Chapter IV: Preface (4)

=Burns, Rev. Robert Ferrier=, D.D., Pastor of the Fort Massey Presbyterian church, Halifax, Nova Scotia. This popular minister was born in Paisley, Scotland, on the 23rd of December, 1826. His father was Robert Burns, D.D., and his mother, Janet Orr, daughter of the first provost of Paisley. His mother’s sister, Susan, was mother of Sir Archibald Orr Ewing, baronet, M.P. for Dumbarton. His father had three brothers in the ministry of the Church of Scotland,—namely, Rev. James Burns, who for forty years was minister of the parish of Brechin; Rev. William H. Burns, D.D., Kilsyth; and Rev. George Burns, D.D., first Presbyterian minister of St. John, New Brunswick, afterwards of Tweedsmuir and Corstorphine, Scotland,—and two uncles in the service of their Sovereign—Major-General Islay Ferrier, the last governor of Dumbarton castle, and Sir William Hamilton, baronet, who commanded the marines that pulled the guns up to the Plains of Abraham, in 1759, at the taking of Quebec. Miss Ferrier, author, and friend of Sir Walter Scott, was a second cousin. Rev. Dr. Burns, sr., was pastor for thirty-three years of Dr. Witherspoon’s church (Laigh Kirk and St. George’s), Paisley, and moved to Toronto in 1845, and became the first pastor of Knox’s Church in that city, and professor in Knox’s College. He died at Toronto on the 19th of August, 1869; and his widow on the 22nd of August, 1882. Rev. Dr. Robert Ferrier Burns received his early education at the High school of Paisley, and then entered the University of Glasgow, where he remained four years, taking honours in Latin, Greek, logic, and moral philosophy. He studied theology in the New College (Free Church), Edinburgh, and Knox’s College, Toronto. In April, 1847, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Toronto, and on the 1st of July following he was ordained pastor of Chalmer’s Presbyterian church, Kingston, Ontario. He was Presbyterian chaplain in the 71st Highland Light Infantry for a year. He remained in this charge for eight years, and, during his ministry there, succeeded in having built for his congregation a handsome church edifice. In July, 1855, he moved to St. Catharines, and was settled over Knox Presbyterian church of that place. A fine building was erected by his people for him. Here he ministered until March, 1867, when he accepted a call from the Scotch Presbyterian church in Chicago, United States, to become its first pastor, and, during his residence there of three years, a church was built. In 1866, the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Hamilton College, New York. In April, 1870, he was translated to Côté Street Presbyterian church (now Crescent street), Montreal, as successor to Principal MacVicar, where he did good work. On the 18th of March, 1875, he became pastor of Fort Massey Presbyterian church in Halifax, as successor to the Rev. J. K. Smith, M.A., now of Galt, who for two years had been first pastor of this influential congregation. In 1873, Dr. Burns occupied the position of moderator of the Synod of Montreal, and in 1883 he was moderator of the Synod of the Maritime provinces. During his residence in Montreal he was chairman of the Presbyterian College Board; and, for the past twelve years, has acted as chairman of the Halifax College Board. In 1880 he was sent as a delegate to the Raikes’ centenary celebration in London, and during the same year he represented the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in the Presbyterian Council at Philadelphia. In 1884 he was a delegate from the same church to the council held in Belfast, Ireland, where he read one of the papers presented to that body, and was appointed one of its executive committee. This year (1887) the doctor has been nominated for the moderatorship of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which meets in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in June next. Rev. Dr. Burns takes a great interest in Sunday-school work, and was one of the first to advocate the establishment of Sunday-school conventions in Canada, which have done so much of late years to advance this branch of Christian work. As a platform speaker he stands high, and has often spoken on subjects, professional and otherwise, before large audiences. At present he is lecturer on theological themes in the Presbyterian College at Halifax. As a book-writer, too, he has done his share. His life of his father, a volume of nearly five hundred pages, published in Toronto in 1873, soon went through three editions. His other writings, “Sketch of Abraham Lincoln,” “The Presbyterian Church,” “Modern Babylon,” “The Maine Law,” “Christian Liberality,” “Confession and Absolution,” and a variety of sermons and tracts—have all been favourably received, and commanded a good sale. He has also contributed largely to the columns of the newspaper press and our periodicals. Dr. Burns has travelled a good deal, and has visited Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, and various other places in Europe, and is very familiar with Canada and the United States. He was married on the 1st of July, 1852, at Belleville, Ontario, to Elizabeth, second daughter of Rufus Holden, M.D., a much esteemed physician, and elder of the Presbyterian church, in Belleville. Dr. Burns has eight children—four sons and four daughters.

