For us will dawn no new centennial day——

Our very memories will have passed away,

Our beating hearts be still, our bodies dust;

Our joys and sorrows o’er, our swords but rust.

Your gallant deeds will live in history’s page,

In fire side stories, told to youth by age;

But sacred writ still warns us yet again,

How soldier’s science and his valour’s vain

Unless the Lord of Hosts the city keep:

The mighty tremble and the watchmen sleep,

Return grim soldiers to your silent home

Where we, when duty’s done, will also come.

It will not be easy for any of those fortunate enough to have

witnessed the impressive and natural way in which this _coup de

théatre_ was arranged ever to forget it. Taken either as a

_tableau vivant_ of a possible historic event, or as an example

of truthful spirited eloquence, on both sides, it was a perfect

success. At the suggestion of the resident American consul, Hon.

W. C. Howells, the old house in St. Louis street, in which the

body of General Montgomery was laid out on the 1st January,

1776, was decorated with the American flag, and brilliantly

illuminated that night.

In June, 1880, Colonel Strange went to Kingston with his command on the

transfer of the batteries; and, in December, 1881, having received his

promotion to the rank of major-general, he not long afterwards retired

from the service and became the chief factor in the organization of the

Military Colonization Company, whose ranche is about thirty-five miles

from Calgary, in the Canadian North-West. His two sons, already

mentioned, accompanied him to enter upon pioneer life in the North-West

and to help him to found the new home there, to which he has given the

Indian name of “Namaka.” The breaking out of the Riel rebellion found

them engaged in these peaceful pursuits; but the first note of alarm

aroused the old warrior, and before the Canadian authorities had time to

grasp all the danger that threatened from the Indians, or to take

measures for the protection of the exposed settlements, he was heading

his neighbors in an organization for defence and giving the country all

the benefit of his great military experience and skill. Our space will

not permit our following the history of this organization or of the

campaign in which it played so important a part. It may, however, be

stated that it became the nucleus of the field force of the Alberta

district, which was placed under command of Major-General Strange, and

that it not only distinguished itself in the actions at Loon Lake,

Frenchman’s Butte and elsewhere, but contributed in no small degree to

the suppression of the insurrection by driving Riel’s ally, Big Bear, to

bay, and preventing a general and bloody uprising of the other Indian

tribes and bands throughout the North-West. Of Major-General Strange’s

rôle as its commander in that memorable campaign, it is enough to say

that it was in keeping with his high reputation as an organizer, a

leader and a soldier; and the Dominion owes him a deep debt of gratitude

for the valuable and, it may be added, disinterested services he

rendered on the occasion. Professional jealousy may seek to deprive him

of his full share of credit in the connection, but an intelligent public

will not be slow to apportion to him, as to all the other leading actors

in the North-West campaign, his rightful merit. The following is a

_résumé_ of the operations of the Alberta field force, as it appeared at

the time in the columns of the _Calgary Tribune_:—

The work done by the force under my command, and the results,

may be briefly stated as follows:

The cattle districts in the heart of the Indian reserves were

secured, the frontier patrolled, and Indian and Fenian

incursions prevented, and telegraph communication established.

These results were mainly obtained by the raising of ranche

cavalry and home guards, supplemented by the presence of

companies of infantry at forts McLeod, Crowfoot, Gleichan and

Calgary. These detachments secured the country against the

rising of Blackfeet, Bloods, Peigans, Sarcees, etc., protected

the railroad, and prevented its abandonment by the C. P. R.

officials during the strike and alarm.

No doubt the feeling of alarm was much exaggerated, but could

not be otherwise, owing to the utter absence of arms among the

settlers, and the impossibility of getting any from the

Government.

The transport and supply were extemporized without even the

embryo of the establishments considered necessary in a civilized

country, while our difficulties were increased by the complete

absence of any supplies in the wilderness country through which

we passed, and the want of road, telegraph, or even mail

communication.

Nevertheless, the rapid march of the three successive columns of

the Alberta Field Force stamped out the incipient seeds of

active rebellion among the turbulent tribes who had already

commenced depredations, more of whom would have joined the

Eastern outbreak, but for the timely appearance and location of

troops on their reserves; while a famine was prevented in the

districts north of Edmonton by the convoys of provisions brought

along the protected line of communication.

A flotilla was built at Edmonton, a further supply of provisions

collected, and the hazardous and delicate operation of moving

troops simultaneously by land and river, in open boats (touch

being maintained throughout), and a final successful junction

effected within striking distance of the enemy.

Not a day’s delay occurred from start to finish, though our base

of supply was more than 500 miles from our objective. The

excellence and carefulness of the scouting almost precluded any

chance of disaster, and quickly discovered the position of Big

Bear, who was immediately attacked, the result being that,

although the numerical inferiority of our force prevented the

capture of his position, his band was broken up and demoralized,

the majority of the prisoners released, and the subsequent

pursuit by the cavalry of this force, under major Steele,

completed the surrender of the remainder of the prisoners, the

total dispersion of his band, and his ultimate surrender. Not a

shot was fired in connection with these results, except by the

Alberta Field Force, with only a loss of six wounded. Plainly

drawing attention to these results is a duty I conceive due to

the officers and men I feel it an honor to have commanded. By

their patient endurance, sense of duty and steadiness under

fire, these results were produced. Your obedient servant,

(Signed) T. B. STRANGE,

Major-General, Late Com., Alberta Field Force.

On the suppression of the rebellion, he received the Saskatchewan medal

and clasp, and once more, like a modern Cincinnatus, beat his sword into

a ploughshare and resumed the cultivation of the arts of peace at his

home at “Namaka,” near Calgary, where he continued to reside until a

broken leg, by a kick from a horse, followed by a second fracture,

obliged him to resign the active management of the Military Colonization

Ranche. Before leaving the phase of his eventful career connected with

the Canadian North-West, it should be stated that in January, 1887, he

offered as an Independent candidate for the seat for Alberta in the

Dominion parliament, but withdrew before going to the polls, the time

having evidently not yet come for the election of representatives

unpledged to either political party. He is a member of no society except

temperance societies, of whose principles he has always been a warm and

consistent advocate, though never a Prohibitionist. He has travelled

over the greater part of Europe, visited North and South Africa, the

United States, Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the East and

West Indies, and crossed the Himalaya mountains into Thibet and Central

Asia. He has also been a prolific writer, especially on military

questions. Besides editing the _Canadian Military Review_, he has

published an “Artillery Retrospect of the last Great War, 1870-71,”

“Military Aspect of Canada,” and a work on “Field Artillery,” besides

his reports on militia matters, defence of British Columbia, etc., which

have been printed in the Canadian Militia Reports, and for the most part

acted upon. His wife, who has been a true helpmate to him and followed

his fortunes with loving devotion from India to Canada, was a Miss

Eleanor Taylor, daughter of Captain R. Taylor, of the East India

Company’s service, and to her he was united at Simla, East Indies, in

October, 1862. By her, he has had issue, seven children, five of whom,

including the two sons already mentioned, survive.

-----

[10] Another member of the family, Strange of Burn House, raised a

company of militia for the Hanoverian cause.

[11] As the capture of an enemy’s guns by artillery unsupported by

cavalry or infantry is perhaps without precedent in the annals of war,

it may be explained that a rapid advance left the infantry in rear, and

a thick wood prevented the action of cavalry. On the road (the only open

space through the wood) the enemy’s guns were suddenly overtaken and

captured by the charge of the mounted gunners, who sabred the Sepoy

gunners before they had time to fire. A moment’s hesitation would have

been fatal. Had the British guns halted to unlimber, the enemy, who were

already unlimbered, would have had first fire, with inevitably

annihilating effect.

[12] “A” battery was first organized by Lieutenant-Colonel French, who

subsequently commanded N.-W.M. Police force.

[13] Among others the establishment of a Canadian cartridge factory,

without which the suppression of the North-West rebellion would have

been indefinitely prolonged had it been necessary to supply cartridges

from England, as the manufacture of the Snider cartridge had ceased

there on the change of rifle to Martini.

[14] As military equitation is of little value without practical

application in the field, a pack of foxhounds was kept at the Citadel,

Colonel Strange being M.F.H., Captain Short, huntsman.

[15] One of them, Gunner de Manoli, was killed in action at Fish Creek

during the late North-West campaign. He was shot through the head.

* * * * *

=Pipes, Hon. William Thomas=, Barrister, Amherst, Nova Scotia, was born

at Amherst on the 15th April, 1850. His paternal ancestors came from

England, and his maternal ancestors were U. E. loyalists. The family has

resided in Cumberland county, N.S., for over a hundred years, and have

been chiefly engaged in farming and shipbuilding. His parents were

Jonathan and Caroline Pipes. The subject of this sketch received his

educational training in the Amherst Academy and Acadia College. He

adopted law as a profession, and was called to the bar of Nova Scotia in

1878. Since then he has successfully practised his profession in

Amherst. At the general election held in 1878, he unsuccessfully opposed

Sir Charles Tupper, in Cumberland county, for a seat in the House of

Commons at Ottawa, but shortly afterwards he was returned for the same

county to the Legislative Assembly of his native province. On the 3rd of

August, 1882, he became president of the executive council and premier

of the government. He declined the office of attorney-general. On the

15th July, 1884, he retired from the ministry, and finally, two years

afterwards, from political life. In politics Mr. Pipes is a Liberal, and

in religion an adherent of the Church of England. He has travelled a

good deal, and has visited England, Ireland, France, and the United

States of America. On the 23rd November, 1876, he was married to Ruth

Eliza, daughter of David McElmon. Mr. Pipes has spent an active and

useful life, and is greatly respected by his friends and acquaintances.

* * * * *

=Smith, George Byron=, Wholesale Dry Goods Merchant, Toronto, M.P.P. for

East York, is one of those whom nature has designed to become a leader

of men. His paternal grandfather came from the state of Connecticut,

United States, and settled near Cobourg, Ontario, many years ago. His

maternal grandfather was a United Empire loyalist, and emigrated from

Massachusetts to Canada shortly after the revolutionary war. George

Byron Smith, the subject of our sketch, first saw the light on the 7th

March, 1839, at Newtonville, Durham county, and received his education

in the public schools of his native place. Having secured a good

commercial education, he removed to St. Mary’s, and began business as a

merchant in that then thriving town. Here he was very successful, and

having accumulated considerable wealth, resolved to seek a larger field

for his operations, and some years ago he removed to Toronto, where as a

merchant he has been equally successful. While in St. Mary’s he served

two years in the town council, and in Toronto he served as alderman for

one year. Having aspirations of a higher order than that of alderman, he

began to take an active interest in politics, and at the last general

election for the Ontario legislature was returned to represent the East

Riding of York in that body, defeating his opponent, H. P. Crosby, by

765 votes. In politics Mr. Smith is a staunch Reformer, and in religion

he belongs to the Presbyterian church. He has already made his mark in

the legislature, and we predict for him a brilliant future. He is

married to Maria, daughter of William H. Allen, of the township of Hope,

and has a family of two daughters, one of whom is married to a son of

James Trow, M.P. for South Perth, Ontario.

* * * * *

=Gould, George=, Walkerton, Ontario, was born in Enniskillen, Ireland,

on the 5th November, 1827, and came to Canada with his parents in 1829.

His father, William Gould, was a lieutenant of the 86th regiment of the

line. His grandfather, who died in India, was also in the Imperial

service and was killed in one of the battles of the Mahratta war. Mr.

Gould was an only son and was educated at Nashville, Tennessee,

University, where he received a classical and engineering education.

After his college course he entered the service of the United States

government as chief clerk in the post office in Nashville, which

position he occupied for four years. The insalubrity of the climate,

however, compelled him to return to Canada in 1845, where he followed up

his profession as a surveyor and engineer. Mr. Gould was one of the

first settlers in the town of Arran, and facts connected with his active

and energetic participation in the early development of that wealthy

municipality are fully on record. Three townships of Bruce were

originally surveyed by him, namely, Amabel, Albemarle and Arran, and in

Grey county he also surveyed five townships. In 1860, Mr. Gould was

appointed second provisional clerk of the provisional county of Bruce,

and held the position until Bruce became an independent county, when he

was appointed in 1867 the first county clerk, and has performed the

duties of that office uninterruptedly ever since. He continued for a few

years to follow his profession of engineering till the duties of his

office became such as to require his whole time. In 1857, Mr. Gould was

made a justice of the peace; he is also a notary public and a

commissioner in the Queen’s Bench, and has held a number of other

important official positions. In politics, Mr. Gould is a staunch

Conservative, and in religion, an earnest member of the Methodist body.

