her present Majesty, on Her accession to the
     throne. From the date of his appointment, until the year 1837,
     Mr. Ogden resided in Quebec; but in that year the breaking out
     of the rebellion made it his duty to proceed to Montreal, where
     he continued to reside until the union of the Provinces in
     1841. In 1838, the constitution of Lower Canada was suspended
     by Act of the Imperial Parliament, and the Special Council for
     the affairs of that Province was created. As Attorney-General,
     and as a leading member of that Council, Mr. Ogden, who had in
     the meantime declined to accept the office of Chief Justice of
     the district of Montreal, offered him by the Earl of Durham,
     bore necessarily a large part in conducting the government of
     the country, under Sir John Colborne (afterwards Lord Seaton),
     the Earl of Durham and Mr. Poulet Thompson, (afterwards Lord
     Sydenham), and in the measures and proceedings necessary to
     bring into operation the Act for the Union of the Canadas, and
     to carry out its provisions, and he officially counter-signed
     the proclamation by which the two Provinces were made one on
     the l0th of February, 1841, the first anniversary of Her
     Majesty's wedding-day. The opinions held at the Colonial Office
     had by this time undergone a remarkable change, and instead of
     being enjoined a "cautious abstinence" from politics, Mr. Ogden
     was informed by Lord Sydenham, that he was expected to take a
     most active part in them, to obtain a seat in the Legislative
     Assembly, and to form part of the Canadian Ministry; that his
     emoluments were to be reduced, and that he would have to reside
     at Kingston, the new seat of Government; and he was possibly
     not without a presentiment that his tenure of office might
     depend on the will of a parliamentary majority. These were not
     the terms upon which he had accepted office; they were hard,
     and he remonstrated against them; but he was told that H. M.
     Government held this change to be necessary to the success of
     the policy they had adopted, and he submitted, and was again
     returned by his old friends, the electors of Three Rivers. He
     and his colleagues conducted the Government through the first
     session of the Parliament of United Canada, and brought that
     session to a successful close, introducing and carrying many
     important and useful measures. The untimely death of Lord
     Sydenham threw the administration of the Government upon Sir
     Richard Jackson, the Commander of H. M. Forces, from whom,
     after having made all the arrangements necessary for carrying
     out the legislation of the session, Mr. Ogden obtained leave of
     absence for six months, subsequently extended to a year, in
     order to make the voyage to Europe for the recovery of his
     health, which had suffered severely from the great labors and
     anxiety to which he had for several years been subjected. On
     his return, before his leave of absence had expired, he found
     that during that absence, he and the ministry, of which he
     formed part, had been removed from office by Sir Charles Bagot,
     and that Mr. Lafontaine and his friends held the reins of
     Government. He remonstrated, represented that he had accepted
     the appointment of Attorney-General, when the tenure of that
     office was virtually during good behavior, and claimed redress,
     but in vain. Sir Charles sent a message to the Legislative
     Assembly, recommending him for a super-annuation allowance of
     £625 per annum; but no motion was made to refer the message to
     the Committee of Supply, until the day next before that fixed
     for the prorogation, when it was met by an amendment that it
     should be considered in the next session, which, according to
     parliamentary usage, it could not be; and it was never renewed.
     Mr. Ogden felt that as a public man his connection with the
     Province was at an end. He retired to England and appealed to
     the Imperial Government, but was told that his claim was
     against that of Canada. His services were fully acknowledged
     and he was offered several colonial appointments of more or
     less value, which he declined; but having been, in a most
     flattering manner, called to the English bar, he eventually
     accepted the Attorney-Generalship of the Isle of Man, and was
     afterwards, upon the passing of the new Probate Act, in 1857,
     appointed to the office of District Registrar at Liverpool, and
     held both these appointments to the time of his decease. As a
     public officer Mr. Ogden performed his duties, often of the
     most arduous and trying nature, ably, fearlessly and
     impartially; and that he fulfilled them to the satisfaction of
     his Sovereign, and Her advisers, is manifest from the important
     offices successively conferred on him, and the high trust
     reposed in him and never disappointed. In the conduct of cases
     before the court of criminal jurisdiction he was singularly
     successful, and this mainly because, while he was earnest in
     enforcing the law, he never forgot that justice should be
     administered in mercy. As a member of the Assembly of Lower
     Canada he was bold and uncompromising in his advocacy of what
     he believed to be the right, speaking plainly what he thought
     in the face of overwhelming majorities, respected and even
     liked by its bitterest political opponent for his manliness and
     honesty, his frankness and good temper. On the dark and
     troublous days and deplorable events between 1837 and 1841, and
     Mr. Ogden's relations to them, it is unnecessary to comment
     here: a quarter of a century has since passed away, and we may
     leave them to the historian; he had a most difficult and
     painful duty to perform, and, we believe, few could or would
     have performed it better. Whatever differences of opinion may
     have existed as to the policy which he was called upon to carry
     out one thing at least is beyond a doubt--in the re-adjustment
     of affairs after the storm was past, he exerted himself
     strenuously to secure just rights to all classes of Her
     Majesty's subjects. In private life Mr. Ogden was an amiable
     and estimable man, of a genial and fun-loving temperament, fond
     of frolic and happy at a joke. Kind and liberal to all under
     him or about him, and never forgetting a friend for a service
     rendered, he had that power most essential to a public man, and
     possessed most remarkably by the greatest, of distinguishing
     those able to do good service and attaching them firmly and
     affectionately to him. He was twice married; first to Mary,
     daughter of General Coffin, by whom he leaves no children
     living, and secondly to Susan, eldest daughter of the late
     Isaac Winslow Clarke, Deputy Commissary-General, then in charge
     in Montreal, and a niece of Mrs. John Singleton Copley, the
     mother of the late Lord Lyndhurst. By this lady, who died
     before him, Mr. Ogden leaves five children, four sons and a
     daughter, surviving him.--He died as he had lived, a sincere
     and pious member of the Church of England, in which he had been
     brought up from his infancy, and to which he was most firmly
     attached.

Lord Brougham, in a speech made in the House of Lords, is reported to
have said that "harshness is but another name for injustice;" neither
would it be necessary to travel very far to illustrate another truth,
viz: that what may seem technically right is often morally wrong. For
all practical purposes, and so far as precedent and usage might be
supposed to afford sanctions, Mr. Ogden held his office of
Attorney-General "during good behavior" and not "during pleasure."

The principles by which colonies, for the most part, are now governed,
did not obtain then, and it would therefore be in the last degree
unfair to judge Mr. Ogden's official services by a standard which did
not then exist. There can be no doubt that, according to his view of
duty and public policy, he most conscientiously sought to secure the
integrity and advance the welfare of the country. When it was supposed
that the public interests would be promoted by his observance of a
"cautious abstinence" with respect to matters political, he very
cheerfully retired from Parliament. Again, when he received the
command of authority to re-enter the Legislative Assembly, and take
an active part in all political questions, he did not hesitate to do
so, for his anxiety on both occasions was to serve his sovereign with
fidelity, and his country with honor. A change, however, was about to
take place which was calculated to weaken the tenure if not to destroy
the value of his office. Mr. Baldwin's famous resolution of September,
1841, by which government in future was to be carried on by a
"Provincial administration" composed of men "possessed of the public
confidence," had been accepted by Parliament. It was fraught with
fatal consequences to those who held high offices under the Crown. Mr.
Ogden did not fail to recognize its importance with respect to his own
appointment, for he abstained from voting on the occasion. There was
intuitive foreknowledge in such abstinence, as the first result of
the resolution was a vote, which was tantamount to a vote of want of
confidence in the administration of which he was the chief member from
Lower Canada. His Excellency Sir Charles Bagot sought to pillow Mr.
Ogden's fall by stipulating that a pension should be granted to him.
Mr. Lafontaine, who owed Mr. Ogden no good will, avoided a direct
issue on that point by substituting the condition that the question
should be "considered an open one." The truth was that the two
gentlemen were not only political, they were personal and
representative enemies. Moreover, they had suddenly changed places,
for Mr. Ogden's claims were practically left to be adjudicated upon by
Mr. Lafontaine. When it is borne in mind that the former had been the
official prosecutor of the latter, for crimes alleged to have been
committed during the troubles of 1837-38; that he was the civil head
of the British party, and the prime counsellor of Lord Seaton in those
energetic measures of repression which were deemed necessary by the
Government of the day, then it may be questioned whether Mr.
Lafontaine could have been severely impartial in dealing with the
case. On their first accession to power, the French party shewed a
disposition to punish in one way or another certain members of what
had theretofore been the governing race in Lower Canada. Mr. Ogden
was one of those, and thus it chanced that he was furnished with the
means of presenting an unusually strong case to the British
Government. His arguments for redress were derived alike from the
services he had rendered, and from the enmities which those services
had provoked. His arrow was doubly barbed, and being skilfully as well
as strongly aimed, it resulted in his appointment to two offices of a
lucrative kind in the British Islands, which he filled with credit to
the day of his death.

Mr. Ogden was, as the critic whose sketch we have introduced described
him, a genial, fun-loving man. There was no asperity in his nature,
though his jokes were frequently too practical to be pleasant, and too
dramatic to be described. A steamboat trip from Quebec to Montreal in
those days, was not the serious matter-of-fact journey it is now, and
we incline to think that had a chronicler of ancient events
accompanied the captain on those occasions, the narratives of the
passages and passengers in the _Accommodation_, the _Swiftsure_, the
_Malsham_, and the _Lady Sherbrooke_, as well as other vessels of more
recent build, would include some noteworthy anecdotes of the Hon.
Charles Richard Ogden. It is not easy to reproduce anecdotes whose
point turns rather upon what was done, than on what was said, yet it
is difficult to meet people in Lower Canada who have passed the
meridian of life, without turning up the racy remains of Mr. Ogden's
jocularity, for vivid recollections are still extant of the amusing
merriments which he contrived, or in which he bore a part. Let it be
your good fortune to have a fireside gossip with Judge Black of
Quebec, or your seat at dinner beside Mr. Bréhaut of Montreal, or to
spend an evening with Colonel Coffin, or Mr. Wicksteed at Ottawa, and
the chances are that some of the raciest stories will take their rise
in his amusing pleasantries. One of many occurs to us, which we shall
relate as nearly as possible in the words of Mr. Ogden; albeit the
task is not easy, for he resembled Hook and other humorists of that
type. People have a more distinct recollection of their own laughter
than of his words.

     "Shortly after the war in 1815, at a time when many conspicuous
     Bonapartists had transported themselves to America, Mr. Ogden
     visited the States with a party among whom was Judge Fouché of
     Montreal, well known for his eccentricities. On the Delaware,
     they encountered a Philadelphian editor, "travelling for
     patterns." Editors were their own correspondents in those days,
     and the drab-coloured gentleman in question was not slow in
     making the acquaintance of the foreign party, as he supposed,
     since most of them spoke French. By degrees, his curiosity
     growing with what it fed on, he endeavoured to find out their
     names; and to this end had recourse to the baggage. Suddenly he
     turned upon Ogden all agape, "Fouché, my stars! What Fouché?
     Fouché, the Duke of Otranto! the Minister of Police! the most
     obnoxious of the exiles!" "Hush!" exclaimed Ogden, with an
     expressive gesture, "hush! for God's sake, don't betray him;
     you are a gentleman and a man of honor, if one of those
     Bourbonist barbers in Philadelphia got hold of him, he would
     cut his throat before night. Since you've got the secret, pray
     keep it like a gentleman." Of course he did, for the evening
     journal teemed with paragraphs, personal, historical, and
     analytical. Scarcely had the foreign party got to their hotel
     when down came the town band with a serenade. The Mayor and
     Corporation followed with an address. The most influential
     inhabitants thronged in: "God bless your Royal Highness! How's
     your health? How's Bonaparte, hope he'll soon be back," and the
     ladies, too, they could not miss such a chance, a real Duke, a
     Prime Minister, and an exile to boot! Presentations were a
     _furore_, for everyone wished to get a glimpse of a man so
     famous and so famed. Among other eccentricities, Fouché, the
     Montreal Judge, was curious in wigs; he owned a series, a wig
     for every day in the week, and a special brown bob for Sundays.
     On that eventful night, the whole set disappeared, and it was
     surmised that every feminine leader of ton in the drab colored
     capital gloried in the possession of a lock of the Duke of
     Otranto's hair. As for the pseudo Minister of Police, who was
     naturally a quiet, unassuming man, he was driven frantic.
     Besides the loss of his wigs he had honestly owned to the name
     of Fouché. Consequently, his protests and disclaimers as to his
     identity with the Duke of Otranto were utterly useless. All
     such denials were attributed to the craft or modesty of the
     minister, and, therefore, the worthy judge, finding that the
     populace would make him a Duke, in spite of himself, broke away
     from his hotel, and bolted into the street, taking refuge at
     length in the Bank of the United States, which being then in a
     state of insolvency, was safe from the intrusions of the
     Philadelphians."

No doubt Mr. Ogden possessed strong natural abilities, and a
correspondingly strong will. He was morally courageous and physically
brave, for he neither shrank from responsibility nor shunned danger
when duty required him to meet either. He knew how to choose men to
work for him, and like Mr. Hincks, he appreciated such services, and
made much of those who rendered them. Though a tory of the old school,
yet when unembarrassed by considerations of public policy, he could
play a liberal part with unquestionable zest. Thus, for example, when
the bill for the removal of Jewish disabilities in Lower Canada,
drawn, as we have heard, by Mr. Black, was introduced by Mr. Andrew
Stuart, in the Legislative Assembly, it received his most cordial
support. However, such exceptional cases did not materially change his
general conduct or his particular opinions. From the commencement of
his career he had been required to assert certain principles and
resist a certain party, and he continued to do so to the last. The
contest resulted unfavorably to him, and as he contemplated his
overthrow, he felt that there was nothing left but to retire from the
scene of his defeat. In leaving Canada, he left many warm friends and
some enthusiastic admirers, who deeply regretted his departure, but he
accurately appreciated the situation, and took his course accordingly.
In England he had influential friends, and in Lord Lyndhurst a patron
of no inconsiderable power. After some time, as we have elsewhere
stated, his claims received consideration, and he was honored by the
Crown with lucrative appointments which he held to the day of his
death. Age, perchance, mellowed the recollection, but it did not make
him oblivious of his earlier days in Canada. Friendship with him was
the wine of life, and it was his most enjoyable dessert when he met
with one with whom he could tell twice-told tales and crack anew the
unforgotten jokes that had made laughter hold both her sides from one
end of his native province to the other. His cheerful, kindly nature
only capitulated at the latest assault of time. Decay "came like a
tranquil moonlight o'er him," and he laid down life's burden in the
month of February, 1866, and in the seventy-fifth year of his age.




[Illustration]


     THE RIGHT REVEREND GEORGE JEHOSHAPHAT MOUNTAIN, D.D., D.C.L.

                       THIRD BISHOP OF QUEBEC.