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=Bullock, Joseph=, Oil Merchant, St. John, New Brunswick, is a native of Springfield, Ohio, and was born on September 6th, 1833. His father was William Bullock, a native of Staffordshire, England, who came to the United States a few years prior to the birth of Joseph. His mother’s maiden name was Ann Clark Peacock, she being of the Yorkshire family of that ilk. His mother’s parents came out to Ohio about the same time as Mr. Bullock, sr. Mr. Peacock went there to accept the position of engineer for the state of Ohio. Joseph Bullock’s parents removed to Hamilton, Ontario, in the spring of 1834, he then being only a few months old. Two years later they removed to what is now known as Bullock’s Corners, near Dundas, the place taking its name from his father. It was here Mr. Bullock spent his boyhood, and got what education could in those days be procured in the public school of the vicinity. On leaving school he helped his father in his business, which, by the way, was that of lumberman. During the time he was so engaged, he married when in his 25th year, Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Duffield, a farmer of the township of Glanford, South Wentworth. Two years after his marriage, the lumber business declining, he commenced business as general store-keeper at Bullock’s Corners, which he continued for about three years. After this he settled upon a farm he owned in West Flamboro’, and worked it for two years. His father having died in the meantime, he left West Flamboro’ and took up his residence at the old homestead. Here he remained about three years, travelling occasionally for his brothers-in-law, Duffield Bros., of London, oil refiners. In the year 1869, Confederation being an accomplished fact, Mr. Bullock removed to St. John, New Brunswick, to engage in the oil business, which has now assumed such large proportions. His original intention was to handle Canadian oil exclusively, but as the years rolled on, American products had also to be handled, and he is now the largest dealer in oils in the maritime provinces. In politics, Mr. Bullock is thoroughly independent, voting more on the character of the man than from purely party motives. It is, however, in the religious world that Mr. Bullock is most conspicuous. As a boy he was identified more particularly with the Church of England, but at the age of about twenty years he became a member of the Methodist church, of which he is a consistent and earnest member. Prior to the great fire of 1877, Mr. Bullock was a trustee of the old German Street Methodist Church, the oldest church in the city, and after its destruction by that fire, was chairman of the building committee of the present Queen Square Methodist Church, and of which he still continues a trustee. It was largely to his energy and liberality that the erection of this church was due. He is also a member of the quarterly board of his church, and is one of the board of directors of the British and Foreign Bible Society for the city of St. John. He is a total abstainer, and has been for the most of his life, and is pronounced in favour of the prohibition of the liquor traffic. When Gen. Booth visited St. John, he was the guest of Mr. Bullock. Mr. Bullock has had a family of three children, one of whom is deceased, and the remaining ones, two sons, are associated with him in business.

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=Binney, Irwine Whitty=, Collector of Customs, Port of Moncton, New Brunswick, was born on the 10th of July, 1841, at Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a son of the late Stephen Binney, who for many years was a leading merchant in Halifax, and who, when the city was incorporated, was elected its first mayor. Mr. Binney, sr., acting as mayor, on the occasion of the birth of the Prince of Wales, visited England, and presented an address to Her Majesty the Queen, signed by a large number of the citizens. This gentleman was grandson of the late Hon. Hibbert N. Binney, who for a period of nearly forty years, filled the office of collector of customs and excise at Halifax, and was also a member of the Legislative Council; and great-grandson of the late Hon. Jonathan Binney, one of the first residents of Halifax, who was a member of the first Legislative Assembly (1758) of the province. He and Frederick des Barras met the Indian chiefs at Arichat, New Brunswick, in 1761, and concluded a lasting peace, and was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1768; second judge at St. John’s Island (near Prince Edward Island); and also collector of customs for the island. I. W. Binney, the subject of this sketch, is brother to William Pryor Binney, Her Britannic Majesty’s consul at Syra, Greece, and was educated at various schools, including the Sackville Academy, New Brunswick, receiving a commercial education. In his younger days he found employment as a clerk in several commercial houses; and from 1861 to 1864, he was in the old established and well known lumber firm of Gilmour, Rankin & Co., Miramichi, New Brunswick. He also carried on a wholesale business at Chatham, New Brunswick, for a few years, and afterwards engaged in mining operations in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, in company with the late Sir A. J. Smith and others. He was appointed a clerk in Her Majesty’s customs in 1874, and promoted to the collectorship at the port of Moncton, New Brunswick, in 1883. He joined the Freemasons in 1862; was made a Royal-Arch-Mason in 1866, and Knight Templar in 1870. At present he is a past master of Keith lodge of Moncton, New Brunswick. He is an Episcopalian in his religious views. Mr. Binney’s father moved to Moncton, New Brunswick, from Halifax, in 1845, and died there in 1872. Mr. Binney is unmarried, and his mother and widowed sister reside with him.

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=Berthelot, Hon. Joseph Amable=, Judge of the Superior Court of Montreal. This learned judge was born on the 8th of May, 1815, at St. Eustache, county of Two Mountains, by the marriage of Joseph Amable Berthelot, notary, and Dame Marie M. Hervieux. Mr. Berthelot’s father was from Quebec, where he finished his classical studies in 1796, having been the classmate of the late Hon. Judge Thomas Taschereau, the father of his eminence the Cardinal, and also that of the late Hon. Judge Vanfelson, who died in Montreal. Judge Berthelot began his Latin course in 1824, and finished it on the 9th of June, 1832, when at the age of seventeen. The course that year was suddenly terminated, on account of the cholera, the professors having deemed it prudent to send back the scholars to their families in the month of June. In the month of October of the same year he began his legal studies, being indentured with the late Hon. Sir. L. H. Lafontaine, who had married his cousin in 1830. Sir George E. Cartier, who was his classmate at college, also commenced studying law in 1832, in the office of the late Etienne E. Rodier, advocate, M.P.P. for the county of l’Assomption. After being admitted to the bar in November, 1836, he became the partner of Mr. Lafontaine, and continued to practise his profession in such partnership until July, 1853, when Mr. Lafontaine was appointed chief justice of the province of Lower Canada on the demise of the late Sir James Stuart. A few days after, Mr. Berthelot entered into partnership with his friend, the late Sir George E. Cartier, and continued this partnership until he was appointed assistant judge of the Superior Court, succeeding the late Hon. C. D. Day, who was appointed codifier in February, 1859. On Justice Day’s resignation having been accepted by the government, in 1860, Judge Berthelot was immediately appointed permanent judge of the Superior Court. On this occasion, in December, 1860, the bar of Montreal held a meeting in order to express publicly their satisfaction of the appointment of Judge Berthelot to the bench, and adopted resolutions, copies of which were transmitted to the judge, and also published in the newspapers of the day, amongst others in _La Minerve_. These resolutions read as follow:

