princes of Western Canada, and has had a remarkably successful
commercial career. As is the case with most men who have been the
architects of their own fortunes, his success is largely attributable to
his personal qualifications. He inherited a sound constitution, an
active, enterprising mind, and a strong will. With such advantages he
began the battle of life in this country nearly half a century ago. He
grew with the country's growth, and by his industry and shrewdness
achieved, in course of time, a position which made him thoroughly
independent of the world. It has been the fashion to say of him that his
mercantile operations were always attended with "good luck;" but those
who converse with him on commercial or financial questions for half an
hour will draw their own conclusions as to how far "luck" has had to do
with the matter. He has been lucky in the same sense that the late Duke
of Wellington was lucky; that is to say, he has known how to take
advantage of favourable circumstances. Anyone else possessing his
keenness of perception and shrewd common sense would in the long run
have been equally lucky. He has made good use alike of his wealth and
his talents, and the land of his adoption is the better for his
presence.
He is by birth and early training an Irishman, and was born in the
county of Tyrone, on the 24th of December, 1811. His father, the late
Mr. William McMaster, was a linen merchant whose resources were not
abundant, but who was able to give his son a good education. The latter
received his educational training at an excellent private school taught
by a Mr. Halcro, who had a high local reputation as a teacher. After
leaving school he was for a short time a clerk in a local mercantile
house. His prospects in Ireland, however, were not commensurate with his
ambition. In 1833, when he was in his twenty-second year, he resigned
his situation, and emigrated. Upon reaching New York he was advised by
the resident British Consul not to settle in the United States, but to
make his way to Canada. He acted upon the advice, and passed on to
Toronto--or, as it was then called, Little York.
The conditions of the wholesale trade in Canada in those days were very
different from those which now prevail. The preeminence of Montreal as a
point of distribution for both the Provinces was well established, and
the wholesale trade of Little York was comparatively insignificant.
There were very few exclusively wholesale establishments in the Upper
Canadian capital, but several of the largest firms contrived to combine
a wholesale and retail business. Young William McMaster, immediately
upon his arrival at Little York, obtained a clerkship in one of these,
viz., that of Mr. Robert Cathcart, a merchant who then occupied premises
on the south side of King Street, opposite Toronto Street. After
remaining in this establishment somewhat more than a year in the
capacity of a clerk, young McMaster was admitted to a partnership in the
business, a large share of which from that time forward came under his
own personal management. The partnership lasted about ten years,
when--in 1844--Mr. McMaster withdrew from it, and started a separate
wholesale dry-goods business on his own account, in a store situated on
the west side of Yonge Street, a short distance below the intersection
of that thoroughfare with King Street. By this time the conditions of
trade had undergone some modification. Montreal still had the lion's
share of the wholesale trade, but Toronto and Hamilton had also become
known as distributing centres, and both those towns contained some large
wholesale warehouses. Mr. McMaster's business was a large one from the
beginning, but it rapidly expanded, until there was not a town, and
scarcely a village in Canada West, which did not largely depend upon the
house of William McMaster for its dry-goods supplies. The attempt to
make Toronto, instead of Montreal, the wholesale emporium for Western
Canada was not initiated by Mr. McMaster, but it was ably seconded by
him, and no merchant now living did so much to divert the wholesale
trade to western channels. In process of time he admitted his nephews
(who now compose the firm of Messrs. A. R. McMaster & Brother) into
partnership, and removed to more commodious premises lower down on Yonge
Street, contiguous to the Bank of Montreal. This large establishment in
its turn became too small for the ever-increasing volume of trade, and
the magnificent commercial palace on Front Street, where the business is
still carried on, was erected. Here, under the style of William McMaster
& Nephews, the business continued to grow. As time passed by, the senior
partner became engaged in large financial and other enterprises, and
practically left the purely commercial operations to the management of
his nephews. Eventually he withdrew from the firm altogether, but his
retirement has not been passed in idleness. He has a natural aptitude
for dealing with matters of finance, and this aptitude has been
increased by the operations of an active mercantile life. He has been a
director in several of the most important banking and insurance
institutions in the country, and has always taken his full share of the
work devolving upon him. Twenty years ago he founded the Canadian Bank
of Commerce, and became its President. That position he has occupied
ever since, and every banking-day finds him at his post. There can be no
doubt that his care and judgement have had much to do with the highly
successful career of the institution. Mr. McMaster was also for some
time a director of the Ontario Bank, and of the Bank of Montreal. He has
for many years acted as President of the Freehold Loan and Savings
Company, as Vice-President of the Confederation Life Association, and as
a director of the Isolated Risk--now called the Sovereign--Insurance
Company. He also for many years occupied the unenviable position of
Chairman of the Canadian Board of the Great Western Railway. Upon the
abolition of that Board a few years ago, and the election of an English
Board in its stead, Mr. McMaster was the only Canadian whose services
were retained.