     "Was he High Church or Low Church, or what was his school? I
     shall be very glad if, after perusing this volume, the reader
     should declare himself unable thoroughly to answer this
     question. To say the truth, he could not be identified with any
     party; his doctrinal views were in loyal and affectionate
     conformity with the Book of Common Prayer; but I do not
     remember to have heard him discuss with earnestness any of the
     controversial questions of the day. The view of religion which
     commended itself to his mind was the practical application of
     the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the wants of men; and
     the best method of doing this was, in his opinion, a simple and
     faithful adherence to the principles and rules of the Prayer
     Book. I never met with a more sincere Christian, or one who had
     less of the spirit of party. I never met with a man whose
     religious system seemed to be more completely within the four
     corners of the Book of Common Prayer. For religious speculation
     he had little taste--for religious eccentricities he had an
     utter abhorrence; but if there was any deed to be done, any
     work of mercy to be performed, either for the bodies or the
     souls of men, then his whole heart was engaged. To go about
     doing good was the only employment that he thoroughly and
     unreservedly loved."--_Dean Goodwin's Impressions of Bishop
     Mackenzie._


At the time of the rebellion of the thirteen American Provinces, there
was no Bishop of the Anglican Church on the American continent. In
1784 the clergy of Connecticut elected the Rev. Samuel Seabury to be
their Bishop. But that estimable man having sought and failed to
obtain consecration at Lambeth, turned from the affluent church of
England, to the "Suffering and Episcopal church of Scotland," from
whose poor and despised Bishop he received his mitre. Thus it happened
that the first Bishop of the Episcopal church in the United States
received consecration at the hands of the Bishops of the Episcopal
church of Scotland. Previous to the independance of the United States,
all church organization in that country was out of the question, and
Episcopal ordinances, as a matter of course, were never administered.
In 1789, the Bishopric of Nova Scotia was created, and on the 7th
July, 1793, the Right Rev. Jacob Mountain was consecrated the first
Bishop of Quebec. Shortly afterwards, accompanied by his wife and
their four children, her two sisters, his elder brother, his wife, and
their children, the new prelate embarked, and after a voyage of
thirteen weeks, as the biographer[2] quaintly observes, "the thirteen
Mountains arrived at Quebec on All Saints' day." The cargo, to
continue the phraseological pleasantry, was exceptional; but as
England and France were then at war, it is probable that the unusual
delay was due to the fact that the ship was a convoy, or that she
sailed under convoy, and not to the load of Mountains with which she
was freighted. The fleet of merchant ships which accompanied the
Bishop to the seat of his Bishopric, in all probability carried many a
French royalist, both priest and layman, to the shelter of British
soil. It was a curious reversal of the exodus of the previous century,
and well calculated to provoke the thought it received and the charity
it produced. No wonder that the Anglican Bishop, on his arrival, was
met by the Gallican Bishop, and made welcome with a kiss on both
cheeks. The representatives of the two churches received one another
with the courtesy which, under the circumstances, might have been
expected from gentlemen and prelates of the churches of England and
France.

George Jehoshaphat, the second son, was born on the 27th July, 1789,
and on the 28th of March, 1796, the following entry occurs in the
journal: "This day George began his latin grammar." At the age of
sixteen he was sent with his elder brother, both of whom had
previously been confirmed by their father, to Little Easton, in the
county of Essex, England; where under the clergyman of the place, they
pursued their studies until they entered Trinity College, Cambridge;
where the younger brother took his degree in 1810. He then became a
candidate, but failed to obtain a fellowship at Downing College.
However, he acquitted himself so well, that the then Professor of
Greek, Dr. Monk, afterwards Bishop of Gloucester, and one of his
examiners, expressed the wish to recommend him to the office of
Principal of a college in Nova Scotia, for which that prelate,
speaking from his own observation of his scholarship, thought him to
be especially fitted.

In the following year, 1811, he returned to Quebec, and became
secretary to, and studied for the holy ministry under the guidance of
his father. On the 2nd of August, 1812, he was admitted by the latter
to deacon's orders, and at once appointed to assist his cousin, the
Rev. Salter Mountain, at that time the clergyman of the parish and the
chaplain of the Bishop. In the following year, 1813, he attended the
Bishop on his triennial visitation of the diocese. His uncle, the
Bishop's elder brother, was the resident clergyman at Montreal, and at
the period of this visitation, there were only seven clergymen in
Lower Canada, four of whom bore the name, and belonged to the family
of Mountain.

On the 16th of January, 1814, the deacon of the previous year was
admitted to priest's orders, and on the 18th of the same month he was
licensed as evening lecturer at the cathedral. On the 2nd of August
following, being the anniversary of his ordination, the Quebec
_Gazette_, as we have little doubt, announced that the Rev. G. J.
Mountain was married by the Bishop to Mary Hume, the third daughter of
Deputy Commissary General Thompson. Immediately after his marriage he
went to Fredericton, where he had previously been appointed rector by
the Bishop of Nova Scotia, and where, after his arrival, he received
the further appointments of chaplain of the troops and chaplain of the
Legislative Council.

We do not know in what way the newly-married pair were received at the
rectory, or how the rector was inducted, but the manner of their
approach to the town was the reverse of ostentatious, and bore no
marks of either "carnal vanity" or worldly display. Having, for
example, arrived at St. John by a somewhat eccentric geographical
course, the travellers supposed that the rest of their way would have
been tolerably smooth and free from impediments. But the chapter of
adventure was destined to finish consistently. There were no
steamships in those days, and therefore advantage had to be taken of
any craft the travellers could find to convey them to Fredericton. But
the little vessel in which they ascended the river was unequal to the
journey, as it went ashore ten miles below the wished-for haven. There
was nothing for it but to push on as best they could. Having,
therefore, after the manner of itinerant hay-makers, put up a small
bundle of clothing for immediate service, the new rector and his young
wife landed on the contiguous shore, and looked about them, if not for
succor, at least for transport. A small floating contrivance, which
answered the purpose of a ferry, was at length discovered, and, to use
a Hibernicism, being manned by two black women of marine tastes and
muscular qualifications, the travellers were at length landed at the
desired haven. Under such exceptional auspices did the Rector of
Fredericton take possession of his rectory.

After residing there nearly three years he returned to Quebec, and
received on his arrival the appointments of "Bishop's Official" and
what was called "Officiating clergyman of Quebec," for it was not
until 1821 that the parish was erected by letters patent, and
consequently, it was not until then, that he properly became the
rector. In the last mentioned year he was appointed Archdeacon of
Lower Canada. From the time of his return to Fredericton, we may, in a
more especial manner, date that career of charity and piety which was
evermore to be associated with his memory, and which was to end only
with his life. He commenced wisely, for his earliest act was to
establish intimate relations with the Venerable Societies for
promoting Christian knowledge, and for propagating the Gospel. To this
end, he lost no time in appointing a diocesan committee, in connection
with the committee of the first mentioned society. His second act was
to establish at Quebec, national schools for girls and boys. Early in
January, 1818, he commenced as a simple missionary, and afterwards
continued as Archdeacon, to visit the outlying portions of the
diocese. Such work he found to the end of his career to be full of
attraction and encouragement, for in heart and soul, he was the _beau
ideal_ of a missionary.

In 1819, on his father's recommendation, he received the degree of
D.D., from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in the same year he was
appointed by the government, a member of "The Board for the
advancement of learning in Canada," in which capacity he visited and
inspected schools. In July, 1820, he accompanied the Bishop in what
was his first, and his father's last, visitation of the Upper Canada
portion of the diocese. The physical, moral, and social changes
wrought in fifty years are sufficiently striking, but the primitive
state of the Province at the period referred to may be gathered from a
trifling incident that was noted by Mr. Mountain at Cornwall. Finding
it troublesome to call for his servants, the Bishop said to "the maid
at the inn," "Pray, is there any bell here?" "Yes, Sir." "Where is
it?" "Sir," said the maid, with unaffected simplicity, "it is in the
Church." A house bell apparently belonged to a state of civilization
that Cornwall had not then reached. It was in the course of his
earliest Archdeaconal visitation he met with the Honorable and Rev.
Dr. Stewart, a man of noble birth, gentle manners, and simple piety,
whose "praise is in all the Churches."

Without ostentation or display, in the quietest manner and for the
purest ends, Dr. Stewart had left scenes and associations which are
commonly regarded as among the prime charms of life, for the purpose
of converting the Indians of Canada from the errors of a pagan's
creed, and of instructing the more savage whites of the wild woods,
the trappers and hunters of the new world, in the principles of the
Christian's faith. Between men of such gentle tastes, such humble
minds, and such ripe religious principles, a friendship arose which
was as beautiful as it was pure. Like all good works, that friendship
was continued as it was begun, in singleness of purpose and sincerity
of heart; and in after years, when it passed from a fact to a
recollection, the touch of death did not quench its glow or the
silence of the grave extinguish its glory; for, as we have heard, to
the latest moment of his life, Bishop Mountain was accustomed to speak
of Bishop Stewart in tones of holy rapture, not only as a Saul among
the prophets, but also as a chief among friends. It is beautiful to
note how thoroughly the alloy of mere worldly ambition was exorcised
and expelled from the hearts and minds of those saintly men: each
seemed to desire the other's elevation and his own abasement, for both
were content "to be abased" as neither of them wished to be exalted.
If any rivalry existed it was the rivalry of humiliation, for each
seemed to be only anxious that the other should be preferred to the
Bishopric. Thus, when the plan of separating the Diocese fell through,
and when Dr. Stewart succeeded to the undivided See, he was
unremitting in his efforts to obtain as his suffragan his loved and
cherished friend, the subject of this sketch.

The Clergy Reserve question was, as a matter of course, a question of
great, though, in territorial extent, not of equal value to the
Anglican Church in Lower Canada as it was in Upper Canada. But the
principal was the same in both Provinces, and the agitation and
settlement of the matter included, as early as the year 1822, the duty
of sending to England a representative of the rights of the Church,
and the claims of her ministers. The Archdeacon, Dr. Mountain, had
been designated to that duty, but for sufficient reasons he obtained
leave to excuse himself, and at the same time to impose the
responsibility on Dr. Stewart. In truth such services, though
undertaken as matters of duty, were in the highest degree distasteful
to him, for he was constitutionally disinclined to contend or strive
for mere temporalities. Nevertheless, such disinclination was not
allowed to master him, for he wrote "I am unalterably convinced,
however, of the duty lying upon us to keep watch and ward in defence
of our Zion, and to sally out, if the proceedings of the other party
render it necessary. But it would seem to human weakness a happier lot
for a clergyman to have, as Chillingworth says, 'no enemies but the
devil and sin.' Mine seems so different a case that I shall be fit for
'treasons, stratagems, and spoils,' if I continue to be exercised in
the sort of struggles to which our Church is exposed." The exercise,
unfortunately for his peace, was continued for years, but the
qualifications playfully referred to were never attained. There was no
guile in his nature and strife was foreign to his taste. He was not an
adept in the use of mere secular weapons. The serpent could not lodge
in a nature where the dove only had made her nest. This may have been,
perhaps it was, a misfortune as well as a weakness, but nevertheless
it was a grace the more beautiful for its rarity, and a virtue the
more excellent for the difficulty of its attainment. With respect to
the late Bishop, his biographer says the necessary forms of business
were distasteful to him; he shrank from "diplomacy" and shunned
"Parliamentary" or other work that required address for its
performance or adroitness for its success.

In 1821, on the arrival of the charter of McGill College, Montreal,
the Bishop, believing it to be his duty so to do, submitted a plan for
its establishment as a university. This plan received the approval of
two Governors-in-Chief, the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of
Dalhousie. The recommendation of the Archdeacon, the subject of this
sketch, for Principal, was not only cordially approved of by those
noblemen, but it was heartily commended by the Lieut. Governor of
Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, as well as by other persons of
mark in both Provinces. Two years afterward, the Archdeacon was
nominated Honorary Professor of Divinity and Principal of the College,
which office he held until 1835.

In the year 1825, by desire of his father, and at the request of the
Clergy Reserve corporations of Upper and Lower Canada, the Archdeacon
again went to England. His chief object was to represent the claim of
the Anglican Church in the matter of the Clergy Reserves, but
incidentally he was to express his father's pious wish to be relieved
of a portion of the cares of his Bishopric. To this end he was
instructed to suggest that the extensive Diocese of Quebec, which
represented almost half a continent, should be separated in two parts,
and each part erected into a separate Bishopric. The alternative, in
case such a plan should be considered objectionable, was to recommend
the Rev. Dr. Stewart to be associated with his father in the
administration of the See. In either case, Bishop Mountain offered to
relinquish £1,000 per annum, of his official income, as his
contribution towards the much desired object. Whether such a plan
would have been carried out or not, does not clearly appear, as during
the currency of the negotiation, the high minded prelate, at whose
instance it was mooted, found relief in the rest that comes to all. He
departed this life on the 18th June, 1825, unattended, as the narrator
adds, with filial pathos, by any of his sons.

The death of Bishop Mountain relieved the English ministry of the
responsibility of doing something, and afforded them the delicious
leisure, which they thoroughly enjoy, of letting things alone. The
physical pleas of age and infirmity might have provoked kindness as
well as sympathy, when the higher moral considerations it is to be
feared would have had no influence in moving them to action. In the
former case, from sheer humanity they might have endeavored, and
possibly with little delay, to do their duty towards man, while in the
latter, from motives of convenience, they would have postponed any
effort to do their duty towards God. Death cut the knot which
diplomacy had not untied, and reversed, so to speak, the obligations
of the hour. Instead of troubling themselves to consider how
assistance should be given to an aged Bishop, they only felt
themselves called on to find a more youthful successor, whose physical
strength would place him beyond the requirements of physical
assistance. In choosing Dr. Stewart as such successor, the authorities
probably considered that they had found one in all respects suited to
the office.

Ten years passed away when, in 1835, the Archdeacon was again sent to
England, the objects being the same as those which made his former
visit necessary; namely, the settlement of the Clergy Reserve
question, and the necessity of procuring further Episcopal assistance
in the diocese. Bishop Stewart had broken down and in turn needed
help. He was most anxious that the Archdeacon, whom he dearly loved
and affectionately called his "right hand," should be appointed
suffragan. The latter was more than disinclined to accept the duty,
for his desire from first to last was to serve and not to rule. He
only yielded when Bishop Stewart emphatically declared he would have
no one else. His consecration as coadjutor took place on the 14th
January, 1836, under the title of the Bishop of Montreal. Ten days
after his arrival from England, Bishop Stewart was compelled by
illness to go there; and he never returned to Canada, for becoming
gradually weaker he entered into rest in the month of July, of the
following year, 1837. Thus, in spite of every effort to the contrary,
the subject of this sketch became the third Bishop in succession of
the undivided Diocese of Canada.

We shall take advantage of the Bishop's address to the Synod in 1860,
wherein we may learn much from his Lordship's modest but suggestive
review of the past.

     "The first Anglican Bishop of Quebec, within the life time of
     the more aged men among us, began his task with nine clergymen
     for the whole of Canada, and after thirty-two years, left the
     Diocese, upon his decease, with sixty-one, having three
     Archdeacons and two Corporations of the Clergy, in Upper and
     Lower Canada respectively, for the management of the Clergy
     Reserves. His successor, whose Diocese was also co-extensive
     with the whole of Canada, raised the number in ten years of
     Apostolic labor, to eighty-five. That was the state of the
     charge upon which I entered twenty-four years ago. Since that
     date Canada has been divided into four Dioceses: Upper Canada
     or Canada West, now comprehending the two Dioceses of _Toronto_
     and _Huron_, was under my Episcopal supervision, as
     administering that of Quebec, for three years, during which I
     was enabled to add nineteen clergymen to the number of
     fifty-one which I had found within those limits. In that
     portion of Lower Canada which now constitutes the Diocese of
     _Montreal_, the number was raised during its continuance under
     my direction for a space of fourteen years, from seventeen to
     forty-eight. From causes already indicated, independently of
     the larger amount of Church population, the advances which I
     was permitted to make in this way in parts of Canada, which are
     no longer within my jurisdiction, were greater than I have made
     in that which now constitutes the Diocese of _Quebec_, where
     the increase, in my hands, has been in twenty-four years, from
     seventeen to fifty. The whole increase in Canada, within my own
     proper administration, (not noticing what has occurred in any
     of its ecclesiastical divisions and subdivisions after their
     passing out of my hands), has been from eighty-five to one
     hundred and sixty-five.