At a special meeting of the members of the bar of Lower Canada
section of this district, which was held on Wednesday, the 12th
of December instant, it was unanimously resolved:

1. Moved by Henry Stuart, seconded by Gédéon Ouimet, M.P.P.,
That the bar of Montreal has seen with real pleasure the
promotion of the Honourable J. A. Berthelot, whose talents, high
sense of honour, integrity, conscientious work and services
already rendered as assistant judge, are a sure guarantee of the
faithfulness with which he will fulfil the difficult duties of
the new office which he has just entered as permanent judge of
the Superior Court.

2. Moved by Andrew Robertson, seconded by C. A. Leblanc, That as
citizens, and with due regard to public interest, the barristers
of Montreal cheerfully greet the appointment of Mr. Justice
Berthelot, and as his _confrères_, they are highly honoured as a
body by this new appointment.

3. Moved by the Honourable T. J. J. Loranger, seconded by J. C.
Daly, That copies of the foregoing resolutions be transmitted by
the _bâtonnier_ and secretary to Mr. Justice Berthelot, and that
the secretary be authorized to publish them in the city papers.

(Signed) ROBERT MACKAY, _Bâtonnier_,

(Signed) MEDERIC MARCHAND, _Secretary_.

The French paper, _L’Ordre_, made the following comments on the foregoing resolutions:

We have already fully expressed our opinion on this subject, and
to-day we are happy to see the bar of Montreal confirming our
appreciation of this appointment.

During the time that Mr. Berthelot practised at the bar, his _confrères_ elected him twice to the dignity of _bâtonnier_, in 1858 and 1859. Whilst he exercised his duties of judge in Montreal, in the space of fifteen years, he was called upon to perform the same duties of judge at Ste. Scholastique, district of Terrebonne. In February, 1872, he was invited by the members of the bar of that district, numbering seventeen, to a complimentary public dinner by the following resolutions, which were then published in the press:

At the meeting of the bar of the district of Terrebonne, held at
Ste. Scholastique on the 7th of February, 1872, it was resolved:

1. Moved by J. H. Filion, seconded by Mr. Boisseau, that Mr.
Burroughs be appointed chairman, and Mr. Rochon be requested to
act as secretary.

2. Moved by Mr. Wilfrid Prévost, seconded by J. A. H. Mackay,
That a public dinner be given to the Hon. J. A. Berthelot, by
the bar of the district of Terrebonne, as an acknowledgment of
our esteem and respect for his honour.

3. Moved by J. A. H. Mackay, seconded by J. H. Filion, That the
chairman and Mr. Wilfrid Prévost be delegated to interview his
honour, and express the desire of the bar to give him a dinner,
and in order that he may fix the date that he will find
convenient.

(Signed) C. S. BURROUGHS, _Chairman_,

(Signed) A. ROCHON, _Secretary_.

Judge Berthelot regretted that he could not accept a demonstration which would be so creditable for himself from the bar of the district of Terrebonne, being on the eve of sailing for Europe, during a leave of absence which had been granted to him by the Government for recuperating his health, which was slightly impaired by his strict attendance to his judicial duties. Before his appointment to the bench in 1859, he had been called upon to fulfil the office of assistant judge in Montreal for six months, in 1855 and 1856, during which time the judges of the province had to act as such during the sittings of the Seignorial Court for Lower Canada. On the 28th of November, 1875, his Lordship Archbishop Bourget, intimated to Judge Berthelot that he had just received from Rome a letter from his Excellency Monsignor Roncetti, Ablegate, informing him that His Holiness Pius IX. had been pleased to appoint him Commander of the Order of St. Sylvestre, by an apostolical writ, dated the 24th of September then last, enclosed with the Ablegate’s letter, adding that His Holiness had been so kind and so generous that through the agency of His Eminence Cardinal Antonelli, he had consented to give to Mr. Berthelot himself the decoration of the Commandery of the Order of St. Sylvestre, which he had confided to the care of Mr. Harel, procurator of the archbishop. The newspaper _Le Monde_, of Paris, France, on the 28th of December, 1875, noticed this honour granted to Judge Berthelot in the following terms:

We do not doubt that the appointment of Judge Berthelot will be
hailed with pleasure by the numerous friends that he has in
France, who have had occasion to appreciate, during his several
visits to our continent, how he was worthy in all respects, of
the high distinction which had been conferred upon him.

His Excellency, Monsignor Roncetti, in a letter bearing date of February, 1876, wrote as follows to Judge Berthelot:

MY DEAR AND HONOURED COMMANDER,—With your very kind letter of
the 20th of January, for which I am very thankful, I have also
received, through the agency of Mr. Harel, your letter for his
Eminence Cardinal Antonelli, who entrusted me with his answer,
which you will find herewith:—In renewing my sincere
congratulations, I beg to present my homage to the most
excellent lady, Madame Berthelot, to your dear children, and to
accept at the same time the assurance of my most perfect esteem
and profound respect. Expecting with the greatest impatience the
day when I will see you in Rome, I have the honour to be, my
dear and honoured Commander,

Your most humble and devoted servant,
CESAR RONCETTI.