On the 19th of January, 1855, Mr. Gould became a benedict, marrying

Elizabeth Snowden, of Owen Sound. He has had by this marriage six

children, four sons and two daughters. Two of his sons, one a lawyer and

the other a doctor, both died early in life. Had they been spared, they

would, no doubt, have been an ornament and credit to their professions.

His daughter, Minnie, married Dr. John Gardner, who, at one time, held

the position of court physician to the king of the Fiji Islands. Mr.

Gould is a courteous, talented and obliging man, thoroughly conversant

with all the details of his business, while in private life he is one of

the most popular and highly esteemed citizens of Walkerton.

* * * * *

=Moore, Dennis=, Hamilton. By the death of Mr. Moore, on the 20th

November, 1887, the city of Hamilton lost one of its most prominent,

staunch and active citizens. He was born at Grimsby, on the 20th of

August, 1817, and hence was in his 71st year at the time of his demise.

He came to Hamilton in 1831, and had resided here ever since. Not long

after coming he was apprenticed to Edward Jackson, with whom he remained

until he was promoted to a partnership in the business. On the

retirement of Mr. Jackson, Mr. Moore became senior of the firm of D.

Moore & Co., which position he held until his death. His thorough

business habits and consequent success generally drew him into a number

of other enterprises in addition to his own business. Although never

very strong physically, he led a very active life. He was stockholder

and director in several manufactories, banks and insurance companies,

the principal ones being the Canada Life Assurance Company, the Hamilton

Provident and Loan Society, the Bank of Hamilton, the Traders Bank, the

Canada Landed Banking and Loan Company, the Ontario Cotton Company, the

Hamilton Bridge and Tool Company and the Burn-Robinson Manufacturing

Company. He was never neutral or silent on social, religious or

educational questions, but always threw himself into movements that

tended to the upbuilding of society. He was a member of the Centenary

Methodist Church, a class-leader, trustee and treasurer, and it is no

exaggeration to say that his death caused a greater blank there than

could be made by the death of any other man since the days of Edward

Jackson. The whole congregation was bereaved in his death, for every

interest of the church had his hearty assistance and cordial sympathy.

He became a member of the church in his boyhood; and it was one of the

pleasantest recollections of his life, as well as an earnest [missing

text] of what was to come, that the first sovereign he ever earned was

given to a benevolent object. Many kind memories gather round his name,

not simply because he was an honorable and successful business man, nor

because of his numerous and liberal contributions to the various

benevolent associations, nor because of his long continued official

standing in his church, nor because of the prominent part that he took

in the political welfare of Canada, but rather because that as a man he

always showed a practical sympathy with every movement for the relief

and elevation of his fellow-men. To secure his co-operation in any

movement one had only to show him that it was likely to do good. He was

eminently catholic in his religious convictions, and had a creed broad

enough to take in all that loved the Saviour of the world. It is not

claimed for him that he was a theologian, but such a life as his

proclaims the gospel that this world needs most. He had a profound

conviction of the truth of Christianity, and what it had proved to him

he desired all others to share. Hence he was a very liberal contributor

to missionary objects. To that cause he gave thousands, and his

contributions were not of the spasmodic or fitful kind, but steady and

on principle. It was so with educational matters also. When Canada had

not a college for the education and graduation of young ladies, he

united with others in the establishment of the Wesleyan Ladies’ College.

He was one of its largest stockholders, and had been president of its

board for several years. In his death, Victoria College lost one of its

most liberal friends. For several years he supported the chair of

Natural Science, and it is understood that he made permanent provision

for that chair. He seems to have enjoyed the luxury of giving—hence his

work will go on and continue to bless the generations yet to come. But,

wiser than many successful men, he did not leave for his will his

largest donations. For years he had been scattering his bounty, and he

enjoyed the rare pleasure of seeing the results of his givings. Many a

man much richer than he has passed away “unwept, unhonored and unsung.”

But Dennis Moore, in the unselfish out-goings of his life, touched the

city of his adoption in so many ways that he left a blank that few, very

few, men could possibly fill. In politics Mr. Moore was a life-long

Reformer. He was extensively engaged in manufactures, and at a time when

many of his old political and business associates were leaving the fold

with the hope of making money faster, pressure was put upon him to do

likewise. But Dennis Moore never wavered. He did not think that a

business man ought to look to the legislature for his profits. He let

everybody know where he stood, and he worked harder and subscribed more

liberally than ever to obtain Reform success. In 1882 he was a Reform

candidate, along with Mr. Irving, for the House of Commons, but was

defeated. Mr. Moore died in the bosom of his family. His wife and

children were present. He had four daughters and one son: Mrs. W. A.

Robinson, Mrs. Charles Black, Mrs. W. H. Glassco, Mary Moore, and Edward

J. Moore.

* * * * *

=Rolland, Hon. Jean Baptiste=, Montreal, was born at Vercheres, Quebec,

on the 2nd January, 1815. His grandfather came from France over a

century ago, and his father, Pierre Rolland, was born at Vercheres, so

that it can be seen that the family come of an old and honored ancestry.

His mother, Euphrasine Donais, of the parish of Contrecœur, was also a

member of an old French-Canadian family. The subject of this sketch was

educated in the parish school of St. Hyacinthe, but when seventeen years

of age he determined to seek his fortune elsewhere, and possessed of

indomitable pluck and energy, and with only twenty-five cents ready cash

in his pocket, he set out for Montreal. Although he was friendless and

alone, he soon made some headway, entering the office of _La Minerve_ as

an apprentice to the printing trade, and afterwards worked for some

years on the _Courrier_. In 1842, Mr. Rolland started in the book, paper

and fancy goods trades, and the firm of J. B. Rolland & Fils, has for

many years past been favorably known to the trade of the entire Dominion

as extensive dealers in home manufactures, as well as large importers of

French, German and English fancy goods, with a very large paper mill at

St. Jerome. Leaving the active management of the mercantile business in

the hands of his sons, Mr. Rolland entered extensively into the real

estate business, buying valuable properties in the city of Montreal,

besides acquiring extensive tracts of land in the adjoining village of

Hochelaga. He built largely on his lands, both in Montreal and

Hochelaga, acting as his own architect as well as contractor; and his

success is an excellent illustration of the fact that money can always

be made through judicious investments in real estate. In politics Mr.

Rolland was always a pronounced Conservative, rendering valuable aid to

his party, and his services in this respect were recognised by his being

called to the Dominion Senate in 1887, in succession to the late Senator

Senecal. In March of this year (1888), the honorable gentleman was taken

suddenly ill at his residence in Montreal, and despite prompt and

skilful medical attendance, died on the 22nd March, deeply regretted by

a large circle of public and private friends. Mr. Rolland took an active

interest in municipal affairs, having been alderman for East Montreal

ward for nine years, and a magistrate since 1855. He was always prompt

in identifying himself with any movement likely to build up the city of

his adoption, and was at various times president of the Board of Trade

and Manufactures, and of the St. Jean Baptiste Society; a director of

the Citizens’ Insurance Company, and one of the harbor commissioners.

Although himself a Roman Catholic, Mr. Rolland was one of these gentle,

conciliatory spirits, who was on the most cordial terms with all

classes—not only in politics, but in religion. He was married in 1839,

to Esther Dufresne, of St. Laurent, and had issue twelve children, six

sons and six daughters, four of each still living.

* * * * *

=Drysdale, William=, Bookseller, Montreal, was born in the city of

Montreal on the 17th of April, 1847. His father, Adam Drysdale, was a

native of Dunfermline, Scotland, settled in Canada many years ago, and

for a long time held a position in the civil service of Canada,

conferred upon him by the late Lord Elgin. His grandfather was one of

the first persons to engage in the shipping trade between Scotland and

Canada, especially to the port of Montreal. William Drysdale, the

subject of our sketch, was educated at Montreal, in the school conducted

by Mr. Hicks, who afterwards became the first principal of the Normal

School in that city. Here he received a thorough commercial training,

but owing to the serious illness of his father at the time, he was

prevented from taking a classical course. After leaving school he

entered the office of the late John Dougall, who was then publishing the

_Weekly Witness_, and also carrying on a book business. Young Drysdale

was given almost the entire charge of the book branch, which he

conducted to the satisfaction of his employer. After a short time he

entered the service of another bookseller, Mr. Grafton, with whom he

remained for ten years, and was the confidential manager of the firm. In

1874 he commenced business on his own account, and owing to his early

training and urbanity of manner soon acquired a business that is now

second to none in the Dominion. His business relations extend from Gaspé

to British Columbia. He has already published a number of important

Canadian works that are of great value, in a historical sense, to the

country at large. Mr. Drysdale, having strictly confined himself to

business, has not had much time to devote to political affairs. He is in

no sense a party man, but he takes a broad view of things generally. As

a private citizen he, however, always takes an active part in whatever

tends to improve his native city and help his fellow-citizens. He is on

the executive of the following:—Society for the Protection of Women and

Children, the Dominion Temperance Alliance, Boys’ Home (of which he is

treasurer), Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, a life member of the

Mechanics’ Institute, governor of the Montreal Dispensary, and is one of

the most active promoters of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane. Mr.

Drysdale is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is a superintendent

of one of the Sunday schools. He was married in 1888 to Mary Mathie

Wales, daughter of the late Charles Wales, merchant, of St. Andrews

East. Duncan MacGregor Crerar, a New York poet, sums up Mr. Drysdale’s

character in the following lines:—

Some are while careful of their own affairs,

And when successfully amassing wealth,

Who oft times will withdraw as if by stealth,

To render good to others unawares.

Well known to them the haunts of poverty,

Clothed are the naked, and the hungry fed,

Oft take they place beside the patient’s bed,

To cheer sad hours; to soothe keen agony.

These are earth’s salt—they labor with a mind,

Distress relieving, lessening human woe;

In all their actions earnest, gentle, kind,

Leaving sweet impress whereso’er they go.

Theirs Heaven’s reward; a crown upon each brow,

Warm hearted DRYSDALE! such a man art thou!

* * * * *

=Van Koughnet, S. J.=, Q.C., Toronto, Ontario.—The subject of this

sketch, born in the year 1832, or 1833, was a younger, though now the

oldest surviving, son of the late Hon. Colonel Van Koughnet, of

Cornwall, for many years a member of both legislatures of old Canada,

who had seen service in the war of 1812, and afterwards commanded a

regiment at the battle of Prescott in 1837, as also at the Coteau, of

which regiment, when put on an Imperial footing, he retained command

until disbanded several years subsequently. The Van Koughnet family is

probably one of the oldest in the country. Their native place was

Colmar, Alsace, from which they emigrated in 1750, coming to the present

United States of America, and settling in Massachusetts, on the site of

the present city of Springfield—the Woolwich of that country, that city

in fact being built upon their property. In the war of 1783 they

maintained their allegiance to the British crown, and the grandfather of

the subject of the present sketch was accordingly proscribed by the

United States government, his property confiscated, and he obliged, with

many others, to flee the country or take the consequences of a price

having been set upon his head. He accordingly left with his wife and two

infant children, taking an Indian for his guide, and crossed in the

depth of winter to British territory, striking Cornwall, in the county

of Stormount, then a wilderness, with the exception of a few Dutch

settlers who had found their way thither. The original name was von

Gochnat, which subsequently became corrupted into van Koughnet, the

prefix of which, van, is Dutch, and the change was brought about by

contact with the Dutch residents, who did not understand the German von,

and was acquiesced in by the family, who seemed to have little anxiety

for anything, in their straitened condition, than finding the ready

means of subsistence for themselves. S. J. Van Koughnet was named after

his uncle, the Rev. J. J. S. Mountain, brother of the late bishop of

Quebec. Mr. Van Koughnet was in the first place educated in the same old

school-house in Cornwall where the late Bishop Strachan had educated his

father, the late Sir John Robinson, Sir James McCauley, Chief Justice

McLean, Judge Hagerman, and many others of Canada’s noted men. Mr. Van

Koughnet then matriculated at Trinity University, being one of its

earliest students, having taken a scholarship as a result of his

matriculation examination. There he was a very hard worker, taking, as

shown by the university calendar, prize after prize, and graduating in

first-class honors in classics in 1854, having been sent the Oxford

degree examination papers for that year. He had also previously in that

year taken the English essay prize which in England is the most coveted

of all, and he was gold medallist as a result of his degree examination.