     "My venerated predecessors in the See are too well remembered
     to make it necessary for me to disclaim any pretentions which,
     if I had the smallest disposition to advance them, would
     readily be open to repudiation, to equal myself in the
     discharge of my office with them. But it has been so ordained
     to befall, that the Church should not, till after my assumption
     of the episcopal charge, reach that stage in which she began to
     form her permanent institutions and provide her settled
     organizations within the Diocese. I entered upon my charge in
     the latter half of the year 1836. The Church Society was
     established in 1842, and incorporated in 1844; its objects and
     its operations are too well known to all who are present, to
     need any notice here from me. The Church Temporalities Act
     having been reserved for the Royal Assent, finally became law
     in 1843. The corner stone of the College was laid in 1844; the
     College was open in buildings temporarily occupied in 1845; the
     Royal Charter conferring upon it the privileges of a
     University, was procured in 1853; the junior department
     consisting of a first rate school, was opened in 1858; the
     whole institution is still, in a manner, in its infancy, and
     will never be exempt from imperfections attaching to all things
     here below, but it has now four efficient professorships
     (including that which is immediately connected with the junior
     department)--a library of between four and five thousand
     volumes, the promising commencement of a museum, and a chapel
     which may be cited as an architectural pattern. Of the fruits
     of the institution I forbear to speak....

     "The Bishopric Endowment Fund was formed in 1846, being the
     appropriation for that object of a block sum which, together
     with a certain amount of annual revenue made available, at the
     same time, towards the payment of some of the Clergy, was at
     the disposal of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
     It was conceived important to secure the permanent support of
     an office which is essential in the Church, and which was
     almost the only one for which there was no prospect, upon the
     occurrence of a vacancy, of any provision. And it may be proper
     to state here, because some misconception has existed upon the
     subject, that not one clergyman in the Diocese was made a loser
     by a single shilling in consequence of this particular
     appropriation."

Such a record of service is well enough calculated to excite
admiration, but after all it merely informs us of what Dr. Mountain
had been able to accomplish since his succession to the Bishopric, for
it tells us very little of what he had previously done as Rector and
Archdeacon of Quebec. Nothing is said of the parish institutions which
had been mainly called into existence by his zeal, and placed on a
permanent foundation, partly by his contributions, but chiefly by his
care--schools for youth, asylums for orphans, homes for the aged, and
clothing societies for the poor. It tells us nothing of his
ministerial duties, his four services on Sundays, and his
miscellaneous works of charity on week days. Such work as could only
have been accomplished by one who had reduced zeal to a system, and
had organized his labors, like his charity, on the principle of doing
the greatest possible good to the greatest possible number of people.

Again, as we read the account supplied by his biographer of his heroic
charity during those terrible seasons of plague and pestilence which,
commencing at Quebec, swept over Canada, we seem almost to realize the
dramatic portraitures of the sacred Scriptures. In thought, we behold
the commissioned minister of the Most High standing between the living
and the dead, if not to stay the plague, at least to point the
plague-smitten to Him who had taken the sting from death. The
immigrant station at Grosse Isle had been set apart as the receiving
place for those who arrived in the pest ships from Europe in the
cholera years of 1832-34. The grave-yard of the Island was rapidly
filled. The disease seemed to leap from place to place, and having
fastened itself like a firebrand in Quebec, it spread over the city
like a flame. When the cholera broke out in 1832, the population of
that city amounted to twenty-eight thousand; by the end of July, that
is to say, in about two months time, two thousand eight hundred had
died. On two consecutive days in June, upwards (thus loosely the
record reads) of seventy-five persons were buried by the Rector.
Nevertheless, amidst such harassing duty, provision was made for
further service. A horse was kept saddled day and night in his stable
to enable him, or his assistant in the parish, to attend to people who
resided at a distance from him. Many nights, says his biographer, they
were both out, and for whole days together unable to return. Again, in
1847, the ship fever, the fatal product of famine in Ireland, was
imported into Canada. The Anglican clergy, who were few in number,
with devoted zeal, took their duty at Grosse Isle week about, the
Bishop taking the first week. Most of the clergy sickened, and two of
them died of the fever. The trial, we may well imagine, was acute
enough, for in the summer of 1847, upwards of five thousand interments
took place in the Island. "No one liveth to himself or dieth to
himself," wrote the heroic Bishop. There was a chivalry in his nature
which communicated its energy to all. Like a divine afflation it
animated every heart, turning all, whether Priests or Levites, into
"Good Samaritans." Fear was exorcised and cast out by love; and love
being the twin of faith, found joy in duty. Exaggerations either of
fact or of metaphor, were equally offensive to the Bishop, but as he
has passed away, we may say now what could not have been said then,
that, like the captives of old, though in another sense, he seemed to
walk through the fever furnace of that terrible season, without smell
or taint of harm having touched him. This spirit of self-sacrifice
always shone in his character, and unquestionably added virtue, as
well as beauty, to his life. When, for example, the Church Missionary
Society was desirous of establishing a Bishopric in the heart of the
Red River Country, he was the prelate to whom that society applied to
take the exploring journey of nine thousand miles. Doubtless he was
happy to go, for the work was precisely that in which his soul found
comfort. He taught, and prayed with Indians and half-breeds, and laid
the foundation of a permanent Bishopric. In his bark canoe, or beneath
the forest shade, he wrote and, perchance, sang his _Songs of the
Wilderness_, a collection of small poems which are bright with
beautiful thoughts. Again, some years later, when a difficulty was
found to exist with respect to the appointment of a Bishop of Sierra
Leone, in consequence of the climate having proved rapidly fatal to
more than one occupant of the See, he wrote to the secretary of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to know whether the
difficulty had been surmounted; his reason for doing so, as he told
his son, was that he intended to offer himself for the post that "he
might wipe away the reproach from the Church of England."

The records of such a life increase our admiration of the nature in
which that life was clothed. Nevertheless admiration is qualified with
astonishment, and even reverence is ruffled with pain. It is
impossible to forget how sorely his good work was hindered by some
who, nevertheless, affected a deeper spirituality and a more intense
devotion than this peerless Christian minister. Christ and his church
were, it is no exaggeration to say so, the "alpha and the omega," the
beginning and the end, the all and in all of his life. Hence the
ordeal of reproach and resistance through which he was required to
pass must have been a cruel trial for him to bear. But the beauty of
his character on no occasion, as we think, shone more brightly than
when it was subjected to these special trials. For the Bishop was too
earnest a man not to respect earnestness. He was too learned a man
not to be tolerant to ignorance. He was too wise a man not to make
allowance for prejudice. He knew that earnestness and ignorance and
prejudice, like their opposites, were powers which no ruler could make
light of, much less despise. His pious wish was to blend knowledge
with virtue, and thus by overcoming ignorance to purify and direct it
to the best uses. Two trivial incidents within the writer's
recollection will illustrate the Bishop's forbearance and tact as well
as his patience and courtesy. The annual report of the Church Society
had been written for the secretary of the society, who was then too
ill to discharge the usual duty in person, and being approved of by
the Bishop, was submitted, as was the custom, to a meeting of the
Central Board of that society, that it might be confirmed by it before
it was presented to the annual meeting. Objections of an irritating
and frivolous kind were taken to the report. The Bishop did not rebuke
the objectors, but, with great meekness of tone and manner, answered
their puerile objections. The critics, in point of fact, had no cause
for criticism, and they merely shewed temper, and lost tact, in their
search for one. A very respectable presbyter, for example, suddenly
jumped up, and, apparently laboring under the impression that every
product of the pen should either drip with pulpit unction, or be
dredged with pulpit phrases, exclamed (the words are not our words),
"Well my Lord, it would be more satisfactory if the report said less
about the church and more about Christ." The observation, of course,
provoked a smile which few could suppress, and had the subject been
less solemn the smile would have been less subdued. But levity on such
an occasion, it may well be supposed, was foreign enough to the
reverent mind of the Bishop. With surprising forbearance, and without
any irony of manner or acidity of speech, he explained to the petulant
presbyter that the Church Society was an organization wholly and
solely established to teach mankind "more about Christ" and His
salvation. The objectors had not exhausted their objections.
Incidentally the report in question spoke of the sacraments as the
"sacraments of grace," whereupon a very earnest, well-meaning
gentleman rose to his full height, and with ludicrous indignation
exclaimed, "My Lord, I have heard of the sacrament of baptism and of
the sacrament of the Lord's supper, but I never heard of a sacrament
of grace!" The Bishop did not say in stern English what his western
brother might have said in broad Scotch, "Sit down, sir, you are
talking nonsense," but with great patience and courtesy he dropped his
words of kindness, like soothing oil, on the bright bald head of the
objector, and explained to him in the words of the catechism, as he
might have done to a wayward child, that the sacraments being "outward
and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace," were conventionally,
and with great propriety, called "sacraments of grace." Again on the
"Surplice question," the Bishop had been much pressed by a section of
his clergy to make an order to the disadvantage of the black gown.
Personally he preferred that divine worship should be celebrated in
one vestment only, and that one the surplice. The absence of
disquieting interruptions, and the greater simplicity of the canonical
direction, harmonized with the lowliness of his character, and
perhaps, also, with his recollections of the village usage that, time
out of mind, had been observed in many of the country parts of
England. But what may have been lawful was not by him deemed to be
expedient. The law of the church seemed clear enough, but the usage of
her ministers had not been uniform. The use of the black gown is
probably as much attributable to pride as to principle, for in some
parts of England at least, they were chiefly the beneficed clergy, who
could afford to do so, who preached in silk, and not the curates, who
were too poor to use any other than the linen vestments which the law
obliged the churchwardens to provide. However, the gown had acquired a
sort of prescriptive right to be considered. The Bishop was a lover of
peace as well as a lover of good men, and therefore he declined to
dignify a ridiculous dispute with an Episcopal direction. It was not
for such causes that he would exasperate the weakness of a clergyman
or imperil the quiet of the church. At least one presbyter of his
diocese, for example, was beset with eccentric opinions on this
particular subject which he took no small pains to exhibit. Apparently
he liked a variety of dress and thought it charming. On occasion he
would appear in five changes of raiment in the course of a morning
service. The varieties were accomplished in this way. He did not
approve of sitting in the chancel in his surplice, or of sitting in
his pew without a gown--but in carrying out his objections he mingled
lessons of thrift with lessons of theology; for like Gilpin's wife, he
had "a frugal mind;" therefore he wore an old black gown for the
depressed service of the pew, and a new black gown for the exalted
service of the pulpit. Thus, when the Holy Communion was celebrated,
and it happened to be his duty to preach, he twice changed his black
gown for the surplice, and twice changed his surplice for some other
kind of dress. Though such transformations smack of ritual, they were
merely fond conceits, for he who indulged them, like most English
Churchmen, had no relish for ritualistic whimsicalities. Such vagaries
were more foolish than hurtful and quite beneath the notice of one
who, like the Bishop, was too much in earnest about things spiritual
to waste his advice on the cut of a vestment, the turn of a tippet, or
the color of a robe.

The Bishop's great humility of character, combined with his repeatedly
expressed preference for the private station, gave rise to an opinion,
more especially among his clergy, which, we think, was more general
than accurate, that "he was but an indifferent administrator." The
narrative of his life does not sustain this opinion, for though sorely
tried, and adroitly assailed, there is no evidence with which we are
acquainted of his having spoken unadvisedly or acted indiscreetly.
Neither can we discover wherein his adversaries triumphed over him. On
the contrary, the seal of success appears to have been most legibly
stamped on his labors. The wisdom of his rule was perhaps more real
than apparent, for it was felt rather than seen. At all events he did
not govern too much, or interfere capriciously with either clergy or
laity. The Huguenot heritage of religious liberty was not repudiated
by the heir of a Huguenot. There was breadth as well as depth in his
character. His thoughts harmonized with his actions, and both were
generous as well as pure. His heart warmed towards goodness, and it
was especially sympathetic towards sincerity. Devout men were gladly
welcomed and encouraged to work in his diocese, even though their
views on certain matters of doctrine were by no means identical with
his. Then, to his honor be it spoken, he appreciated the freedom of
the Anglican Church. He was neither a sectarian nor a political
Bishop, and hence a man's relation to the church was never represented
by him as in any way dependent on his belonging to a party in the
state. As Dean Goodwin wrote of Bishop Mackenzie, few asked if the
Bishop of Quebec were "High church" or "Low church," for his work was
catholic, and meant for mankind and not for a party. It consisted of
such work as the Baptist performed when he preached repentance, and of
such work as Chillingworth referred to when he said that a clergyman
should have no enemies but "the devil and sin." One text, his son
informs us, found frequent place in his sermons, and it was almost
always printed in capitals: "There is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." His ceaseless aim was
to foil the great Tempter of mankind. His means were faith and
obedience, and his medicine self denial and prayer.

But we must pass on, since our space places a restraint on our
inclination. During the meeting of Synod in July, 1862, a resolution
of an anticipatory character, was, with great propriety, moved by Mr.
W. S. Wurtele, and seconded by the Rev. J. W. Williams, to make
arrangements for a Jubilee service on the 2nd of the following month,
when the Bishop would complete the fiftieth year of his ministry. We
may observe that Mr. Williams was at that time Rector of the juvenile
department of the Lennoxville School, which was established and
conducted under the Bishop's sanction, as a feeder to the university
of Bishop's College, Lennoxville. That university was originated by
the Bishop, and we can easily believe, what is commonly reported, that
it was regarded by him as the greatest of his good works in Canada.
The resolution to which we have referred was carried by acclamation,
all the members of the Synod rising in their places, and continuing to
stand while the subject of it made his acknowledgments. On the 2nd of
August following, addresses were presented and a special service of an
impressive character was celebrated in the cathedral, which included
the contribution of a purse of money, sufficient in amount to found a
scholarship in the university of Bishop's College, Lennoxville, to be
called the "Mountain Jubilee Scholarship."

Thus, the "ravelled rainbow overhead" with its "crimson pain" and
"violet grief," at last dissolved in perfect and untroubled light.
Thus was the saintly Bishop enabled to say his _Jubilati Deo_, and
join the praises of those elder saints who had not only sung their
_Veni Jesu_, but with peaceful resignation had breathed their _Nunc
Dimittis_. Thus could he have said

  "Far out of sight while yet the flesh enfolds us,
  Lies the fair country where our hearts abide;
  And of its bliss is nought more wondrous told us,
  Than these few words, 'I shall be satisfied.'"

The year of Jubilee was speedily followed by the year of release. "It
was", writes his biographer, "perhaps, the peacefulness of his diocese
and parish, which produced in this year an unwonted, or rather a more
uniform cheerfulness of mind, and apparently renewed strength of
body." Those who had opposed him had ceased from strife, and
consequently he had turned gratefully from the duty of resisting the
proud that he might with undisturbed peacefulness minister grace to
the lowly. He had recently undergone much hardship and exposure by
land and by water, in visiting the outlying and almost inaccessible
portions of his diocese, and it seemed that by doing so, a last
longing of his soul was satisfied, for he established a mission, and
what was better, he sent a missionary to the scattered fishermen on
the sterile coast of Labrador. Thus God was bringing him, as his son
touchingly observes, "peace at the last." Advent solemnities and
Christmas joys were approaching and both were alike precious to him.
Indeed his thoughts never seemed to be more heavenly than when, tinged
with the reflections of Advent, they melted into the charities of
Christmas. For they were

  Thoughts of His coming--for that joyful day
  In patient hope I watch, and wait and pray;
  The dawn draws nigh; the midnight shadows flee,
  Oh! what a sunrise will that Advent be.