In the same month of February, 1876, Judge Berthelot was in receipt of a letter from his Eminence, Cardinal Antonelli, in Italian, which read as follows:

ILLUSTRISSIME SIGNOR,—I have presented, with great pleasure, to
the Holy Father the expressions of gratitude which your
illustrissime lordship has given me in his letter of the 20th of
January last, because our Holy Father had conferred upon you the
Commandership of St. Sylvestre, which you acknowledged to be
entirely due to the apostolic benevolence. His Holiness was
raptured when he saw these expressions of veneration and love
for his venerable person, and could not refrain from answering
to them by words of gratitude, and by giving you, from the
bottom of his heart, his apostolic benediction. Having thus
accomplished the wishes which you expressed to me, I have the
honour to be, your illustrissime lordship,

Yours,
Sec. GIACOMO ANTONELLI.

The following particulars about the knighthood are found in the supplement of “Bouillet’s Dictionary,” page 42:

ORDER OF THE GOLDEN SPUR.

A Roman order founded by Paul III., in 1554, or by Pius IV. in
1559, has been established, according to some writers, by
Constantinus, as far back as 312, to commemorate his victory
over Maxencius, and approved since then by the Pope St.
Sylvestre. Its object was to reward civil merit, admitting only
noblemen; it could also be conferred on foreigners. Some
princely families of Rome and a few high dignitaries could
confer the order, which soon occasioned serious errors. Gregory
XVI. reformed the order in 1841, and gave the name of St.
Sylvestre, or the Reformed Golden Spur. The knights wore a
golden cross with eight points, and white enamelled, showing the
portrait of St. Sylvestre. It is worn with a ribbon striped red
and black; between, the branches of the cross hangs a golden
spur. Before the Reformation, when England was Catholic, and
when the relations of that country with the court of Rome were
uninterrupted, as soon as a chief justice of the Court of King’s
Bench, was appointed, the writ of commandership of the order of
St. Sylvestre was forwarded to him by the Pope, and he wore on
his chain of office the letters S. S. Since England has become
Protestant, the writ is not sent to that country; nevertheless,
when a new chief justice is appointed, and when he orders at the
court goldsmith the chain of office which he wears on his neck,
he receives it still with the same initials S.S., as in olden
times.

This fact is warranted by photographs of Chief Justices Bovill and Campbell, which Judge Berthelot has in his possession, and which were given him by his friend, Judge Mackay. In a legal review, entitled _Albany Law Journal_ for 1874, in the issue of the 8th of August, we find an article headed, “Article on Campbell’s Lives of Chief Justices,” with the following comments:

And while there were among the wearers of the collar of S. S.,
men whose lives are neither helpful nor inspiring, there were
many of whom it is good to read.

In Canada the first person who received a writ of commandership of St. Sylvestre, was the late Sir L. H. Lafontaine, chief justice, in the year 1853. Judge Berthelot was appointed in 1875, as above mentioned. In 1876, after eighteen years of judicial services, he asked and obtained his superannuation, and on this occasion the _Montreal Gazette_, of the 28th of August, 1876, published the following:

The Ottawa Government has at last come to a determination which
enables it to accept the resignation of Mr. Justice Berthelot.
Nearly a year has elapsed since it was generally understood that
Mr. Justice Berthelot desired to obtain that relaxation from
judicial duties to which twenty years service had fairly
entitled him, but as our readers are aware, ministers were
seriously embarrassed in the disposal of this piece of
patronage, and the learned judge was requested to defer his
proposed relinquishment of official duties. Before reference is
made to his successor, it is but justice to say a word or two
respecting Hon. Judge Berthelot. If the hon. judge has not
obtained the first rank of judicial fame, no one will venture to
deny that he has occupied a most honourable position on the
bench of this province, or that his services have been of a
highly beneficial character. It were scant justice to say that
his character has been constantly honourable, his impartiality
unchallenged, and his intelligence of the most vigorous type.
Laborious without complaining, diligent without ostentation, Mr.
Justice Berthelot has never proved unequal to the arduous
demands of his position. His knowledge of real estate and
insurance law, extensive and profound, and his decisions upon
these, as well as many other branches of the law, were received
with the utmost respect and confidence. In determination of
cases in which juries are more or less liable to be influenced
by sympathy for the sufferers, he did not hesitate to adhere to
those leading principles which have been consecrated by time and
experience, in preference to yielding to impulses which might
create a dangerous precedent. In fine, Mr. Justice Berthelot’s
judicial career has been conscientious, able and upright, and
entitles him to the gratitude of his countrymen.

_Le Nouveau-Monde_, on 29th of August, 1876, reprinting the above article from the _Gazette_, accompanied it with the following remarks:

This testimony is corroborated by all those who had occasion to
appreciate personally the talents, the carefulness, the
integrity, and the knowledge displayed by this hon. judge in the
exercise of his judicial duties. Some of his decisions in cases
of the highest importance fully demonstrated the fact, that he
was imbued with a sound judgment and a knowledge of
jurisprudence and statutory laws sufficient to make his
reputation and authority cope with that of the most
distinguished judges who have illustrated our Canadian bench.
Liberated from the toils and fatigues of the important position
which he has just vacated, Judge Berthelot, we hope, will not
withdraw entirely from public life, and the population of this
province could still benefit by his great experience, his
serious studies, and his deep knowledge of men and things, which
he has acquired during more than twenty years on the bench.

