Chapter M: C. Baillairgé, Quebec (49)

=Caron, Hon. Sir Joseph Philippe Rene Adolphe=, B.C.L., K.C.M.G., Q.C., Ottawa, Minister of Militia, M.P. for Quebec county, was born in the city of Quebec in 1843. He is the eldest surviving son of the late Hon. R. E. Caron, lieutenant-governor of the province of Quebec. The Caron family is ancient, and many members of it from time to time held distinguished places in the state. Sir Adolphe was educated at the Seminary of Quebec, at Laval University, and at the University of McGill, in Montreal. In 1865, he graduated from the last mentioned institution, taking with him the degree of B.C.L. Mr. Caron had as preceptors in the offices wherein he studied his profession, very distinguished lawyers. At first he studied with L. G. Baillairgé, Q.C., and subsequently with the Hon. (now Sir) John Rose, bart. In 1865, he was called to the bar of Lower Canada, and in May, 1879, was appointed a Queen’s counsellor. He is the only remaining member of the widely known firm of Andrews, Caron & Andrews, Quebec city, Mr. Andrews, sr., having died a few years ago, and Mr. Andrews, jr., was appointed to a justiceship. The firm is now re-organized and known as Caron, Pentland & Stuart. Besides his attention to law, he has formed prominent connections in other directions. He has been a director of the Stadacona Bank, and was vice-president of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in 1867. But above all other interests, he found himself attracted to public life, and first sought parliamentary honors in 1872, at Bellechase, but failed to secure his election. In March, 1873, he was more successful, having been then returned to represent the county of Quebec in the House of Commons at Ottawa, and has sat in the House of Commons ever since, and has been twice elected by acclamation. He always showed himself to be an industrious and practical member of the house, and those who observed him closely had no difficulty in predicting that sooner or later he must obtain a substantial recognition of his abilities. Sir John A. Macdonald always keeps his eyes about him for talent, and Mr. Caron was long under his scrutiny. A very great friend and warm admirer of Sir John A. Macdonald declares, however, that the premier does not want to have near him any ability, or brilliancy that could ever be likely to cast his own in the shade. Nevertheless, we are pretty certain that he is shrewd enough to seek to gather about him the best brains that he can lay hold of, and, as a rule, he has always succeeded in doing this. He perceived that the subject of our sketch would not alone make a good minister, but that he would likewise make a popular one, and Mr. Caron was sworn in a member of the Privy Council, 9th November, 1880, and appointed minister of militia. To some men, indeed to most men, come that one opportunity, at some period or another in their lives; that one opportunity arose for the Hon. Mr. Caron, minister of militia, in 1885. We need not, so close to the event which furnished the opportunity, dwell at length upon it here. Like a thunderbolt upon our ears came the tidings that several policemen and civilians had fallen before a body of armed rebels in the North-West. It was the winter of the year, the theatre of revolt was far away; it could not be reached by railroad, but almost interminable stretches of wilderness lay before whomsoever should go there to re-assert the majesty of the law. A weak or incapable minister of militia would have been at his wit’s end in the face of a problem, grave as this, thrust upon him for immediate settlement. But Hon. Mr. Caron was not dismayed; he did not hesitate at all, but promptly and firmly grappled with the difficulty. Looking back upon it now, it naturally gives us ground for the heartiest approbation to think of the celerity with which troops were placed at different points in the territories, in the face of long and difficult marching, and at an inclement season. It is perhaps doubtful if there is to be found in the history of ordinary wars a record showing more promptness of design and action than this uprising put in the way of our militia department to display. It is a fact that the decision and speed of our movements elicited the highest approbation from disinterested military spectators. His Excellency, the governor-general, who is a gentleman of very superior judgment, recognized the efficiency of the minister in this time of peril, and had no hesitation in communicating the fact to the Imperial government, and recommending that he should obtain recognition from the Crown. That recognition came, and there was no room to doubt that the minister of militia well deserved to become Sir Adolphe Caron. Of late it has come to be the custom in certain quarters to sneer at distinctions like the knighthood, and to declare that they have been conferred at random; but in the selection of Sir Adolphe for such an honor, no reasonable man can make this criticism. In politics Sir Adolphe is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion a Roman Catholic. In 1867, he married Alice, only daughter of the late Hon. François Baby, who represented Stadacona division in the Legislative Council for many years.

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=Edgar, William=, General Passenger Agent, Grand Trunk Railway, Montreal, was born at Birkenhead, on the Mersey, opposite Liverpool, on the 14th of June, 1841. When quite young he came to Canada, and on the 13th of October, 1856, entered the stationery department of the Great Western railway as a clerk. During the twelve years following, he filled various capacities in connection with the same important line, being at different times, clerk of the stores department, clerk of the audit department and chief clerk to the general ticket agent. In discharging his duties, he was always able to give satisfaction to his employers, and never failed to command the respect of those with whom he came in contact. In July, 1869, he was appointed passenger agent for the western division of the Great Western, being stationed at Detroit, a post which he held until the succeeding January, when he became general ticket agent on the same road and on the Michigan Central. In that position he remained until November, 1875, when he was offered and accepted the office of general passenger agent on the Great Western line. In November, 1882, another change in his career took place, as he was then appointed assistant-general passenger agent of the Grand Trunk Railway which included the Great Western system. His new functions necessitated his removal to Toronto, where he made many friends during his stay of some twenty months. In July, 1884, Mr. Edgar was further promoted to the important position which he now holds, that of general passenger agent of the Grand Trunk, with headquarters at Montreal. He enjoys the esteem of many friends, both among his colleagues and in the community at large.