The year in many ways was being crowned with goodness. He had probably
mingled his joy with the joys of harvest, while his relish was
ripening for the joys of home. The old year of the world was passing
away, but a new year of the church had commenced its cycle. The solemn
services of Advent, one after another, had been celebrated. Advent, or
as it is sometimes called, "The Lesser Lent," had given place to
Christmastide, with its "blaze of song," its argosies of happiness,
its blessed burden of bright words, its kindly greetings, its family
gatherings, its forgetfulness of injuries, its practice of charity,
and its old, old carol of thanksgiving and praise,

  "Glory to God on high--on earth be peace,
  And love towards men of love, Salvation and release."

And the Bishop preached on that grand festival as if he had renewed
his youth; or as if his heart had been invigorated and his mind
inspired with the very spirit of Christmas. The subject was congenial
and suited the season, for it was on the love of God and the joy of
Christmas. But, alas! the joy which gladdened the christians of
Samaria was to be mingled with bitter memories in the recollections
of the christians of Quebec. They were his last words whose face the
most of them were never more to see in time. On the following day, the
festival of St. Stephen, news went abroad that the Bishop was absent
from church. The surprise became anxiety, when it was known that on
the two subsequent days, which were also days "to be observed," his
place was vacant. Men looked gravely, as if they feared the "sickness
was unto death." None ever doubted his love for those among whom his
lot had been cast, but few appreciated, until then, how intense was
their love for him. In every church of his communion, and in some of
the Roman Catholic churches, prayers were offered for his recovery,
and no wonder, for the loss with which the community was menaced was
only exceeded by the love which it felt. Thirty years of absence had
not sufficed to quench the regard, which three years of intercourse
had created in the hearts of his parishioners at Fredericton, for as a
lady resident of that town said to the writer, when speaking of the
occasion on which the Bishop re-visited them, "the memory of those
three years was imperishable."

Prospective, like actual absence, brought with it a sense of loss.
Thus it was that the apprehension of his death caused those who knew
him best and loved him most, to mourn with a sorrow too sacred to be
touched with an intrusive pen. We shall therefore take advantage of
the narrative of one who was present, for he has told us all we need
know of that farewell scene. He has told us of the thought and love,
which divided with hope and death the few last days and hours of the
Bishop's life. The goodness of his character was seen not only in his
rememberance of great duties but in his recollection of small
kindnesses. He remembered his clergy, and when he could only speak
with difficulty, he was able to say, "cheques for the clergy,"--such
cheques having reference to the quarterly stipends paid by him to
them. Then his wish to see, and to say a few holy words to his
servants, who came gratefully and knelt for the blessing they
received; and lastly, his love for his children and his children's
children. "My children," said the Bishop, "I am dying. I am going to
the other world (pointing upwards). You know how tenderly I have
always loved you here," and then laid his hands on the head of each.
The imposition of those dying hands will have left an impression which
the wear and tear of time is not likely to efface. About half-past one
in the morning of the feast of the Epiphany, 1863, he said, 'Lift me
up.' "We raised him," continued his biographer, "in our arms, and I
felt no more movement than if an infant had fallen asleep on my
shoulder, while those who were in front of him saw him gently close
his own eyes. His family and the diocese were fatherless!"

It is true that all seasons are alike to such as are ready to obey the
summons which, sooner or later, death serves upon time; nevertheless,
to those whose christian life moves conformably with the chart of the
christian year, each season brings a special, as well as a general
lesson. The doctrine of the Epiphany, like that of Christmas, is the
doctrine of the Incarnation, and it was this doctrine of "God manifest
in the flesh," that shone so conspicuously in, and formed such an
essential part of, the Bishop's teaching. The Eastern Star which led
the wise men to the cradle of the Saviour, was, we may say so without
exaggeration, the pole star of the Bishop's life. The "glittering
host" which "be-stud the sky" would have lost their brightness to him,
if "above and beyond the shining train," his eye of faith could not
have rested "on the star of Bethlehem." It was the star which lent
poetry to his childhood and peace to his age, which cheered him in his
wanings, and which lighted him home.

  Ne'er may we lose it from our sight,
    Till all our hopes and thoughts are led
  To where it stays its lucid flight
    O'er our Saviour's lowly bed."

It was his great delight, in spirit and in truth, to draw as nearly
as God would permit to "where the young child was;" and whether with
the Jewish shepherds or with the Gentile sages, the passionate
language of the Prophet as it is written in the proper lessons for the
eve of "the Nativity," and for the morning of "the Manifestation," was
the lesson of his heart and the prayer of his lips. Like one of the
Eastern Magi, he seemed to watch for the time when the words of the
Evangelical Seer should receive their final accomplishment, and when
the earth being enclosed with a girdle of truth, nation should answer
nation, and with seraphic rapture exclaim, "Arise, shine, for thy
Light is come, and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

When the dying Bishop "shut his own eyes" upon earth and earthly
things, who shall say that the word _Ephphatha_, once spoken by his
compassionate Saviour, was not again repeated; who shall say that
perfect light, as well as perfect rest, are not now his portion in
those "prepared places" "where the spirits and souls of the righteous
await their consummation and bliss?" Of those who loved and respected
him and mingled their prayers with the cathedral congregation, or
followed his hearse through the January snow, or saw his coffin placed
beside the remains of his much beloved wife, in the quiet cemetery at
Sillery; some wept silent tears saying to themselves softly the
imperishable words uttered aloud by the unhappy prophet to the princes
of Moab--"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end
be like his;" while others, with the expiring notes of the organ
lingering faintly in their ears, and the last holy words of the hymn
which had been sung at his funeral, lodging sadly in their hearts,
repeated to themselves, or to one another, the thrilling syllables of
its closing prayer,

                    LORD, all pitying; JESU blest!
                   Grant _him_ THINE eternal rest.




[Illustration]


                  THE HONORABLE JAMES COCKBURN, Q.C.

              SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA.


The old fortified town of Berwick-upon-Tweed is a little dot of a
place, with a history as singular and contradictory as its customs are
peculiar and unique. It is not easy, for example, to say with
certainty, whether, topographically or geographically, it originally
belonged to England or to Scotland. Politically, it has suffered many
vicissitudes, which "Honest Lambert" sums up with, "Lastly, Edward the
Third wan it." This winning is disavowed by the chroniclers of
Scotland, who insist that it did not absolutely pass to the Crown of
England until a later period. Queen Elizabeth, however, held it with a
tight hand, and made it a kind of independent appanage of her kingdom;
and thus the matter stood at the union of the two Crowns in the person
of the first James. Natives of the town are not unfrequently at a loss
to tell, in a word, the kingdom to which they belong. The writer
recollects a cautious answer given to such a question. "My blood is
all Scotch and my heart is all English, and I was born at the town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed."

In that town the subject of this sketch was born on the 13th February,
1819. He is the son of Mr. James Cockburn, and Sarah Turnbull his
wife, who were residents, if not natives, of the place, and who
emigrated to Canada in 1832, when the former died in Montreal, in July
of that year. Their son, James Cockburn, was educated, firstly, at the
Berwick Grammar school, an institution, we believe, founded by Queen
Elizabeth, and secondly, at the Upper Canada College. He studied law,
and was called to the Bar in 1846. In 1862 he was appointed a Queen's
Counsel, and elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Osgoode Hall.

At the general elections in 1861, he was returned as member for West
Northumberland by a majority of twenty-seven votes over the Honorable
Sidney Smith, at that time Postmaster-General, for the latter seems to
have been better appreciated by his conservative colleagues in the
Cartier-Macdonald administration, than he was by the conservative
electors of Northumberland. It was stated, and with some truth, that
Mr. Cockburn entered Parliament as an independent member. But it was
equally well known that in principle he was a conservative, and no
surprise was felt at his voting with the administration on the 20th of
May, 1862, when they suffered defeat, on the question for reading the
Militia Bill a second time.

The first vote taken in the following Session, Mr. Cockburn's name was
found with the "yeas," on a question for an amendment to the address
in answer to the speech from the throne. It showed that he no more
agreed with the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte administration in their
policy with respect to Upper Canada, than he had done with the policy
of their predecessors, whose candidate he had displaced. In the vote
of "want of confidence," taken on the 8th of May, 1863, Mr. Cockburn's
name is also found among the "yeas." The re-constructed
administration, commonly called the Sandfield Macdonald-Dorion
government, was less acceptable to him than the previous government
had been; hence, on all questions involving an expression of want of
confidence in that administration, his vote was cast with the "yeas."
The second of the three motions on the subject introduced during that
Session, took its rise in the gravest mistake which that
administration made. The entry in the journals of the 17th September,
1863, runs thus:

     MR. COCKBURN moved, seconded by Mr. Robitaille, and the
     question being proposed, that this House feel it their duty at
     once to express their deep regret that His Excellency should
     have been advised to make the Judicial appointment by which a
     vacancy has recently been created in the representation of the
     County of St. Hyacinthe, under circumstances calculated to
     prejudice, if not destroy, the independence of this House, and
     to corrupt at its source our system of Parliamentary
     government.

The resolution was drawn in language of great severity, as if, indeed,
the occasion which gave rise to it, called for marked reprobation. Mr.
Cockburn appeared to appreciate the gravity of the duty, for he
introduced the subject with apparent forbearance as well as actual
delicacy. Avoiding what might have been discredited as exaggerated, or
denounced as unfair, he confined his address to little beyond a
well-arranged statement of facts as plain as they were painful. The
motion was lost in a House of one hundred and twenty-five, out of one
hundred and thirty members, by a majority of two votes only. The vote
represented one of several heavy blows which the Sandfield
Macdonald-Dorion administration sustained, and which resulted in their
resignation without having been defeated on the 30th March, 1864. They
were succeeded by the Taché-Macdonald administration, when the subject
of this sketch received the appointment of Solicitor-General for Upper
Canada. He was re-elected for West Northumberland by a majority of
upwards of four hundred votes. On the 30th June following, a further
change in the administration took place. Three conservative members
retired, and an equal number of the reform party took their places.
Mr. Cockburn continued in the administration, and as such, was a
member of the Quebec Conference on the Confederation of the British
Provinces in North America.

At the elections consequent on the passing of "_The British North
American Act, 1867_," Mr. Cockburn was again returned by acclamation.
The new arrangements, made at the formation of the first
administration for the Confederated Provinces, did not include a
Portfolio for him, but two or three reports obtained currency at the
time, including that which turned out to be correct, that he would be
nominated by the Government for the office of Speaker of the House of
Commons. No doubt Mr. Cockburn had been a diligent student of
Parliamentary procedure, but his aptness in this respect would
scarcely have sufficed, had he not possessed certain other advantages,
in the absence of which no one can successfully preside over large
assemblies. With a very noteworthy share of good tact, Mr. Cockburn
has generally combined a very creditable amount of good temper. In the
Legislative Assembly of Canada he took a prominent part in several
important discussions. Older members in those stormy days occasionally
sought, by disturbing his arguments, to discredit such endeavors. But
the ill-success of their attempts gave rise to the observation that
the new member for West Northumberland had too much Northern blood in
his veins to be baited with success; or, to use a remark made by a
Western member at the time, "he carried too much weight to be easily
shunted off the track." In addressing Parliament he speaks quietly, in
a courteous House of Commons style. His speeches are not related to
the "rag and famish" class, for they are free from rant and
extravagance; and being colloquial rather than dramatic, they are
listened to as serious contributions to the deliberations of
Parliament, and not laughed at as the theatrical diatribes of
imaginative school-boys.

On Wednesday the sixth of November, 1867, the first session of the
Parliament of the Dominion of Canada was opened. Having attended at
the bar of the Senate, and received the Governor General's commands to
that effect, Sir John A. Macdonald, the leader of the administration,
rose in his place in the House of Commons, and after stating what
qualities a Speaker ought to possess, added, by way of corollary, that
"he had much pleasure in moving that the Honorable Mr. Cockburn,
member for the West Riding of Northumberland, do take the Chair."

The resolution being seconded by Sir George E. Cartier, was carried
unanimously, and the Honorable Mr. Cockburn thus became the first
Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada.




[Illustration]


                THE HONORABLE DAVID LEWIS MACPHERSON,

                               TORONTO.


Some thirty odd years ago, before the St. Lawrence canals were built,
or railways thought of, the firm of Macpherson & Crane was not only a
fact, but a power, from one end of Upper Canada to the other. In every
estuary and harbor of the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Niagara,
vessels of various kinds were to be met with that acknowledged the
ownership and sailed under the orders of Macpherson & Crane. There
were vessels with round bottoms and vessels with flat bottoms; vessels
with keels and vessels without keels; vessels that were pushed with
polls and vessels that were propelled with sails; sloops of
convenience, "Lively Pollys," as buoyant as a punch bowl and as
self-willed as a Margate hoy; schooners of pretension; "Ladies of the
lake," rich in paint and radiant in colors, like Columbine at a fair;
schooners of capacity, sober and matronly, broad of beam and slow of
motion, safe and sure like Dutch galiots. There were steamers,
schooners, sloops, Durham boats, barges, and all the smaller fry
required to complete the fresh water family of sailing craft. Such
vessels were the _habitués_ of every harbor, and the familiars of
every road-stead of Upper Canada. Under the modest name of
"Forwarders," Macpherson & Crane seemed to be much more necessary to
the residents of the Western Province than were the three estates of
the Legislature, for they discharged the work with respect to
packages that is now done by steamers and railways, by express agents
and common carriers, by the Post Office and by Parcels' delivery
companies. If Western products were sent to Europe, Macpherson & Crane
were charged with the duty of conveying them to Montreal, and if goods
were brought from Europe, Macpherson & Crane, as a matter of course,
were commissioned to forward them to their western destination. They
were the intermediaries through whom the inhabitants of Upper Canada
received many of the necessaries and all the luxuries of life. The
sugar that sweetened their tea, and the wine that sparkled in their
glass, their delf and their dry goods, their English literature and
their English law-books, for the most part came to them in the hold of
some one or other of the vessels that acknowledged the ownership and
bore the flag of Macpherson & Crane. The country grew in value and
population, and the floating property of the firm increased with the
increased wants of the people, until it represented a capital too
extensive to be easily estimated, and an influence important enough to
conciliate popular attention and to command official respect.

Such, we conjecture, is a tolerably fair representation of the facts
as they stood in 1835, when David Lewis Macpherson, a younger brother
of the senior partner, arrived from Scotland, and entered the
counting-house, with a view of learning the business of a forwarder.
The Canadian _Parliamentary Companion_ informs us that he was born
12th September, 1818, and that he was educated at Inverness. We do not
know whether he became a partner in the firm of which his brother was
the chief, but he showed his sympathy with forwarders generally by
marrying Elizabeth Sarah, the eldest daughter of Mr. William Molson,
of Montreal, and grand-daughter of the Honorable John Molson, who
built and owned the first fleet of steamers, that plyed on the St.
Lawrence River.