Judge Berthelot has since remained in private life, without an occasion to make himself useful to his country. Whilst he was practising at the bar, he had been often requested to enter parliament by several counties of the district of Montreal, and in 1858, when the division of Alma was to elect its first representative in the Legislative Council, he had been requested to be a candidate by a great number of the citizens of the division, one of the two candidates at that time being willing to withdraw in his favour if he accepted the candidature. But Mr. Berthelot had always refused, in order that his partners and friends, Sir L. H. Lafontaine and Sir George E. Cartier, be not deprived of the services he was rendering them, while these statesmen were engaged in political life, with so much credit to themselves and satisfaction for the country. Mr. Berthelot since that time has travelled several times in England, France and Italy, where he has made several friends, with whom he still keeps an active correspondence. In conclusion, we may say that during the second rebellion, in November, 1838, Mr. Berthelot was arrested and sent to gaol without cause or warrant, with many of the best citizens of Montreal, viz., Messieurs Lafontaine, the two Messieurs Viger, M. Papineau, a brother of the speaker, Dr. Lusignan, Mr. Fabre, Mr. DeBoucherville, sr., Amable Badeaux, his cousin, and his young friend Dr. Perreault. The latter was soon let free to attend his young wife. Mr. Berthelot, having inquired, by a letter addressed to Colonel Goldie, secretary of his Excellency the Governor, Sir John Colborne, for the cause of his arrest, expressing by his letter his readiness to be brought to trial, received no written answer, but a few days after was invited to leave the gaol and go to his home. At the same time he had also written to the late Andrew Stuart, solicitor-general, residing at Montreal, with whom he was well acquainted, representing in proper terms against his unjust detention, and always thought that he owed much to the interest of Mr. Stuart for his immediate release. Of Mr. Stuart, the solicitor-general, much can be said; that he was at least equal, if not superior to his brother, the late Sir James Stuart, chief justice of Quebec.