But it is not only with financial and kindred matters that Mr. McMaster
has busied himself of late years. In 1862 he for the first time entered
political life, having been elected to represent the Midland Division,
embracing North York and South Simcoe, in the Legislative Council of old
Canada. He was opposed by Mr. John W. Gamble, who sustained a crushing
defeat, and Mr. McMaster continued to represent the Midland Division
until the Union. When the Senate of the Dominion was substituted for the
old Legislative Council, after the accomplishment of Confederation, Mr.
McMaster was chosen as one of the Senators to represent Ontario, and he
has ever since taken part in the deliberations of that body. He has
always been identified with the Liberal Party, but has never been an
extremist in his politics, and has kept himself aloof from the faction
fights of the times.
His highest claim to the consideration of posterity will probably rest
upon his services in the cause of education. These have been of a kind
which we would be glad to see emulated by others of our wealthy
capitalists. His first connection with general educational matters dates
from the year 1865, when he was appointed a member of the old Council of
Public Instruction. He continued to represent the Baptist Church--of
which he is a prominent member--at that Board for a period of ten years.
When the Senate of Toronto University was reconstructed, in 1873, he was
nominated one of its members by the Lieutenant-Governor. But his most
important services in the cause of education have been in connection
with the denomination of which he is a devoted member. When the Canadian
Literary Institute, at Woodstock, was originally projected, he
contributed liberally to the building fund, and repeated his
contribution when money was needed for the restoration of the buildings
after they were burned down. He has ever since contributed liberally to
the support of the institution, and indeed has been its mainstay in a
financial point of view. He has been largely instrumental in bringing
about the removal of the theological department of the Institute to
Toronto, where a suitable building is now in process of erection for its
accommodation in the Queen's Park, on land purchased by Mr. McMaster
specially for that purpose. The cost of erecting this building is borne
entirely by Mr. McMaster, and will amount, it is said, to at least
$70,000.
His benefactions to the Baptist Church have been large and numerous, and
of late years have been almost princely. The handsome edifice on the
corner of Jarvis and Gerrard Streets, Toronto, is largely due to the
bounty of Mr. McMaster and his wife, whose joint contributions to the
building fund amounted to about $60,000. To Mr. McMaster also is due the
existence of the Superannuated Ministers' Society of the Baptist Church
of this Province, of which he is the President, and to the funds of
which he has contributed with his accustomed liberality. He has also
long contributed to the support of the Upper Canada Bible Society, of
which he is the Treasurer.
He married, in 1851, Miss Mary Henderson, of New York City. Her death
took place in 1868; and three years afterwards he married his present
wife, Susan Molton, widow of the late Mr. James Fraser, of Newburgh, in
the State of New York. There is no issue of either marriage.
THE HON. WILFRID LAURIER.
Mr. Laurier was born at St. Lin, L'Assomption, in the Province of
Quebec, on the 20th of November, 1841. He was educated first at
L'Assomption College, and subsequently at McGill University, where he
took his degree of B.C.L. in 1864. A year later he was called to the Bar
of Quebec, his law studies having been pursued in the office of Mr.--now
the Hon.--T. A. R. Laflamme. His health having suffered by too close
attention to his professional duties, Mr. Laurier, at the end of two
years, left Montreal, where he had practised, and became the editor of
_Le Défricheur_ newspaper at Arthabaska. His predecessor in the
editorship was the late Mr. J. B. E. Dorion, the paper being devoted to
the advocacy of Liberal principles. It did not, however, long continue
in existence, and on its suspension Mr. Laurier once more returned to
his professional pursuits, in which he soon obtained a high position,
his personal popularity being as marked as his intellectual attainments.
In 1871 he was the Liberal candidate for the representation of Drummond
and Arthabaska in the Local Assembly, and carried the seat by a large
majority. His talents as a debater and his statesmanlike cast of mind
soon made him prominent in the Legislature, and when, in 1874, Mr.
Mackenzie, shortly after accepting office, appealed to the country, Mr.
Laurier relinquished his seat at Quebec to enter upon a more enlarged
sphere of work at Ottawa. He was elected for Drummond and Arthabaska
after a keen contest, and on the opening of the first session of the new
Parliament was selected to second the address in reply to the Speech
from the Throne. The manner in which he discharged this duty made a most
favourable impression. He was at once recognized as one of the foremost
of the many able representatives Quebec had sent to support the
then-existing Government, and has since never failed to impress the
House favourably when he has taken part in the debates.