Mr. Macpherson not only shares the common opinion of the boundless
resources of the great West, but, like the late Honorable Mr. Merritt,
he is beset with the persuasion that through Canada lies the highway,
as well as the streamway, for bearing such resources to the ocean.
Hence, to use the words of the late Sir Allan N. MacNab, when
"politics were railways," Mr. Macpherson in concert with Mr. Gzowski,
of Toronto, became famous as a builder and promoter of railways, and
it was therefore natural enough, when the Rolling Mills Company was
established at Toronto, that he should have been chosen one of the
Directors. His method of improving the country seems to have found
favor, for when the elections took place for Legislative Councillors
in 1864, he was invited to offer himself for the Saugeen Division.
Thus was it that the Honorable Mr. McMurrich, who, at a previous
election, had defeated the Honorable Mr. Patton, withdrew his
candidature, and found temporary solace in a life of seclusion. Mr.
Snider, a gentleman of some local influence, went through the form of
opposing Mr. Macpherson, and realized the fact of a severe defeat, for
the latter was returned by a majority of over twelve hundred votes.

In Parliament, Mr. Macpherson appears to be generally governed by the
views he expressed in his address to the electors of Saugeen. Abstract
questions of politics and government concern him less than the
practical ones of progress and improvement. "While it is our duty,"
he, in effect, said, "to guard the constitution we possess, let us
strive to make the country equal in attractiveness to the
constitution, for then it will become the chosen abode of a happy and
contented, as well as a loyal and devoted people. Let us turn our
endeavors towards municipal improvement, including such plans of
usefulness as shall smooth the highways of the land and bring churches
and schools nearer to those who need them. Let us increase the means
for a more intimate acquaintance of our people with one another;
settle waste places, and fill the unoccupied lands with inhabitants.
Let us encourage agriculture and promote commerce, and thus multiply
the producing powers of the Province. Let us give free grants to
actual settlers and look to their labor and thrift, rather than to
crown timber and crown lands for revenue and profit. People are of
more value than territory, and hence, it is politic to part with the
latter freely in order that we may get the former without stint."

Mr. Macpherson's speeches on confederation and on settling the waste
lands of the crown, expressed a broad and generous policy, and were
quite in harmony with the views commonly held by those who speak
liberally on the subjects of immigration and progress. At the
Confederation of the Provinces he was called to the Senate by Royal
mandamus, and took his seat at the opening of Parliament on the 6th
November, 1867. In the following year he was chosen by the Government
of Ontario, under the Imperial Act, as Arbitrator, "for the division
and adjustment of the debts, credits, liabilities and properties of
Upper Canada and Lower Canada," his colleagues being the Hon. Mr.
Justice Day, on behalf of the Province of Quebec, and Colonel the Hon.
J. Hamilton Gray of St. John, New Brunswick, on behalf of the Dominion
of Canada.

Mr. Macpherson is, so to speak, a representative of the policy of
progress. He is an advocate of an effective Canal and Railway system.
Western extension and Eastern improvement mean all they can mean when
mentioned by him. He has faith in the resources of engineering
science. The difficulties, for example, which may intimidate some
persons with respect to the Georgian Bay Canal, are but little
regarded by him, for he knows that science can effect what commerce
requires. Necessity will surmount obstacles and overcome impediments,
for the granaries of the great west are not only groaning with
repletion but they are impatiently clamouring for new outlets to the
sea. Experience and taste incline the thoughts of Mr. Macpherson to
practical subjects, and it will not be from any want of exertion on
his part, if the Canadian Dominion does not increase in wealth,
happiness and prosperity.




[Illustration]


 COLONEL THE HONORABLE CHARLES MICHEL D'IRUMBERRY DE SALABERRY, C.B.,

                  SEIGNIOR OF CHAMBLY AND BEAU LAC.

On the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, Louis the Fourteenth, who,
to use the words of Voltaire, "though not one of the greatest of men
was at all events one of the greatest of Kings," startled the
bureaucracy of France with the announcement that thenceforward the
prime minister would be the King, for the proverb "_L'etat c'est moi_"
meant all that it could mean when it was used and applied by that
imperious monarch. One of his picturesque measures of policy with
respect to Canada was developed three years after the death of the
Cardinal, and it very fairly reflected the character, as well as the
design of Louis. It was apparently his desire that New France should
represent, as fully as circumstances would admit, the genius and
institutions of the parent state; and no matter where such reflections
were seen or such influences felt, he wished that the spell of his
name and the fame of his rule should impress and subjugate the minds
of all. To accomplish these aims, it was necessary to choose such
instruments as would, so to speak, represent the history of his
country and the aspirations of his race. It is therefore probable that
men, and perhaps classes of men, were selected who were supposed to be
impelled by his enthusiasm, or beset by his ambition; to whom conquest
was a passion, arms an inheritance, and war a habit--such men, as
under circumstances the most contradictory, and in regions the most
remote, would assert the supremacy and extend the power of France. In
harmony with such purposes, so far as they related to the French
possessions in America, there arrived at Quebec, in June, 1665, one of
what we should call the "crack" regiments of France. It was officered
by gentlemen whose families, in several instances, had been ennobled,
and some of whose relatives at that day held appointments more or less
distinguished in the government or the court. The regiment of
_Carignan_, as it was named, was about one thousand strong, exclusive
of the officers, whose number exceeded sixty. Along with the regiment
there arrived a large body of agriculturists and artisans, as well as
horses and other live stock. The peculiarity of this martial
immigration consisted chiefly in this, that the soldiers were sent as
settlers, while the officers were expected "to keep house and home" as
seigniors on such lands as might be assigned to them by the king or
his representatives. The seigniors were expected to exert a paternal,
as well as a military influence, over their tenants--an influence
analogous to that which was exercised by the ancient nobility of
Europe over their feudatories. One officer of that remarkable regiment
became the seignior of Chambly, and another the seignior of Beauport.
The social and economical results of such an experiment were exactly
what might have been expected, and they may be gathered from an
observation of Charlevoix made in 1720-21, that "the society of Quebec
was agreeable, elegant and polished, although the noblesse and
military officers were very poor." Agriculture then, as now, was
little understood; and commerce then, as now, was generally avoided by
the privileged portion of the Canadian population.

Dr. Anderson, of Quebec, in a very interesting paper read before the
Literary and Historical Society of that city, which has since been
published, entitled, _Some passages in the lives of a British Prince
and a Canadian Seigneur_, gives many interesting facts relating to the
subject of this sketch, of some of which we shall take the liberty of
availing ourselves, premising, for the information of those who may
not have seen the pamphlet, that the British Prince was the late Duke
of Kent, the father of the Queen; and the Canadian Seignior the
Honorable Charles Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry, the hero of
Chateauguay and the Seignior of Chambly and Beau Lac. The founder of
the Canadian branch of the Bearnoise or Basque family of de Salaberry
was a native of the "Basque country," of noble birth, who, beneath the
shadow of the Pyrenees, sniffed the invigorating breezes of the Bay of
Biscay, and there acquired those sea tastes which were destined to
control the profession he was to follow. He entered the French navy,
and at the time when he first became acquainted with Canada commanded
a French frigate. His ancestors may, perchance, have fought in that
famous Basque regiment, which, in 1523, finding their ammunition
exhausted, tied their long knives to their musket barrels, and charged
the Spaniards with such success that the locality suggested the name
of the new weapon, and thus the Basque people taught the soldiers of
Europe their first lesson in the use of the bayonet. Some narrators
mention that the de Salaberry family in earlier times lived in the
small kingdom of Navarre, and being people of condition, probably
found it difficult to determine whether their allegiance should be
given to the sovereigns of France or of Spain. It is therefore
probable that in their veins some Spanish mingles with a good deal of
French blood. Be that as it may, the founder of the Canadian branch of
the family arrived at Quebec as an officer of France and in command of
a French frigate. Tradition informs us that he was "as brave as a lion
and as strong as Hercules;" but the same authority leads us to suppose
that, like many of his successors of equal bravery but less strength,
he was obliged to strike his flag in a contest in which he met with
more than his match, for he capitulated at once and came to terms with
the charming daughter of the seignior of Beauport, whom he married.
How long a period elapsed between his marriage and the occupation of
Quebec by the British forces, we are unable to say. We can only
narrate that the issue of such marriage was a son and two daughters.
The son, who bore the names of Louis Ignace, when seven years of age,
witnessed the battle of Quebec, and, consequently, saw the
discomfiture of the French army on the Heights of Abraham.

Canada and the Canadians seem to have exerted their usual fascination
on the mind of the French sailor, for he liked the people whom he met
as well as the country where they dwelt. Having, as an officer and a
man of honor, done his utmost for the crown and flag of France, he
accepted the issue of that great wager of battle, and with the
frankness which characterizes his profession fell in with the
conditions of the victor, and transferred his allegiance from the
French to the English king. On the treaty of peace being proclaimed,
he sent his son, Louis Ignace, to France to be educated; where he
remained for eight years. On his return to Canada, he completed his
studies at the seminary of Quebec. He is said to have been a young man
of popular manners and good address, who had inherited the physical
and social advantages of his family, for he was not only tall and
strong, but distinguished for a high bred courtesy, which made him, to
use a phrase, "the idol of one sex and the envy of the other." In
1775, the wished for occasion arose in which he could gratify his
martial tastes, and follow to the field "some warlike lord." He joined
the British army in the first instance as a volunteer, and rendered
excellent service at the siege of St. Johns, where he was seriously
wounded; but notwithstanding such occupation, and the impediment of
his wounds, he found himself idle enough and well enough in 1778, to
marry Catherine de Hertel, a daughter, if we mistake not, of the
Seignior of Rouville. Four sons and three daughters were the issue of
the marriage. At the return of peace, he selected the Manor House at
Beauport as his residence, where, as M. de Gaspé informs us in his
interesting _Memoirs of the Olden Time_, M. and Madame de Salaberry,
surrounded by their children, lived most happily, and shewed a
gracious and kindly hospitality to all.

In 1791, His Royal Highness Prince Edward, afterwards the Duke of
Kent, arrived at Quebec in command of the 60th Regiment. "The Prince
and the Seignior" at once became intimate acquaintances, and
eventually fast friends and regular correspondents.

In 1796, a project, which possibly harmonized with the plan of
military settlement, which Louis the Fourteenth had contemplated, was
regarded with favor by the Duke of Portland, at that time the Colonial
Secretary, and was attempted to be carried out by Lord Dorchester, the
Governor-in-Chief. The Seigniors of Lower Canada had been without any
other occupation than that which the management of their properties
imposed, and as such duties involved little labor and less
responsibility, they found themselves in full possession of much
undesirable leisure and very little congenial employment. They had
given their unreserved allegiance to their new Sovereign; but they
were not, or thought they were not, cordially trusted by that
Sovereign. Hence it is probable that to soften a prejudice and utilize
a power, Lord Dorchester, in the year 1796, made plans to raise and
embody a Canadian Regiment, Louis Ignace de Salaberry being appointed
to the rank of Major. The project was an experiment which seems not to
have answered, as the regiment was disbanded at the end of two years.
Nevertheless the motto, "TRY US," which was emblazoned on the colors
of that regiment, was not forgotten in after years, for on the eve of
the war of 1812, upon a recommendation to Sir George Prevost, a new
regiment was enrolled, which the last mentioned officer was appointed
to command. Unfortunately, he was suddenly struck with paralysis, and
obliged to resign the command to his son; but he found his happiness
in the comparative privacy of political and social life, and in the
honors and distinctions with which that son was destined to adorn his
name and race.

The friendship between "the Prince and the Seignior" was not
unattended with advantages to both. It reflected honor on the former,
and was replete with benefit to the latter. The Duke of Kent was beset
with the taste, which at that day especially influenced the Princes of
Germany, to secure fine-looking recruits for the army generally, and
particularly to officer his own regiment with showy, handsome men. It
happened that the four sons of the seignior of Beauport possessed, in
a marked degree, if tradition speaks as truly in the case of all, as
our portrait does with respect to one, the heritage of good looks; a
species of personal property, we may be allowed to add, which the
family still retains. Their courage and address were equal to their
carriage and appearance, and hence those four Canadian officers would
have done credit to any regiment or any service. That they did their
parts in upholding the honor of the British arms is sufficiently
established. Maurice and Louis, the second and third sons, found
soldiers' graves in India; and Edward, the fourth son, named, it is
said, after his godfather, the Duke of Kent, fell at the head of his
company at the storming of Badajos. Charles Michel, the eldest, who
alone survived his father, was reserved for future fame.

In tracing his career, it is necessary to go back to the point from
which it started, as it was in 1794, under the patronage and with the
assistance of the Duke of Kent, that he obtained a commission in the
60th Rifles. He must at once have joined the force under the Duke's
command on the expedition against the French West India Islands, as he
was there with the English army on the 4th of March of that year. We
assume that he was at the reduction of Martinique, St. Lucia, and
Guadaloupe. Having taken part in the victories of the British forces,
he also witnessed the fearful mortality which ravaged and reduced
their ranks. Nor was this all, for with the mere wreck of the English
regiments, he found himself confronting newly arrived levies from
France, under the control, if not the command, of Victor Hugues, a
commissioner of the French Directory, and, it must be allowed, a good
representative of his ferocious employers. Guadaloupe, the last
mentioned island, was thus recovered by the arms of France, and we may
add that the conqueror crowned his triumph with a carnival of
slaughter. The horrors of the Paris shambles were re-enacted in the
tropics, for in the abused names of "liberty, equality, and
fraternity," some of the fairest blood of France was sacrificed. It
was not political revenge, it was deliberate murder that the
commissioner perpetrated when he slew, with every accessory of
ingenious cruelty, no less than three hundred French royalists, who
could not forswear themselves, any more than they would deny or disown
the legitimate ruler of France. The beleaguered fortress of Matilda,
under the command of General Prescott, was the last place in
Guadaloupe to hold out. From the 14th of October to the 10th of
December, it sustained a most harassing siege, when, being no longer
tenable, the General very wisely determined to abandon it by silent
evacuation. The officer selected to cover the retreat in that
successful manoeuvre was Charles Michel de Salaberry, at that time only
sixteen years of age.

Dr. Anderson, quoting from M. de Gaspé, relates an anecdote which was
characteristic of the times, and it is worth reproducing, for it was
creditable to the individual. "The officers of the 60th Regiment, of
which de Salaberry was Lieutenant, were of different nationalities.
There were English, Prussian, Swiss, Hanoverians, and two French
Canadians, the latter being Lieutenants de Salaberry and Des Rivières.
It was difficult to preserve harmony among them--the Germans,
especially, were apt to quarrel, and being expert duellists were
dangerous antagonists. One morning de Salaberry was sitting at
breakfast with some of his brother officers, when one of the Germans
entered, and looking at him with an expression of insult, said, 'I am
just come from sending a French Canadian to the other world,' meaning
that he had just killed Des Rivières in a duel. De Salaberry sprang
from his seat, but instantly calming himself, said, 'We will finish
breakfast and then you shall have the pleasure of finishing another
'French Canadian.' They fought, as was then the custom, with swords;
both were noted for their skill, and the combat was long and
obstinate. De Salaberry was very young, his antagonist was more aged
and 'a rough bully.' The former received a wound on his forehead,
which time never effaced. As it bled freely and interfered with his
sight, his friends attempted to stop the duel, but he would not
consent. Binding his handkerchief round his head, the fight was
recommenced with greater fury. At length his adversary fell mortally
wounded, and most people will add that he got no more than his desert.
There are occasions, and this was one of them, in which good may
possibly be discovered in things evil, and when such a melancholy
issue as that which we have narrated, will be accounted less
insupportable than the shameless brutality which occasioned and gave
rise to it. Like the historic sword of Daghestan, de Salaberry was
'slow to offend' but 'swift to revenge.' In his nature was personified
the beauty of bravery, for with the strength of a giant and the daring
of a gladiator, he had the gentleness of a woman and the tenderness of
a child. Hence the remembrance of that fatal duel was a grief and a
horror to the last. 'Father, were you ever wounded?' asked one of his
sons. 'No, my boy,' was the answer. 'What, then,' was the innocent
reply, 'is that mark on your forehead?' The father was abashed before
the child, and silently left the room; whereupon the boy's mother,
after explaining the transaction to her son, enjoined him never again
to advert to it."