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=Perley, William Dell=, Wolseley, N.W.T., M.P. for East Assiniboia, was born at Gladstone, Sunbury County, New Brunswick, 6th February, 1838. Among his ancestors were the pioneers of America as well as the pioneers of New Brunswick. On his father’s side the family traces its descent back to Allan Perley, who emigrated from Wales to Massachusetts in 1630. When the Revolutionary war broke out a number of members of the family remained true to the British cause, and being expelled with the other Loyalists, settled in New Brunswick. The father of the subject of this sketch was Hon. W. E. Perley, of Sunbury, a prominent man in the politics of New Brunswick in ante-Confederation times. He was educated in the best school of the province, concluding his collegiate course at the Baptist Seminary at Sackville. In 1860 Mr. Perley married Phebe Augusta Slipp, of Hampstead, N.B. Being a man of public spirit and unusual energy, he early became prominent in public affairs. His first training as a legislator he received in the municipal council of his native county, to which he was elected for seven consecutive years, this fact alone being sufficient proof of the esteem in which he was held by those among whom he had spent his life. The opportunities afforded to men of energy and capital in the Canadian North-West has had great attraction for Mr. Perley from the earliest public announcements of the great resources of that country. Going to the North-West in 1882 he became from the first a leading citizen of what is now Assiniboia district. He was a member of the first municipal council of Wolseley, and was elected chairman of that body. In this capacity he had most to do with completing the municipal organization. He became a member of the North-West council in September, 1885, and was appointed one of the delegates from the North-West Territories to confer with the Government of the Dominion, in relation to important questions affecting the North-West which were then pending. In 1887, Mr. Perley resigned his place in the North-West council to contest the newly established riding of East Assiniboia for the House of Commons. The elections in the North-West were of absorbing interest owing to the close results of the elections for the Eastern Provinces, and they were fought with keenness throughout. Mr. Perley succeeded in carrying his district, as also did the other Conservative candidates. Though but a short time in the House, Mr. Perley has already taken a respectable place and has shown himself to be possessed of qualities which would win him distinction in any legislative body. He speaks seldom, but has already made it plain that he possesses independence of spirit which is unfortunately too rare in Canadian politics. He is an active promoter of a number of great public enterprises, such as railways and others, and has, even in his short career in parliament, won important advantages for his constituents in hastening the construction of the North-West Central Railway, a most important enterprise, and in various other ways.

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=Stephenson, Major James=, Superintendent of the Grand Trunk Railway, Montreal, was born in England in the very year and month in which our Gracious Queen ascended the throne, June, 1837, and in a place renowned in history for its association with a line of English kings, the ancient town of Lancaster. It is the capital of the important county which comprises those great centres of trade and industry, Liverpool and Manchester. But Mr. Stephenson was not destined to spend more than his early years on the banks of the Lune. Early in life he was induced to come to Canada, where the railway movement initiated by the enterprise of British capitalists, seemed to hold out prospects of success to energetic young men. It was not, however, in the railway, but in the telegraphic service that he began his career. In 1855 he obtained a situation in the British American Telegraph Company, and in the following year, on the amalgamation of that company with the Montreal Telegraph Company, he was offered a position on the Grand Trunk, and severed his connection with his former employers. It was at the Don Station, Toronto, that, in September, 1856, he made his _début_ in the new calling which was henceforth to be the business of his life. Two months later an event occurred, which may be regarded as the starting-point of a new era for Canada—the great Grand Trunk celebration at Montreal, inaugurating the completion of the connecting link between Montreal and Toronto. To have been a railway man at that date, makes good his title to the ranks of veteran. The first duties that were entrusted to Mr. Stephenson were those of ticket clerk and operator, but in 1858, he succeeded to the agency of the station. It was the first of many steps forward. In 1860, he was appointed train-despatcher; in 1862, divisional telegraph superintendent and agent at Belleville; in 1864, assistant superintendent; and in June, 1881, general passenger agent. But the promotion of Mr. Stephenson did not stop here, for in July, 1884, the Company recognizing his great ability, he was promoted, to the satisfaction of his colleagues and the public, to the responsible position which he still holds. Mr. Stephenson is a true Briton, and was not the man to look on inactive, when in 1866—a year which not a few of our people have had cause to remember—Canada was the victim of unprovoked attack from the Fenian element of the United States. He buckled on his armour with thousands of other brave men to meet and repel the invader. He was quickly raised to the rank of captain, and in March, 1867, had earned his majority. In October, 1871, he retired, retaining his rank. His certificates of qualification are dated 2nd class, March, 1867; 1st class, May, 1867. He married in September, 1866, Agnes Frances, eldest daughter of the late Captain Richard Arnold, of Toronto. In private life Major Stephenson is much respected and has many friends.

