much force of character, and one who has always the courage of his
convictions. Whether in power or in Opposition his language and
demeanour are marked by conciliation and courtesy. He is a man of many
friends, and has few personal enemies, even among those to whom he has
been a life-long political opponent. He has devoted a good deal of
attention to the study of forestry, and is the author of several
important and valuable treatises on that subject. Among other offices
which he holds may be mentioned the Presidency of the Society for the
rewooding of the Province of Quebec, the first Presidency of the Reform
Association, of the _Parti Nationale_ of Quebec, of the Lotbinière
Agricultural Society No. 2, and of the Society for the Promotion of
Canadian Industry. He is also Vice-President of the Humane Society of
British North America, and one of the Council of the Geographical
Society of Quebec, of which latter association he was once
Vice-President.
Some years ago Mr. Joly married Miss Gowan, a daughter of Mr. Hammond
Gowan, of Quebec.
THE HON. MACKENZIE BOWELL,
_MINISTER OF CUSTOMS._
Mr. Bowell is English by birth, but has resided in this country ever
since his tenth year. He was born at Rickinghall Superior, a pleasant
little village situated in the northern part of the county of Suffolk,
on the 27th of December, 1823. His father, the late Mr. John Bowell,
emigrated from Suffolk to Canada in the spring of 1833, and settled in
what is now the city of Belleville. His mother's maiden name was
Elizabeth Marshall. He has been compelled to make his own way in the
world, and has risen from obscure beginnings to the elevated position
which he now occupies by dint rather of natural ability than of any
adventitious aids. In his boyhood he enjoyed few educational advantages.
He had been only a few months in Canada when he entered a printing
office in Belleville, where he remained until he had completed his
apprenticeship. He then became foreman of the establishment. He began to
take an interest in politics at the very outset of his career, and
attached himself to the Conservative side. He was very industrious, and
during the term of his indentures did much to repair his defective
education. He availed himself of every opportunity which came in his way
for increasing his stock of knowledge, and erelong attained a position
and influence far more than commensurate with his years. In 1853 he
became sole proprietor of the Belleville _Intelligencer_, with which he
continued to be identified for a period of twenty-two years. Under his
management the _Intelligencer_ became one of the leading exponents of
public opinion in the county of Hastings, and his own local influence
was thereby greatly promoted. Other causes contributed to enhance his
position and influence. When only eighteen years old he allied himself
with the Orange Body, in which he rose to the highest dignities in the
gift of that Order. For eight years he was Grand Master of the
Provincial Grand Lodge of Ontario East. At the annual meeting of the
Grand Lodge of the Loyal Orange Institution of British North America,
held at Kingston in 1870, a change was made in the Grand Mastership,
which had been held for many years by the Hon. John Hillyard Cameron.
Mr. Bowell was unanimously elected to the office, and continued to
occupy it until 1878, when he declined reëlection. For thirteen years he
was Chairman of the Common School Board of Belleville, and was for some
time Chairman of the Grammar School, always taking a lively interest in
the promotion of education among the masses. For many years he was an
active promoter of the Volunteer Militia force, as well as an active
member. At the time of the St. Alban's raid he went with his company to
Amherstburgh, where, at considerable sacrifice to his business, he
remained four months. He was also at Prescott during the Fenian raid in
1866. At present he holds the rank of a Lieutenant-Colonel of
Volunteer Rifles. He was one of the founders of the Press Association,
and during one year occupied the position of President. He was also
Vice-President of the Dominion Editors' and Reporters' Association.
[Illustration: MACKENZIE BOWELL, signed as Mackenzie Bowell]
Mr. Bowell was an active politician long before he emerged from his
apprenticeship, but did not enter Parliament until after Confederation.
In 1863 he contested the North Riding of Hastings, but was unsuccessful,
and did not repeat the experiment until 1867, when he was returned to
the House of Commons for that Riding, and he has ever since represented
it. He signalized his entrance into Parliament by moving a series of
resolutions against Sir George Cartier's Militia Bill, and though he
failed to carry them all, he succeeded in defeating the Minister of
Militia on some important points by which a considerable reduction was
made in the expenditure. Several years later he took a prominent part in
the expulsion of Louis Riel from the House of Commons. It was by Mr.
Bowell that the investigation was instituted into Riel's complicity in
the murder of Thomas Scott before the walls of Fort Garry. In 1876 he
made a powerful attack upon Mr. Mackenzie's Government for having
awarded a contract to Mr. T. W. Anglin, the Speaker of the House. The
result of Mr. Bowell's attack was the unseating of several Members of
Parliament, including Mr. Anglin; and a stringent Act respecting the
Independence of Parliament was shortly afterwards passed.
At the last general election for the House of Commons, held on the 17th
of September, 1878, Mr. Bowell was opposed in North Hastings by Mr. E.