Service in the West Indies came to an end, and de Salaberry
accompanied his regiment to England. Having obtained the staff
appointment of Brigade Major, he paid a visit to Ireland, whose
daughters, on good Irish authority, are said to "love the infantry,
adore the cavalry, and dote on the staff." The young soldier did not
escape the peril of the situation, and being a staff officer, the
epidemic, we assume, attacked him in a soft, caressing way, very
perilous to meet and very difficult to repel. Of course, he was
"doted on," and naturally fell into what very nearly proved
irreclaimable captivity to a young lady whom Dr. Anderson informs us
was trebly attractive, for she was "young, beautiful, and gentle."
But, alas, her "face was her fortune," and her lover's sword was his.
The double contribution, though beautifully freighted with poetic
wealth, was scarcely sufficient to remove the prosaic impediments to
the much coveted ceremony of marriage. Though incautious, the young
soldier was not ungrateful, and, therefore, before speaking to the
priest, he "dropt a line" to his patron, the Duke of Kent. Unlike some
arts which time has destroyed, the art of falling in love is not
wholly obsolete, and as it is possible that some young persons may be
found who believe in their ability to live sumptuously on sentiment
and rations, we give, by way of caution, an extract of the Duke's
letter, which is written at Kensington Palace, and dated 1st November,
1808:--

     "From the long experience I have now had of the service of the
     regiments of the line, I am satisfied that no situation is so
     _unenviable_ as that of a married officer, even when he
     possesses an independent fortune to enable him to support his
     wife and family in the style in which a gentleman (such as the
     profession should make every one who holds the King's
     commission) not only would wish, but ought to do. Of course,
     therefore, when the married officer has not the aid of private
     fortune to add to the small pittance which the regimental pay
     affords him, in these dear times, his situation must be
     deplorable, being obliged either to see his wife and family
     want those comforts, without which their life must be a burden
     to them, or to run in debt to procure them. You, my dear de
     Salaberry, at this moment, possess about twenty shillings a day
     pay, exclusive of those allowances which are not more than
     adequate to furnish and support your equipage as a staff
     officer. But the moment you get promotion, which naturally must
     be your first object, you will be reduced to fifteen shillings;
     for you cannot expect that, with my interest only to support
     you (which literally at this time is worse than none), you will
     be appointed to any situation on the staff, while your very
     advancement must make you vacate the Brigade-majorship you now
     hold;--that being the case, I leave it to your own good sense
     to judge whether, upon _that_ small stipend, it would either be
     right or honorable to take away a young woman, for whom you
     have a regard, from those comforts she has been used to at
     home, to share the wretched accommodation of, at most, two
     barrack-rooms, if you are so situated as to be enabled to have
     her with you; or, if the imperious call of duty separates you,
     to vegetate in some obscure lodging, on the few shillings
     which, I contend, you can ill spare from your scanty pay. Were
     I to write volumes, I could not express my sentiments more
     fully than I have done in the three foregoing pages: from which
     you will easily see that the sum of my opinion is, you _ought
     not_ and _cannot_ think of marrying your cousin; indeed, I
     would go further, and say, you ought to shun the very thought
     of matrimony, situated as you are; but if, under _any_
     circumstances, it can be right for you to think of it, it would
     be if chance threw in your way a woman of respectable
     character, who is enabled to give you, the day you marry her,
     that independence which there is little prospect of your being
     ever able to give her. After saying this, let me advise you,
     _de prendre sur vous_, to be explicit without loss of time, for
     honor, good sense, and every consideration, require it; and
     believe me, when you have done this, you will, to the last hour
     of your existence, feel grateful to me for having given you
     this counsel; for to be a good soldier (for which highly
     honorable qualification no man possesses more the requisite
     than yourself), it is absolutely necessary for a man to be
     independent, and with a wife and the prospect of a family, it
     is impossible for you to be so."

The next year, 1809, the State had provided for him and for others, a
rough remedy for the kind of palpitation at the heart which had
afflicted him, for he was ordered to accompany his regiment on the
Walcheren expedition. If no honor, a great deal of advantage was to be
gained by those who had health and brains to extract knowledge from
error, and wisdom from adversity. We incline to think that de
Salaberry was one of the number, for, later in his career, his
prudence was as conspicuous as his courage, and both bore successfully
the test of trial. On his return from Flushing, he was ordered to
Canada, and placed on the staff of General de Rottenberg, under whom
he had served at Walcheren. In 1812, when war appeared to be imminent,
Sir George Prevost called on his father, and on him, to do what lay in
their power to defend the country. The call was soon answered at the
head of the "Canadian Voltigeurs," a provincial regiment, which was
raised with great alacrity, and destined, ere long, to give a good
account of itself. West Indian and Walcheren experiences, including
the recollections of success and disaster, had not, as we have said,
been thrown away, for Colonel de Salaberry was especially sensible to
the importance of economising his resources, and of preserving the
health and lives of his soldiers. As soon as his regiment took the
field, he made a defensive alliance with nature, and sought her
assistance in covering as well as moving his troops. He was obliged to
be wary, that he might be bold, for his force was small, and his
ability to recruit it comparatively insignificant.

General Dearborn, in 1812, had assembled an army of ten thousand men,
and from Plattsburg menaced Montreal. De Salaberry, with the advance
of Colonel D'Echambault's corps under his orders, commanded the
outposts, and although the Canadian levies were raw, they were full of
confidence in themselves and in their commanders. The season was far
advanced, but with such an army General Dearborn was naturally
expected by his government to effect something imposing before the
campaign closed--something that might be repeated in the American
newspapers in sensational capitals, and proclaimed to the credulous by
brazen trumpets and brass bands. General Dearborn necessarily took the
initiative in what, considering the season of the year, must have been
accounted a very doubtful, if not a very hazardous movement. Sir
George Prevost, having made out General Dearborn's plan of operations,
sent de Salaberry, with four hundred men and some Indian auxiliaries,
to dispute his entrance into the Province. This was successfully and
very easily accomplished. The following general order will explain
what Sir George Prevost thought of the affair:


                                      ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
                                         Headquarters,
                                           Laprairie, 27th Nov., 1812.

     "G. O.--His Excellency the Commander of the Forces, takes this
     opportunity of expressing to Lieut. Colonel de Salaberry, his
     entire approbation of his conduct in the management of the
     advance, as well as the high sense he entertains of the
     alacrity with which the corps of the Volunteer Voltigeurs, the
     Battalion of embodied Militia, Captain Platt's troop of Light
     Cavalry, and the Montreal Battalion of Volunteer Militia, and
     the flank companies, second and third battalions Montreal
     Militia, repaired to their different posts to repel the
     threatened invasion, and which, had it taken place, His
     Excellency feels confident, from the tried valor and
     discipline of His Majesty's regular forces, and from the
     enthusiastic loyalty and courage of all classes of His
     Majesty's Canadian subjects, would have terminated in the
     defeat and disgrace of the enemy. The extraordinary exertions
     which have been made on this occasion, and which thus calls
     forth His Excellency's notice and commendation, cannot fail
     from producing the most happy consequences to the future
     tranquillity and prosperity of the country. The General Orders
     of this day and the 27th current, are to be entered into the
     General Orderly Books, and read at the head of every corps on
     parade.

                                               (Signed) EDWARD BAYNES,
                                                   Adjt. General N. A.

Like his father, who married in 1778, during the Revolutionary war,
Colonel de Salaberry appeared to think that a similar period of
disquiet was not inconsistent with a peaceful accompaniment. Hence, in
the year 1812, he inaugurated a holy alliance on his own account by
marrying his cousin, Marianne de Hertel de Rouville, a descendant of
that _Sieur_ de Rouville, to whom was first granted the Seigniory of
Chambly. The Duke of Kent wrote a very different letter to the letter
of discouragement which we have already quoted. The case had taken a
turn favorable to competence, residence and respectability. We can
only find space for an extract. The letter is dated Kensington Palace,
8th August, 1813:--

     "Madame de St. Laurent and myself, who were delighted to hear
     in the first place of the very judicious marriage you have
     made, have also been highly gratified in learning that she has
     given you a son, and not a little pleased with the compliment
     you have paid her by naming him after her. You will therefore
     judge how cordially we both unite in the fervent prayer that
     the name may prove more fortunate to him than it was to your
     poor brother Edward."

In the same year, 1813, Colonel de Salaberry was required to give his
undivided attention to Generals Wilkinson and Hampton, and the armies
which they commanded--the former of whom was directed to surprise and
capture Kingston and Prescott, and then join the latter, who, having
possessed himself of some of the outlying posts on the Lower Canada
frontier, was expected to unite his forces with those of Wilkinson and
make a common descent on the island and city of Montreal. Jefferson,
writing from Monticello, in a letter dated the 1st October, 1812, had
indicated the plan of operations. After stating that "Hull's surrender
has been more than the loss of a year to us," counsels that "a blow be
struck below; for," he adds, "the effectual possession of the river
from Montreal to the Chaudiere, which is practicable, would give us
the upper country at our leisure." Reverses to the British arms had
occurred in Western Canada, for General Proctor had been shamefully
defeated at the battle of the Thames. The United States authorities
had therefore gained heart, and with the elastic confidence that
characterizes the nation, thought that they might as well disperse the
force under Sir George Prevost at Montreal, and thus, by acquiring the
key, possess themselves of the Province of Canada. The combined armies
of those two Generals amounted, according to Col. Coffin's statement
in his "_Chronicle of the War of 1812_," to 17,200 men of all arms. To
encounter these two armies, the British had a force of regulars and
militia of five thousand men only, two thousand of whom were in Upper
Canada. The line of attack selected by General Hampton is said to have
been judiciously chosen, for it was drawn through the country lying to
the west of the Richelieu, and menaced Isle-aux-Noix, St. Johns, and
Chambly. The British force detached to oppose this invasion was
scarcely more than a column of observation; but the advance,
consisting of only three hundred and fifty men, was commanded by
Colonel de Salaberry. This third part of a regiment was handled with
singular courage and discretion. De Salaberry was allowed to make his
own dispositions, and he did so with rare sagacity. Indeed, he
re-enacted, with similar success but on a smaller scale, the tactics
which occasioned the British defeat under Abercrombie at Ticonderoga.
He knew the advantages which the forest afforded to a small force, and
therefore, like Montcalm, he had been especially careful to obstruct
every approach to his position, by building as formidable _abattis_ as
the time and means at his disposal would admit. General Hampton
attempted to penetrate this forbidding fringe of black ash forest, and
he was probably right in doing so, for it alone separated his army
from the cleared farms and the housed products of Lower Canada. To
accomplish his purpose, he made a dash at an outlying picket at
Odelltown, which, however, was defended with such obstinacy by Captain
Mailloux and the few militia men under his command, that a very small
measure of success attended the effort. Moreover, the timely arrival
of reinforcements, consisting of the flank companies of a militia
regiment under Major Perrault, and the Canadian Voltigeurs under
Colonel de Salaberry, put a new face on the affair, and, after much
harass, General Hampton was compelled to withdraw his force and move
it westward, to find, as Col. Coffin very tersely observes, "his
Philippi on the banks of the Chateauguay."

On General Hampton's retirement, and notwithstanding the great
disparity of numbers in the two armies, Colonel de Salaberry followed
him cautiously and overtook him about four miles within the American
frontier, and near the source of the Richelieu. The object of the
Canadian commander was to effect by a surprise what he could not hope
to accomplish in any other way. The accidental discharge of a musket
by one of his soldiers not only spoiled his plans, but compelled him
to extricate himself from a position of considerable peril. Being
discovered, he neither lost heart, head, nor time, but acting on the
principle that fortune favors the bold, he collected about forty of
his Voltigeurs and a few Indians, and made a vociferous onset on what,
we conjecture, must have been the advance of the American army,
causing it to fall with great confusion on the main body. The act was
as gallantly executed as it was boldly conceived. It actually resulted
in the repulse of a body of eight hundred men by a force of one-eighth
of that number; but morally the effect was of great advantage to the
smaller force, for de Salaberry recovered his position much faster
than the enemy recovered his composure; and by doing so, impressed
those whom he led that a great strategic gain had been won without
any personal loss. It is probable that the comments made in the two
armies on this affair of outposts were not dissimilar, for the
Americans must have believed, what the Canadians were well aware of,
that their commander was a man of ingenuity and resource, as well as
of coolness and address. We shall merely refer our readers to the
interesting narrative to be found in Col. Coffin's _Chronicle of the
War of 1812_, and, as to what follows; to the letter of an "eye
witness," which was written and published at the time, and is
ascribed, and as we believe truly, to the late Commander Jacques
Viger, of Montreal.

Three weeks had elapsed since the American army, with General Hampton,
made its first advance into Canada. On the 21st October, 1813, his
second invasion was attempted, but like the first experiment, it was
made on ground with which Colonel de Salaberry was intimately
familiar, and which he had taken much pains to secure by roughly
fortifying it. Indeed, he had hedged his position with every appliance
which nature offered, and the _abattis_ erected under his orders was
so provokingly well done, as to render inoperative the artillery of
the Americans. Nothing seems to have been overlooked and nothing
forgotten by the Canadian commander, and from first to last he kept
steadily to his purpose of repelling the enemy without exposing his
own soldiers. General Hampton was probably misled as well as
ill-served, for he seemed to have had very inaccurate knowledge of the
position, and none of the strength of the enemy. Ignorance aggravated
his anxiety, and de Salaberry's audacity made it insupportable. When,
therefore, the latter, by way of stratagem, separated his buglers, and
placed them in extended order, so that they should represent a
considerable force in line; and at a critical moment, by previous
arrangement, signalled them to sound the advance, the American General
became bewildered, for the British call to advance was answered by the
retreat, and subsequent flight, of the American army. This unique
achievement resulted in the absolute demoralization of the American
forces under Hampton; moreover, it necessitated the withdrawal of the
army under Wilkinson. Thus was the enemy's plan of the campaign
hopelessly disconcerted, for the two invading armies which were to
have united their victorious forces were successfully kept apart, and
the dispositions of the American government, civil and military,
rendered worthless and unavailing. The season was wearing on, and,
therefore, General Hampton sought solace in discretion, and found
refuge in winter quarters. This extraordinary success was won with a
loss to the Canadians, according to the return made in general orders
by the Adjutant General, of five rank and file killed, two captains,
one sergeant and thirteen rank and file wounded, and four missing.
Thenceforward Col. de Salaberry was known as the hero of Chateauguay,
for although General de Wattville was the officer in command, the
battle was fought by de Salaberry and the small body of troops
immediately under his orders.

General orders and complimentary despatches followed one another in
rapid succession, together with official and private letters from the
Duke of York and the Duke of Kent, but which our space will not allow
us to reproduce in this sketch. We shall content ourselves with
inserting the following:


  Extract of a General Order, dated--

                                           "ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
                              "Headquarters, Montreal, 4th Nov., 1813.

