The Canadian Portrait Gallery Part 16

He soon afterwards began to take a warm interest in the munic.i.p.al affairs of Toronto, and in 1855 was elected an Alderman of the city. In 1859 he was Mayor of Toronto, and was the first Chief Magistrate elected by popular suffrage. In 1856 he was appointed a Commissioner for the consolidation of the public general statutes of Canada and Upper Canada respectively.

In politics Mr. Wilson was a member of the Reform Party, and had frequently been importuned to allow himself to be put in nomination for a seat in the Legislature. Being much occupied with professional and munic.i.p.al affairs he had declined such importunities, but upon the death of Mr. Hartman, the member for the North Riding of the county of York in the Canadian a.s.sembly, on the 29th of November, 1859, that const.i.tuency was left unrepresented, and Mr. Wilson, being again pressed to enter political life, contested the representation of North York, and was returned at the head of the poll. He took his seat in the House as an avowed opponent of the Cartier-Macdonald Administration. He was again returned by the same const.i.tuency at the next general election. In 1861 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the representation of West Toronto. Upon the formation of the Sandfield Macdonald-Sicotte Administration, in May, 1862, he accepted office therein as Solicitor-General, and was reelected by his const.i.tuents upon presenting himself to them. He held the portfolio of Solicitor-General, with a seat in the Executive Council, until the month of May, 1863. On the 11th of the month he was elevated to a seat on the Judicial Bench as a Puisne Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench for Upper Canada. Three months later (on the 24th of August) he was transferred to the Court of Common Pleas, where he remained until Easter Term, 1868, when he was again appointed to the Queen's Bench, as successor to the Hon. John Hawkins Hagarty, who had been appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. In 1871 Judge Wilson was appointed a member of the Law Reform Commission. In the month of November, 1878, he was himself appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, a position which he now occupies.

While at the Bar he was regarded as second to no man in the Province in certain branches of his profession; and his reputation has rather grown than diminished since his elevation to the Bench. His learning, judicial ac.u.men and perfect impartiality are acknowledged by the entire profession of this Province, as well as by his brethren on the Bench.

He is the author of a work ent.i.tled "A Sketch of the Office of Constable," published in Toronto in 1861. Early in his professional career he married a daughter of the late Mr. Thomas Dalton, who was for many years editor and proprietor of the _Patriot_, a once well-known newspaper published in Toronto.

THE HON. SIR ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.

Sir Alexander Campbell is of somewhat conglomerate nationality, being a Scotchman in blood and by descent, an Englishman by birth, and a Canadian by education and lifelong residence. He is a son of the late Dr. James Campbell and was born at the village of Hedon, near Kingston-upon-Hull, in the East Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re, England, in 1821.

When he was only about two years old his parents emigrated to Canada, and settled in the neighbourhood of Lachine, where his childhood was pa.s.sed. He received his early education at the hands of a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and afterwards spent some time at the Roman Catholic Seminary of St. Hyacinthe. His education was completed under the tuition of Mr. George Baxter, at the Royal Grammar School at Kingston, in Upper Canada, whither his family removed during his boyhood. He has ever since resided at Kingston, with the interests whereof he has been identified for nearly half a century.

After leaving school he chose the law as his future profession, and in 1838 pa.s.sed his preliminary examination as a student before the Law Society of Upper Canada. He then entered the law office of the late Mr.