Mr. Van Koughnet had been originally, like his late brother, the

chancellor, intended for the church, and went through the usual divinity

course with that view. He subsequently, however, like him changed his

mind, chiefly it is said in consequence of a dread of the grave

responsibility of the office. This it is also said he ever afterwards

regretted, though some of his friends believed it was well he did, as

his very advanced views were unsuited to this country, and his course in

church politics it was thought, when party warfare ran high in the

church in this diocese, fully justified this opinion. In these, at the

time indicated, he might have said of himself, “_Magna pars fui_.” He

was noted for his unswerving fidelity to his friends and loyalty to the

church and her doctrines as he claimed to understand them. When those

troublous times happily came to an end, on the election of the present

bishop (Sweetman), whom he agreed loyally to support, though he humbly

differed from him in his views on several cardinal points, Mr. Van

Koughnet at once retired from church politics, and never afterwards

appeared in the synod, where he had been for twenty years so well known,

and where, though seldom taking a conspicuous part in debate, he was not

the less attentively listened to when he did. On giving up the church

Mr. Van Koughnet studied law, and was called to the bar in 1859, and

entered into partnership with his late brother, M. R. Van Koughnet. On

his first appearance in court he was congratulated by the late C. J.

Draper on the eloquence of his address to the jury in opening a case for

malicious prosecution, in which he obtained a verdict for his client.

After a few years he dissolved his connection with his brother, and did

a large business alone, then confining himself principally to equity,

where he soon acquired a lucrative practice. He had not long been

practising there before he was appointed by the late V. C. Esten

guardian of infants in that court, and among the most perplexing cases

of the kind he ever had to do with was that of the late Mrs. Ellis,

daughter of the late highly respected Peter Paterson, whom, when only

sixteen or seventeen years of age and then a ward of the court, the late

Mr. Ellis, the well-known King street jeweller, married without the

consent of the court. This had always been considered, and very

properly, an offence, and contempt of court, and Mr. Van Koughnet, who

was then acting for her, felt bound in the exercise of his official

duty, however reluctantly, to bring the matter before the notice of the

court and ask for direction as to the course to be pursued. The

presiding judge on this occasion happened to be his own brother, the

late chancellor, who heard the statement of facts and, with that

kindness of heart so characteristic of him, having known both families

for many years, came to the conclusion that the young lady would be

properly cared for, and, her property being judiciously settled, that

there was no occasion for rigidly enforcing the rule of the court, and

so allowed the matter to drop. This appointment Mr. Van Koughnet held

for some years, when he was deprived of it in some mysterious way he

could never exactly discover, and the present guardian, J. Hoskin,

succeeded him. He spoke to his brother the chancellor on this subject,

but he from obvious motives, declined to interfere, though expressing

himself strongly on the subject at the time. In 1864 Mr. Van Koughnet

was appointed legal reporter to the Court of Common Pleas, and soon

achieved a reputation for himself, not only for the ability with which

he conducted his reports, but for the wonderful dispatch with which he

issued them. Hitherto there had been great and it was thought

inexcusable delay in the publication of the reports of this court, and

Mr. Van Koughnet was determined that the reproach should be speedily

removed, and so it was; and he has ever since been noted for the same

characteristics in connection with the reports, both as reporter of that

court and of the Court of Queen’s Bench, which he now holds, in

succession to Christopher Robinson, Q.C., with whom as fellow reporter

he worked for several years. Indeed, his present serious illness, which

at the moment of writing we regret to learn is likely to become still

more serious, is largely attributable, his medical attendants we

understand state, to over-devotion to his work at Osgoode Hall, which it

is said he should have abandoned long before he at last consented, when

probably too late, so to do. It was thought by many of his friends that

Mr. Van Koughnet was unwise to bury himself, as in their opinion he was

doing, in the mere literary work of the profession, as that of a

reporter is said to imply, and that he should have thrown himself more

into the active work of the bar, for which his undoubted talents and his

display of forensic ability on several occasions amply fitted him; but

his inclinations were always of a literary tendency, and he has been

heard to say that he could not condescend to many of the tricks and

almost dishonesties which seemed inseparable from the successful career

of a _nisi prius_ counsel in particular. These considerations, and the

demands of a rapidly increasing family upon his purse decided him upon

accepting the more quiet but congenial position of reporter to the

courts; besides, as he used to say, he got rid of the _profanum vulgus_

in the shape of clients. In politics Mr. Van Koughnet was always a

strong Conservative, but, though no family was ever better entitled to

it, he neither sought, it is said, nor ever received government

patronage of any kind, unless, indeed, having acted as secretary to the

celebrated Royal commission in connection with the Pacific Railway

investigation is to be looked upon as partaking of that character. For

that position, however, he was designated by the late Hon. J. H.

Cameron, and suddenly called to Ottawa by telegram, hardly knowing for

what. The duties of the office in question he discharged with marked

ability, though he had never before acted in a similar capacity, largely

assisting in organising the whole work of the commission, advising on

difficult questions of law as they arose, and drawing from the

commissioners at the conclusion of his work a flattering testimonial,

from which what is above written has been in fact taken. The report of

that celebrated investigation was drawn by him, and was considered a

highly able document, covering, as it did, many pages of an octavo

pamphlet. Mr. Van Koughnet, we have heard, bitterly regretted having

given up his original intention of taking orders; in fact it was said he

considered many a disappointment in after life and many a sorrow but the

consequence of his change of intention in that respect. Among the

several distinctions he was honored with were those of M.A., D.C.L. (by

examination), and Q.C., which he was created some five years ago. Most

markedly belonging to the old school in social life, now fast dying out

in Canada—shall we not say on many accounts to be regretted?—Mr. Van

Koughnet for many years past has been little seen in society, which he

seemed to avoid, though of a most genial nature and with a vein of humor

not alien to the family. His bearing to all, whether high or low, was

ever courteous and obliging; and at Osgoode Hall, where he was perhaps

best known, he was a recognised favorite, particularly among the younger

bar, with whom in his position as reporter he was necessarily much

brought into contact, and to whom he always lent a ready and sympathetic

ear. Mr. Van Koughnet married in early life, and whilst still a student,

a daughter of the late Senator Seymour. Six children comprise his

family, his eldest daughter being married to Albert Nordheimer, of

Toronto, and two younger daughters to the only son of Sir John Macdonald

and Rev. Canon Machray, of St. John’s College, Winnipeg, respectively.

His fourth daughter is still unmarried, and two sons are engaged in

banking business. It may be added that the learned gentleman’s children

are noted for their almost phenomenal beauty.

[NOTE.—The above facts were with difficulty secured from Mr. Van

Koughnet’s family, by whom access was given, after more than one

application, to several old family documents, from which the particulars

were obtained.]

* * * * *

=Aikins, William T.=, M.D., LL.D., Dean of the Medical Faculty of

Toronto University, was born in the county of Peel, Ontario, on the 4th

of June, 1827. His father, James Aikins, emigrated from the county of

Monaghan, Ireland, to Philadelphia, in the year 1816, and after a

residence of four years there removed to Upper Canada with his family,

and purchased a quantity of land in the first concession north of the

Dundas road, in the township of Toronto, about thirteen miles from the

town of York. This was over sixty-seven years ago, when that township,

like nearly every other part of the province, was sparsely settled, and

there was not a church or place of worship in the neighborhood; the

itinerant Methodist preacher being the only exponent of the Gospel to

the people. Mr. Aikins, like the greater part of the immigrants from the

north of Ireland, had been brought up in the Presbyterian faith, but

soon after settling in Peel he joined the Methodist body, and his house

became a well known place of meeting for worship among the people of the

settlement. Dr. Aikins received his education, like his brother, the

Hon. James Cox Aikins, the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, in the

public schools of the neighborhood, and afterwards attended Victoria

College, Cobourg. After passing through that university he removed to

Toronto, where he took up the study of medicine, and was granted a

license to practise in 1849. He, however, to better fit himself for his

important calling went to Philadelphia and entered the Philadelphia

College of Medicine, and graduated in 1850 with the degree of M.D. On

his return to Toronto Dr. Aikins soon began to take a foremost position

in the profession, especially in surgery, and is now one of the leading

surgeons of the present day. He is one of the first members of the

College of Physicians and Surgeons, and has been the treasurer of the

same since its foundation. For about twenty-four years he was one of the

medical staff of the Toronto General Hospital, and is now consulting

surgeon of the same institution. He also holds the position of surgeon

to the Central Prison, Toronto. But it is in his connection with the

Toronto School of Medicine that Dr. Aikins has most signally

distinguished himself. He has been one of its faculty from its

inception, first as professor of anatomy, and subsequently on surgery,

as well as dean of the faculty. For thirty-eight years Dr. Aikins has

been engaged in assisting the young members of the profession to qualify

themselves for the duties of life; and in order that he might be the

better enabled to accomplish this, he took a trip to the principal seats

of learning in Great Britain and the continent of Europe, so as to study

the latest scientific methods of treatment and see experiments performed

that would be of benefit to his pupils on his return. The question of

organizing a medical faculty to the University of Toronto having become

a public matter, Dr. Aikins and the faculty of the Toronto School of

Medicine were invited by the senate to amalgamate their school and

become part of our national university. This, after mature

consideration, was acceded to, and in the fall of 1887 Toronto School of

Medicine ceased to exist as a separate institution, and is now an

integral part of Toronto University, Dr. Aikins being elected dean of

the medical faculty and professor of surgery in the new medical branch

of the university. In 1884 his _alma mater_, Victoria University,

conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. In religion he is a

member of the Methodist church, and takes an active interest in

everything that helps to advance her interests. In politics he is a

Reformer.

* * * * *

=Mackenzie, John Mills=, Mayor of Moncton, New Brunswick, was born at

Moncton, county of Westmoreland, N.B., on the 27th April, 1825. He is,

on the paternal side, of Scotch descent, his grandfather having come

from Scotland many years ago, and settled in the maritime provinces. His

father, William Mackenzie, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and his

mother, Charlotte Mills, of English descent, first saw the light in

Moncton, having been the first child by English parents born in the

locality in which her father and mother resided after coming from

Poughkeepsie, state of New York, at the close of the American

revolutionary war. Mr. Mackenzie was educated at Moncton, and received a

sound English course. When quite a young man he started out in life and

was engaged from 1842 to 1851 as a school teacher in his native county

and the adjoining county of Albert; and afterwards he engaged in

commercial pursuits for a period of nine years. He then became

deputy-sheriff of Westmoreland county, and from 1861 to 1867 held this

office, and became curator of the Westmoreland bank—having been

appointed to that position by the Supreme Court of New Brunswick—and

wound up its affairs. Subsequently he was appointed official assignee by

the Dominion government under the then Insolvency Act. He was by the

local government appointed to the office of justice of the peace and

commissioner for taking special bail, and for taking affidavits to be

read in the Supreme Court. Mr. Mackenzie took an active part in the

purchase of the Moncton Tannery Company’s property, and assisted in the

organization of a new company which was successfully operated until its

property was destroyed by fire. The company immediately rebuilt its

premises, but before the expiration of the second year the building was

again destroyed by fire, when the company paid their liabilities in full

and gave up business. After this he helped to organize the following

companies, namely: The Moncton Gas-Light and Water Company, the Moncton

Sugar Refining Company, and the Moncton Cotton manufacturing Company,

all of which have since been successfully carried on. Mr. Mackenzie is

connected with the Masonic brotherhood, and is a member of Keith Lodge,

and also of the Botsford Royal Arch Chapter, both of which he helped to

organize. He has occupied the position of town councillor for several

terms; and was elected to the position of mayor of the town in March,

1887, and this honorable position he still occupies. He is one of

Moncton’s most spirited citizens, and takes great interest in every

movement that has for its object the moral and material interests of its

inhabitants. In religion he belongs to the Baptist denomination. On the

3rd April, 1855, he was married to Sarah Caroline Cornwall, who is of

English loyalist descent.