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=Masson, James=, Q.C., Barrister, Owen Sound, Ontario, M.P. for North Grey, was born on the 17th February, 1847, in Seymour township, Northumberland county, Ontario. He is the eldest son of Thomas W. S. Masson, of Seymour, and grandson of Captain Thomas Masson, R.N., St. Andrews, Scotland. James Masson, the subject of this sketch, received his educational training in the public school of his native place and at the Grammar School, Belleville, and having selected law as a profession, he entered the office of W. H. Penton, Belleville, where he completed his legal studies. He was called to the bar of Ontario, Michaelmas term, 1871, and removing to Owen Sound, commenced the practice of his profession shortly afterwards, and has succeeded in building up a good business. He occupied the position of Master in Chancery at Owen Sound from 1873 to December, 1885; and in October, 1885, he was created a Queen’s counsel. In 1873 Mr. Masson first began to take an interest in politics, and at the general election of 1887 he was chosen to serve in the House of Commons at Ottawa as the representative of North Grey. He is a Liberal-Conservative in politics, and was for many years previous to this an advocate and supporter of the national policy. He served with the 15th battalion of volunteers at Prescott in 1866. He married in July, 1873, Jessie, fourth daughter of the Rev. D. Morrison, of Knox Church, Owen Sound.

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=Mills, John Burpee=, M.P., of Annapolis, N.S., was born at Granville Ferry, in Annapolis county, 24th July, 1850. Granville Ferry is very prettily situated, being on the opposite side of the Annapolis river, about three miles from Annapolis Royal, the seat of so many historic associations. The country about there is occupied by many comfortable-looking, square-built, old English houses, built by military people in the days when Annapolis was a garrison town and the capital of Nova Scotia. There is a fine field for writers of imaginative literature in the early and even the later story of Annapolis. Of a pleasant afternoon in September there is no pleasanter drive to be enjoyed than that along the road from Bridgetown to Granville Ferry, on the right bank of the Annapolis river, when the tide is in. All along the highway is a succession of orchards of apples and plums. On the low meadows beside the river, stacks of hay stand on roughly made frameworks. The breeze comes down from the north mountain and sweeps through orchard and meadow. Mr. Mills belongs to a Baptist family and received his college education at Acadia College, Wolfeville, N.S., the headquarters of Baptist educational forces in the maritime provinces, which was founded and long sustained by the self-denying labors of “Father” Manning, Rev. Theodore Harding, the venerable and accomplished Dr. Crawley—who is still living near the seat of his life-long labors—Rev. Dr. Cramp, the historian of the Baptist denomination, and other able scholars and business men. Mr. Mills completed a successful course in May, 1871, when he took his bachelor’s degree, graduating with honors. He took an active interest in field sports whilst pursuing his studies with assiduity, and was for some terms captain of the college cricket eleven. In those days Acadia boasted a good cricket team, and in contests with elevens of neighboring towns, scored numerous victories. Continuing his love of Alma Mater after striking out in active life, in 1877 he presented himself again at old Acadia, and was honored with the degree of M.A. He has long been a member of the alumni of Acadia College. But before this he attended the law school of Harvard for one year, and completed his studies in law in Nova Scotia. He was called to the bar on 20th July, 1875. Immediately upon entering into business, he obtained a large practice which he still holds, being at the head of the firm of Mills & Gillies. They do a large business in conveyancing and real estate transactions. Mr. Mills’ father, John Mills, of Granville Ferry, is a merchant and shipbuilder, and the subject of this sketch is also largely interested in shipping. He has for some years taken a great interest in politics, and two years previous to the last Dominion general election, was nominated as candidate of the Conservative party in Annapolis county. He at once entered upon the canvass, and for a year previous to the election devoted much of his time to political work. His opponent was Colonel W. H. Ray, a man widely known and popular in the county, and then representing it at Ottawa. Parties are pretty evenly matched in Annapolis, and a candidate’s work is never easy there. Mr. Mills canvassed the county thoroughly, visiting every section of it, and seeing the leading men everywhere. In the May election for the local house in 1886, one Liberal, Attorney-General Longley, and one Conservative, Frank Andrews, were returned by very narrow majorities. The question of Repeal had decided the local contest in favor of the Liberals, and it was not known how far the same cry might prevail in the Dominion election. Mr. Mills secured 1758 votes, against 1730 polled by Col. Ray. He took his seat in the House of Commons last winter as a supporter of the government. As yet he has not taken a leading part in the debates, but with experience, may be expected to give a good account of himself in the political arena. At Ottawa it is only the men of many fights as a rule that are expected often to address the House. The principal part of every debate is by mutual consent relegated to the acknowledged leaders on either side, and younger and less practical statesmen have opportunities of studying the moves in the play of the principals. While devoting so much of his time to law and politics, Mr. Mills has taken an interest in most of the business enterprises of his native town, and is a director in several local corporations. A large part of the apple crop of the Annapolis valley is exported from Annapolis Royal. There is a direct line of steamers plying between the town, Portland, Me., and Boston. The town has suffered much from the ravages of fire, otherwise it would be one of the largest and most flourishing towns in the province, its natural resources and advantages being so great, and public-spirited citizens having at various times expended large sums of money in many business and industrial enterprises. Mr. Mills was a member of the municipal council from 1882 to 1887. He married, 23rd Oct., 1878, Bessie, daughter of A. W. Corbett, of Annapolis.

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=Roy, Rouer Joseph=, Q.C., Barrister, Montreal, was born on the 7th January, 1821, in Montreal, province of Quebec. His father was Joseph Roy, who represented the city of Montreal in the Quebec legislature, before 1837. On the occasion of his death, which occurred in 1856, the Hon. Joseph Papineau thus spoke of him:—“The one we have lost has left us none but noble examples to imitate, and not one act or one word that requires to be excused.” His mother, Miss Lusignan, belonged to a family of Italian origin, which was allied to the noble house of the Rouer de Villeroy of France. Mr. Roy, the subject of our sketch, was educated at the Montreal College, where he took a full classical course, under Messire Baile, completing his studies in 1838. He then began the study of law under the Hon. M. O’Sullivan, formerly solicitor-general for Lower Canada, and afterwards chief justice of Quebec. On Mr. Sullivan being elevated to the bench as chief justice in 1840, Mr. Roy continued his studies under the Hon. Andrew Stuart, also one of the solicitor-generals of the province, and completed them some eighteen months before he became of age. He was called to the bar of Quebec in February, 1842. After a brilliant career as a barrister and leading attorney, he was, in 1862, appointed joint city attorney for the city of Montreal, and acted in that capacity up to the year 1876, when he became the sole legal adviser of the city, which position he still holds. In 1856 he was unanimously elected by his brother barristers syndic of the bar of Quebec, which position he held for four years. He was appointed Queen’s counsel in 1864, and since 1864 he has been president of the library committee of the bar. In 1887 he was elected _bâtonnier_ of the bar of Quebec. He was appointed by the Fabrique, in 1870, churchwarden of the parish of Notre Dame. This is an honor conferred upon a very limited and selected number of persons, Mr. Roy being only the second member of the profession who has held this honorable position. He is a linguist of no mean ability, is a thorough Latin and Italian scholar, is well versed in Greek lore, and is familiar with the English language, as well as his native French. He was a captain of the Voltigeurs in 1849, shortly after the burning of the parliament buildings in Montreal. During his career as a practising barrister, he had the important case of Grant vs. Beaudry, arising out of the Orange troubles of 1878, which was carried to the Supreme Court and there decided in favor of his client. He has been intrusted with several cases before Her Majesty’s Privy Council in England, notably the St. James street case, which was the cause of much excitement at the time, also the case of Castonguay and LeClere, and more particularly the case of Lachevrotiere _dit_ Chavigny and the city of Montreal. This case arose out of a dispute with regard to one of the principal squares of the city. Mr. Roy was married on the 22nd of January, 1857, to Corinne Beaudry, daughter of the Hon. Jean Beaudry, who, for many years was a member of the Legislative Council of Canada, and mayor of the city of Montreal. Mr. Roy has a family of eight children, seven daughters and a son, who to-day ranks among the rising civil engineers of Canada.

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=Weeks, Otto Swartz=, Halifax, Nova Scotia, M.P.P. for the county of Guysborough, is a native of Nova Scotia. His father was the Rev. Otto Weeks, a clergyman of the Church of England, who entered King’s College, Windsor, in the year 1820, and graduated B.A. in 1824, taking his degree of M.A. in 1827. The family is of New England extraction. Mr. Weeks received his early education in Halifax and studied law with A. James, judge in equity for Nova Scotia. His talents attracted the attention of the late Hon. Joseph Howe, who took a great interest in his progress. Mr. Weeks began life as a newspaper reporter, and it being one of his duties to report the speeches in the House of Assembly during the palmy days of provincial eloquence and statesmanship, when giants like the late Hon. J. W. Johnston, George R. Young, William Young, late Chief Justice of Nova Scotia, James B. Uniacke, Joseph Howe, Herbert Huntingdon, and many others strove for the honors, limited enough, which the province had to offer, he early acquired a style of colloquial and forensic speaking which materially aided him in later life. He was admitted to the bar, 28th November, 1853, began practice at Brooklin, Hants county, but shortly removed to Windsor, the shire town and seat of the courts and public offices. Here he built up an extensive practice, his partner for some years being his cousin, John W. Ouseley, at present clerk of the House of Assembly. His business extended over the counties of Hants, Kings and Annapolis, and he became leader of the midland circuit, having for opponents at the bar, among others, John C. Hall, Hiram Blanchard, Hon. John W. Ritchie, ex-equity judge, and Hon. James McDonald, Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. His wife is Miss Ruggles, a sister of T. W. Ruggles, barrister, of Bridgetown, Annapolis county, N.S. Mr. Weeks has always been identified with the Liberal party, and in December, 1874, was invited to fill the office of attorney-general in the government of which Hon. P. Carteret Hill, D.C.L., was premier. He at once took the field in the constituency of Guysborough, and having for an opponent Captain Hadley, a well-known local politician, was elected by a narrow majority in 1875. After this victory, Hon. P. C. Hill, Mr. Weeks, and others, made a tour of the western counties holding public meetings in Windsor and Bridgetown. Mr. Weeks brought great strength to the government, especially in the debates in the house, where his most formidable antagonist was Douglas B. Woodworth, ex M.P. for King’s county, Nova Scotia. He held the office of attorney-general for one year when he resigned it, but still kept his seat in the house, and maintained his reputation as a keen and incisive debater. At the general election in 1878 Mr. Weeks again contested Guysborough but was defeated, there being a third Liberal candidate, D. C. Fraser, of New Glasgow, N.S., in the field. After assuming the duties of the attorney-generalship, Mr. Weeks relinquished his practice in Windsor, and removed to Halifax where he has since resided. At the general election of 1882 and 1886 he was elected for Guysborough. In former years he occasionally came before the public as a lecturer on literary topics, and always with marked success. Among his lyceum efforts delivered in Windsor may be mentioned those on Music and on the modern English poets. He excels as a reciter of poetry, and has a keen appreciation of the beauties of English literature. Although a great admirer of Hon. Joseph Howe, when that gentleman engaged in the famous campaign of 1869, after accepting a seat in the cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald, Mr. Weeks took the stump against him and met him on many platforms in the county. As a lawyer he possesses the most wide-spread reputation of any man in the province, having great influence with juries. His manner is very deliberate, but gives added force to the pungency of his repartees, in making which he has no equal in Nova Scotia. He has not been prominently connected with any of the social movements of the time, although he took some degree of interest, in its early days, of the volunteer movement. His whole attention has been absorbed in the struggles of politics and the practice of his profession. A bill which passed the house whilst he was a member of the Hill government gave rise to the somewhat celebrated Great Seal Case of 1877. The point was raised by J. Norman Ritchie, now one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, as to whether the local legislature could interfere with the precedence which his letters patent as Queen counsel appointed by the Canadian Government. This question was decided, after being argued with great ability by the full benches of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and of Canada, in favor of Mr. Ritchie’s precedence.

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=Purcell, Patrick=, M.P. for Glengarry, was born in Glengarry, Ont., May 1st, 1833. He unites in himself the best qualities of the two great branches of the Celtic race, his father having been a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, while his mother was from the Western Highlands of Scotland, a native of Argyleshire. He had but slight educational advantages in his youth, and, though quick of perception and remarkable from an early age for great shrewdness, was not of a temperament to be much improved by the merely literary methods of the schools. Had he been privileged in his younger days to attend some institutions such as the great technical colleges of today, in which not the memory only but the perceptive faculties and manual abilities are trained and developed, he would undoubtedly have made even a greater mark in life than he has done. But in the great technical school of life in which he had to make his own way from an early age, Mr. Purcell secured a training which has brought him out as one of Canada’s most remarkable citizens. When but 19 years of age Mr. Purcell married Isabella McDonald, daughter of Angus McDonald, a Glengarry farmer. Beginning life as a laborer, he worked his way rapidly forward until he began to take small contracts on his own account on some of the works on which he was employed. While still a young man he was the sole contractor on some important government works such as great capitalists band together to undertake. In this respect he is a worthy son of Glengarry. It is hard to say what America, and especially Canada, would have done to carry on its remarkable industrial development had they not had such shrewd, hard-working, responsible men as the great contractors who have come out of Glengarry. Dozens of names could be mentioned, and many will suggest themselves to the mind of the reader who is at all acquainted with the history of great public works in America. But among them all, none has shown more remarkable qualities as a business man or earned more signal success than Patrick Purcell. Among the great works which he has constructed are St. Peter’s Canal, Nova Scotia; section 21 of the Intercolonial Railway; 250 miles of the Canadian Pacific Railway west of Port Arthur (this last a work of greater difficulty under the circumstances probably than any section of railway of equal length in the world), and many others both in Canada and the United States. In the last general election he was elected to the Commons in the Liberal interest for his native county of Glengarry after a hard contest, his opponent being the sitting member, Mr. Donald McMaster, also a native of the county. The seat has been contested, and at this writing the case is still pending before the Supreme Court. Mr. Purcell is not only a shrewd business man, but a man of broad and generous sympathies. He uses his great wealth to help his friends, loaning money at nominal interest in a way to win the gratitude of many men who but for him would find it impossible to get a good start in life. He also gives large sums for charitable and benevolent purposes. In religion Mr. Purcell is a Roman Catholic.

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=Nantel, Guillaume Alphonse=, St. Jerome, Quebec, M.P.P. for Terrebonne, Editor of _La Press_ and _Le Nord_ newspapers, was born in November, 1852, at St. Jerome, in the county of Terrebonne, Quebec province. His father, Guillaume Nantel, was in his lifetime a lieutenant in the militia, and although he came from St. Eustache, was a thorough loyalist. He died in February, 1857, leaving a family of nine children. His mother, Adelaide Desjardiner, was born in Ste. Therese, Terrebonne county. One of his brothers, the Rev. A. Nantel, has been superior of the Ste. Therese Seminary for about fifteen years, and in 1883 established a fine college in that place. Another brother, P. Nantel, is a school inspector, and his youngest brother, Bruno Nantel, has been for a long time a law partner of the Hon. M. Taillon, and is now practising at St. Jerome. He is the rising barrister for the county of Terrebonne. Young Nantel, the subject of our sketch, received his education at the college of Ste. Therese, and was a very successful student, having carried off several first-class prizes. In 1873 he obtained a second class certificate at the Montreal military school, and in 1881 he was made first lieutenant in the eighth company of the 65th battalion. He takes a deep interest, with Father Labelle, in colonization, and is greatly interested in the settlement of the northern townships of the Ottawa valley. He is a director of the Montreal and Western Railway Company, which proposes to build a railroad—already largely subsidized by the government—from St. Jerome to Nominingue Lake, in the county of Ottawa, and from Nominingue Lake up to Torrierdeninque Lake, which line when built will cross the most fertile belt, in which is found the finest timber and minerals in Ottawa and Pontiac counties. Is also interested in the “Le Grande Nord” railway from St. Jerome to St. Julienne, in Montcalm county. Mr. Nantel was called to the bar of Quebec province on the 10th July, 1875, and practised his profession alone in Montreal, up to January, 1877, when he joined in partnership the Hon. M. J. A. Ouimet, M.P., and now Speaker of the House of Commons. This partnership having been dissolved, he again practised alone for a year, when, in 1881 he left Montreal, and joining his brother, B. Nantel, in St. Jerome, successfully carried on business in that place till the 1st of May, 1886. In April of that year, Mr. Nantel, along with C. Marchand, purchased _Le Nord_, a local and colonization newspaper, but his partner having given up his connection with the paper the following December, he has himself since then conducted it. In November, he and Mr. Wintele bought out _La Press_, one of the leading French papers. In 1882, at the general election of that year, he was elected a member of the Quebec legislature for the county of Terrebonne, beating his opponent, E. A. Poivier, by a majority of seven hundred and fifty-three votes. Mr. Nantel is a strong Conservative in politics, and contends that Canadians should govern Canada, and each province be permitted to stand by itself, that we must have a national policy, such as shall foster our own trade and commerce, agriculture, etc., so as to make our country independent of all outsiders. He strongly advocates in his papers the building of railways, the opening up of mines, the advancement of agriculture, the creation of factories, industrial learning, manual training in our seminaries of learning, and everything else possible that can make the people more learned and prosperous. In 1884, while a member of the Quebec legislature, Mr. Nantel was one of the commissioners appointed to investigate the charges preferred against Hon. Mr. Mercier and the late Judge Mousseau. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, but favors the most liberal tolerance to all other sects. He thinks there is room enough in Canada for people professing all the different creeds of Christendom, and also for men of all nationalities, and would be only too happy to see the indigent and down-trodden people of Europe make their home with us, and become partakers with us in all the liberty and independence we possess. He was opposed to the execution of Riel.

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=Macdonald, Right Hon. Sir John Alexander=, K.C.M.G., D.C.L., LL.D., Premier of Canada, was born in Glasgow, on the 11th January, 1815. He came to Canada in 1820 with his parents, who first settled near Kingston, but after a few years removed to a farm on the Bay of Quinté. Meanwhile the future premier of Canada was left at Kingston, the grammar school of which he attended until he was about fifteen years of age, when he began the study of law. When he had reached his twenty-first year he was called to the bar. He has been described by a writer in _The Week_ as a lively youth, a good scholar, and a voluminous reader; but his talents were not considered extraordinary and he owed his election as member for Kingston, thirteen years after his call to the bar, more to his personal popularity than to his abilities. In a democratic country a good memory for faces and names, a frank and cordial manner of speech, a willingness to say yes rather than no, are wonderful aids to an aspirant in public life. Add readiness of speech in public, and self-confidence, and they will outweigh, for a time at least, the soundest judgment, the most extensive knowledge, and the warmest patriotism. It is not wonderful, therefore, that Mr. Macdonald’s popular address should have brought him early into the political field. In 1841 (says the writer from whom we have already quoted), Canada was granted a constitution, as the Liberals understood it, a transcript of that of Britain—the Governor in place of the Queen, bound to accept the legislation voted by the people’s representatives, and to receive advisers of whom they approved. Sir Charles Bagot accepted this view of the constitution, but when Sir Charles Metcalfe became governor there came a change of tactics. Responsible government was a new idea in colonial politics, and to very many unwelcome. Metcalfe was an honest, and in some ways, an able man; but he had served in India, and could not accept readily the notion that a dependency of the empire could be at once free and loyal. He refused to make an appointment asked by his ministers; they resigned; he called in others and appealed to the people. In Upper Canada he was sustained by an enormous majority; in Lower Canada he was defeated as decisively; his ministers had only a small majority, varying from two to eight. Lord Metcalfe, who was in ill health gave up the contest and his office. Lord Elgin succeeded him; another election was held, and the friends of responsible government returned to power, supported by a large majority in the House of Assembly. In this contest Mr. Macdonald was a loyal supporter of Lord Metcalfe, and took office in his government first as receiver-general and afterwards as commissioner of crown lands. It is improbable that a politician so shrewd as he could have been sanguine of preventing the introduction of responsible government into Canada for any length of time. But he was then, and is now, in spite of many concessions to popular feeling, a Conservative of the British type, on the side of the classes, distrusting the masses, and resolved at whatever cost to maintain inviolate the supremacy of the Crown. In this fact is to be found the key to his policy during his forty-three years of public life. Fond of power, eager for success, indifferent as to the means of obtaining it, he has throughout been true to his flag. The ministry formed by Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine, under Lord Elgin, did not remain long in power. It was assailed by the Conservatives for proposing to pay losses incurred by residents of Lower Canada during the rebellion, a measure not called for by the country at large, but pressed upon the government by Mr. Lafontaine, a man of great ability and strength of will. Mr. Macdonald opposed the bill temperately, and was not believed to have given countenance to the violent proceedings which followed its passage. Nor did he take an active part in the crusade against the financial policy of the government which the Conservatives undertook after the removal of the executive and parliament to Toronto. In that movement the Conservatives were aided, and Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine ultimately coerced into resignation, by the “original Clear Grits,” under the leadership of Hon. Malcolm Cameron and Hon. W. H. Merritt. Mr. Baldwin was the most venerable figure in our political history, pure, honorable, high-minded, and during the struggle for responsible government rendered incalculable service to his party and cause. But he was a Whig rather than a Radical, a High Churchman, and therefore opposed to the secularisation of the clergy reserves, and incapable of stooping to the arts of the politician. He retired with Mr. Lafontaine, and Mr. Hincks became premier. During his brief reign George Brown commenced his agitation for representation by population, the secularisation of the clergy reserves, and against the further extension of the Separate School system in Upper Canada, and at the election of 1854 John A. Macdonald took an active part in inducing Conservative candidates to accept the secularisation plank of Mr. Brown’s platform, receiving in return the support of the powerful section of Reformers who went into opposition to Mr. Hincks on that and other questions. The result was the defeat of the government and the return of the Conservatives to office under the leadership of Sir Allan MacNab and Mr. Morin, Mr. Macdonald taking the office of attorney-general west, and practically the leadership of the Legislative Assembly being infinitely superior to his nominal chief in all that constitutes an effective parliamentarian. Mr. Macdonald then became, for the first time, an influential legislator, in the prime of life and fullest measure of his intellectual power. Mr. Macdonald took care in commuting the claims of existing clerical incumbents that great liberality should be shown. Simultaneously with this measure—the price in fact paid to the French Canadians for permitting the secularisation of the reserves—a bill was passed to abolish the seignorial tenure in Lower Canada, and emancipate the _habitants_ from their feudal dues. Hitherto Mr. Macdonald had been opposed to French Canadians as a class, and he now appeared as their ally. He himself had no fancy for reform or change, and rightly judged that the French would prefer conservatism to liberalism. The alliance thus formed was not broken till the execution of Riel, and the effects of that deed of justice are not likely to be lasting. It must not be inferred, however, that Sir John has placed himself under the control of the French. He has helped to build their railways in liberal fashion, but has resisted successfully many demands besides the pardon of Riel. They would gladly have had a land endowment for the Catholic church in Manitoba and aid to send French emigrants thither, but he yielded neither. At critical moments they have forced concessions from him, but he has always made a stout fight, and the money demanded has generally been spent in the development of the resources of the province. Very early in his career as minister, Mr. Macdonald was met by a demand for further subsidies to the Grand Trunk Railway, and he gave them freely. His warmest admirer will not say that he is an economist even now, when old age might have been expected to bring carefulness. But in youth he was lavish both in his own expenditure and that of the country. His best defence as to the latter is that the country has advanced under his care; that though the public debt is large, there is a great deal to show for it. The inception of the great public works of the country, however, did not come from him. The Grand Trunk was commenced by the late Sir Francis Hincks, the annexation of the North-West was pressed upon parliament by the late Hon. George Brown, and the Canadian Pacific was begun, and large sums spent upon it, by Hon. Alexander Mackenzie. But Sir John carried all these to completion, and may fairly claim renown on their account. He cannot be said to have a creative mind, but in dexterity, perseverance, and courage in carrying through important measures he stands unrivalled among Canadian statesmen, and few elsewhere can be held to have surpassed him. Sir John was singularly favored by circumstances in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. Mackenzie helped him by the construction of the line from Pembina and Port Arthur to Winnipeg. Sir John made a _fiasco_ with Sir Hugh Allan in 1871, and the latter was no longer available as a contractor in 1878. But it happened that three Canadians had lately acquired great fortunes in railway enterprises, and were able and willing to enter upon new efforts. But for these circumstances Sir John might have been compelled to build the Canadian Pacific with public loans, by very slow degrees. With the aid of these capitalists he had but to guarantee an issue of government debentures to secure immediate construction of the road from the Atlantic to the Pacific. His policy was assailed, and not without reason, because the difficulties were great and the means of overcoming them not obvious to the public. But the result has justified Sir John’s audacity, and there are few who now question the wisdom of his policy. The road may not pay a large return to its shareholders at once, but it will do its work as a colonising agent, and ultimately must be a triumphant financial success, as well as of advantage to the great territory through which it takes its course. It is a triumph of Canadian enterprise, energy, and liberality, and has directed to the Dominion admiring eyes in every quarter of the globe. Sir John’s extraordinary capacity for conciliating contending factions and individuals has carried the confederated provinces through twenty years of their union. Difficult questions are now coming to the front, and the wonder is not that they should now appear, but that they should have been delayed so long. The British-American Act is a bundle of compromises put together to bring the provinces together, and not meant to be permanent. If Sir John should live to assist in revising its terms it will be a happy augury of success. At his age he cannot be expected to be fully in accord with the spirit of the rising generation, but his address, his personal influence, his vast knowledge, have always been of eminent service to the State. In the settlement of difficulties at various periods with the United States his influence has been used wholly for good. This was manifested particularly in the Washington treaty of 1871. His ambition and jealousy of rivals have sometimes led him astray, but when he is called away his errors will be forgotten; it will be said of him even by his political opponents that he was the greatest politician in Canada, the one who spent most of his time and strength in her service, and did more than any other to forward her material progress. “For forty years,” (says another writer), “a representative of the people in parliament, for thirty years the trusted and beloved leader of the great Conservative party, and for twenty-five years the premier of the Dominion of Canada, the career of Sir John A. Macdonald, is in one respect at least unique in the history of parliamentary institutions.” When the Parliamentary deadlock occurred in 1864, in consequence of the bitter antagonisms that had sprung up between our Canadian politicians, he joined with leading men of both parties in bringing about, in 1867, the confederation of the British North American provinces, which had the effect at the time of smoothing over many difficulties; and, in 1878, when the Mackenzie government fell, he was successful in inaugurating what is known as the National Policy, which has been instrumental in developing the industries of the country, and in no little degree in maintaining his hold of power. In the success of these public measures, Sir John owes much to his astuteness and dexterity, as well as to his personal magnetism and phenomenal influence over the great body of the electorate. Quite recently, it has been said that the premier himself has come under an influence which has hitherto been new to him, that of religion, and that some Ottawa revivalists, in his old age, have brought about in his case a change of heart. This is a matter too sacred for the biographer to touch, and must be left to him whom alone it concerns. Though he has never been known as what is called a religious man, and however lax have been his political ethics, no enemy has ever charged him with being personally corrupt. His own words in 1873, when defending himself from charges arising out of the Pacific Railway scandal, may be accepted and reechoed, that “there does not exist in Canada a man who has given more of his time, more of his heart, more of his wealth, or more of his intellect and powers, such as they may be, for the good of this Dominion of Canada.”

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=Weller, Charles Alexander=, Peterborough. Judge of the County Court, Local Judge of the High Court Of Justice, and Local Master of the Supreme Court of Judicature, was born at Toronto, on the 29th March, 1830, and took up his abode in Cobourg in 1838, with his parents, William Weller and Mercy Wilcox Weller, now both deceased. Judge Weller received his education at the Cobourg Seminary (now Victoria College), and at Upper Canada College, Toronto. Having determined to adopt the profession of law, he studied with Boulton & Cockburn, and Hector & Weller, barristers, in Toronto. In 1852 he was admitted as an attorney, and the following year was called to the bar of Upper Canada. Having removed to Peterborough in 1852, he began the practice of his profession and soon succeeded in building up a good business. In February, 1857, he received the appointments of county crown attorney and clerk of the peace for Peterborough; and in March, 1875, that of master in chancery for the same place. In March, 1886, Mr. Weller was created judge of the County Court, retaining the master’s office. Since that period he has won golden opinions for himself as a just and upright judge, and one who takes a deep interest in all that pertains to the building up of the town in which he has so long resided, and the welfare of his fellow citizens. On the 20th October, 1852, he was married to Martha, eldest daughter of the late Dr. Gilchrist, of Colborne. The fruit of the union was two children, a son and daughter, Henry Boucher, late of Millbrook, barrister, deceased; and Eliza, who is married to H. B. Dean, barrister, Lindsay, and son of Judge Dean.

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