Henry Ca.s.sidy, an eminent lawyer of Kingston, and remained there until the death of his princ.i.p.al, which took place in 1839. He then became the pupil of Mr.--now the Hon. Sir--John A. Macdonald, with whom he remained as a student until his admission as an attorney, in Hilary Term of the year 1842. He then formed a partners.h.i.+p with Mr. Macdonald, under the style of Macdonald & Campbell, and in Michaelmas Term, 1843, was called to the Bar. This partners.h.i.+p endured for many years, and was attended with very satisfactory results, both professional and otherwise. The firm transacted the largest legal business in that part of the country, and their services were retained on one side or the other in almost every important cause. Mr. Campbell's own professional career, though subordinate to that of his senior partner, was a highly creditable and distinguished one. His success at the Bar secured for him a competent fortune, and opened up to him other avenues to distinction. He served his apprentices.h.i.+p to public life in the years 1851 and 1852, in the modest capacity of an Alderman for one of the city wards of Kingston. In 1856 he was created a Queen's Counsel. During the same year the Legislative Council was made elective, and the Cataraqui division, embracing the city of Kingston and the county of Frontenac, having with eleven other divisions, come in for its turn to elect a member in 1858, Mr. Campbell offered himself in the Liberal-Conservative interest, and was returned by a very large majority. The vote polled in his favour exceeded the united votes polled for his two opponents. In the Council he soon achieved a commanding position. Though he had the courage of his opinions, and did not hesitate to express them whenever any occasion arose for doing so, his remarks were never characterized by the acrimonious violence which was then too much in vogue. He spoke with readiness, but never took up the time of his colleagues unless when he had something definite to say. He was courteous and urbane to all, and soon became a favourite with the Body, more venerable than venerated, to which he had been elected. Early in 1863 he was chosen to fill the important office of Speaker of the Council, which position he held until the dissolution of Parliament in the summer of that year. During the Ministerial crisis which ensued in March, 1864, he was invited by the Governor-General to form a Cabinet, but declined the task, although the Hon. John A. Macdonald, at a public dinner in Toronto, virtually resigned in his favour. Mr. Campbell was probably of opinion that the increase of honour would hardly counterbalance the great increase of responsibility, as it was impossible in those times for any Government to feel itself strong. He, however, accepted the office of Crown Lands Commissioner in the Ministry then formed by the late Sir E. P. Tache and John A. Macdonald. The Ministry was not of long duration, and Mr.

Campbell retained office with the same portfolio in the Coalition Government which succeeded it, and which, in one form or another, lasted till Confederation. He took an active part in the Confederation movement, and was a member of the Union Conference which met at Quebec in 1864. During the interminable debates on Confederation he was the leading advocate of the project in the Upper House, and his remarks were always characterized by tact, good sense and good breeding. He made no effort at fine speaking, but appealed to the judgment and patriotism of his auditors. He had a most persistent opponent in the Hon. Mr. Currie, the representative of Niagara. Upon so many-sided and comprehensive a measure as that of Confederation, it was no slight task to reply off-hand to all sorts of hostile questions, many of which were skilfully propounded with a sole view to embarra.s.sing the man whose official duty compelled him to answer as best he could. Mr. Campbell acquitted himself in such a manner as to increase the respect in which he was held, and his speech made on the 17th of February, 1865, in answer to the opponents of Confederation, has been characterized by competent authorities as the most statesmanlike effort of his life.

In May, 1867, Mr. Campbell was called to the Senate by the Queen's proclamation, and since that time has been the leader of the Conservative Party in the Upper Chamber. It may be said, indeed, that his leaders.h.i.+p virtually began as far back as 1864, when he first took office in the Tache-Macdonald Ministry, as already referred to; for although Sir E. P. Tache was a member of the Legislative Council, and was for a time Premier of the Coalition Government, as Sir Narcisse Belleau was after him, neither of these men possessed the qualifications needed for the position of a party leader, the duties of which were therefore to a great extent left to be discharged by their younger, more active, and better qualified colleague. "Sir John A. Macdonald," says a contemporary writer, "showed a sound judgment when he gave to Mr.

Campbell the leaders.h.i.+p of the newly-const.i.tuted Canadian Senate.

a.s.sured from the first of the possession for many years of a majority in the Chamber he had virtually created, it was necessary that his lieutenant in the Upper House should be one who could be relied upon to use his party strength with moderation, and to make all safe without appearing needlessly to oppress or coerce the minority. . . . In the conduct of the ordinary business of Parliament Mr. Campbell is an opponent with whom it is easy to deal. Courteous in personal intercourse, possessed of plain, practical common sense and good Parliamentary experience, he is not one to raise obstructions when no end is to be gained. As a speaker he would, in a popular legislature, hardly be called effective, and he has certainly no claims to eloquence, or to that faculty which forms a useful subst.i.tute for eloquence, and which Sir John A. Macdonald possesses--of becoming terribly in earnest exactly when a display of earnestness is needful to effect a purpose.