* * * * *

=Gibbons, Robert=, Goderich, Sheriff of the County of Huron, belongs to

an old Birmingham family (of England), where his father, William

Gibbons, and his ancestors for several generations, were born, though he

himself dates his birth to Glasgow, Scotland, December the 24th, 1811.

His father was an ingenious machinist, and was engaged for years in

turning, finishing and fitting up machinery. The maiden name of the

Sheriff’s mother was Margaret M. McDonald, who was born in Scotland. In

June, 1820, the family left the old world for Canada, landing at Quebec

in August, and settled on land in the county of Lanark. About four

hundred persons came out on the same vessel from Glasgow, and made their

home in the same county, each head of the family having received 100

acres of land from the government, on condition that they would occupy

and improve it. Robert aided his father in clearing a farm there. In

1827, he went with the family to Pottsdam, St. Lawrence county, New

York, where he spent five years in cultivating the soil, and where he

received most of his education. On leaving here on 16th May, 1832, he

reached Goderich, walking all the way from Toronto, a distance of 135

miles. The place then contained about two hundred and fifty inhabitants,

and he has seen it expand into a town of about six thousand people. When

Mr. Gibbons reached this point he had but a few dollars left, but he had

the wealth of a sound constitution, two hands already toil-hardened, and

a disposition to use them to good advantage. After working a few months

at farming, he opened a meat shop, and for sixteen years was a butcher

and cattle buyer, in which he proved himself a very energetic business

man. After a short time, he again turned his attention to farming and

stock-raising, which he continued until a few years ago. When the

rebellion broke out he went into the militia as a sergeant, and retired

in March, 1838, a lieutenant. In 1867 Mr. Gibbons was elected to the

Ontario legislature, to represent South Huron; lost his seat during the

second session; was re-elected in 1871, serving two sessions, and in

November, 1872, resigned, and accepted the shrievalty of the county,

which position he still holds, and is an efficient and obliging officer.

In politics he is a Reformer, and has spent much time and money for the

benefit of the cause and in disseminating the principles of his party.

Mr. Gibbons has done an unusual amount of work in the town and county

municipalities. Commencing in the district council in 1848, he served as

reeve nearly twenty years, and warden thirteen years in succession,

first in the united counties of Huron and Bruce, then of Huron alone. He

was elected mayor in 1853, 1854 and 1855, and his labors in the town and

county have been of great value to the community. In 1868 he was elected

a member of the Board of Agriculture and Arts Association of Ontario,

and served in that position for nine years. He was vice-president in

1873, and president, in 1874, and his address the latter year was

ordered to be printed in pamphlet form, and was widely distributed. He

is an adherent of the Presbyterian church, is one of the most liberal

supporters of the gospel in Goderich, and has assisted many houses of

worship in the county as well as in the town. Although he has been

always a hard-working man, and is now well up in years, yet he is well

preserved; has a cheerful disposition, and a good share of _bonhomie_,

which qualities shorten no one’s days. He has been twice married, first

in November, 1835, to Jane Wilson, of Cumberland, England, who died in

May, 1873, leaving five children, one of whom shortly afterwards died;

another, the only son, dying in February, 1879. His second marriage took

place in June, 1874, to Alice Roddy, also from England.

* * * * *

=Robertson, Hon. Thomas=, Hamilton, Ontario, Judge of Chancery Division,

High Court of Justice, was born in the village of Ancaster, on the 25th

January, 1827. At that time Ancaster was the most important business

centre west of York. His father, the late Alexander Robertson, of

Goderich, a remote descendant of the clan Donnachie, came to Canada in

1820, from Foxbar, in Renfrewshire, which had been the home of his

family for several generations, since the time when the misfortunes of

Prince Charles, having proved the ruin of so many of his adherents, not

a few of the Robertsons had left their beloved Rannoch to seek for

better fortunes in the, to them, unwontedly peaceful pursuits of the

lowlands. He was married in 1824 to Matilda, eldest daughter of Col.

Titus Geir Simons, high sheriff of the old Gore district, who had served

in command of his regiment in the war of 1812-13, and fought at Lundy’s

Lane, where he was dangerously wounded. Of this marriage the Hon. Mr.

Robertson is the eldest child. He was educated at the London and Huron

District Grammar Schools and the University of Toronto; studied law

under the late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron; became an attorney in 1849,

was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1852; became a Queen’s counsel

under patent from the Earl of Dufferin, governor-general in 1873, and a

bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, in 1874. He began his

professional career at Dundas, whence he subsequently removed to

Hamilton, where he enjoyed a large practice, and a widely extended

reputation as a leading _nisi prius_ advocate. He was the first Crown

attorney for Wentworth, and remained such until 1863, when he was

superseded by the appointment by Sandfield Macdonald of the late S. B.

Freeman, Q.C., to the clerkship of the peace, whereby he became also

_ex-officio_ Crown attorney. At the first general election after

Confederation, Mr. Robertson contested South Wentworth with Mr. Rymal,

the then sitting member for that constituency, at whose hands he

suffered defeat by a majority of twenty-seven votes. Mr. Robertson and

his colleague F. E. Kilvert, now collector of Customs for Hamilton, were

elected at the general election of 1878, in opposition to Mr. Irving,

Q.C., and Mr. Wood, the late members, to the representation of the

constituency for which they were then returned, at the general election

in 1882, and continued to represent that city until his elevation to the

Bench of the High Court of Justice of Ontario of the Chancery Division

in February, 1887. In politics he was a Liberal-Conservative and a

supporter of the National Policy, which in its main features he strongly

advocated in 1867, in his contest with Mr. Rymal in South Wentworth. He

was also in favor of compulsory voting, which he suggested as a

desirable amendment of the law, both through the press and in letters to

Hon. Edward Blake and other persons so long ago as 1870. Hon. Mr.

Robertson married, in June, 1850, Frances Louisa, youngest daughter of

the late Theodore Reed, one of the earliest pioneers of the Huron Tract,

by whom he has three sons and one daughter living.

* * * * *

=Murray, William=, Sherbrooke, Quebec, was born in the county of Armagh,

Ireland, on the 15th day of August, 1845. He came to Canada with his

parents when a lad, and was educated at St. Edwards, in the county of

Napierville, P.Q., taking a commercial course. He was then apprenticed

to the grocery trade in Montreal with Alexander McGibbon, and remained

with him from 1861 to 1865. He then went to Sherbrooke, and opened a

retail general store, in which he continued till the year 1881. By

strict attention to business he succeeded in building up a large trade

connection. In 1881, believing that he could increase his business still

further, he sold out the retail store and started as a wholesale

merchant, and his business at the present time is a large and lucrative

one. Mr. Murray has always taken a great interest in municipal affairs,

and has been a school trustee since 1876. He was appointed in 1878 by

the government a member of the commissioners’ court for the township of

Ascot, P.Q., and continued to hold this office until 1887, when, on the

coming into office of the Mercier administration, his commission was

revoked on political grounds. In 1885 Mr. Murray was elected for the

first time to the city council, and was chosen chief magistrate of

Sherbrooke in 1887. In January, 1888, his friends again elected him to

the city council, and this time by acclamation. He is also one of the

trustees of the St. Michael’s cemetery, being elected one of the first

members of the board. He is a director of the Eastern Townships

Colonization Company, and was elected its president in 1888. As the

principal shareholders of this company are in Nantes, France, it will be

seen that though not one of their countrymen, his fellow shareholders

have the greatest confidence in his financial abilities. He was also one

of the founders of the Typographical Printing Company, has been a

director since its organization, and in 1877 was its president. In

politics Mr. Murray is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion a Roman

catholic. He was married on the 25th of May, 1868, to Amelia Moreau,

daughter of Michael Moreau, of Montreal, a descendant of an old French

family, by whom he has a family of three daughters and two sons.

* * * * *

=Young, Edward=, A.M., Ph.D., Member of the Statistical Society of

London; Member of the Geographical Society of France; United States

Consul at Windsor, N.S., son of Clarke and Sarah Wingate Young, was born

December 11, 1814, at the family household, in Falmouth, a village in

Hants county, on the river Avon, opposite to Windsor. The Youngs are of

Scotch descent; an ancestor, a Scotch covenanter, forced by persecution

to leave his native land, settled in Massachusetts, from which colony

Edward’s grandfather, Thomas Young, then a youth, came to Falmouth, with

his widowed mother, about the year 1762. He afterwards married a sister

of the celebrated evangelist, Rev. Henry Alline, called the Whitefield

of Nova Scotia, who travelled and preached in Acadia from 1776 until a

short time before his death in New Hampshire, February 8, 1783. His

journal was published by his nephew, Clarke Young in 1806. The original

in shorthand invented by himself, is now in the possession of the

consul. A volume of hymns, entirely of his own composition, was

published by Mr. Alline, one of which—“Amazing Sight, the Saviour

Stands,” may be found, uncredited, in almost every hymnal now in use.

The consul’s mother was a daughter of George Johnson—one of a family

who came from Yorkshire to Norton about 1762—and of Mary, his wife, a

daughter of Benjamin Cleaveland, who came from Connecticut, in 1760,

with the New England colony that settled in Norton after the expulsion

of the Acadians. “Deacon” Cleaveland, as he was called, was a brother or

cousin to Rev. Aaron, great grandfather of President Cleveland, who, in

1755, or ’56, came from Connecticut to become the minister of the Mather

(afterward, St. Matthew’s Presbyterian) Church, in Halifax. Benjamin

Cleaveland, who died in 1811, published a hymn book, one of the hymns,

of his own composition—“O, could I find from day to day, a nearness to

my God,”—appears in many modern hymnals. The Cleavelands are noted for

their longevity, averaging nearly ninety years at death. One of

Benjamin’s daughters died in 1877, aged 101 years and 4 months. The

consul is one of a family of five, all living; the oldest, William H.,

emigrated to Australia, George and Margaret, both unmarried, reside at

the old homestead, while the older sister, Mrs. William Church, is also

a resident of Falmouth. After receiving the best education the common

schools of that day could give, Edward was one of the first pupils at

Norton Academy in April, 1829, of whom the “Records of Students” says:—

Though quite a lad, he showed aptness for learning. Subsequently

he left the province and became Chief of the Bureau of

Statistics at Washington, received the degree of M.A. from

Acadia College, and afterwards Ph.D. from Columbian University,

Washington. He has proved himself the constant friend of Acadia.

As donor for several years of an annual gold medal for

proficiency in the higher mathematics, he is remembered with

interest, respect and affection.

He lived several years in Windsor, acquired a knowledge of mercantile

business, and believing that the United States offered greater

advantages to young men, left his native place in October, 1835, went to

the west, and settled in Indiana. There he engaged in business and to

some extent in politics. His first vote was given for General Morrison,

the Whig candidate for president, who failed of election in 1836, but

succeeded in 1840. The severe and long continued illness of Mr. Young’s

father induced him to return and remain some years in his native

province, during which period he was united in marriage to Maria Bishop,

of Horton, some of whose ancestors, the Bishops and Gores, of

Connecticut, came with the New England colony in 1760. She is a

descendant also of Joseph Jencks, a colonial governor of Rhode Island.

After his marriage in December, 1840, he resided in Halifax, engaged

partly in commercial pursuits, owning some vessels trading to the United

States and the West Indies, himself visiting for purposes of trade the

West India islands, South America and the Southern ports of the United

States. He edited and published, from 1843 to 1845, a weekly paper, _The

Olive Branch_, the first temperance paper in the Maritime provinces, if

not in British North America, except, for a short period, one published

also in Halifax, by Edmund Ward. Sustaining losses by shipping, he

removed in 1849 to Boston, where he remained till 1851, when he engaged

in permanent business in Philadelphia, as publisher of books and a

weekly newspaper devoted to American industries, in copartnership with

E. T. Freedly, author of a “Treatise on Business,” and other practical

works. Their most important publication was “A History of American

Manufactures, from 1608 to 1866,” 3 vols. octavo, edited by his wife’s

brother, John Leander Bishop, M.D., who was for three years surgeon of a

Pennsylvania regiment during the late war. Not only in the United States

but by the London _Times_ and other leading journals of England, by the

“Westminster” and other reviews, was the highest praise awarded to the

author. Even now it is the standard authority on the early history of

manufactures in that colony and in the United States. Dr. Bishop was one

of the earliest graduates of Acadia. The hardships he endured during the

war hastened his death, which occurred in 1868. Not only as a historian

and scholar was he lamented, but as the highest style of a man—a

Christian gentleman. A statistical work compiled by Mr. Young, attracted

the notice of the Washington authorities, and the superintendent of the

census offered him a place in that bureau which he accepted, and removed

to Washington in 1861, where as chief of division he superintended the

compilation of the statistics of industry, and prepared for publication

a voluminous report on the manufactures of the United States, the first

of the kind. On the completion of this important work, in 1865, he

accepted a place in the revenue commission tendered him by its chairman,

Hon. David A. Wells, the celebrated economist, and in the following year

and subsequently while Mr. Wells was special commissioner of the

revenue, he was assistant or deputy commissioner. How faithfully Mr.