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=MacLeod, Rev. John M.=, Presbyterian minister of Zion church, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This greatly respected divine was born at the West River of Pictou, in the province of Nova Scotia, on the 25th of August, 1827. His father, Ebenezer MacLeod, was also a native of the West River of Pictou. He was a man of fair education, of sound judgment, of extensive information, and of deep and fervent piety. He was for many years an elder in the congregation of Salem, Green Hill, and was secretary of what is claimed to have been the first temperance society in this Dominion. His parents were from Scotland. He was married to Barbara Benvie, daughter of James Benvie, of Musquodoboit, and died in the 82nd year of his age. The subject of this brief sketch, having received a good English education in the common schools of the country, entered a printing office in the town of Pictou, and served a regular apprenticeship to the printing business. He, however, in compliance with the earnest wish of his parents, resumed his studies with a view to the ministry. He entered the Pictou Academy, where for two years he studied Latin, Greek, natural philosophy, and mathematics, under Professors Bell and Hay. About this time the Presbyterian church of Nova Scotia, for the purpose of training a native ministry, opened what was known as the West River Seminary, the head teacher of which was the Rev. James Ross, D.D., afterwards principal of Dalhousie College, Halifax. Mr. MacLeod was one of twelve students who entered the first year this institution was opened. Here he took the regular arts course of four years, and studied theology three years under Rev. John Keir, D.D., and Rev. James Smith, D.D. He was licensed in the spring of 1853, was called to the congregation of Richmond Bay during the following summer, and after taking another term in the Theological Hall, was ordained and inducted into the pastoral charge of the above named congregation on the 9th Nov., 1854, where he laboured with much success for nearly seven years. During the fourth year of his ministry he was married to Amelia Parker, daughter of Francis R. Parker, of Nova Scotia, who for many years was a member of the Provincial legislature. He was married to his present wife, Mrs. L. G. Taylor, in 1879. In 1860 Rev. Mr. MacLeod accepted a call to Newport, Hants county, Nova Scotia, where he continued to labour with acceptance and success for ten years. While in Newport he declined a call to Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1870 accepted one to New Glasgow, Pictou, Nova Scotia. But there being at this time four Presbyterian congregations in the small town of New Glasgow, and Rev. Mr. MacLeod, believing that his labours were more required elsewhere, accepted a call to his present charge, into which he was inducted on the 19th of July, 1871. His labours in this field have been crowned with a fair measure of success. On two different occasions additions of over one hundred and twenty, mostly young persons, were made to the communion roll. Mr. MacLeod is at present clerk of the presbytery. He has held that position for twenty-one years in the Presbytery of Prince Edward Island, and for seven years in the Presbytery of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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=Sifton, Hon. John Wright=, Brandon, Manitoba, was born in the township of London, county of Middlesex, Ontario, on the 10th August, 1833. He is the youngest son of Bamlet and Mary Sifton, who came from the county of Tipperary, Ireland, in 1832, and settled in London township. His ancestors on both sides were English. He received his education in the public and grammar schools of London. Up until 1860 he devoted his time to farming and other business, when he removed to Oil Springs, in Lambton county, and engaged in the oil business as producer and refiner. Here he purchased a large tract of oil lands immediately surrounding the famous gum beds, and afterwards sold them to an American company. This was the first foreign company that invested in Canadian oil property, and they continued to develop the resources of their territory until the enormous yield of oil at Petrolia made it impossible for them to successfully compete with this more productive locality. In 1870, Mr. Sifton removed to Paris, Brant county, with the object of having his children educated at the grammar school there; and in 1872, in company with his brother, contracted for and built forty miles of the track of the Canada Southern Railway. In 1873, he moved to London, and was appointed secretary of the Oil Association, and this office he held until the association ceased operations. In 1874, in company with two other gentlemen, whose interests he soon after bought out, he was awarded the contract for building and maintaining for five years a telegraph line from the city of Winnipeg to Fort Pelley, and clearing the track a hundred feet wide, for a distance of about three hundred miles, for the then contemplated Canadian Pacific Railway. Although this contract, when it was entered into, appeared to be one likely to give a fair profit, yet it afterwards turned out the opposite way. The fearful wet seasons of 1876, ’77, and ’78, flooded the country for forty miles east of Lake Manitoba, and sixty miles west along the line to, in some places, a depth of six feet, making it impossible to keep the line up, and as the Government refused to make any allowance for this, the loss was very great. Some idea may be formed of the difficulty of performing work in this country at that time, when we state that, one winter, provisions having ran out at one of Mr. Sifton’s camps, he had to send supplies by dog-trains 160 miles, and then have it carried on men’s backs, 60 miles further, making it to cost twelve cents per pound freight from Winnipeg to the camp, and at no time during the best part of the season could he deliver the same goods at their destination for less than five cents per pound freight. In 1875, the firm of Sifton, Ward & Co. were awarded the contracts for sections thirteen and fourteen of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Mr. Sifton, the senior member of the firm, undertook charge of section fourteen, which commenced at Red River, and extended a distance of seventy-seven miles to Cross Lake. During this time he removed to Manitoba, settling at Selkirk, and here he remained until the completion of his telegraph and railroad contracts. The money involved in these two operations amounted to about a million and a half dollars. In 1879, he took up his abode in Winnipeg, where he purchased some real estate outside the city limits, and erected for himself a fine residence. Taking advantage of the “boom of 1881,” he sold out this property and moved to Brandon, where he now resides. Here he has invested a considerable sum of money in farming lands, and for four years succeeded in raising in each year from 10,000 to 18,000 bushels of grain. But the years of frost (1883, ’84, ’85) having made the raising of wheat or grain in large quantities a risky business, and the collapse in values of all kinds of property, especially real estate, have forced Mr. Sifton to suspend business operations in this direction for the present. However, from his experience of over twelve years in the North-West country, and a thorough practical knowledge of farming, he thinks that although extensive farming has been in the past, and may prove in the future from certain causes, a failure, when compared with Ontario, yet he is impressed with the idea that it cannot be equalled on this continent for fertility; always providing, however, that the present hindrances to its prosperity be removed. What Mr. Sifton wants for his country is fair competition in freights; the abolition of all monopoly; readjustment of our present tariff, so that it may have the same chance as Ontario; a reasonable homestead law that will not be changed every year, and pre-emptions at such a price that the settler can meet it in a reasonable time. If these concessions were made, he thinks the North-West would make such strides onward that the most sanguine of us would fail to realize. Mr. Sifton, during his busy life, has devoted time to other things besides purely business matters. In 1852, he became a member of the Order of the Sons of Temperance, and in 1854, he also joined the Good Templars, and has kept up his connection with these active temperance organizations to the present time. In 1867, he became one of the United Templars, and from 1876 to 1883 he acted in the capacity of president of their Grand Lodge in Manitoba. He was grand worthy chief templar of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba of the Independent Order of Good Templars in 1884, and is at present president of the Manitoban Branch of the Dominion Alliance for the suppression of the liquor traffic, and has been since its formation in 1879. He took the leading part in the contest for the Scott Act, when it was passed in the counties of Lisgar and Marquette. These counties extend over about three quarters of the old province of Manitoba. The act was carried by very large majorities,—more than two to one voting in its favour; but on account of the vagueness of the meaning of some of its provisions in reference to counties in Manitoba, and the impossibility of getting it amended, it still remains a dead letter. In politics, Mr. Sifton is a Liberal. In 1878, he received the unanimous nomination of the Liberal party for the Commons for the county of Lisgar, and organized and carried on the campaign up to the memorable day, the 17th of September, 1878. The 18th being nomination day in Manitoba, and the news reaching there of the defeat of the Mackenzie government, his committee had a hurried meeting on the morning before nomination, and decided that it would be better for the county if he would withdraw, and allow a supporter of the Macdonald government to be elected by acclamation, and this he consented to do. In the fall of the same year he received the nomination for the Local House for the electoral division of St. Clemens, and was elected by a large majority, and on the assembling of the house he was elected speaker. During the sitting of this parliament a redistribution bill was passed, giving the new settlers something like fair representation, which they had not hitherto enjoyed. At the next general election he ran for one of the new electoral divisions, and was defeated. In 1881, when the province was enlarged, he ran for the division of Brandon and was elected. In the general election of 1883 he was defeated; and again at the last general election for the division of West Brandon he met the same fate by a small majority. Mr. Sifton was reeve of Oil Springs and a member of the County council of Lambton during the years 1867, ’68 and ’69. He was chairman of the school board of same place in 1868-69, and was reeve of the municipality of Cornwallis for 1885-86, but declined the nomination in 1887. He has been a justice of the peace for the province since 1875. He has travelled over the whole of the Dominion of Canada, and is familiar with all parts of the United States north and south, and as far west as Omaha. Mr. Sifton is a member of the Methodist church from choice. Before the union he was a Wesleyan Methodist, and since then his opinions have not changed much on religious subjects, except that he has more confidence in those who differ from him in church affairs than he had in his younger days, and now has a greater love for and confidence in the teachings and doctrines of the church of his choice. He was a member of the General conference of 1882, and a member of the committee appointed by that conference to confer with committees appointed by other branches of the Methodist church on union. He was strongly in favour of union, and was a member of the conference held in Belleville when the union was consummated. At the conference in 1882, he took the leading part in having Manitoba and the North-West set apart as a separate annual conference, which was agreed to at that conference. He was also a member of the General conference held in Toronto in 1886. He is now a member of the general board of missions of the Methodist church, and has been a member of the local board of missions in the Manitoba and the North-West conference since its formation. He has also been a member of Manitoba and North-West annual conference since the admission of laymen, and is president of the Brandon branch of the Upper Canada Bible Society. He has always been actively engaged in Sabbath school and church work, and is superintendent of the Brandon Sabbath-school. And as for temperance work, he has spent much time and labour in this direction, and has spoken in almost every section of the country on the subject. He was married 1st October, 1853, to Kate, third daughter of James and Sarah Watkins, of Parsonstown, King’s county, Ireland, and has three children living. His oldest and only daughter, Sophia, was educated at Hamilton Female College, and is married to A. N. Molesworth, civil engineer, now construction engineer for the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. His oldest son, Arthur Lewis, graduated from Cobourg University in arts, studied law in Manitoba, was called to the bar in 1882, and is now practising law in Prince Albert. His youngest son, Clifford, graduated from Cobourg, and is a gold medallist; he studied law in Manitoba, was called to the bar in 1882 in his twenty-second year, and is now practising law at Brandon.