But the leader of the Conservative Senators speaks well, takes care to understand what he is talking about, and infuses into his speeches, when necessary, just as much force as is required to make them tell on his followers, if they do not affect very strongly the feelings or convictions of his opponents. He was the man for the situation, and has played his part well."

On the 1st of July, 1867, Mr. Campbell was sworn of the Privy Council, and took office as Postmaster-General in the Government formed by Sir John A. Macdonald. He retained that portfolio about six years, when the Department of the Interior, of which he then became the first Minister, was created. In 1870 he proceeded to England on an important diplomatic mission, the result of which was the signing of the Was.h.i.+ngton Treaty.

He did not long retain his position as Minister of the Interior, the Government having been compelled to resign in November, 1873, by the force of public opinion, which had been aroused by the disclosures respecting the sale of the Pacific Railway Charter. During the existence of Mr. Mackenzie's Government he led the Conservative Opposition in the Senate, and upon the accession of the Conservative Party to power in the autumn of 1878 he accepted the portfolio of Receiver-General. He retained this position from the 8th of October, 1878, to the 20th of May, 1879, when he became Postmaster-General. Four days afterwards he was created a knight of St. Michael and St. George, at an invest.i.ture of the Order held in Montreal by the Governor-General, acting on behalf of Her Majesty. On the 15th of January, 1880, he resigned the Postmaster-Generals.h.i.+p, and accepted the portfolio of Minister of Militia. In the readjustment of offices which took place prior to the a.s.sembling of Parliament towards the close of last year he resumed the office of Postmaster-General, of which he is the present inc.u.mbent.

In 1855 he married Miss Georgina Frederica Locke, daughter of Mr. Thomas Sandwith, of Beverley, Yorks.h.i.+re, England. In 1857 he became a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He was for some time Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Queen's College, Kingston. He is connected with several important financial enterprises, and is a man of much social influence. He would probably have gained a much wider reputation in the Canadian a.s.sembly and the House of Commons than he has been able to acquire in the less stirring atmosphere of the Legislative Council and the Senate. He has, however, been a most useful man in the sphere which he has chosen, and his retirement from public life would be a serious loss to the Conservative Party, and to the country at large.

THE HON. LEVI RUGGLES CHURCH.

The ex-Treasurer of the Province of Quebec is descended from one of the old colonial families of Ma.s.sachusetts, several members of which attained considerable distinction in the early history of that colony.

The name of Colonel Benjamin Church, of Duxbury, Ma.s.sachusetts, occupies a very conspicuous place in the annals of New England warfare. He was the first white settler at Seaconnet, or Little Compton, and was the most active and noted combatant of the Indians during the famous war against Metacomet, or King Philip, the great sachem of the Wampanoags.

In August, 1676, he commanded the party by which King Philip was slain.

The barbarous usage of beheading and quartering was then in vogue, and it is said that Church decapitated the fallen monarch of the forest with his own hands. The sword with which this act of barbarity is alleged to have been committed is still preserved in the cabinet of the Historical Society of Ma.s.sachusetts, at Boston. Colonel Church kept a sort of rough minute-book, or diary, of his exploits, and it was from these minutes, and under his direction, that his son, Thomas Church, wrote his well-known history of King Philip's War, which was originally published in 1716, and which is still the highest original authority on that subject. At a later period the members of the Church family (which was very numerous and well connected) were conspicuous adherents of the Whig Party, and at the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary War nearly all of them took the Republican side in the memorable struggle.

There were, however, two exceptions, and these two both enlisted their services in the cause of King George III. One of them was killed in battle in 1776. The other, Jonathan Mills Church, was captured by the colonial army in 1777, and would doubtless have been put to death, had he not contrived to escape from the vigilance of his captors. He made his way to Canada, and ultimately settled in the Upper Province, in the neighbourhood of Brockville, where he died at a very advanced age in 1846. His son, the late Dr. Peter Howard Church, settled at Aylmer, in Ottawa County, Lower Canada, where he practised the medical profession for many years. Dr. Church had several children, and his second son, Levi Ruggles, is the subject of this sketch. The latter was born at Aylmer on the 26th of May, 1836. He received his education at the public schools of his native town, and afterwards attended for some time at Victoria College, Cobourg. He chose his father's profession, and graduated in medicine, first at the Albany Medical College, New York State, and afterwards at McGill College, Montreal, where he gained the Primary Final and Thesis Prizes, and acted as House Apothecary at the General Hospital during the years 1856-7. Becoming dissatisfied with his prospects, and believing that the legal profession presented a more suitable field for the exercise of his abilities, he determined to relinquish medicine for law. Acting upon this resolve, he studied law under the late Henry Stewart, Q.C., and afterwards under Mr. Edward Carter, Q.C., at Montreal, and was called to the Bar in the year 1859.

He commenced the practice of this profession in his native town, where he has ever since resided, and where he has long since acquired high professional standing and a profitable business connection, as well as a large measure of social and political influence. He is a partner in the legal firm of Fleming, Church & Kenney, and a Governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the Lower Province.

He entered public life at the first general election under Confederation in 1867, when he successfully contested the representation of his native county of Ottawa in the Local Legislature. He espoused the Conservative side, and sat in the House throughout the existence of that Parliament.

He attended closely to his duties, both in the House and as a member of various committees, and made a favourable reputation for himself as acting Chairman of the Committee on Private Bills. In July, 1868, he was appointed Crown Prosecutor for the Ottawa District, and retained that position until his acceptance of a seat in the Cabinet somewhat more than six years afterwards. At the general election of 1871, he did not seek reelection, and for some time thereafter confined his attention to his professional duties. He was a.s.sociated with Judge Drummond and Mr.

Edward Carter in the Beauregard murder case as Junior Counsel for the defence. On the 22nd of September, 1874, he was appointed a member of the Executive Council of Quebec, and accepted office as Attorney-General. He was returned by acclamation for the county of Pontiac, and enjoyed a similar triumph at the general election of 1875.

He continued to hold the portfolio of Attorney-General until the 27th of January, 1876, when he became Provincial Treasurer, in which capacity he repaired to England during the following summer, and negotiated a loan on behalf of his native Province. He held office as Treasurer until March, 1878, when the DeBoucherville Government was dismissed from office by M. Letellier de St. Just, the then Lieutenant-Governor, under circ.u.mstances which are already familiar to readers of these pages. Mr.

Church was one of the signatories to the pet.i.tion addressed to Sir Patrick L. Macdougall, who then administered affairs at Ottawa, praying for the dismissal of M. Letellier from his position as Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. At the last general election for the Province, held in May, 1878, Mr. Church was opposed in Pontiac by Mr. G.

A. Purvis, but defeated that gentleman by a majority of 225 votes, and still sits in the House for the last named const.i.tuency. On the 3rd of September, 1859, he married Miss Jane Erskine Bell, of London, England, daughter of Mr. William Bell, barrister, and niece of General Sir George Bell, K.C.B.

CHARLES, FOURTH DUKE OF RICHMOND,

_GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA._

The Duke of Richmond's administration of affairs in Canada was not of long duration, but his high rank, and the melancholy circ.u.mstances attending his death, have invested his name with an interest which would not otherwise have attached to it. His rank was higher than that of any other Governor known to Canadian annals, and his death was due to the most terrible malady that can afflict mankind.

Charles Gordon Lennox, Duke of Richmond, Earl of March, and Baron Settrington in the peerage of England; Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darnley, and Baron Methuen in the peerage of Scotland; and Duc d'Aubigny in France, was a descendant of King Charles the Second, by the fair and frail Louise Renee de Querouaille, "whom," says Macaulay, "our rude ancestors called Madam Carwell." He was the only son of Lieutenant-General Lord George Henry Lennox, by Lady Louisa Ker, daughter of the Marquis of Lothian, and nephew of the third Duke. He was born in 1764, succeeded to the family t.i.tles and estates in 1806, and married, in 1789, Charlotte, daughter of the Duke of Gordon, by whom he had a numerous progeny. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1807 till 1813, during the Secretarys.h.i.+ps of the Duke of Wellington and Mr.--afterwards the Right Honourable Sir Robert--Peel. Having displayed much ability in the public service, he was appointed Governor-General of Canada as successor to General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke. He entered on the duties of his office in the month of July, 1818, having been accompanied across the Atlantic by his son-in-law, Major-General Sir Peregrine Maitland, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Upper Province.

The Duke brought with him a good reputation. His Irish administration had been remarkably successful, and it was believed that his tact, good nature, and capacity for governing would be productive of happy results in this country. He spent the remainder of the summer following his arrival in a trip to the Upper Province, and after his return to Quebec he was engaged in various diplomatic matters which consumed the greater part of the following autumn. He met the Legislature for the first time in January, 1819, when he opened the session with a speech which augured well for his popularity. It was not long, however, before complications arose. There was a gradually widening breach between the branches of the Legislature as to their respective rights and privileges under the const.i.tution, and it soon became evident that the Governor-General was not the man to heal this breach. Among the chief points in dispute was the management of the colonial finances. When the estimates for the year were presented, it was found that there was an increase of 15,000, including an item of 8,000 for a pension-list. The a.s.sembly became alarmed, and referred the estimates to a committee. The committee cut down several items of expenditure, including that relating to pensions.

The Upper House declined to pa.s.s the supply bill, as amended, and the result was a practical dead-lock in public affairs. It was clear that the a.s.sembly had no confidence in the Executive. The session was prorogued on the 12th of April, nothing of importance having been accomplished. The Governor, in his prorogation speech, expressed his dissatisfaction with the a.s.sembly, and harangued that body in a fas.h.i.+on which aroused much ill-will on the part of the members, who repaired to their homes with a fixed determination to resist to the utmost all attempts to infringe upon their rights. They were not destined, however, to come into any further collision with his Grace the Duke of Richmond.

Soon after the close of the session he drew upon the Receiver-General on his own responsibility for the necessary funds to defray the civil list.

Towards the end of the following June the Governor-General left Quebec, on an extended tour through both the Provinces. He had a summer residence at William Henry, or Sorel, in the county of Richelieu, on the River St. Lawrence, where he made a short stay on his upward journey.

During his sojourn there he was bitten on the back of his hand by a tame fox with which he was amusing himself. His Grace thought nothing of the matter, although he experienced some uneasy sensations on the following morning. He proceeded on his tour to the Upper Province, visited Niagara Falls, York, and other points of interest, and reached Kingston on his return journey about the middle of August. He had arranged to visit some recently surveyed lots in what was then the back wilderness on the line of the Rideau Ca.n.a.l, between the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa. He set out from Kingston on the 20th of August accompanied by several members of his staff. It had been calculated that the expedition would occupy several days. On the morning of the 21st he began to suffer from a pain in his shoulder. The pain steadily increased and he was recommended to drink some hot wine and water. He did so, but found great difficulty in swallowing it. In the evening he reached Perth, and found the pain somewhat abated. He remained at Perth until the morning of the 24th, when he resumed his journey, and proceeded on foot over a rugged country of thirty miles, accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel c.o.c.kburn. He was much overcome by fatigue and pa.s.sed a restless night. On the 25th, he arrived within three miles of Richmond West, on the Goodwood River, about twenty miles from Bytown--now Ottawa. There he rested well during the night, and walked to the settlement on the following morning. He felt much relieved, and attributed his healthy sensations to his laborious exercise. In a few hours he again complained of a returning illness, but pa.s.sed the night with so much composure that he continued his journey on the following morning. It was noticed by his staff that he was moody and irritable, very unlike his ordinary self, and that he displayed an extraordinary aversion to water, when crossing the little streamlets in the forest. He was advised by Lieutenant-Colonel c.o.c.kburn to rest himself and send for medical advice, but he continued his journey until he reached a stream where a canoe was waiting to convey him a short distance. He must have been sensible of the terrible fate impending over him for several days before this time, but he bore up with much strength of mind. Upon reaching the stream just mentioned he expressed his desire to embark in the canoe, but declared that he did not think he should be able to do so. He added, "Gentlemen, if I fail, you must force me." His officers had no suspicion of the real state of affairs, and attributed his dread of approaching the water to a sort of delirium induced by the fatigue he had undergone, and the excessive heat of the sun. He was no sooner seated in the canoe than his face displayed such mortal terror at the near neighbourhood of the water that the truth flashed upon one of his officers, who exclaimed: "By Heaven, the Duke has the hydrophobia!"