Young performed his work, how thoroughly he mastered the then

complicated revenue system of the United States, Mr. Wells has ever

since taken pleasure in manifesting. The imperfect manner in which the

commercial statistics were compiled in the treasury department induced

Mr. Wells to have a statistical bureau established which was authorised

by Act of Congress, and the bureau organized in September, 1866. In the

administration of this important bureau the director failed to give

satisfaction, and was afterwards legislated out of office, and Mr.

Young, who had resigned and resumed his publishing business in

Philadelphia, was induced by Mr. Wells to return to Washington and

devoted his energies to the work of the bureau. For a few months as

chief clerk, and for more than eight years as chief of the bureau, he so

improved it that it was acknowledged to be peer of older institutions of

Europe, and the work of its director commended, and the accuracy of his

statements acknowledged on the floors of both houses of Congress and in

foreign countries. A similar bureau was established in Chili, on a plan

prepared by Mr. Young; and one in Japan, partly through correspondence

and partly by exhibiting to commissioners sent to examine it, the

operations of the Washington bureau, and explaining the details, of

which full notes were taken. In addition to the monthly, quarterly and

annual reports of the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, as required by

law, Mr. Young prepared and published several special reports of great

interest and value. In 1871 he published “A Special Report on

Immigration,” “A Special Report on the Customs-tariff Legislation of the

United States,” and other works. In consideration of these labors,

Columbian University at Washington conferred upon him the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy. The report on Immigration, or more properly

“Information for Immigrants,” was welcomed with enthusiasm, as it gave

detailed information as to the advantages offered by the sparsely

settled states and territories to individuals and families in Europe who

were desirous to emigrate to America. Tens of thousands of copies were

distributed throughout Europe, not only by the United States government,

but by steamship, transportation and other companies, who purchased the

work in sheets from the public printer, and distributed it through their

agents. Dr. Young had it translated into the French and German

languages, also into Swedish; and ten thousand copies in French and

about twelve thousand in German were printed and circulated in European

countries where those languages are spoken. The result was a great

increase each year in the number of immigrants, especially of the more

valuable classes, as compared with the arrivals in preceding years. So

valuable was it regarded in other countries that the celebrated French

economist, Michel Chevalier, in an extended article published in a

French periodical, commended Dr. Young’s book, and suggested that a work

on the same plan be prepared by the French government, showing the

advantages offered by Algiers to those who desired to make their homes

in a sparsely settled country. The German government, finding that its

people in great numbers were emigrating to the United States, interposed

obstacles to the general distribution of this volume full of

information. The Marquis of Lorne personally solicited the author to

prepare a volume on a similar plan, presenting the great advantages

offered by Manitoba and the North-West Territories to those desirous of

emigrating to some part of America. The author of the “Special Report on

the United States Tariff” was gratified when, during the exciting tariff

discussion in the Canadian House of Commons in 1879, his book was

observed in the hands of members of both parties, and extracts read

therefrom. His greatest work, however, completed in 1875, after years of

preparation, was called, “Labor in Europe and America,” 864 pages,

octavo, and was republished in 1879, by Dawson Brothers, Montreal, from

the original stereotype plates. This is an elaborate special report on

the rate of wages, the cost of subsistence, and the condition of the

working classes in Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, and other

countries of Europe, and also in the United States and British America.

It is prefaced by a learned and exhaustive review of the condition of

the working people among the nations of antiquity and during the middle

ages. The following extracts are made from an extended review of this

book by a well-known economic writer in Philadelphia:—

The work is a striking exhibit of the industry and research of

Dr. Young. He has personally visited many of the countries of

Europe (from the Clyde to the Volga), entering factories and

mingling among working men to ascertain their actual condition,

and his notes of these visits form a very interesting part of

the book. He has also pressed United States consuls into his

service, and has received valuable information from them.

Apparently no source of information has been overlooked. Ancient

documents bearing upon the employment and compensation of labor

in remote periods have been unearthed, and their contents add

greatly to the interest and value of the volume. . . . A work so

valuable as this will be in demand in every country in the

civilized world, as one of the most elaborate contributions to

the literature of labor that has ever appeared.

The press in the United States and in England, and to some extent in

continental Europe, highly commended this report, and autograph letters

were received from men of the highest standing in all parts of America,

including two presidents of the United States, governors, presidents of

colleges, and others, particularly from Lord Dufferin, also from men of

the high standing of the great and good Earl of Shaftesbury with whom

Dr. Young corresponded, when engaged in its preparation. The part that

treats of the condition of the working people of Europe, their drinking

habits, etc., is read with peculiar interest by those who desire to do

good to their fellow men. Terence’s celebrated sentiment, “_Homo sum;

humani nihil a me alienum puto_,” was adopted by the author as his

motto. Although this book, as well as the other two special reports, is

out of print—the plates belonging to the United States government

having been destroyed—yet occasionally a copy may be found at a book

stand, and standing orders from booksellers in London, Germany and

Sweden, are held by a bookseller in Washington, to secure every copy of

this work that can be obtained. In 1872 Mr. Young was appointed by

President Grant as a delegate to the International Statistical Congress

at St. Petersburg, of which body he was vice-president for North

America. Here he had abundant opportunities of conferring with many of

the leading statisticians of the world. He also improved the opportunity

of a prolonged tour of the continent and Great Britain. From all these

sources he was able materially to increase his store of general

knowledge, as well as to improve the methods of his bureau at

Washington, and largely to gather information which he made use of in

the work on labor, above noticed. Dr. Young was frequently consulted by

the government officials, and on several occasions was confidentially

employed by Secretary Fish, who submitted for his examination and report

thereon, the “Memorandum of the Plenipotentiaries”—Hon. Geo. Brown and

Sir Edward Thornton. He was also instructed to personally investigate on

both sides of the line, the probable effect of the Treaty of 1874 (which

failed to receive a two-thirds vote in the Senate) upon the industries

of the United States. The seal of secresy having subsequently been

removed, this report became accessible to the public. Mr. Fish was

severely criticised by many of his political friends for being in favor

of the Treaty; had they known why he approved of it, as Dr. Young knew,

confidentially, his action would have been commended. As Mr. Fish’s

permission to disclose has never been obtained, a secret it still

remains. This hint Mr. Young gives—Mr. Fish was governed, not by

_commercial_ considerations, but by those of a political or patriotic

character. Dr. Young’s connection with the Bureau of Statistics

terminated in the summer of 1878, after he had devoted to it nine of the

most active and best years of his life, rendering it highly efficient

and greatly useful, and to the entire satisfaction of every secretary of

the treasury from Mr. McCulloch down to 1878. But in the Republic as

well as in the Dominion, men are occasionally observed who are willing

to sacrifice public good to personal aggrandizement. The secretary was

then, as the same able statesman is now, intensely desirous to obtain

the nomination of his party for the presidency, and expected that all

officers, and the great army of custom house and other employés of the

department, would exert themselves in his behalf. The chief of the

Statistical Bureau was, as he told the secretary, a _statis_tician, not

a _poli_tician. He neither possessed nor desired political influence,

contenting himself by voting for the candidates of the party when they

were such as he approved, for he was too independent to be a partizan,

his motto not being “My country and my party, right or wrong,” as some

say, but “My country (or my party), when in the right.” Unwilling to

stand in the way of his chief’s laudable aspirations, Dr. Young offered

his resignation provided two or three months’ leave of absence with pay

were allowed, which offer was accepted, and his connection with the

Bureau severed to the surprise and regret of statisticians and statesmen

in Europe and America. Both parties in the government of the Dominion

solicited his services. Soon after Hon. Mr. Mackenzie, then first

minister, invited him to Ottawa to consult as to the establishment of a

Statistical Bureau, but before any definite arrangement was made the

elections in September, 1878, transferred that able man to the

opposition benches. When the ministry of Sir John A. Macdonald decided,

in 1878, to establish a new tariff for the protection of Canadian

industries they cast about for some one fitted to assist them in

constructing the new list of duties. The reputation of Dr. Young as a

statistician and a tariff expert justified them in selecting him for the

position. He then went to Ottawa, and his experience and knowledge of

the theory and working of Protection in the United States enabled him to

be of material service to the Canadian government in their novel labors.

Although he had nothing to do with filling in the rates of duty, yet he

so drafted the tariff as to make it symmetrical, and avoided the

inconsistencies of the United States tariff. Its successful operation in

subsequent years proved that the design was good and the materials

sound, otherwise the blizzards that sometimes are felt, even in Canada,

would have injured or destroyed the structure. After the tariff went

into operation in 1879, it was expected that a Bureau of Statistics

would be established at Ottawa. The ablest presentation of the great

need of such a bureau, and the advantage it would confer on the

Dominion, was made by James Johnson, now of Ottawa, himself an able

statistician, in the Halifax _Reporter_ of April 16, 1879. In concluding

his argument he wrote:—

The United States found itself compelled to add a Bureau of

Statistics, and the only regret we ever heard expressed is that

the bureau had not been established years ago. * * * In addition

to all these arguments there is the fact that the government

have now in the temporary employ of the finance department a man

who till lately was chief of that bureau—a skilled, experienced

man, capable of putting the Canadian bureau into good working

order without those expenditures which are the invariable price

of experience when accumulated from a beginning of ignorance.

Such a skilled man would save the country thousands of dollars

by reason of the experience he has had. We refer to Edward

Young, Ph.D., a Nova Scotian who left this province some years

ago and worked his way up to the eminent position he held in

Washington by sheer force of ability. The time, then, is

opportune; the work is immensely important; the man is at hand.

Although Sir Leonard Tilley appreciated the importance to the government

and people of a Statistical Bureau, yet he regarded the carrying out of

the new revenue system without friction as a measure of pressing

necessity. To interpret the tariff and prescribe uniformity in the

various custom houses, a board of appraisers was appointed of which Mr.

Young was acting secretary. After a few months he resigned and returned

to Washington, and soon after established in New York the _Industrial

Monthly_, devoted to the manufacturing industries of America, and the

advocacy of protective legislation. This was published for several years

and then merged in _America_, a serial of similar views. Until his

removal to Windsor he was engaged in writing for the weekly and daily

press of New York, chiefly on economic subjects, and in advocacy of

protection, in order that the toilers in American shops, mills,

factories, and mines should receive full reward for their labor.

Although not fully in accord with the economic views of the president

and the secretary of state, yet it was the particular desire of Mr.

Bayard that Dr. Young should enter the consular service and be stationed

in Canada, where his knowledge of the trade and the fishing and other

industries of the several provinces, would prove useful to the United

States government. Accordingly he was appointed and confirmed as consul

of the Windsor consular district, which embraces the counties of Hants,

Kings, and Cumberland, with parts of Annapolis and Colchester,

succeeding D. K. Hobart, of Maine, who had held the office for fourteen

years. Dr. Young spends, by permission of his government, accompanied by

his wife and daughter, some of the winter months during which navigation

on the Avon is closed, at Wolfville, where he has relations, and where

he has access to the valuable library of Acadia College. He has two

sons, both married and settled in Washington; the older, Charles E., a

civil engineer; the younger, William H. Young, B.D. (of Yale), pastor of

the Metropolitan Baptist Church. Another son who was a very able man, an

accomplished linguist, connected with the Smithsonian Institute, died

four years ago. He represented the institution at the Vienna Exposition

in 1873, and officially visited its agencies in Europe. Dr. Young

occasionally comes before the public as a speaker on moral and religious

topics. He delivers a very learned and interesting lecture on the

subject of Russia, in which he accords a high place to the late Czar,

Alexander II., for his great act, the emancipation of the serfs. He has

for a long period been actively engaged in religious and benevolent

work. For many years a member and deacon of Baptist churches, and for a

few years superintendent of a Sabbath school in Washington; and although

strongly attached to the principles of his own denomination, yet has

been actively engaged in all union efforts. He was one of a committee

that planned, and secretary of a society that established in Halifax,

about forty years ago, the first Sailors’ Home and Bethel. In the cause

of temperance he was one of the pioneers, uniting with a society

established in Wolfville in 1829, was secretary of a society in Windsor

more than fifty years ago, and in Halifax about forty-five years ago,

where he published a weekly paper devoted to temperance. His consistency

was proved by not permitting his vessels to take cargoes of rum from the

West Indies; and—the only American—by declining to partake of wine at

dinner in the palaces of the Emperor of Russia and of Grand Dukes and

other members of the Imperial family, and by declining to drink wine

with the Prince Dolgorouki, governor-general of Central Russia, at his

palace in Moscow. That his eccentric conduct produced no ill-feeling is

evidenced by the fact that he succeeded in having released from Russian

prisons twelve poor people who had been long kept there charged with

inducing members of the Russo-Greek church to unite with the Standists

(chiefly Baptists), when the Evangelical Alliance, which met in New York

in 1874, failed even to have their memorial submitted to the Imperial

court. In 1873 the Russian minister at Washington, in a despatch to the

secretary of state, asked permission to present to Dr. Young, delegate

from the United States to the International Statistical Congress in

1872, a diamond ring from the Emperor’s private cabinet, as a _souvenir_

of that congress. To overcome a constitutional obstacle, a joint

resolution was passed at the ensuing session of Congress, and approved

by the president, giving the recipient permission to accept the valuable

ring. It has the Emperor’s initials and a crown in gold and small

diamonds on blue enamel surrounded by eight large diamonds of the first

water. Although well up in years (and old only in years)—“his hair just

grizzled as in a green old age”—yet Dr. Young preserves a youthful flow

of spirits, takes great interest in the rising generation and its

pursuits, and loves sociality and friendly conversation. If he has a

craze it is the belief that English not Volapüt will be the universal

language of commerce at least, and that the two great English-speaking

peoples, having a common language and literature, and possessing greater

freedom than other nations, shall unite their efforts to extend the

blessings of civil and religious liberty to all other peoples, and to

evangelize the world.

* * * * *

=Huggan, William Thomas=, Charlottetown, Accountant and Auditor, Prince

Edward Island Railway, was born on the 24th May, 1851, at Halifax, Nova

Scotia. His father, Thomas Huggan, was born on the 5th May, 1817, at

Barney’s River, Pictou county, Nova Scotia; and his mother, Sarah

Dowler, was born on the 27th December, 1818, at Leith, Scotland. Mr.

Huggan received his educational training at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in a

private school,—Michael McCullough being master. He entered the

government employ at Halifax, on January 14, 1870, as junior clerk in

the accountant’s office, Nova Scotia railway. In August, 1870, he became

a clerk in the general store-keeper’s office; in August, 1871,

time-keeper and clerk in the mechanical superintendent’s office, and in

November, 1871, clerk in the audit office. Upon the amalgamation of the

Nova Scotia Railway with the Intercolonial and European and North

American railways in November, 1872, under the name of the

Intercolonial, he was transferred to Moncton, New Brunswick, on the 27th

of that month, as clerk in the audit office of the road. In October,

1873, he became clerk in the local store of the Intercolonial Railway;

February, 1874, clerk in the general store-keeper’s office; April, 1874,

clerk in the mechanical superintendent’s office; July, 1874, clerk in

the accountant’s office, and in November, 1875, he was appointed chief

clerk in the accountant’s office. On the 1st of July, 1882, he was made

accountant and auditor of the Prince Edward Island Railway, with charge

of the general ticket department, which office he now holds. During the

period covered above he served in the various capacities of

station-master, paymaster, cashier, etc. In January, 1881, he became

connected with St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Moncton, N.B., since

which time he has been a Sabbath-school teacher. In March, 1882, he was

ordained an elder of this church, and afterward taking up his abode in

Charlottetown, was elected to same position, that of elder in Zion

Church. Mr. Huggan has also served as manager in the former church, and

as a trustee and treasurer in the latter congregation. While always a

total abstainer, he became a charter member of Orient Division, No. 161,

Sons of Temperance, in September, 1886, since which time, he has twice

served as financial scribe. He served five years in the first battery

Halifax Volunteer Artillery. He was married, October 25th, 1875, to

Sarah L., eldest daughter of William E. Weldon, of Moncton, N.B., and

Margaret A. Church, of Point Du Bute, N.B.

* * * * *

=Brymner, Douglas=, Ottawa, Historical Archivist of the Dominion, was

born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1823. He is the fourth son of Alexander

Brymner, banker, originally from Stirling, where the family held for

many years, a prominent position. The elder Brymner was a man of fine

intellectual attainments, an enthusiast in letters, and refined in his

tastes and feelings. He had great influence over his children, and took

every opportunity to instil into their minds a hearty love for

literature in all its branches. They had the additional advantage of

frequent intercourse with living men of letters, and their acquaintance

with the writings of the most eminent and esteemed authors of the time

soon became extensive. The mother of Douglas Brymner was Elizabeth

Fairlie, daughter of John Fairlie, merchant in Greenock, who died at an

early age, leaving his widow and family in comfortable circumstances.

The subject of our sketch was educated at the Greenock Grammar School,

where, under the skilful tuition of Dr. Brown, he mastered the classics

and higher branches of study. After leaving school, Mr. Brymner received

a thorough mercantile training. He began business on his own account,

and subsequently admitted his brother, Graham, as a partner, on the

return of the latter from the West Indies, where he had been engaged for

some years. The brothers were highly successful, the younger filling, in

later years, several important offices, such as justice of the peace for

the county of Renfrew, and chairman of the Sanitary Commission for his

native town. He died in 1885, from typhus fever, contracted in the

discharge of his duties as chairman, universally regretted by all. In

1853, Mr. Brymner married Jean Thomson (who died in 1884), daughter of

William Thomson, of Hill End, by whom he had nine children, six of whom

survive. The eldest of these is William, a rising artist of an excellent

school, who has studied for several years in the best studios of Paris,

and whose recent exhibits have received general praise. The second son,

George Douglas, is one of the accountants in the Bank of Montreal, and

James, the third son, is in the Northwest. Two daughters and a son are

at home. In consequence of ill health, induced by close application to

business, Mr. Brymner was compelled to retire from the partnership in

1856. Complete withdrawal from mercantile cares for a year having

restored him to something like his former self, he removed to Canada in

1857, and settled in Melbourne, one of the Eastern Townships. Here he

filled the office of mayor for two terms with conspicuous ability. On

both occasions he had been elected without a contest, and without having

solicited a single vote from any one, his belief being that an office of

this sort ought to be conferred by the unasked suffrage of the

constituency. He declined to serve for a third term, although earnestly

requested to do so. While mayor, he introduced various improvements in

the mode of conducting municipal business. Like many other immigrants

possessing capital, he found his means vanishing before the financial

crisis of 1857. Mr. Brymner drifted into what seemed to be his natural

calling—literature, for which his early training and continuous study

well qualified him. On the acceptance by Dr. Snodgrass of the office of

principal of Queen’s College, the post of editor of the _Presbyterian_,

the official journal of the Church of Scotland in Canada, became vacant.

It was offered to Mr. Brymner, his fitness for the position having been

recognized by the leaders of the church, he having been an active member

of the church courts as a representative elder, and his numerous

contributions to the discussion of important religious topics being

esteemed and valuable. Under his guidance, the editorials being written

with a straightforward, independent spirit, the paper at once took a

high place. Many of Mr. Brymner’s articles on ecclesiastical questions

were in particular much admired, and leading religious journals often

made lengthy quotations from them. About the same time he joined the

staff of the Montreal _Herald_, where in a little he was appointed

associate editor with the late Hon. Edward Goff Penny. Often, owing to

the severe indisposition of Mr. Penny, Mr. Brymner had sole editorial

charge of the _Herald_. He was noted as one of the most efficient and

hard-working members of the Press Gallery at Ottawa, and in 1871, the

presidency of the Press Association devolved upon him. A year later, in

1872, it having been resolved to establish a new branch of the Civil

Service, namely, the collection of the historical records of the

Dominion and its provinces, Mr. Brymner, with the approval of men of all

political shades, received the appointment. Before leaving Montreal for

Ottawa, an address, signed by leading men in the professions, in

business, and of the different nationalities, was presented to Mr.

Brymner, accompanied by a magnificent testimonial. No better selection

could have been made for the office of archivist than that of Mr.

Brymner. He had peculiar fitness for the task imposed on him. His

extensive historical knowledge, unwearied industry, patience, and love

for research, his power of organizing and arranging materials for

reference, etc., were all admirable qualifications, and these he

possessed to a remarkable degree. His reports are models, and present in

clear and terse language the results of his labours. The story of the

origin of the office, and the important part played in its construction

by Mr. Brymner, will be found in the archivist’s report for 1883. In

1881, the Public Record Office (London) authorities republished the

whole of Mr. Brymner’s report as part of their own, owing, as the keeper

of records, Sir William Hardy, said, to the importance of the

information it contained. Every year since then copious extracts have

been made from Mr. Brymner’s reports. Perhaps it will not be out of

place to insert here the following excerpt from the preface to the

admirably annotated publication of “Hadden’s Journal and Orderly Books,”

by General Horatio Rogers, who says:—“I cannot refrain from referring

to the unwearied zeal and unfailing courtesy of Mr. Douglas Brymner, the

archivist of the Dominion of Canada, in affording me the fullest and

most satisfactory use of the Haldimand papers and the other manuscripts

confided to his charge. Would that all public officials in custody of

valuable manuscripts might take a lesson from him!” Mr. Brymner is an

adherent of the Church of Scotland, to which he has always belonged, and

he has been one of the most formidable opponents of union. His evidence

before the Senate Committee, on the 24th and 26th of April, 1882, which

is substantially the argument of the non-contents on the Union question,

was presented with great power and skill. It can be found in a pamphlet

of over forty pages, published by Hunter, Rose &. Co., Toronto, in 1883.

The greater part of his literary work is anonymous. He possesses a fund

of caustic humour, some of which found vent in his letters in Scotch,

under the name of “Tummas Treddles,” an octogenarian Paisley weaver,

originally contributions on curling to the Montreal _Herald_, but

afterwards extended to other subjects in the _Scottish American

Journal_. These have ceased for some years, doubtless from the pressure

of other and more serious occupations. His translations of the Odes of

Horace into Scotch verse were happy imitations. A favourable specimen,

“The Charms of Country Life,” is in the _Canadian Monthly_ of 1879, the

others having appeared in newspapers, and, so far as is known, have

never been collected. He is another illustration of the fallacy of

Sidney Smith’s statement, that it requires a surgical operation to get a

joke into a Scotchman’s head. Mr. Brymner’s work is gaining, year by

year, in reputation with scholars and students. Dr. Poole, chairman of

the American Historical Association, says that the archives “under the

care of Mr. Brymner forms the most valuable collection of manuscripts

for historical purposes to be found on this continent.” (_Library

Journal_ for 1877, p. 458.) Dr. George Stewart, jr., president of the

Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, says in _Canadian Leaves_,

“Mr. Douglas Brymner has really created the department of archives, and

made it one of the most efficient in the public service of Canada.”

Other historical writers express the highest opinion of the value of the

work in progress, and the annual reports are now eagerly looked for.

* * * * *

=Cameron, Allan=, M.D., Owen Sound, on the 30th December, 1830. His

father, Daniel Allan Cameron, was the only son of Allan Cameron, at one

time lieutenant and adjutant of H. B. M. 1st regiment of foot. His

mother, Margaret Fisher Buchan, was a niece of the late James Ewing, of

Strathleven. He was educated in Glasgow, at the Collegiate Institute and

High School. He afterwards entered as a medical student at the Glasgow

University, graduating in the year 1853 as Doctor of Medicine. In the

following year he obtained the diploma of the College of Physicians and

Surgeons of Glasgow, and coming to Canada, in 1854, was granted the

provincial license to practice his profession in the province of

Ontario. In 1886 was registered as a member of the College of Physicians

and Surgeons of Ontario, and is also a member of the Ontario College of

Pharmacy. In 1873, he was appointed coroner for the county of Grey. He

has held various offices in the Masonic lodge, and in the chapter, and

also in the lodges of Oddfellows and Foresters. He was married in June,

1857, to Elizabeth Hartley, of Keighley, Yorkshire, England.

* * * * *

=Robertson, Henry=, LL.B., Barrister, Collingwood, Ontario, was born in

the township of Whitchurch, county of York, in the province of Ontario,

on the 31st May, 1840. He is of Scottish descent, his father being John

Robertson, a native of Edinburgh, and his mother, Catherine Smith. He

was educated at the Central School, Hamilton, and the Grammar School at

Barrie. He then entered the University of Toronto, where he

distinguished himself as a close student of law, and graduated as LL.B.,

in June, 1861. On being called to the bar in August, 1861, he commenced

the practice of his profession at Collingwood, and succeeded in building

up a good law practice, which he still continues in that enterprising

town. He joined the volunteer force in 1868, and served as second

lieutenant in the Collingwood garrison battery of artillery until 1870.

In municipal matters he has always taken a prominent part, and has been

a member of the Collingwood town council for several years, and deputy

reeve in 1881 and 1882. He has also taken a deep interest in the

educational wants of Collingwood and vicinity, and has served as member

of the High School Board for six years, being chairman in 1873 and 1874;

and also chairman of the Public School Board in 1877 and 1878. But it is

in the fraternal societies of our Dominion that Mr. Robertson’s name is

most widely known. He has filled the highest offices in the gift of the

various societies he has joined, and from his knowledge of law has

safely directed them over many a knotty point. In 1861 he joined the

Masonic craft; in 1870 he was elected grand junior warder of the Grand

Lodge of Canada; in 1872 and 1873 he was district deputy grand master of

the Toronto district; in 1884 and 1885 he was elected deputy grand

master, and in 1886 grand master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, and this

position he still holds. He is the author of a work on Masonic

jurisprudence. In the Independent Order of Oddfellows he has likewise

held responsible positions, having joined that order in 1869, he was

grand warden in 1880; deputy grand master in 1881, and grand master in

1882. He has been prominently connected with various other societies and

organizations, Mechanics’ Institutes, etc. In politics he is a Reformer,

and has held office for a number of years in the local and county Reform

Association, and was president of the West Riding of Simcoe Reform

Association in 1885 and 1886. He was married July 9th, 1866, to Bethia,

third daughter of the late John Rose, of Bradford, and has two

daughters,—the eldest, Madge R. Robertson, is an honor undergraduate of

the University of Toronto.

* * * * *

=Black, William Tell=, M.D., Windsor, Nova Scotia, was born at St.

Martin’s, New Brunswick, about sixty years ago. His father was Thomas

Henry Black, of county Armagh, Ireland, who married Mary E. Fouries, of

St. Martin’s. Dr. Black was educated at the public grammar school in St.

Martin’s. Having finished his classical course, he adopted the

profession of medicine, and pursued his studies with great success. He

served on the medical staff of the army of the north during the war of

the rebellion, and became a very skilful physician in the varied and

difficult practice which it was his lot to attend during that fierce and

sanguinary conflict. He enjoys a pension from the United States

government, in consideration of his services as a physician. When the

war was over, Dr. Black settled down as a regular practitioner in St.

Andrew’s, N.B., where his great abilities, and the knowledge of the

healing and surgical arts, secured to him an extensive and lucrative

practice. St. Andrew’s is the “near neighbor,” of Callais, Maine, and

the spirit of the eager, restless Yankee has been communicated to the

New Brunswick sea port. St. Andrew’s is one of the most lively and

flourishing towns in New Brunswick. After many years of this bustling

life, Dr. Black thought he would like to choose an interior town in Nova

Scotia, for rest. His brother, Dr. J. B. Black, had settled there, and

that was an additional inducement, besides the agricultural facilities

of the place, for which it is noted. He purchased a farm at Curry’s

Corner, in Windsor, built a handsome cottage, and further ornamented the

beautiful sloping grounds with barns and outbuildings of modern style of

construction. He removed from St. Andrew’s in 1884, and made his

permanent home in Windsor. There was an orchard of apple trees on the

farm, which he has re-stocked. He has also laid out the grounds in a new

style, and has planted numerous shade trees along the highway, and

beside the green lawns and grassy slopes. The planning and carrying out

his ideas, in connection with this work, will give him plenty to do

during the next few years. The soil is very fertile, however, and he

could not have selected a spot where his work would tell sooner, or to

better advantage. Dr. Black married Fanny Cutts, whose father was an

officer in the custom house, at St. Andrew’s. She is a prominent worker

in the Baptist church, in Windsor, and, possessing excellent and

carefully cultivated vocal powers, is a leader of the church choir. Dr.

Black has not opened an office for the practice of his profession in

Windsor, but his acknowledged skill and great experience and training

render his services as a consulting physician in considerable demand,

both by patients and by the resident physicians in the town and

neighborhood. Being possessed of ample means and leisure, he can in his

new residence spend the afternoon of his life in a very enviable

enjoyment of ease and healthy recreation. In politics, he is a

sympathiser with the Liberal party, although he does not take a very

prominent part in the cause. He is, like Mrs. Black, an adherent of the

Baptist church in Windsor, Nova Scotia.

* * * * *

=de Lottinville, Jean Baptiste Severe Lemaitre=, Three Rivers, Province

of Quebec, Advocate, and Prothonotary of the Superior Court for the

district of Three Rivers, Quebec province, was born at Three Rivers,

November, 1841. His father was Joseph Octave Lemaitre de Lottinville,

and his mother Lucy Beaudry. He is descended from one of the oldest

French families in Canada. He received his education at the Seminary of

Nicolet, and completed his classical and legal studies at Montreal with

success and brilliancy, where he was called to the bar in January, 1866.

He then settled at Three Rivers, where he practised his profession for

many years. Mr. de Lottinville also obtained, in 1866, his diploma at

the Military College of Montreal. In politics he has always upheld the

cause of the Liberals, taking an active part in political contests, and

using his influence and talents for the furtherance and in the interests

of his party. In 1887 he was appointed by the government of Quebec as a

prothonotary of the Superior Court for the district of Three Rivers. Mr.

de Lottinville married in October, 1875, Emma, eldest daughter of

William Whiteford, merchant, Three Rivers, who died in May, 1887. Still

in the prime of life, and endowed with unusual talents, the career and

future life of Mr. de Lottinville will no doubt occupy a conspicuous

position in Canadian history.

* * * * *

=Dymond, Alfred Hutchinson=, Superintendent of the Asylum for the Blind,

Brantford, was born at Croydon, County of Surrey, England, on August

21st, 1827. He was educated at the public school of the Society of

Friends at that place, of which institution his father, Henry Dymond,

was for some time the superintendent. He was engaged in early life in

mercantile pursuits, but devoted himself chiefly, from the time of

attaining manhood till thirty years of age, to advocating the abolition

of capital punishment, lecturing in behalf of that movement in all parts

of England, and exerting himself frequently with success in behalf of

persons under sentence of death, where the justice of the conviction was

open to doubt, or where ameliorating circumstances appeared to justify

clemency. Many of his experiences while so engaged were related in a

book published by him in 1865, entitled, “The Law on its Trial,” not a

few of the incidents recorded being of thrilling interest. He was also

the author of numerous pamphlets and _brochures_ on the same question,

and all of these productions showed careful research, and fresh,

vigorous thought. In 1857 he received an appointment on the staff of the

_Morning Star_ newspaper, then recently established in London as the

representative of advanced Liberal principles, and of which Mr. Cobden,

Mr. Bright, and other Liberal political leaders, were active promoters.

He became ultimately general manager of the _Star_, and continued to

hold that position until its amalgamation, in 1869, with the London

_Daily News_. During his connection with the _Star_, he had for his

colleagues or associates, among others, Justin McCarthy, now M.P. for

Derry; Sir John Gorrie, now chief justice of the Leeward Islands; Edward

Russell, editor of the Liverpool _Daily Post_; Charles A. Cooper, editor

of the _Edinburgh Scotsman_, the late Dr. Faucher, afterwards a

prominent member of the German parliament; Frederick W. Chesson, so

often heard of as the secretary of the Aborigines’ Protection Society;

William Black, the novelist; and Archibald Forbes, the famous war

correspondent. The two last-named gentlemen received their first

commissions on the London press from Mr. Dymond’s hands. In October,

1869, he removed with his family to Toronto, and joined the staff of the

Toronto _Globe_. During the nine years of his connection with that paper

he wrote a large portion of its political leading articles. Shortly

after settling in Toronto he commenced to take an active part in

political affairs, particularly during the Ontario elections of 1871,

and the Dominion elections of 1873. At the general election of January,

1874, following on the downfall of the Macdonald government, after the

Pacific Scandal disclosures, Mr. Dymond was elected after a contest, by

a majority of 338, for the North Riding of the county of York, his

opponent being William Thorne, the warden of the county. He represented

North York during the succeeding five sessions, giving a warm support to

the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie’s administration, and taking a very active

part both in debates and the work of committees. At the general election

in September, 1878, he was again, on the unanimous invitation of the

Liberal party in the riding, a candidate for North York, but under the

adverse influences of the so-called National Policy reaction, was

defeated by a majority of ten votes. He took a very active part in

connection with the local elections of 1879, in editing the literature

of the campaign, and addressing public meetings. He acted on several

occasions as a commissioner in municipal investigations, under

appointments from the Ontario Government. In 1880, he was appointed the

executive officer and a member of the Ontario Agricultural Commission,

the results of which appeared during the session of 1881, in the shape

of five bulky volumes, including the Report and its Appendices, the

compilation of the Report, and arrangement and revision of the whole

mass of evidence being accomplished by Mr. Dymond in less than three

months. In April, 1881, he was appointed by the Ontario Government,

Principal of the Institution for the Education of the Blind at

Brantford, which position he still holds. While in England Mr. Dymond

was identified with efforts for parliamentary reform, the extension of

the suffrage, and the repeal of all impediments to free and cheap

literature. He was also a most enthusiastic supporter of the Northern

cause during the American Civil War. While a member of the Canadian

Parliament, he carried through a bill to enable persons charged with

common assault to give evidence in their own behalf, the first measure

embodying such a principle in Canadian criminal legislation. During the

Dunkin Act agitation in Toronto, he was Vice-President of the

association to promote the adoption of the Act, and presided at most of

the large open air gatherings held in the Amphitheatre on Yonge street,

in favour of the Act. Mr. Dymond, while in Parliament, assisted

materially in the adoption of the present Temperance Act, popularly

known as the Scott Act. He has always advocated the principles of Free

Trade, so far as they maybe found compatible with revenue necessities.

He took, when in Parliament, a liberal view of the Pacific Railway

policy, as necessary to the wants and exigencies of the Dominion, while

opposed to undue haste in its construction, or to any arrangements

calculated to retard the free settlement of the North-West. He has

always advocated the broadest extension of Provincial rights as opposed

to Federal centralization. He has been since early life a member of the

Anglican Church, and has of late years taken an active part in the

affairs of that Church, both locally and as a member of the Diocesan

Synod of Huron, to which Brantford belong. He married, in 1852, Miss

Helen Susannah Henderson, of London, England, and has a large family of

sons and daughters. As a writer upon political topics, Mr. Dymond

occupies a prominent position. As a parliamentarian, he was industrious,

vigorous, and always effective. His absence from Parliament now is a

serious loss to his party and to the country.

* * * * *

=Pelland, Basile Elie=, Berthierville, Registrar of the County of

Berthier, Quebec province, was born in Berthier, August 6th, 1842, and

is the son of Basile Pelland, a worthy farmer, and Rose de Lima

Laferriére, of the same place, both belonging to two of the most

distinguished and ancient families of Berthier. Mr. Pelland was educated

at the Jacques Cartier Normal School, Montreal, and at Bourget College,

Rigaud, where he developed talents which induced him to adopt law as a

profession. With this object in view he studied with J. O. Chalut,

notary of Berthier, with such success that in 1867 he was appointed

notary, and commenced to practise in Berthier. In a few years, by his

talents and energy, he built up a large and lucrative business, and

having gained the confidence and esteem of his fellow-townsmen, was

elected secretary-treasurer of the town council, and commissioner of

schools and the agricultural society. He was appointed registrar of the

county of Berthier, in 1874. In politics he is a Conservative and a

staunch and reliable worker in the interests of his party. In religion,

he is a Roman Catholic, and greatly respected by his neighbors

generally. He is married to Marie Louise Chenevert, daughter of

Theophile Chenevert, merchant, of St. Cuthbert.

* * * * *

=Macdonald, Robert Tyre=, M.D., C.M., M.C.P.S., Sutton, Quebec province,

was born at Ellerslie, Brockville, August 1, 1856. His father was a

graduate in arts of Edinburgh University, who came to Canada when quite

a young man and entered into mercantile pursuits at Dundee, Que., where

he soon amassed a fortune, and afterwards removed to Brockville, where

he continued his mercantile calling. He claimed descent from the “Lords

of the Isles,” Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye, being the family seat. His

mother was Elizabeth Elliott Ogilvie, daughter of Captain Alexander

Ogilvie, and niece of the late Col. Davidson. His family were noted in

Scottish history for having been custodians of the Scottish crown. The

subject of our sketch received his early education by private tuition,

and afterwards entered Fort Covington Academy. After leaving school he

was for a time in the employ of S. J. Howel & Bro. of Millbrook, Ont.,

and also with T. B. Collins of the same place. He came to Montreal in

1875, and entered the wholesale establishment of B. Levin & Co., leaving

there in 1876 to enter McGill University as a student in medicine, and

graduated with distinction in 1881. He is surgeon in the 52nd Battalion

Brome Light Infantry, surgeon South-Eastern Railway, and medical health

officer, township of Sutton. Has been twice elected master of Sutton

Lodge, No. 39, A. F. & A. M. Is at present district deputy grand master

A. F. & A. M., for counties of Shefford, and Brome. He is unmarried, and

in enjoyment of a large and lucrative practice.

* * * * *

=Mason, Thos. G.=, Toronto, Ontario, was born at Ivybridge, Devonshire,

England, and when seven years of age came to Canada with his parents,

settling in Toronto. He received his early schooling from J. R. Mair, so

well known as a successful teacher, and by whom many of Toronto’s

prominent citizens were first introduced to the classics. Mr. Mason’s

business career commenced in 1849, when he entered the _Globe_ office as

a junior clerk, J. C. Fitch being at the time manager of the office. In

those early days the _Globe_ was published only three times per week,

Mr. Mason having charge of the mailing department. In 1854 he became

assistant book-keeper for the firm of A. & S. Nordheimer, and remained

with them seventeen years. It was at the close of this thorough and

successful business apprenticeship—namely, in 1871—that Mr. Mason, in

association with V. M. Risch, founded the present firm of Mason & Risch,

as dealers in and importers of pianofortes and musical instruments, and

by the energy displayed and the superior business methods adopted, they

gradually established themselves as one of the most successful business

firms in Toronto. Being thoroughly conversant with the subtle and

difficult science of acoustics which their lengthened experience had

given them, and being withal practical men, they directed their

attention to the construction and development of the pianoforte, and in

1878 began their manufacture, keeping the central idea steadily in view

of building up and winning a reputation for a Canadian pianoforte of the

highest standard worthy to rank with those of the most famous makers in

Europe or the United States. To this end, and to carry out their high

artistic ideas, both members of the firm travelled through the principal

manufacturing countries of Europe in search of skilled artisans and the

highest grade of materials with which to stock their factory; and

unquestionably it is to this foresight and care, coupled with the

thorough knowledge of their work, and natural artistic talent, that the

excellence of the Mason & Risch pianofortes is attributable. In this

connection it cannot be out of place, or other than gratifying to

Canadians to refer to the distinguished compliment which the late Dr.

Franz Liszt paid the firm in sending them a full-sized portrait of

himself, painted by the eminent artist Baron Joukousky. This painting is

one of the finest works of art in the Dominion. In 1886 the firm

exhibited their pianofortes at the memorable Colonial and Indian

Exhibition, which took place in London, England. The preeminence given

them there, and the high professional testimony of the highest English

musical authorities, placed their pianos in the foremost rank, and of

which Canada may well be proud. That year Mr. Mason was honored by being

elected a member of the Royal Society of Arts, London, of which His

Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is president, and also was made a

member of the Musical Association of Great Britain, of which the Rev.

Sir Frederick A. Gore Ousley, Bart., M.A., Mus. Doc. Oxon., and Prof. of

Music, University, Oxford, is president. This society was formed May,

1874, for the investigation and discussion of subjects connected with

the art and science of music, and is one of the most influential musical

associations in the world. As a business man, Mr. Mason is both cautious

and bold. He seldom acts rashly or from impulse. He weighs every

business matter that comes before him with almost judicial calmness, and

when any new enterprise commends itself to his approval he acts with

decision and throws all his energy into it. It is, therefore, not

surprising that success generally crowns his undertakings. In politics

Mr. Mason belongs to no party, but judging him by his conversation we

are inclined to class him as a Liberal with modified Conservative

leanings. Above all things, he is a British Canadian, and zealous for

the honor of his adopted country. He believes that Canadians have as

much brain power, and as much mental and physical abilities to work out

their own destiny as the people of the United States, or in fact any

people in the world. The only thing they seem to lack, in his

estimation, is national unity, and faith in their own glorious future.

Time and circumstances, he thinks, will cure this at no distant day. Mr.

Mason belongs to the Methodist church, and in the erection of the

Metropolitan Church in this city took a very active part. For many years

he has been secretary of the trustee Board, and by his influence as a

member of the musical committee of that church, has contributed largely

to placing the musical part of the service on its present highly

satisfactory state.

* * * * *

=Hincks, Sir Francis=, was born at Cork, on the 14th of December, 1807.

He was a son of Dr. T. D. Hincks, a member of the Irish (Unitarian)

Presbyterian Church, a very distinguished scholar and an exceedingly

worthy man. Francis, the subject of the present sketch, commenced his

education under his father, at Fermoy, and continued it in the classical

and mathematical school of the Belfast Institution, then presided over

by Dr. James Thompson, afterwards professor of mathematics at the

University of Glasgow. In the month of November, 1822, he entered the

collegiate department of the institution, and attended the logic and

_belles lettres_, and the Greek and Latin classes during the winter

session. But, in May, 1823, he expressed a desire to be a merchant, and

it was finally arranged that he should be articled for five years to the

house of John Martin & Co., previous to which, however, he had three or

four months’ initiation into business habits in the office of his

father’s friend, Samuel Bruce, a notary public and agent. The period for

which he was articled terminated in October, 1828, but he continued with

the firm until the beginning of 1830, when he sailed to the West Indies

as supercargo of one of Messrs. Martin & Co.’s vessels. He visited

Jamaica, Barbadoes, Trinidad and Demerara, but not meeting with an

inducement to settle in any of these colonies, he agreed to accompany a

Canadian gentleman, whom he met at Barbadoes, to Canada, and proceeded

to Montreal and Toronto, his object being to ascertain the nature of

Canadian commerce and business. Having gleaned the information he

desired, he returned to Belfast in 1831. In the following summer, having

determined to settle in Canada, he married the second daughter of

Alexander Stewart, a merchant of Belfast, and soon after sailed to New

York, and proceeded to Toronto, and took up his abode in a house

belonging to Mr. Baldwin. Mr. Hincks soon obtained a high reputation for

knowledge of business, and when Wm. Lyon Mackenzie attacked Mr. Merritt

and others respecting the Welland canal, and obtained a parliamentary

investigation, he was chosen, with another merchant, to examine the

accounts. He was also appointed secretary to the Mutual Insurance

Company, and cashier to a new banking company. On the appointment of

Lord Durham to the government of Canada, Mr. Hincks commenced the

_Examiner_ newspaper, in the editorship of which he displayed such

remarkable vigour and talent, that he was invited to become a candidate

for the representation of the county of Oxford in the first parliament

held after the union of the upper and lower provinces. The election was

held in March, 1841, when Mr. Hincks was returned by a majority of

thirty-one over his opponent, a gentleman named Carroll. Shortly after

his election, he was appointed by Sir Charles Bagot inspector-general,

and was obliged, in consequence, to vacate his seat and return for

re-election. He was opposed by John Armstrong, who abandoned the contest

at noon on the third day, Mr. Hincks having a majority of 218. When Lord

Metcalfe dissolved the Canadian parliament in 1844, Mr. Hincks was

defeated, his opponents being Robert Riddle (a son-in-law of Admiral

Vansittart), who was returned by a majority of twenty over Mr. Hincks,

and the Hon. Thomas Parke, who did not go to the poll. In 1848, however,

he was declared elected by the legislature, by the large majority of

three hundred and thirty-five over his old opponent, Mr. Carroll,

although the returning-officer had declared Mr. Carroll elected through

some legal technicality in Mr. Hincks’ qualification. Having for the

second time accepted the office of inspector-general under the

administration of his first friend in Canada, Mr. Baldwin, he was

re-elected without opposition. Upon the reconstruction of the ministry,

consequent on the retirement of Mr. Baldwin, owing to his impaired

health, Mr. Hincks was, through the strong expression of public opinion,

named prime minister by the governor-general, and until the latter part

of 1854, held that post with distinguished honour, and with the

confidence and respect of all the good men of every political

denomination in Canada. On his return to Canada, from a visit to

England, he was elected to represent the south riding of Oxford for the

fifth time, by a majority of 64 over his opponent, J. G. Vansittart, a

son of Admiral Vansittart, of Woodstock, Ont., and therefore a rather

formidable opponent. After the resignation of the Hincks-Dorion

administration, in 1854, Mr. Hincks crossed the Atlantic for a long

holiday, after the years of turmoil and corroding care which had fallen

to him by virtue of his active life, and his prominent place in public

affairs. During his absence, through Sir William Molesworth, he was

appointed governor of Barbadoes and the Windward Islands. At the close

of the term there, he was promoted to the governor-generalship of

British Guiana. In 1889, on the recommendation of the Duke of

Buckingham, he was created a Knight C. M. G. In 1869 he returned to

England, and thence passed over to Canada, where, on the invitation of

Sir John A. Macdonald, he entered the ministry as finance minister, in

place of Sir John Rose, resigned. He retained his portfolio till 1873,

when he resigned, and withdrew from public life. There is no public man

living, it can fairly be said, whose whole career has been more

creditable to himself and to the country than has been that of Sir

Francis Hincks. He died at the age of seventy-eight, in the city of

Montreal, on the 18th of August, 1885, deeply regretted by his many

friends and admirers. Sir Francis was twice married. His first wife died

in 1874, and the following year he married the widow of the late Hon.

Justice Sullivan of Toronto, who survived him.

* * * * *

=Ellis, Jas. E.=, of the firm of Jas. E. Ellis & Co., jewellers,

Toronto, was born in the city of Liverpool, England, on the 22nd of

February, 1842. The firm of which he is now a member was founded in 1836

by the Rossin Brothers, and was purchased from them by his father, Jas.

E. Ellis, sen., in 1852 since which time it has been successfully

carried on, and is now one of the leading diamond and jewellery houses

in Canada, having moved to their present fine and commodious premises in

1881. Our subject was educated at Upper Canada College, which he left in

1857. In 1859 he went to the Red River settlement, where he remained

until 1862, hunting and trading with the native population. On his

return he became an active member of the firm, and since that time has

taken a leading part in the management of its affairs. Being at all

times partial to out-door sports, the subject of this sketch became one

of the Edrol four-oared crew, in the days when races were races (of four

miles), and rowed against all comers. The Edrol Crew defeated the best

professional crew on the lakes in those days. This crew became the

foundation stone, as it were, of the Toronto Rowing Club, the stroke oar

of the Edrols being now Lieutenant-Colonel Otter. Mr. Ellis is a member

of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the Toronto Yacht Club, the National

Club, and Granite Rink. Being an enthusiastic yachtsman he is always

ready to splice a rope or spin a yarn. He was one of the original

members of the Toronto Field Battery, as well as a member of No. 1

company of rifles, which was organized by Captain Brook, and from which

the Queen’s Own sprang. He also acted as ensign in No. 1 company 10th

Royals in 1864-5. He is a member of the Toronto Board of Trade, and a

life member of the Athenæum Club, Toronto. In politics he is a

Liberal-Conservative, and in religion belongs to the Church of England.