It was evident from his first introduction to parliamentary life that he
must, at no distant day, be called upon to take his share in the
responsibilities of office. Even before that time his status as a leader
of opinion and a representative man in relation to public affairs had
been very clearly marked out. In a lecture delivered by him at Quebec in
July, 1877, on "Political Liberalism," he made a splendid defence of the
Liberals of Quebec against the misrepresentations and aspersions to
which they had been subjected. He insisted on the distinction between
religious and political opinions being maintained, and showed how
strictly moderate and constitutional were the views of those with whom
he was politically associated. Of the Liberal Party of the past--of the
follies that had characterized too many of its actions and utterances,
nothing, he declared, then existed, but in its stead remained the
principles of the Liberal Party of England. On the other hand, sketching
the party opposed to him under the name of Conservative, he spoke as
follows:--"Sir George Cartier," he said, "was devoted to the principles
of the English Constitution--if Sir George Cartier were to return to the
world again he would not recognize his Party. I certainly respect too
much the opinion of my opponents to do them an injury, but I reproach
them with knowing neither their country nor the times. I accuse them of
estimating the political situation not by what has occurred here, but by
what has occurred in France. I accuse them of endeavouring to introduce
here ideas which would be impossible in our state of society. I accuse
them of laboriously endeavouring, and, unfortunately, too effectually,
to make religion the simple basis of a political Party. It is the custom
of our adversaries to accuse us Liberals of irreligion. I am not here to
parade my religious principles, but I proclaim that I have too much
respect for the faith in which I was born ever to make it appear as the
basis of a political organization. We are a happy and free people; we
owe this freedom to the Liberal institutions which govern us, which we
owe to our forefathers and to the wisdom of the Mother Country. The
policy of the Liberal Party is to guard these institutions, to defend
and propagate them, and under the rule of these institutions to develop
the latent resources of our country. Such is the policy of the Liberal
Party, and it has no other." Mr. Laurier's Liberalism, in fact, is of
the strictly British type, and to the immense benefit which has accrued
to his French compatriots by the concession of free British institutions
he has borne eloquent testimony. Few men, indeed, could be found better
calculated than Mr. Laurier to effect a union of thought, sentiment, and
interest between those distinguished by difference of race and creed, in
the interest of their common country. It was not, as we have seen, at
all surprising that on a vacancy occurring in the Quebec representation
in the Dominion Cabinet, Mr. Laurier should be offered the vacant
portfolio. His fitness for the position was disputed by none, either on
personal or political grounds. In Ontario, no less than in Quebec, his
acceptance of office was hailed as a just tribute to his worth and
ability. In September, 1877, he was sworn of the Privy Council, and
became Minister of Inland Revenue. The knowledge of his strength in
Parliament and the country served to stimulate the determination of his
opponents to defeat him at all hazards when he returned to his
constituents for reëlection. The contest terminated by Mr. Bourbeau, the
Conservative candidate, being elected by a majority of 22 votes over the
new Minister. The defeat only served to show how highly the importance
of Mr. Laurier's position in the country was estimated. Several
constituencies were at once placed at his disposal. Ultimately the Hon.
Mr. Thibaudeau, member for Quebec East, resigned, in order to create a
vacancy. After a short but very exciting contest, Mr. Laurier carried
the division by a majority of 315 votes. The result was the signal for
general rejoicing, his journey to Ottawa and his reception there being
one continued ovation. He retained the portfolio of Minister of Inland
Revenue until the resignation of the Government in October, 1878. At the
elections held on the 17th of September previous he was returned for
Quebec East by a majority of 778 votes over his opponent, Mr. Vallière,
and he now sits in the House for that constituency. He speaks both the
French and English languages fluently, has a large amount of French
vivacity sobered by great self-command, can strike home without too
severely wounding, and commands the respect and good-will of his warmest
political adversaries.
THE RIGHT HON. SIR CHARLES BAGOT.
The Right Honourable Sir Charles Bagot, the successor of Lord Sydenham
as Governor-General of British North America, was born at Blithfield
House, Rugeley, in Staffordshire, England, on the 23rd of September,
1781. He was descended from an old aristocratic family, which has been
resident in Staffordshire for several hundred years, and was ennobled in
1780--the year previous to the birth of the subject of this sketch. He
was the second son of William, first Baron Bagot, a nobleman highly
distinguished for his scholastic and scientific attainments. His mother
was Lady Louisa, daughter of Viscount St. John, brother and heir of the
illustrious Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke.