     "His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief and Commander of the
     Forces has the highest pride and satisfaction in declaring his
     acknowledgments to the loyal and brave Militia of Lower Canada,
     for the zeal and alacrity with which they flew to their posts,
     and for the patience and firmness with which they have endured,
     in this inclement season, the severe hardships and privations
     to which they have been exposed. The steadiness and discipline
     of the whole have been conspicuous; and the undaunted gallantry
     displayed by six companies, almost to a man composed of
     Canadian Fencibles and Militia, under the immediate command of
     Lieut.-Colonel de Salaberry, in repelling, with disgrace, an
     American invading army, twenty times their number, reflects
     unfading honor on the Canadian name.

                                             (Signed,) "EDWARD BAYNES,
                                                   "Adjutant-General."

A gold medal was struck to commemorate the victory, and the Voltigeurs
were presented with colors. Besides the medal which was, of course,
given to him, de Salaberry was made a C.B., and received an autograph
letter from the Prince Regent. Moreover, the two Houses of the
Provincial Legislature passed a vote of thanks to him. Honors are
valuable, and must be highly appreciated by men of honor. But when
conferred for substantial services, such distinctions are usually
associated, and properly so, with practical rewards, for a generous
people commonly returns sacrifice for service. England is not
deficient in generosity. It is therefore probable that a technical
difficulty stood in the way of its exercise on this occasion; for,
though de Salaberry fought and won the battle, he held only a
subordinate command in the division. Men are not commonly satisfied
with the excuses which etiquette and the rules of a service supplies,
and hence the feeling, in Canada at least, was that as Colonel de
Salaberry received nothing beyond the honors we have mentioned, the
Imperial treasure was, in his case, guarded with exceptional and
blameworthy discrimination.

Having served his country in the field, he was subsequently invited to
serve it in the state, for in 1818, he was summoned by Royal mandamus,
to a seat in the Legislative Council, of which body his father was
also a member. The latter departed this life in 1828, and the former a
year afterwards in 1829. The genial attractions which lent their
brightness to the manor house at Beauport, were not absent from the
seigniorial home at Chambly, for the inheritance of a mirthful and
hilarious temperament had been transmitted from sire to son, with
conspicuous regularity. The love of music and the love of dancing,
which characterize the natives of Navarre, as well as of the people of
the Basque country, were not discredited by their representatives in
Canada; for the de Salaberry family retain on the banks of the
Richelieu, in the climate of Sweden, though in the latitude of Spain,
many of the social characteristics which distinguish the natives of
Southern Europe. And it was while following the bent of his own
inclination as well as the habit of his race, in the midst of innocent
amusement and cheerful recreation, and when surrounded by loving
relatives and kind neighbors, that his life suddenly departed. On
February the 25th, 1829, he was, we believe, spending the evening at
the house of his brother-in-law, the late Mr. Augustus Hatt of
Chambly, when a young lady challenged him to dance a reel with her. He
was not the man to decline a challenge, not even when the cartel was
presented by one who would have received his excuses with as much
grace as she received his assent. However, he danced so spiritedly and
so long, that his eldest son, the late Deputy Adjutant General of
Militia, glided between the dancers, and consoled his father's partner
by taking his father's place. But on retiring to the adjoining room,
the Colonel said to a young medical friend, who was there, "I feel
very unwell," and almost immediately became speechless. In spite of
medicine and treatment, he died on the following day in the
fifty-first year of his age.

Though the battle of Chateauguay was less picturesque as a fact and
less poetical as a narrative than the battle of Queenston Heights, it
was, we venture to think, as a military achievement, of even greater
importance than the more celebrated victory. Brock was a hero whose
courage never erred on the side of caution. He was perhaps prodigal of
life; he fought his enemy wherever he found him, and having the
choice, would probably have chosen the open country with "a fair field
and no favor." Thus, by dash and audacity, sheer force and hard
fighting, he drove his adversary to destruction. Moreover, the battle
ground of Queenston Heights was no ordinary picture. Besides the
central figure of the death of Brock, with the accessories of victory
and defeat, it had been enclosed by nature in a frame-work of
unrivalled magnificence. Imagination and fancy heightened the
fascination which usually surrounds the "pomp and circumstance" of
war, and thus the narrative of that sacrifice and triumph, the death
of the victor and the route of the vanquished, are associated with
the grand scenery of Niagara, and bedewed with the incense of the
great cataract. In harmony with such surroundings, the continual surge
and throb of those everlasting waters lent assistance to the minstrels
who, in impassioned verse, or to the narrators who in poetic prose,
sung or said how the British kept the Heights in "the brave days of
old!"

The duties respectively imposed on Brock and de Salaberry were so
similar as to be almost identical. They were to prevent invasion, or
that failing, to expel the invader. Each in his own way accomplished
what both were required to perform, but the mode in which the work was
done was strikingly unlike. If Brock was, as he is said to have been,
prodigal of life, at least he was not more careful of himself than he
was of the humblest soldier in his ranks. His daring provoked his
death, and his country lost in his fall, one of the best Generals of
Division in the British army. De Salaberry, with equal courage, had
probably a keener appreciation of the value of a soldier's life, for
he had served where too much indifference to such lives had been
attended with loss, if not with shame. Hence he sought to rectify the
numerical inequalities between his own and the enemy's forces, and by
prudence and knowledge, by strategy and address, to equalize what was
unequal. He pitted the sagacity of the beaver against the strength of
the bear, and, therefore, he fought with other weapons beside the
firelock and the sword. He called in the humbler services of the axe
and the spade, and silenced artillery by chopping and digging. He
avoided the fields and clung to the forests. He built _abattis_ and
enclosed his position with an extended and, at the same time, a
rasping _chevaux de frise_, which the forest had been made to supply.
Moreover, he succeeded in fighting on the ground which he had chosen
and prepared for the engagement. He held his position just so long as
he had intended to hold it, for when he moved, it was to advance and
gradually push until he eventually pursued the enemy to his lair. Thus
by paralyzing the plans of his foe, de Salaberry rendered worthless a
movement whose value depended not only on an engagement with the
British force in Lower Canada, the success of which seems not to have
been doubted, but on exact combinations to be effected after such
assumed victory. All such plans were cleverly frustrated, and with but
trifling loss, for the "butcher's bills," as Cobbett called such
returns, were too inconsiderable to be interesting. Thus the battle of
Chateauguay offered no material to the painter, and very little to the
poet. Politicians like Jefferson, understood the value of the British
victory, and military men on both sides of the line concurred in
opinion with Sir George Prevost, that it put off, at least, for one
more year, and perhaps for an indefinite period, the serious invasion
of Canada.

If there be a parallel in the military services which, on the two
occasions we have mentioned, Brock and de Salaberry successfully
performed, as well as in the political value of those services, there
is also a contrast in the manner in which they were acknowledged by
the Legislatures and people, respectively, of Upper and Lower Canada.
The former Province, through its Parliament, voted to the family of
Brock twelve thousand acres of land, and the people, of their own free
will, by voluntary contributions, built and rebuilt the majestic
column which crowns the Heights of Queenston, and commemorates the
victory while it covers the dust of Brock. The Legislature of Lower
Canada, whose inhabitants de Salaberry had protected from violence,
and whose properties he had saved from spoil, returned the courtesy of
a gracious acknowledgment, for they recorded their thanks on the
journals of both Houses of their Legislature. But so far as we can
learn, neither the Parliament nor the people of Lower Canada gave
more; they neither voted land to his race, nor a stone to his fame.




[Illustration]


                 THE HONORABLE HENRY STARNES, M.L.C.

                              MONTREAL.


Mr. Starnes' father was a United Empire Loyalist of Scotch descent,
who settled in Canada at the close of the revolutionary war. We do not
know what his opinions were on the subject of the separation of the
provinces in 1791, but there can be no doubt he favored an intimate
union of the peoples, as he married a French Canadian lady. One of the
results of such marriage was the birth, at Kingston, in Canada West,
of a son, whose photograph prefaces this sketch. Though born in the
Upper Province, young Henry Starnes was not destined to give the
weight of his influence to the preponderating population of that
province, for he was removed very early in life to Montreal, where, as
we conjecture, it had been arranged he was to be brought up. He was
educated in part by the Rev. Mr. Esson, and in part at the Montreal
College. On leaving the college he was taken into the counting-house
of James Leslie & Co., wholesale merchants in that city, and such was
his industry, intelligence, and integrity, that he rose rapidly from
the position of a salaried clerk to that of a partner. With the
infusion of the new blood there was a change in the old style, for the
firm thereafter became known as Leslie, Starnes & Co.

Several years before the union of the provinces, Mr. Leslie, the
senior partner, had taken an active part in the politics of Lower
Canada, and was a member of the House of Assembly of that Province.
At the elections which immediately followed the union he was returned
for the County of Verchères, for which county he continued to sit
until the 23rd May, 1848, when he was summoned by Royal mandamus to a
seat in the Upper House. Previously, on the eleventh of March, of the
same year, he accepted the office of President of the Executive
Council in the Lafontaine-Baldwin administration. This, of course,
necessitated his retirement from commerce, and occasioned Mr. Starnes'
promotion to the chief place in the firm. Public appreciation in the
form of commercial and civic honors succeeded one another with great
rapidity, for in the same year Mr. Starnes was elected a director of
_La Banque du Peuple_, and appointed a warden of the Trinity-House.
Either then, or shortly afterwards, he was elected Vice-President of
the Board of Trade of Montreal, which office he filled for a double
term.

Mr. Starnes not only combines the blood of the two races in his veins,
but he represents their peculiarities in his character. Moreover he is
liked and trusted by both, for his intimate friends are found in
French and English families. From his mother he derived the sparkle of
the Gaul, and from his father the solidity of the Gael, and hence it
is equally natural for him to be as gay as a Frenchman or as grave as
a Scot. Moreover he has the intelligence not only to see that there is
much to admire in both races, but he has the candor to say so. Between
the mixed populations of Montreal and him, reciprocal attractions have
existed which time does not seem to weaken. Thus in 1856 and 1857 he
was twice chosen by acclamation as the Mayor of Montreal, and ten
years afterwards, in 1866 and 1867, the like honor was as many times
repeated in the same flattering way.

"Good wine needs no bush," but a public dinner requires a pleasant
chairman. We have been informed that Mr. Starnes' social merits are as
conspicuous as they are unique. Naturally cheerful he is never
embarrassed, for a confused expression is foreign to his face. A blush
could no more get through his skin than the brightness could get out
of his eye, for he possesses the kind of bronze tinted complexion
which is as hardy as it is enviable. The sun cannot ruffle its surface
neither can a surprize agonize its roots, for whatever his feelings
may be, his face tells no tales. Mr. Starnes possesses the knack of
seeming to be and of being happy in his manner when presiding at a
festival. These qualifications were put to repeated tests in the
course of his Mayoralty, for in 1856 he was required to be the
chairman of a banquet given to the British troops on their arrival
from the Crimea, and later in the same year, as the mayor, he was
called upon to preside at the grand festival which was given by the
citizens of Montreal to the Governor General, to the Commander of the
Forces, to the Members of the Administration, and to six thousand
guests, more or less distinguished, who attended by invitation from
the United States, the Maritime Provinces, and the two Canadas, to
celebrate the opening of the Grand Trunk Railway from Montreal to
Toronto. As a mark of appreciation, the guests presented, through the
Mayors of such American and Canadian cities as were present, very
cordial addresses of acknowledgment to Mr. Starnes, who received and
answered them with such tact as to provoke compliment.

In 1866 Mr. Starnes presided at a farewell dinner given to Sir George
Cartier, who was about to embark for England, when the latter, in
proposing the Mayor's health, said:

     "With the permission of the Mayor I shall now propose a toast.
     I have at my left a college friend, and though he has devoted
     himself to trade and commerce, and I to law and politics, we
     have never lost sight of each other. We have often met with
     feelings of good will and pleasure, and it is not long since
     that, in his place in parliament, he united with me in
     appealing to the intelligence and patriotism of the Commons of
     Canada in behalf of the great and vital interests of the
     country. I appeal to you, the citizens of Montreal, who have
     already three times elected him by acclamation as your Chief
     Magistrate, to respond heartily to the toast which I now
     propose, 'The health of Mr. Starnes, Mayor of Montreal.'"

In the second year of his mayoralty, 1857, he was deputed by the
citizens to advocate the claims of Montreal to be selected as the
seat of government, and though his exertions were not crowned with
success, the failure was not attributable to the weakness of his
arguments, for then and since he was supposed to hold the popular
brief. In the same year he was nominated, with Sir George Cartier and
Mr. Rose, as one of the members for Montreal, but, though he suffered
defeat for the city, he was returned, at the same election, as member
for Chateauguay, for which county he continued to sit until 1863, when
he declined to come forward. In 1860 he retired from the firm with
which his name had so long been associated, and accepted the situation
of Manager of the Ontario Bank at Montreal, an office which he
continues to fill. But his connection with that great monetary
institution has not wholly detached him from public life. In the month
of August, 1867, he was invited by the Hon. Mr. Cauchon to accept
office in the Provincial Administration of Quebec, and afterwards by
the Hon. Mr. Chauveau to take the chair as speaker of the Legislative
Council of that Province. Though for private reasons, Mr. Starnes
declined offices of responsibility and emolument, he did not hesitate
to become a member of the Legislative Council of Quebec, when he was
invited by the Lieutenant-Governor to take a seat in that Honorable
House.




[Illustration]


                 THE REVEREND W. AGAR ADAMSON, D.C.L.

 CHAPLAIN AND LIBRARIAN OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF THE PROVINCE OF
    CANADA, AND LIBRARIAN OF THE SENATE OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA.

  A Manly heart lost this our western land,
    When thine, brave chaplain, to the grave was borne;
  And friends, even some who never clasped thy hand,
    In distant townships, thy departure mourn.
  For generous hearts are few upon the earth,
    And genial natures, such as guided thee;
  Grave thoughts and sad swept o'er thee; but thy mirth
    Out-rode them all,--a life-boat on the sea.
  And 'mong thy friends how many felt the charm
    Of thy keen intellect and racy tongue;
  Thy tide of thoughts, thy feelings ever warm,
    Portrayed a nature, deep and fresh and young
  E'en in thy age; and long thy name will stand,
    Bright as a fisher's beacon in this our western land.[3]


The Rev. William Agar Adamson was born in Dublin on the 21st November,
1800. His father, Mr. James Adamson, was the son of the Rev.
Christopher Adamson of Ballinalock, in the County of Westmeath, and
Incumbent of St. Marks, Dublin; his mother was the eldest daughter of
Mr. Isaac Hutchinson of Violet Hill, in the county Wicklow. In July,
1819, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a gentleman commoner, and
in July, 1821, took his A. B. degree. In 1824 he was ordained and
appointed to the joint curacies of Lockeen and Parsonstown. In the
same year he married Sarah, the second daughter of Mr. John Walsh, of
Walsh Park, in the county of Tipperary. In 1826, he was presented to
the Vicarage of Clonlea, in the county of Clare. In 1833, he was
preferred by his Bishop to the Vicarage of Ennis, and in 1838, he was
presented by the Lord Lieutenant, the late Marquis of Normanby, not
only to the Rectory of Kilcooly, in the county of Tipperary, but he
was also appointed, by the same nobleman, one of His Excellency's
chaplains.