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=Armstrong, Rev. W. D.=, M.A., Ph. D., Pastor of St. Paul’s (Presbyterian) Church, Ottawa, Ontario, was born at Cavan, Durham county, Ontario, on the 28th of July, 1845, and is the son of John D. Armstrong, yeoman, of that place. After a preliminary education in the schools of his native place, he entered Upper Canada College, and soon attained to a front place in his classes. At the close of his term he carried off the Governor-General’s prize, and the classical, the mathematical, and modern language prizes. He then entered the Toronto University, and graduated from that institution in 1870, the silver medallist in metaphysics and ethics, and prizeman in Hebrew, Chaldee and Syriac. During his course in the university he also obtained a number of scholarships and prizes in various departments. After leaving Toronto University he took a course in theology in Knox (Presbyterian) College, Toronto, where he likewise distinguished himself. On the 14th of May, 1874, he was ordained pastor of his present charge, and has continued ever since (with one short break, when he was sent to Great Britain in 1883 for a few months, in the interest of the French Canadian missions), as the faithful exponent of Christ’s message of love to the world, greatly appreciated and esteemed by his congregation. In 1886, the Boston University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Rev. Dr. Armstrong has a strong liking for literature, and amidst his various arduous parish cares and duties, has found time to contribute a good many articles to the newspaper press, and publish several sermons. On the 29th of September, 1886, he married Jean W., daughter of Henry J. Johnston, of Montreal, a very accomplished lady, and one who has proved a true helper to him as minister of a large congregation.

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=Guthrie, Donald=, Q.C., M.P.P. for South Wellington, Guelph, Ontario, was born on the 8th May, 1840, in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father was Hugh Guthrie, and his mother, Catharine Macgregor, sister of Patrick Macgregor, M.A., barrister-at-law, Toronto, a distinguished Gaelic and general scholar. Mr. Guthrie received his early education in his native city, and, when about fourteen years of age, he left his fatherland. He reached Toronto in August, 1854. Here he entered the office of the Hon. Oliver Mowat, as a junior clerk; and afterwards became managing clerk for John Helliwell, barrister. In 1859 he left Toronto and settled in Guelph as managing clerk for Fergusson & Kingsmill, barristers. The Hon. Fergusson-Blair, one of the partners of the firm, having retired in December, 1863, Mr. Guthrie was admitted into partnership, and the name of the firm was changed to Kingsmill and Guthrie. Under this style the business was carried on until Mr. Kingsmill was appointed judge of the County Court of Bruce, in January, 1867, when Mr. Guthrie became head of the firm, and has continued such ever since, the firm now being known as Guthrie and Watt. Mr. Guthrie was admitted an attorney in 1863; barrister in 1866, passing his examinations with distinction; and, in March, 1876, was created a Queen’s counsel by the Lieut.-Governor of Ontario, and by the Governor-General of Canada, October, 1885. In December, 1882, he was elected a bencher of the Law Society, and was re-elected for five years in April, 1886. Since 1863 he has been solicitor for the county of Wellington, and also for the same period he has been solicitor for the city of Guelph, and acts in this capacity for several other municipalities, banks, etc. He has been president of the Guelph Gas Company since its incorporation in 1870; is a director of the Guelph Junction Railway Company, and of the Wellington Hotel Company. He occupied the position of treasurer of the St. Andrew’s Society of Guelph, from 1862 to 1869, and in 1870 was chosen its president. Mr. Guthrie was elected a member of the House of Commons in 1876, as representative for South Wellington, and served until the general election in 1878, when he presented himself for re-election, and was returned by 303 majority. He continued in the House of Commons until the general election of 1882, when he voluntarily retired from active political life, with the view of devoting his whole attention for some years to his professional duties. However, in 1886, he once more sought parliamentary honours, and the sturdy Liberals of South Wellington sent him to the Ontario legislature as their representative on the 28th of December in the same year, by the handsome majority of 671. Mr. Guthrie was selected in February, 1877, to move the reply to the speech from the throne in the House of Commons; and on the 2nd March, 1887, he moved the reply to the Lieut.-Governor’s address in the Ontario legislature. While in the House of Commons—1876-78—Mr. Guthrie was a supporter of Mr. Mackenzie’s government, and was an active member of the special committee appointed to inquire into the affairs of the Northern Railway Company. This committee sat for several weeks, took an immense mass of evidence, and made an exhaustive report, which enabled the government to secure from the railway company a large sum in place of moneys improperly expended in elections, etc. Mr. Guthrie was also an active member of the Committee of Privileges and Elections at the time when it investigated the charges against Mr. Speaker Anglin, and other members, for alleged breaches of the Independence of Parliament Act. After the defeat of Mr. Mackenzie’s government in 1878, Mr. Guthrie, with his political friends, went into opposition. He actively opposed the new government on the tariff, the Letellier matter, the Canadian Pacific Railway contract, the disallowance of the Streams Bill, the Gerrymander Act, etc. Mr. Guthrie is a member of the Presbyterian church. On the 17th of December, 1863, he was married in Montreal to Eliza Margaret MacVicar, youngest daughter of John MacVicar, formerly of Dunglass, Argyleshire, Scotland, and latterly of Chatham, Ontario. Mrs. Guthrie is a sister of the Rev. D. H. MacVicar, D.D., LL.D., principal of the Presbyterian College, Montreal, and of the Rev. Dr. Malcolm MacVicar, professor of theology in the Toronto Baptist College (McMaster Hall), Toronto.