As the Duke proceeded down stream in the canoe, his officers walked through the forest to the point where he was expected to disembark. As they were threading their way along, they were horrified to see His Grace dart across their path into the depths of the wood. They pursued, and after a long chase overtook him. He was raving mad. They secured him, and held him down until the paroxysm had pa.s.sed, when, with much self-possession, he explained his terrible situation, and requested them to do whatever seemed to them best. They resolved to return with him to the settlement, and began to retrace their steps. Upon reaching the creek which they had crossed on the previous day, His Grace stopped, and begged that they would not force him across the stream, as he felt that he could not survive the effort of crossing the water. They accordingly made a detour into the forest, and soon arrived at a little bush shanty, where they requested the Duke to rest himself. The Duke expressed his desire to take refuge in an adjoining barn, rather than in the shanty, as the barn, he said, was _farther from water_. His wish was complied with, and he sprang over a fence and entered the barn. There he spent a terrible day, sometimes being quite calm and collected, but with frequent recurrences of his malady. Towards evening he consented to be removed into the shanty, where he was made as comfortable as circ.u.mstances admitted of. His paroxysms returned frequently in the course of the following night, and at eight o'clock on the following morning--which was the 28th--death put an end to his sufferings. The ruins of the old hovel on the banks of the Goodwood in which the Duke expired, are, or recently were, still in existence. The spot is in the county of Carleton, about four miles from Richmond, and near the confluence of the Goodwood and Rideau rivers, about sixteen miles from the junction of the Ottawa and Rideau.

His body was conveyed in a canoe to Montreal, where his family awaited his return from his tour. It was subsequently removed in a steamer to Quebec, where it was interred close to the communion table in the Anglican Cathedral. Such was the tragical end of Charles Gordon Lennox, fourth Duke of Richmond.

THE HON. CHARLES A. P. PELLETIER, C.M.G.

Mr. Pelletier was born on the 22nd of January, 1837, at Riviere Ouelle, in the county of Kamouraska, in Lower Canada. He is a son of the late Jean Marie Pelletier, by Julie Painchaud his wife. His maternal uncle, the late Rev. C. F. Painchaud, acquired a Provincial reputation as the founder of the College of Ste. Anne de la Pocatiere, in the building of which the reverend gentleman expended much of his fortune, and to promoting the prosperity whereof he gave up many years of his life.

It was at Ste. Anne's College that the subject of this sketch was educated. After going through all his cla.s.ses in a highly creditable manner, he entered Laval University in 1856 as a student at law, being articled to L. de G. Baillairge, Q.C., the Attorney for the City of Quebec. After the required lapse of time Mr. Pelletier pa.s.sed such a creditable examination that the University, on the 15th of September, 1858, conferred on him the degree of B.C.L. In January, 1860, he was called to the Bar of his native Province, and for several years devoted himself entirely to his profession, in partners.h.i.+p with his former princ.i.p.al, Mr. Baillairge. In July, 1861, he married Suzanne A.

Casgrain, a daughter of the late Hon. C. E. Casgrain, member of the Legislative Council of Canada. She died during the following year, leaving one son. In February, 1866, Mr. Pelletier married Virginie A. de Sales La Terriere, second daughter of the late Hon. Marc Paschal de Sales La Terriere, M.D., who sat for many years in the Parliament of Lower Canada, and afterwards in that of the United Provinces.

Mr. Pelletier was for some time Syndie of the Quebec Bar. The _Societe St. Jean Baptiste de Quebec_ has three times elected him as its President, an honour seldom conferred more than once on the same person.

For several years he served in the Militia of Canada, and the last Fenian raid found him in command as Major of the 9th Voltigeurs de Quebec, which battalion he greatly contributed to organize and maintain in a most efficient state. In 1867, immediately after Confederation, he was unanimously chosen by the Liberal Party in the county of Kamouraska as their standard-bearer, and was put in nomination for the House of Commons. Having secured by his popularity a large majority over his then opponent, the Hon J. C. Chapais, on a plea of informality in the proceedings, a special return was made, and the const.i.tuency disfranchised for some months. A short time afterwards the Returning Officer was censured by the Committee on Privileges and Elections for his partisan conduct in the matter. Another election having been ordered, Mr. Pelletier was again chosen as the Liberal candidate, and elected, in February, 1869, by a large majority, for the county of Kamouraska, where party strife has always been very bitter, and where a majority of twenty had previously been considered a decisive victory.

At the general election in 1872 Mr. Pelletier again defeated the Conservative candidate, Mr.--now Judge--Routhier. In 1873, the Liberals of Quebec East, having decided to wrest the const.i.tuency from the grasp of the faction which had for several years previously controlled the vote there, requested Mr. Pelletier to stand for the Division in the coming contest for the Local Legislature. He acceded to the request, and an active campaign was set on foot. The event was a memorable one. Both parties strained every nerve to ensure the success of their respective candidates, and a loose rein was given to the most violent pa.s.sions.

Threats were freely indulged in, and on the day of nomination a shot was fired at Mr. Pelletier on the hustings by some unknown hand. The bullet grazed his forehead, and pa.s.sed through the fur cap which he wore.

Nothing daunted by this reprehensible act, Mr. Pelletier continued to prosecute his canva.s.s with unabated vigour, and a week later he was returned by a majority of more than 900 votes. In January, 1874, in consequence of the operation of the Act respecting dual representation, he resigned his seat in the Quebec a.s.sembly, and remained in the Federal Parliament. At the general election of 1874, which took place at the advent to power of the Mackenzie Administration, after the retirement of Sir John A. Macdonald's Ministry, Mr. Pelletier was returned by acclamation for Kamouraska.

In December, 1876, the Hon. L. Letellier de St. Just resigned the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture in the Dominion Government, and was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec. Mr. Pelletier succeeded him in the Department of Agriculture, and was sworn of the Privy Council in January, 1877, being appointed at the same time Senator for the Grandville Division. As Minister of Agriculture Mr. Pelletier was appointed President of the Canadian Commission at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, but was prevented on account of pressing public business, from attending personally in Paris. He, however, devoted his energies while in Ottawa towards making the Canadian exhibit a success. For his services the British Government created him a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, President of the Royal Commission, also acknowledged his services in a very complimentary letter, which was accompanied by His Royal Highness's portrait.

In October, 1878, Mr. Mackenzie placed the resignation of himself and Cabinet in the hands of Lord Dufferin. Mr. Pelletier in consequence ceased to preside over the Department of Agriculture. In 1879 he was created a Queen's Counsel, and since his retirement from the Mackenzie Government he has devoted his time to his profession at the Quebec Bar.

Mr. Pelletier is a gentleman of great tact and urbanity of manner, and his fine social qualities and una.s.suming demeanour have endeared him to a wide circle of friends. His popular manners, and his constant readiness to preach peace and good fellows.h.i.+p well qualify him as leader of the French Canadian Liberals in the Senate. He has in no small degree been the means of smoothing away that bitterness which for many years marked political contests in Quebec and Kamouraska. An indefatigable worker, Mr. Pelletier is recognized as one of the best election organizers in the Province, and the proof of it lies in the fact that in no county where he persistently worked did victory desert his banner in 1878. He is known as a fast and firm friend, and though he has been mixed up in most of the political contests of the District of Quebec for the past fifteen years, it is believed that he has not a single enemy in the ranks of his opponents.

THE HON. WILLIAM PROUDFOOT.