The Doctor, as he was familiarly called, was especially liked by the
whigs, and there was probably much truth in the observation, that he
stood a good chance of receiving an Irish mitre. But the whigs went
out of office, and with them his prospect of promotion. Thereupon he
closed his career in Ireland, by accepting the living of Amherst
Island in Upper Canada, then in the gift of the Earl of Mountcashel,
and with Mrs. Adamson, and eight, of nine children, issue of their
marriage, he arrived on the scene of his new duties. The Parliament of
the newly constituted Province of Canada was summoned to meet at
Kingston, a town distant about ten miles from Amherst Island, and thus
it chanced that the new incumbent took possession of this new living
about the time the new province took possession of the new capitol.

The Marquis of Normanby was naturally anxious to advance the interests
of one whom he had known and liked, and who had held a post of honor
in his household. Moreover the Marquis was the friend and had been the
colleague of the newly appointed Governor General of British North
America. It was, therefore, the most natural thing possible for the
former to introduce his chaplain to the latter, and recommend him to
his official favor. An introduction under such circumstances might
have been more flattering than valuable, but it so chanced that the
only piece of ecclesiastical patronage in the gift of the Crown in
Canada was then at the disposal of the Governor General. Hence, from
his regard to the Marquis of Normanby and his appreciation of his
protegé Dr. Adamson, Lord Sydenham appointed the latter not only to
the offices of Chaplain and Librarian of the Legislative Council, but
also to be his own Domestic Chaplain. The duties of the latter
situation were of short continuance, for the accident which resulted
in the death of that gifted nobleman, occurred within three months
after the appointment had been made. But it was long enough for a very
fast friendship to grow and to ripen between the statesman and the
priest. There is something very touching in the last published
directions of the former. His Lordship's biographer thus describes the
scene, which reads like the language of one who was merely going on a
distant journey. "Good-bye, Grey, you will defend my memory; mind,
Grey, you will defend my memory!" He then spoke kindly to Major
Campbell and Mr. Baring, adding (motioning his hands to all), "Now
leave me alone with Adamson to die;" and with his mind soothed with
holy words, and his head pillowed on human strength, for it rested on
the arm of his Chaplain, the suffering nobleman sank into rest.

On the removal of the seat of government from Kingston, Dr. Adamson
was required to elect between the surrender of his living at Amherst
Island or the surrender of his situation in the Legislative Council.
After much reflection, he gave up the former, and thus made the first
of those sacrifices which subsequent changes in the seat of government
obliged him frequently to repeat; of relinquishing professional duty
in the Church, that he might retain the offices which he held in the
Legislature. On that occasion, the change was not unattended with
compensation, for Dr. Adamson was appointed assistant minister of the
parish church at Montreal, an appointment which, we believe, he held
until 1851, when the seat of government was removed from Toronto to
Quebec. On leaving Montreal several complimentary addresses from the
clergy and laity, were presented to him; they were laden with the like
sentiments--regard for him and regret at his departure. Two of the
addresses from the laity were accompanied with inscribed silver
salvers, one of them signed by Colonel Coffin, at that time sheriff of
Montreal, and many others, was supplemented with a purse of one
thousand dollars. The Doctor was appointed evening lecturer at the
Quebec Cathedral, and Secretary of the Church Society, whose revenue
and capital were very materially increased by his tact, zeal, and
exertion.

In 1855, on the removal of the seat of government once more to
Toronto, he was requested by the Bishop of that Diocese to take
temporary duty at St. Paul's church, Yorkville. Some misunderstanding
had arisen in that congregation between the incumbent, or the
assistant of minister, and a few of the parishioners, which had been
stimulated with a good deal of temper and could only be soothed with a
good deal of tact. In selecting Dr. Adamson for such duty the Bishop
displayed his usual sagacity. The work of peace was quietly performed,
for when the Doctor relinquished his charge the congregation presented
him with a silver flagon, whereon is inscribed their hope that the
"Blessing promised to the peacemakers may be his!" Afterwards he was
appointed assistant minister of St. George's Church at Toronto. On the
return of the seat of government to Quebec in 1859, he was again
attached to the Cathedral staff of that city. Indeed, it was while he
was engaged in reading prayers at the Cathedral on Sunday morning, on
the 12th of June, 1864, that he suddenly fainted and fell backwards,
and for a long time continued in a state of apparent insensibility. It
is from that particular period that his friends date the gradual
decline of his health and strength.

In 1865, he was associated with the Honorable Mr. McGee and Mr.
Devine, as a commissioner to the Dublin exhibition. He also took the
opportunity of visiting England, for though in his earlier years, he
had passed a good deal of time in London, he had seen little or
nothing of English country life. His observation and experience of
such life in 1865 were sources of unspeakable pleasure and
satisfaction to him to the last. It may have been that "the evening of
life lent a mystical lore," but it was very charming to listen to his
impressions of the Anglican Church, as she was presented to his mind
when in England. Such reverential pride mingled with the poetry of his
descriptions. The work of charity in every variety of development
seemed to him to be going on every where. There were new colleges and
new schools, hospitals for the sick, asylums for the aged, homes for
the orphans, refuges for the outcasts. Every kind of holy work,
besides church building, church restoration, and church repair was
going forward. So much personal sacrifice, so much silent zeal, so
much methodical devotion. "Go where I would," it was his custom with
glowing emotion to remark, "I found myself surrounded with the like
influences, continually and without weariness doing the same thing,
observing charities, visiting churches, worshipping at cathedrals, or
listening to plans of benevolence. Such associations," he meekly
observed, "do more than colleges to teach men. I never," he remarked
to the writer, "felt so humble and at the same time so proud of my
vocation and ministry, as when I saw in England the sons and daughters
whom the Church of England had nourished and brought up."

The hope that his health would be re-established by his visit to
England was but partially gratified. It was not sufficiently restored
to warrant a resumption of clerical duty. Skilful treatment and the
most watchful care, added to a strong constitution, combined to stay,
for a while at least, as a writer in a local journal remarked, "the
ebb of a life very precious to many, besides those to whom it was most
dear." But on the 7th of August, 1868, to quote from the same paper,
"with his mind unclouded to the last, and with the words of peace and
immortality on his lips, the music of his eloquent tongue dropped into
silence."

Dr. Adamson belonged to a clerical school which is almost nonexistent
now, and is not easily described. An anecdote related of a clergyman
of the Episcopal Church, resident in one of the chief cities of the
United States, may serve as an introduction to, if not as an
illustration of, one phase of his character. The clergyman in
question, not very long since, had returned from a visit to England.
He mentioned to an English parishioner, a man of obsolete preferences
and stiff prejudices, his surprise at having failed in the course of
his visit to meet any of the "Fox-hunting Parsons" of whom he had
heard or read. "Didnt ee meet any on 'em, sir, I be sorry for that,
sir, for ee did'nt see the best on 'em, sir," was, as we have been
informed, the sorrowful answer of this original Englishman. The
clergyman very probably shared the popular prejudice on the subject of
mingling black and pink coats together, and of exposing them at the
same time to the exhilarating influence of a "Southerly wind and a
cloudy sky." Nevertheless a good deal of truth underlies the
observation we have quoted, for no matter what the color of a man's
cloth or the nature of his calling, English people are generally
attracted by the manliness of character which accompanies such
exercises. The English University system, whether it be good or bad,
stands on its own merits, and must be regarded as at the root of
English habits and character. Separate colleges for the clergy is not
an English notion, for youth intended for holy orders are not isolated
and brought up in a monastic manner; on the contrary, they are
educated with a miscellaneous company of young men who are designed
for other professions, but with whom they are destined to jostle in
the course of their lives. This discipline of contact has a great deal
to do with making the English clergy what they are, for as a spiritual
order they differ as much from the priests of the Church of Rome, as
they do from the ministers of the non-conforming bodies of Christians.
Dr. Adamson combined the tastes of a country gentleman with the
calling of a divine. His nature glowed with manliness and vigor. He
was hearty and kindly, smiling and courteous. Moreover, he was
possessed of physical and moral courage which danger did not appal,
and disease did not intimidate, for when occasion required no soldier
was more daring and no samaritan more devoted. He was as enthusiastic
as he was brave, and whether as a churchman or a naturalist, as a
divine or a sportsman, he acted upon the principle that whatever is
worth doing at all is worth doing well. In his younger days, he
occasionally rode to hounds. It was a wholesome exercise in his
experience, and as such was not unattended with benefit; for with racy
cheerfulness he would remark that physical health was a grand ally of
moral usefulness. The Doctor was a warm advocate of social
intercourse. The more the clergy and laity associate with one another,
it was his custom to observe, the better for both. Each needs the
other's influence as a corrective, the clergy being as a rule narrow
and inclined to crotchets are apt to look only on the theological side
of things, while the laity on the contrary, are more disposed to
consider what is possible and very seldom miss what is right.

The Doctor was a pleasant slave to that gentle sport which good old
Izaac Walton loved so well. It was a source of unalloyed happiness to
him to go to his

  "Beloved caves! from Dog-stars' heat
   And all anxieties a safe retreat,"

And "By some river, to whose falls melodious birds sing madrigals," to
pitch his tent, to air his tackle, and with deft dexterity, whip the
water, with his well-wrought line, and watch with a speculative smile
whether that pretty imposition, the feathered bait, would provoke the
silver beauty of the pool, now playing at liberty, to rise from her
sportive bed, and from sheer wantonness, like "love in idleness,"
become the trophy of his line, and the prisoner of his net. He was as
skilful with his gun as with his rod. To breast the mountain for
grouse, or beat the stubble for partridge, or roam the prairies for
larger game, exerted genial influences over body and mind. Indeed, he
frequently said that his skill in sport, though a recreation in later
life, was of great practical value to him in earlier days, for when
he had a large family and a small income, a visible tythe roll and no
visible tythes, he was enabled, by favor of the Lord of the manor, and
with the aid of his rod and gun, to supply his table with dainties
when it was by no means as easy to furnish it with necessaries.

The like energy of character showed itself in the performance of his
clerical duties. In works of charity and kindness, of benevolence and
philanthropy, his services were always to be had. If special sermons
were to be preached, those who were interested in obtaining large
collections accounted themselves fortunate when they could secure him
for such occasions. Good looks, good manners, good voice, and a good
address are among the auxiliary qualifications for a good speaker. Dr.
Adamson possessed these in a very marked degree, and when we add that
his style was polished, his thoughts original, his diction nervous,
and his manner impassioned, it will not be difficult to conclude that
he was very effective as a preacher. On such an occasion, when leaving
the Cathedral of Quebec, a Highlander, who neither resided at that
city nor belonged to the Anglican Church, but who attended on that day
from sheer curiosity, said to the writer in a broad Scotch accent, "I
have been in Canada for forty years, and no priest or parson till
to-day ever got a dollar out of me. But," he added, "if my one dollar
bill had been a ten dollar bill, yon man should have had it for his
sermon." On the writer suggesting that the remaining nine dollars
might be enclosed, and the cause to that extent benefitted, "Tut,
mon," was the answer, "I didna care for the cause, I only cared for
the eloquence." The Doctor was an exact and skilful reader; he had
studied reading as a fine art, and he read the Holy Scriptures not
only with singular reverence, but unquestionable effect. He was, of
course, incapable of their errors who read the sacred word as if it
were a human drama, neither did he fall into the opposite mistake of
those who mouth and mumble it, as if they were engaged in a kind of
underground service, which can only be performed in a key unsuited to
the higher air. In like manner, when reading the prayers, Dr. Adamson
seemed to be governed by old Herbert's recommendation that the Church
prayers ought to be prayed. He was especially anxious to slur nothing,
to slight nothing, to neglect nothing, that belonged to the service of
the sanctuary. He wished to do all things reverently and in order, and
he succeeded.

Children and the inferior animals loved him and he them, for his
nature glowed with sympathy towards most living things. It was a
pleasant sight to see his troop of dogs grouping themselves about him
on his return home, and presenting their cold noses to his regard to
receive the touch of kindness which they were sure to get; or to see
his mouse coloured cats, from sheer affection, twine and twist about
his feet and polish his boots with their glossy skins, till the hint
was given to them to perch on his table or to nestle on his knee. The
visitor must occasionally have been reminded of Goldsmith's Parson,
and occasionally of Præd's Vicar. The shy bookworm, the vagrant
sportsman, the "ruined spendthrift," or the "broken soldier," were not
unfrequently guests at the Doctor's table; and the belated traveller
or the casual passenger might turn into his modest mansion, "claim
kindred there, and have the claim allowed." The cordiality of his
greeting was an infection which seemed to run through his household.
The dogs and even the cats of the family seemed to catch it, and
according to their capacities make it known to you.

    For Don and Sancho, Tramp and Tray,
    Upon the portal's steps collected,
    Wagged all their tails, and seemed to say,
    Our master knows you, you're expected.

           *       *       *       *       *

    "Whate'er the stranger's cast or creed
    Pundit or Papist, Saint or sinner.
    He found a stable for his steed,
    And welcome for himself and dinner.
    If when he reached his journey's end,
    And warmed himself in Court or College,
    He had not gained an honest friend,
    And twenty curious scraps of knowledge;--
    If he departed as he came,
    With no new light on love or liquor,
    Good sooth, the traveller was to blame,
    And not the vicarage nor the vicar.
    His talk was like a stream which runs
    With rapid change from rocks to roses,
    It slipped from politics to puns,
    It passed from Mahomet to Moses.
    Beginning with the laws which keep
    The planets in their radiant courses,
    And ending with some precept deep
    For dressing eels, or shoeing horses.

           *       *       *       *       *

    He wrote, too, in a quiet way
    Small treatises and smaller verses,
    And sage remarks on chalk and clay,
    And hints to noble lords, and nurses.
    True histories of last year's ghost,
    Lines to a ringlet or a turban,
    And trifles for the Morning Post,
    And nothings for Sylvanus Urban.[4]
    And he was kind, and loved to sit
    In the low hut, or garnished cottage,
    And praise the farmer's homely wit,
    And share the widow's homelier pottage.
    At his approach complaint grew mild,
    And when his hand unbarred the shutter
    The clammy lips of fever smiled,
    The welcome which they could not utter.

HIC JACET. The tenanted grave in the cemetery of Montreal tells where
he rests; the unoccupied place in the community of Ottawa instructs us
that he has left no successor.




                              FOOTNOTES:


[1] Since this paper was written we have heard of the decease of this
gentleman.

[2] A memoir of George Jehoshaphat Mountain, D.D., D.C.L., late Bishop
of Quebec, compiled (at the desire of the Synod of that Diocese) by
his son Armine W. Mountain, M.A., Incumbent of St. Michael's chapel,
Quebec.

[3] The subject of the original sonnet was a fisherman of the Scottish
border, but as the editor is unacquainted with the name of the author,
he hopes to be excused by him and by the public for having used some
freedom in adapting the sonnet to his sketch.

[4] Besides such "nothings," Dr. Adamson contributed occasionally to
_Blackwood_ and the _Dublin University Magazine_ as well as to some
minor serials. The _Bibliotheca Canadensis_ informs us that sermons by
him were published on the following subjects: _The death of Lord
Sydenham_; _Things to be Remembered_; _On the order of Divine Service
Daily throughout the year_; _On the Churching of Women_; _Human
suffering and Heavenly sympathy_; _Fast Sermon on the War between
Great Britain and Russia_, _and an_ 8vo _volume on Salmon Fishing in
Canada_.



[The end of _Portraits of British Americans Volume 3_ by Taylor Fennings]