D. O'Flynn, of Madoc, whom he defeated by a majority of 241--the vote
standing 1,249 for Bowell and 1,008 for O'Flynn. After the resignation
of Mr. Mackenzie's Government in the following month, Mr. Bowell
accepted the portfolio of Minister of Customs in the Ministry of Sir
John A. Macdonald. This position he still retains. Upon returning to his
constituents after accepting office he was returned by acclamation. He
is not a frequent speaker, but he has always taken an active and
intelligent part in the business of the House, and is highly esteemed by
his colleagues.
Mr. Bowell married, in December, 1847, Miss Harriett Louisa Moore, of
Belleville. He is a Director in numerous railway and general commercial
enterprises. In 1875 he disposed of the _Intelligencer_, with which he
had been identified for so many years, but he still takes a warm
interest in its prosperity, and is indebted to it for a very firm and
consistent support.
THE REV. JAMES RICHARDSON, D.D.,
_LATE BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CANADA._
The late Bishop Richardson was born in the same year which witnessed the
death of the great founder of Methodism, John Wesley; the same year also
which witnessed the passing of the Constitutional Act whereby Upper
Canada was ushered into existence as a separate Province. He came of
English stock on both sides. His father, James Richardson, after whom he
was called, was a brave seaman; one of that old-world band of gallant
tars who fought under Lord Rodney against the French, when
"Rochambeau their armies commanded,
Their ships they were led by De Grasse."
He was present at the famous sea-fight off Dominica, in the West Indies,
on the 12th of April, 1782, when the naval forces of France and Spain
were almost entirely destroyed. He was soon afterwards taken prisoner,
and sent to France, where he was detained until the cessation of
hostilities. Having been set at liberty in 1785, he repaired to Quebec,
and was subsequently appointed to an office in connection with the
Canadian Marine. His duties lay chiefly on the upper lakes and rivers,
and he took up his abode at Kingston, on Lake Ontario. He married a lady
whose maiden name was Sarah Asmore, but who, at the time of her marriage
with him had been for some years a widow. The subject of this sketch was
one of the fruits of that union. He was born at Kingston, on the 29th of
January, 1791.
His parents were members of the Church of England, and he was brought up
in the faith as taught and professed by that Body. He attended various
schools in Kingston until he was about thirteen years of age, when he
began his career as a sailor on board a vessel commanded by his father.
During his five years' apprenticeship he acquired a thorough familiarity
with the topography and navigation of the lakes and rivers of Upper
Canada. In 1809, when he was eighteen years old, he entered the
Provincial Marine. Upon the breaking out of the war of 1812 he received
a Lieutenant's commission, and was forthwith employed in active service.
He became sailing master of the _Moira_, under Captain Sampson, and
afterwards of the _Montreal_, under Captain Popham. Upon the arrival of
Sir James Yeo in Upper Canada, in May, 1813, the naval armament on the
lakes entered upon a new phase of existence. The local marine ceased to
exist as such, and became a part of the Royal Navy. The Provincial
commissions previously granted were no longer of any effect, and that of
Lieutenant Richardson shared the same fate as the rest. The Provincial
officers resented this mode of dealing with their commissions, and all
but two of them retired from the marine and took service in the militia,
where, in the language of Colonel Coffin, they were permitted to
risk their lives without offence to their feelings. The two exceptions
were Lieutenant George Smith and the subject of this sketch. The latter
shared the sentiments of his brother officers, but he recognized the
importance to the country of working harmoniously with his superiors at
such a juncture, and cast every personal consideration aside. He
informed the Commodore that he was willing to give his country the
benefit of his local knowledge and services, but declined to take any
rank below that which had previously been conferred upon him. The
Commodore availed himself of the young man's services as a master and
pilot, and in those capacities he did good service until the close of
the war. He shared the gun-room with the regular commissioned officers,
with whom he was very popular. He was with the fleet during the
unsuccessful attempt on Sackett's Harbour, towards the close of May,
1813. A year later, at the taking of Oswego, he was pilot of the
_Montreal_, under Captain Popham, already mentioned; and he took his
vessel so close in to the fort that the Commodore feared lest he should
run aground. Soon after bringing the _Montreal_ to anchor a shot from
the fort carried off his left arm just below the shoulder. He sank down
upon the deck of the vessel, and was carried below. The remnant of his
shattered arm was secured so as to prevent him from bleeding to death,
"and there," says his biographer,[7] "he lay suffering while the battle
raged, his ears filled with its horrid din, and his mind oppressed with
anxiety as to its result, till the cheers of the victors informed him
that his gallant comrades had triumphed. He had been wounded in the
morning, and it was nearly evening before the surgeon could attend to
him, when it was found necessary to remove the shattered stump from the
socket at the shoulder joint. During the severe operation the young
lieutenant evinced the utmost fortitude. In the evening he was
exceedingly weak from loss of blood, the pain of his wound, and the
severity of the operation. Next day the fever was high, and for some
days his life apparently hung in the balance; but at length he commenced
to rally, and by the blessing of God upon the skilful attention and
great care that he received, he was finally fully restored." During the
following October he joined the _St. Lawrence_--said to have been the
largest sailing vessel that ever navigated the waters of Lake
Ontario--and in this service he remained until the close of the war.
[Illustration: JAMES RICHARDSON, signed as JAS. RICHARDSON]
Soon after the proclamation of peace he retired from the naval service,
and settled at Presque Isle Harbour, near the present site of the
village of Brighton, in the county of Northumberland. He was appointed
Collector of Customs of the port, and soon afterwards became a Justice
of the Peace. The Loyal and Patriotic Society requested his acceptance
of £100, and a yearly pension of a like amount was awarded to him by
Government in recognition of his services during the late war. This
well-earned pension he continued to receive during the remainder of his
life, embracing a period of more than fifty years.
In the year 1813, while the war was still in progress, he had married;
the lady of his choice being Miss Rebecca Dennis, daughter of Mr. John
Dennis, who was for many years a master-builder in the royal dock-yard
at Kingston. This lady shared his joys and sorrows for forty-five years.
During the last decade of her life she suffered great bodily affliction,
which she endured with Christian resignation and serenity. She died at
her home, Clover Hill, Toronto, on the 29th of March, 1858.
During the early months of their residence at Presque Isle Harbour, both
Mr. Richardson and his wife became impressed by serious thoughts on the
subject of religion. In August, 1818, they united with the Methodist
Episcopal Church. That Church was then in its infancy in this country,
and was struggling hard to obtain a permanent foothold. With its
subsequent history Mr. Richardson was closely identified. He was very
much in earnest, and felt it to be his duty to do his utmost for the
salvation of souls. His piety was not spasmodic or fitful, but steady
and enduring. His education at that time, though it was necessarily
imperfect, and far from being up to the standard of the present day, was
better than was that of most of his fellow-labourers. He at once became
a man of mark in the denomination, and was appointed to the offices of
steward and local preacher on the Smith's Creek circuit. His labours
were crowned with much success. His pulpit oratory is described as being
"full of vitality--adapted to bring souls to Christ, and build up in
holiness."[8] In 1824 he was called to active work, and placed on the
Yonge Street circuit, which included the town of York, and extended
through eight of the neighbouring townships. This rendered necessary his
removal from Presque Isle, and his resignation of his office as
Collector of Customs. His field of labour extended from York northwardly
to Lake Simcoe--a distance of forty-five miles--with lateral excursions
to right and left for indeterminate distances. The state of the roads
was such that wheeled vehicles were frequently unavailable, and the
greater part of the travelling had to be done on horseback, the preacher
carrying his books, clothing, writing materials, and other accessories
in his saddle-bags. His life was necessarily a toilsome one, and his
financial remuneration was little more than nominal. During his second
year on circuit he had for a colleague the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, with
whom he worked in the utmost harmony, and with very gratifying pastoral
results. Dr. Richardson has left on record his appreciation of his
colleague's services at this time. He says: "A more agreeable and useful
colleague I could not have desired. We laboured together with one heart
and mind, and God was graciously pleased to crown our united efforts
with success--we doubled the members in society, both in town and
country, and all was harmony and love. Political questions were not
rife--indeed were scarcely known among us. The church was an asylum for
any who feared God and wrought righteousness, irrespective of any party
whatever. We so planned our work as to be able to devote one week out of
four exclusively to pastoral labour in the town, and to preach there
twice every Sabbath, besides meeting all the former appointments in the
townships east and west bordering on Yonge Street for forty-five or
fifty miles northward to Roach's Point, Lake Simcoe. This prosperous and
agreeable state of things served to reconcile both my dear wife and
myself to the itinerant life, with all the attendant privations and
hardships incident to those times."
In 1826 Mr. Richardson was sent to labour at Fort George and Queenston.
Next year he was admitted into full connection, and ordained a deacon,
along with the late Dr. Anson Green and Egerton Ryerson. Mr. Richardson
was transferred to the River Credit, where he laboured for a year as a
missionary among the Indians. An important crisis in the history of the
Methodist Church in Canada was then at hand. The memorable Conference of
1828 was held at Ernesttown, in the Bay of Quinté district. It was
presided over by Bishop Hedding, and Mr. Richardson was chosen
secretary. It was at this Conference that the decisive step of
separation from the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
in the United States was taken. Thenceforward the Church in Canada
became an independent Body, with a Bishop and Conference of its own.
"This step," says Mr. Richardson, "was fraught with results, for good or
ill, according as it is viewed by different parties, from their several
standpoints. It was deemed necessary then, by the majority, because of
the political relations of the two countries, and the difficulty
attendant on obtaining our legal right to hold church property, and
solemnize matrimony. Others, viewing the church as catholic, or
universal in her design and character, judged it wrong to limit her
jurisdiction by national or municipal boundaries." Mr. Richardson
subsequently regretted that the scheme of separation had been carried
out. Meanwhile he was appointed, along with the Rev. Joseph Gatchell, to
the Niagara Circuit, a very extensive field of labour, and took up his
abode at what was then the insignificant village of St. Catharines.
There he remained two years, and in 1830 was ordained as an elder by
Bishop Hedding, of the United States--no Bishop having as yet been
selected for the Canadian Church, which, since its separation, had been
presided over by a General Superintendent in the person of the Rev.
William Case. It is unnecessary that we should follow him in his labours
from circuit to circuit. His life was spent in the service of his
Church, and wherever he went he left behind him the impress of a sincere
and zealous man. At the Conference held at York in 1831 he was appointed
presiding elder of the Niagara District. In September, 1832, he became
editor of the _Christian Guardian_, and while holding that position he
opposed the reception of Government support to the churches with great
vigour and determination. He continued to direct the policy of the
_Guardian_ until the Conference of 1833. During this Conference, which
marks another important epoch in the history of Canadian Methodism, the
Articles of Union between the English and Canadian Connexions were
adopted. To this union Mr. Richardson was a consenting party, believing
that the step would be productive of good, though he subsequently had
reason to modify his views on the subject. In 1836 he severed his
connection with the Wesleyans, owing to the reception by that Body of
State grants. He soon afterwards removed to Auburn, in the State of New
York, where he won the respect of his congregation; but he was not
adapted to such a circle as that in which he found himself, and did not
feel himself at home there. "His quiet, unpretentious manners," says Mr.
Carroll, "were not of the kind to carry much sway with our impressible
American cousins; and the constant exhibition of an empty sleeve, ever
reminding them of an arm lost in resisting their immaculate Republic,
was likely to be an eye-sore to a people so hostile to Britain as the
citizens of the United States." He was moreover an uncompromising
abolitionist, and was fearless in his denunciations of the national
curse of slavery. The prevailing sentiment in the State of New York in
those days was not such as to conduce to the popularity of any man who
took the side of humanity. He remained at Auburn only a year, when he
returned to his native land, and took up his residence at Toronto.
Immediately upon his arrival he encountered his old friend and
fellow-labourer the Rev. Philander Smith. A long and serious
conversation followed, during which they both decided to reunite
themselves with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Conference of that
Body was then in session a short distance from Toronto, and their
resolution was at once carried out. They were received with open arms,
and continued in the ministry of the Church during the remainder of
their respective lives.
In 1837 Mr. Richardson was stationed at Toronto. The following year he
travelled as a general missionary. The British and Foreign Bible
Society having established a branch in Canada, Mr. Richardson was, in
1840, appointed its agent, he having received permission of the
Conference to act in that capacity. This office he filled, with
advantage to the Society and credit to himself, for eleven years. While
acting in that capacity he often filled Wesleyan pulpits, preserved the
most cordial relations with his old friends belonging to that Body. In
1842 he became Vice-President, and in 1851 President, of the Upper
Canada Religious Tract and Book Society. He retained the latter position
to the time of his death. In 1852 he was again appointed Presiding Elder
of his Church. After occupying that position for two years his health
was so much impaired that he was granted a superannuation, which he held
for four years. On the 29th of March, 1858, he sustained a serious
bereavement in the loss of his wife. At the Conference held in that year
he reported himself able to resume his labours, and was once more
appointed to the charge of a district, but before the close of the
session he was elected to the Episcopal office. He was consecrated by
Bishop Smith, on Sunday, the 22nd of August. He forthwith entered upon
his duties. During the next two years he was in an infirm state of
health, but a brief respite from work restored him, and he resumed his
Episcopal and other duties with even more than his wonted vigour. In
1865 he visited England on behalf of Albert College, Belleville. The
College Board was hampered by a heavy debt, and it was found impossible
to relieve the pressure by Canadian subscriptions alone. Bishop
Richardson accordingly, at the request of the College authorities,
crossed the Atlantic to solicit aid there. He was accompanied by his
daughter, Mrs. Brett, wife of Mr. R. H. Brett, banker, of Toronto. They
were absent about six months, during which they visited many of the
principal cities and towns of England and Scotland. The Bishop was
indefatigable in his exertions, but the Reformed Methodist Church in
England is not a wealthy Body, and it had enough to do to support its
institutions at home. For these reasons the subscriptions obtained were
neither so large nor so numerous as had been hoped, though the
expedition was by no means a fruitless one.