His life was not marked by much variety of incident, and affords but
scanty material for the biographer. From his early youth he was a prey
to great feebleness of constitution, which prevented him from making any
conspicuous figure at school. Upon completing his majority, his health
being much improved, he entered public life on the Tory side, in the
capacity of Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, under Mr.
Canning, during the Administration of the Duke of Portland. His tenure
of that office does not seem to have been marked by any very noteworthy
incidents. In 1814 he was despatched on a special mission to Paris, at
which time he resided for several months in the French capital. Later on
he was successively appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the United
States, and Ambassador to the Courts of St. Petersburg and the Hague. By
this time his health, which had never been very robust, again gave way,
and he was compelled to decline several other honourable and lucrative
appointments which were offered to him by the Ministry of the day. One
of them was the Governor-Generalship of India, rendered vacant by the
return of Lord Amherst to England. During Sir Robert Peel's short
Administration in 1834, he took charge of a special mission to Vienna,
in the discharge of which he commended himself highly to the authorities
at home. A Reform Government succeeded, and during its tenure of office
we have no information as to the subject of this memoir.
In 1841 the Tories again came into power under the leadership of Sir
Robert Peel. In the Ministry then formed, Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl
of Derby (father of the present Earl), held the post of Colonial
Secretary. Upon Lord Sydenham's death, in that year, it became necessary
to appoint a new Governor-General of British North America. Lord Stanley
offered the post to Sir Charles Bagot, who accepted it, and soon
afterwards sailed for this country, where public affairs, since Lord
Sydenham's death in the preceding month of September, had been under the
direction of Sir Richard Jackson, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. Sir
Charles entered upon his official duties on the 10th of January, 1842,
and it soon became apparent that he intended to carry out the judicious
line of policy inaugurated by his predecessor, Lord Sydenham. He held
himself aloof from purely party questions, and formed no definite
alliance with either Reformers or Conservatives. This was a grievous
disappointment to the latter. His past political career had led the Tory
leaders in Canada to suppose that he would espouse their views, and that
by his aid their ascendancy would be reëstablished. These expectations
were not destined to be realized. Sir Charles spent his time in
familiarizing himself with the position and needs of the country at
large. In some respects he showed himself to be more liberal than his
predecessor, Lord Sydenham, had been. Lord Sydenham had been indisposed
to have anything to do with those persons who had abetted the rebellion.
Sir Charles, knowing that Responsible Government had been conceded,
resolved to govern himself accordingly. Though himself a Tory by
predilection and by training, he knew that he had not been sent out to
Canada to gratify his own political leanings, but to govern in
accordance with the popular will. "He determined," says Mr. Macmullen,
"to use whatever party he found capable of supporting a Ministry, and
accordingly made overtures to the French Canadians and that section of
the Reform Party of Upper Canada led by Mr. Baldwin, who then formed the
Opposition in the Assembly. There can be no question that this was the
wisest line of policy he could adopt, and that it tended to remove the
differences between the two races, and unite them more cordially for the
common weal. The French Canadian element was no longer in the
ascendant--the English language had decidedly assumed the aggressive,
and true wisdom consisted in forgetting the past, and opening the door
of preferment to men of talent of French as well as to those of British
origin. The necessity of this line of policy was interwoven with the
Union Act; and, after that, was the first great step towards the
amalgamation of the races. A different policy would have nullified the
principle of Responsible Government, and must have proved suicidal to
any Ministry seeking to carry it out. Sir Charles Bagot went on the
broad principle that the constitutional majority had the right to rule
under the Constitution." Finding that the Ministry then in being did not
possess the public confidence, he called to his councils Robert Baldwin,
Francis Hincks, Lafontaine, Morin, and Aylwin. Upon the opening of the
Legislature, in the following September, he made a speech which showed
that he understood the situation and requirements of the country, and
was sincerely desirous of promoting its welfare. The session, which was
a brief one, passed without any specially noteworthy incidents. Soon
after the prorogation, which took place on the 8th of October, Sir
Charles began to feel the effects of approaching winter in a rigorous
climate. His physicians advised him, as he valued his life, to free
himself from the cares of office, and betake himself to a milder clime.
He sent in his resignation, and prepared to return to England, but the
state of his health soon became so serious that he was unfit to endure
an ocean voyage in the middle of winter. He was destined never to see
his native land again. He lingered until the 19th of May, 1843, when he
sank quietly to rest, at Kingston, in the sixty-second year of his age.
LA SALLE.