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=Hinson, Rev. Walter=, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Moncton, New Brunswick, was born at Chesham, England, on the 14th of May, 1858, and came to Canada in 1879. His father, Thomas Hinson, and mother, Mary Benwell, are both alive, and are residing in Hertfordshire, Eng.; he has a brother and sister in London. Rev. Mr. Hinson was educated at Hulme Cliff College in Derbyshire, and Harley House, East London, England. He studied for the ministry, and was ordained in 1880. He is a member of the Eastern New Brunswick Baptist Association, and the church of which he is pastor is one of the most important centres of religious activity in the district. It has a membership of between six and seven hundred, and over four hundred scholars in its Sunday-school. For general benevolence and Christian aggressiveness its record is good. Rev. Mr. Hinson has always been a total abstainer, and from early youth connected with temperance societies. He is at present a member of the Moncton Division, Sons of Temperance, and is considered one of the most aggressive of the temperance army in New Brunswick. Mr. Hinson was brought up among the Baptists, and very naturally feels greatly at home in, and is one of the leading lights of, the denomination. In the pulpit he possesses a peculiar power, his manner and matter being forcible and original, and we have no doubt there is a great future of usefulness before this young and rising divine. He was married in July, 1886, to Jennie A. Austin, of Herts, England.

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=Allison, Charles F.=—The late Charles F. Allison, of Sackville, New Brunswick, who was born on the 25th of January, 1795, and died the 20th of November, 1858, at the age of sixty-three years, was the second son of James Allison, whose father, Joseph Allison, of Newton Limavady, county of Londonderry, Ireland, emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1769, and settled at Horton, Kings county, where he continued to reside until his death in 1794. James Allison married and settled at Cornwallis, where he lived and died at the ripe age of ninety years. Here Charles F. was born, and received his education at the Grammar school, and in 1812 moved to Parrsboro’, where he found employment as a clerk in the establishment of James Ratchford until 1817, when he went to Sackville, New Brunswick, and entered into partnership with the late Hon. William Crane, in a general mercantile business, and in this he continued until 1840. On the 4th of January, 1839, Mr. Allison addressed a letter to the chairman of the New Brunswick district of Wesleyan ministers, in which he proposed “to purchase an eligible site and erect suitable buildings in Sackville, in the county of Westmoreland, for the establishment of a school, in which not only the elementary, but the _higher_ branches of education may be taught, and to be altogether under the management and control of the British conference in connection with the Wesleyan missionaries in these provinces;” and he proposed to give £100 ($400) per annum for ten years towards the support of the school. This generous offer having been accepted, he made arrangements to proceed with the erection of a suitable edifice for the academy—the corner-stone of which was laid on the 9th of July, 1840, and from that time to the close of his life in 1858, he devoted a large share of his time and business talent to watching over and promoting the financial interests of the educational enterprise which, under his fostering care, developed wonderfully. In addition to the $20,000 which he had given to establish the older branch of the institution, he gave $4,000 to aid in the erection of the ladies’ branch, which was opened in 1854; and in his will he left $2,000 for the academies, and $1,000 for the college whenever it should be organized. So that of the moderate fortune which he had accumulated before retiring from mercantile life in 1840, at least $30,000 were employed in founding and establishing the educational institutions which bear his name, and which stand as the enduring monument of the far-seeing wisdom and liberality of this unselfish Christian patriot. Mr. Allison was married to Milcah, daughter of John and Anne Trueman, on June 23rd, 1840. Mrs. Allison survived him, but died on the 14th of June, 1884. Mary, their only child, was born 1st Sept., 1847, and died 1st Jan., 1871. At the date of Mr. Allison’s demise, _The Borderer_, a local weekly paper, thus kindly alluded to him: