Chapter M: C. Baillairgé, Quebec (57)

=Hamilton, Robert=, D.C.L., Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, Quebec, was born at New Liverpool, near the city of Quebec, on 1st September, 1822. His father was George Hamilton, of Hawkesbury, and of Quebec. He was educated under the Rev. Dr. Urquhart, of Cornwall, and was only seventeen years old when his father died from the effects of a severe cold caused by exposure while discharging his duties as colonel of militia during the rebellion of 1837. His eldest son, Robert, the subject of this sketch, at once undertook his share of the labors and responsibilities connected with the extensive lumbering business which had been built up slowly and painfully amid many discouragements. In those early days of the country’s growth there were none of the modern appliances for facilitating work of every kind. Large enterprises were carried on under circumstances which demanded forethought, caution, and resolution. The means of communication were limited, tedious and uncertain. There were no railways, only a few sluggish steamers—and no telegraphs. Even the mails were carried in a leisurely way over the country. When parties of men were despatched in the autumn of each year to the rivers Rouge and Gatineau for the long winter’s work of cutting down thousands of trees and placing the logs upon the ice, it was necessary to provide them with supplies of every kind. Pork, biscuit, tea, sugar, and clothing were conveyed to them by sleighs from Hawkesbury—if not from Montreal. The breaking up of the ice in the spring was always a very anxious time. The rapid rise of the rivers rendered the return journey of the men very perilous. The booms stretched across the mouth of each river sometimes proved quite insufficient to withstand the pressure of the water covered with thousands of logs. The mills built at Hawkesbury for cutting up the logs and preparing them for the British market were extensive and kept in a state of admirable efficiency, being supplied each winter with every new improvement. The season for work was very short—for the waters fell as rapidly almost as they rose—and the difficulty of conveying the logs in rafts to New Liverpool became serious as the summer advanced and the rivers became shallow. Six weeks represented the long voyage of a raft from the mills at Hawkesbury to the cove at New Liverpool. Here the tedious process of washing each deal with buckets and brooms and then marking its quality—whether 1st, 2nd or 3rd class—occupied many weeks. Then followed the delivery of the deals on board the ships which in those days were generally chartered to carry them to London, where another washing and examination followed their delivery at the docks, and then they were sold as promptly as the market would permit, for the capital represented by them from first to last was very large and long locked up—from the crown license to cut down the trees on through the months of winter, spring, summer and autumn, and in some cases a second winter and spring—before the London market was reached. Such a business in its numerous departments and in its unceasing demands for judgment, patience, endurance and persistence was an education in itself. The best qualities of a man’s head and heart were sure to be exercised, developed and strengthened. Robert Hamilton quickly and resolutely gave himself in the most thorough systematic manner to his life’s work and has not only built up a liberal fortune, but guarded and promoted the welfare of the large family of whom he was the eldest—but seventeen years old, as he said, at the time of his father’s death. Mr. Hamilton, in the use of his fortune, has afforded an example much needed in every young community. In no sense has he been brought under the power of wealth, and in no direction has wealth spoiled or marred his character. He has studied and realized in his family, and in his life in the community, the rare satisfaction of using money liberally, judiciously, and with taste, avoiding every abuse of it. His home at Hamwood on the St. Foy road, near Quebec, is a pattern of simplicity, taste and comfort—all that an educated gentleman of refinement should have about him, and for the comfort and advantage of his family, he has brought together in a home which is full of pleasant memories and rare attractions to many because of the quiet enjoyment which its hospitalities have afforded them. He has never taken any part in the politics of the country—his tastes and preferences drawing him to the study and promotion of other interests. As a member of the Church of England, he is widely known for his generous aid to all good works. The diocese of Quebec has found in him a true and intelligent friend. He has never put himself forward to relieve others of their proper responsibilities, the due discharge of which has so much to do with their characters and their happiness in life. Recognizing the responsibilities attaching to him as a man of wealth, he has been no easy, good-natured careless giver, but has patiently and thoroughly studied the best ways and methods of applying his large and generous gifts both to parishes and to the diocese of Quebec, and to the University of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville. These have been so applied as to call out the active energies and co-operation of others, and the result is to be seen in the permanent and satisfactory endowments so needful for a church whose members in such a community as the province of Quebec must always be few in number and weak in resources. The University of Bishop’s College, in recognition of his position and services, conferred upon him in 1885 the honorary degree of D.C.L. In 1845 he married the eldest daughter of the late John Thomson of Westfield, near Quebec. He has a large family, and is surrounded by an attractive crowd of grand-children. His summer resort at Cacouna is full of attractions—foremost amongst them being the gathering of his children and their families about him.

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=Lount, William=, Q.C., Toronto, Ontario, was born at Newmarket, on the 3rd of March, 1840. His father was George Lount, then registrar, and brother of Samuel Lount, who was executed with Matthews in 1837, during the rebellion. The subject of this sketch received his education at the Grammar School, Barrie, studied law with Mr. (now Sir) Adam Wilson, finishing his last years with Mowat & McLennan, and was called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1861, when he immediately commenced the practice of his profession in Barrie. In 1867 he ran for the Ontario legislature, for the North Riding of Simcoe against Angus Morrison. He was elected by a fair majority, and supported the Sandfield Macdonald government for four sessions; but on seeking re-election he was opposed by W. D. Ardagh, the regular Conservative nominee, and H. H. Cook, the Reform nominee and was defeated, Mr. Ardagh being elected. He then retired from politics owing to its taking too much of his time from his profession. He had in the meantime formed a partnership with Mr. Boys, now the junior judge of the county of Simcoe, which lasted for some years, when a new partnership was formed by the admission of D’Arcy Boulton, Q.C., and H. D. Stewart. Five years later this firm was dissolved, Mr. Lount retiring and forming a partnership with his brother, as Lount & Lount. This partnership was continued until the decease of the late James Bethune, Q.C., when Mr. Lount entered into partnership with Mr. Bethune’s late partner, Mr. Marsh, under the name of Lount & Marsh, in Toronto, which firm still continues. He received his patent as Queen’s counsel from the Ontario government on 11th March, 1876, and from the Dominion government in 1877. He has acted as Crown counsel for the Ontario government on several important cases. He has always been president of the North Simcoe Reform Association, taking a very active interest in its affairs, laying all the plans and organizing the party for the fray. He was married on the 17th July, 1874, to Miss Orris, daughter of John Orris, on lake Erie, near Dunnville, and grand-daughter of Colonel Cotter who fought at the battle of Waterloo, in which action he took a very active part as captain in a British regiment of the line.

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=Buchanan, Wentworth James=, Montreal, General Manager of the Bank of Montreal, is one of a class of native Canadians of which the Dominion has reason to be proud—a class of men who, beginning life with the prestige of an honorable family record, won by industry, energy and integrity in the professions, make it their aim to increase that prestige by their own personal exertions. Mr. Buchanan’s grandfather came to Quebec with the 49th regiment,—Colonel (afterwards Sir Isaac) Brock, in command—and was a surgeon in that regiment. His father, Alexander Buchanan, was only four years of age when he accompanied his parents to Canada. After receiving a good education in the then available schools, he studied law with the late Andrew and James Stuart (afterwards Sir James), of Quebec, rose to be one of the ablest jurists who ever practised at the Montreal bar, and was a Queen’s counsel in the days when this honor was conferred upon very few. At the time of his death he was the oldest judge of the Superior Court of the Lower Canada. James Wentworth Buchanan was the second son of this venerable judge, and was born on the 11th December, 1828. He received a sound commercial education; and the great monetary institution in which he was destined to attain so prominent a position was not yet thirty-five years in operation when he began his career. That was in 1847, when he entered the Commercial Bank as a clerk, and five and a half years later he obtained a situation in the Bank of Montreal. From March, 1853, until 1858, he applied himself steadily to his duties, with such satisfaction to his superiors that in the latter year he was appointed manager of the branch at Woodstock, and, subsequently, held in succession a similar charge at Brantford, Cobourg, Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario, acquitting himself at each of these places in such a way that confidence in his ability and integrity increased from year to year. In 1874 he was promoted to the post of local manager at Montreal. In 1880, the late Mr. Smithers being made general manager, Mr. Buchanan became assistant general manager; and in 1881, on the election of the former gentleman to the presidency, he was chosen his successor, and since then he has occupied the highly responsible position of general manager.

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=White, Hon. Thomas=, Ottawa, Minister of the Interior of the Dominion of Canada, M.P. for Cardwell, Ontario, was born at Montreal, on the 7th of August, 1830. His father was Irish, a county Westmeath man, and his mother Scotch, having been born in Edinburgh. Mr. White, senior, carried on business as a leather merchant in Montreal for many years, where he was greatly respected. He sent Thomas, the subject of this sketch, to the High School of that city, where he received the education which in later years he was destined to turn to such excellent account. Having left school, he engaged for some years in mercantile pursuits, but this was not according to his taste, and he soon made up his mind to abandon the calling, and accepted a position on the editorial staff of the Quebec _Gazette_—which position was offered him in consequence of an address he had delivered on temperance in the city of Quebec some time before, and which attracted great attention. In 1853 he started, in company with his brother-in-law, Robert Romain, the Peterboro’ _Review_, which he was connected with until 1860. Then he entered upon the study of law in the office of the Hon. Sidney Smith, Q.C., of Peterboro’, and prosecuted his studies during the full term of four years. He then removed to Hamilton, and, with his brother Richard White, purchased the _Spectator_ newspaper, which they conducted with great energy from 1864 to 1870. Mr. White, from an early age, evinced a marked interest in public affairs; and when he was yet a very young man, was chosen reeve of the town of Peterboro’. He likewise always took a great interest in educational affairs, and served upon the Grammar School boards in Peterboro’ and Hamilton. In Montreal, where in later years his chief personal interests were centred, he took an important part in civic and general business. He was for a number of years representative of the Montreal Board of Trade in the Dominion Board; for three years a member of the executive committee of the Dominion Board of Trade, and representative for five years of that body at the National Board of Trade of the United States. But important and ever conspicuous connection with civic matters, and with associations, did not satisfy the ambition of Mr. White. He had been for years a close and careful observer of political events, and a conscientious student of public questions. So he resolved to seek admission to parliament; and when he sought that admission he did not go as a raw recruit, who has to study public questions after he has entered the legislature. His mind was well stored with practical information, and his judgment ripened by a wide experience. In 1878, he was first returned to parliament for Cardwell, his present seat. But this success was not achieved without much perseverance and strong efforts. In 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for South Wentworth in the Ontario legislature; in 1874, for the county of Prescott, in the House of Commons; and in 1875 and 1876, respectively, for Montreal West, in the House of Commons. It may be pointed out that the aggregate majority against him in the three first elections amounted to only sixteen votes. Mr. White has retained his seat for Cardwell since 1878. He has always been an able and very conscientious supporter of the Conservative party’s national policy, and is always prepared with an invincible array of arguments to defend the position which he takes upon this question. He is one of the most industrious members of the House of Commons, and best informed on the government side of the house on questions of trade and commerce. Hon. Mr. White is a graceful, polished and telling speaker; always conveys the impression of being master of his subject, and never becomes confused when he gets upon his feet. In 1885, affairs in the Northwest Territories assumed a very unsatisfactory state, rebellion broke out, and general discontent prevailed anent the government’s management of that vast territory. At this time Sir David Macpherson, minister of the interior, was suffering from illness and unable to cope with the many questions forced upon him through this unfortunate state of things, and when compelled to resign and go to Germany to restore his health, every one began to search for a man of ability to take charge of the vacated departmental headship. Sir John A. Macdonald selected the member for Cardwell to fill the vacancy, and the most complete satisfaction was evinced by the public, indeed even organs most bitterly opposed to the government admitted that the selection was a most admirable one, for the industry, the ability for organization, and the capacity of the minister elect, were known to every one. Almost immediately after receiving the appointment, Mr. White proceeded to the Northwest, and made painstaking investigation into the many unsettled affairs in that region; and it is not necessary to show how numerous, how tedious, and how immense this task was, and the work which afterwards fell to him at his office in the capital. We mention this to show the grave responsibility resting upon the shoulders of the minister of the interior, but there is much satisfaction in knowing that there is no public man of whom we have any knowledge better fitted to cope with the Northwest difficulties than Mr. White. Before closing the sketch, we think it is only fair to mention that the Hon. Mr. White, like many of the leading men who now hold public positions, received his early training as a speaker in the division rooms of the Sons of Temperance, and that, when a young man and a resident of Lower Canada, he occupied one of the highest offices in the Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of the province of Quebec, and was the first in Canada to write a pamphlet explaining the aims and objects of an order of temperance workers, that are as active to-day in extending the cause of temperance and prohibition as it was about forty years ago, when the order was first introduced into Canada.

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=Duplessis, Louis Theodule Neree LeNoblet=, Advocate, Three Rivers, M.P.P. for the county of St. Maurice, Quebec province, was born at St. Anne d’Yamachiche, on the 5th March, 1855. He is the fourth son of Joseph LeNoblet Duplessis and Marie Louise Lefebvre Descoteaux. His ancestors came from France at the end of the seventeenth century, and settled at La Pointe-du-Lac, in the district of Three Rivers. He was educated at the Seminary of Nicolet and at the Seminary of Three Rivers. He studied law as a profession, and in January, 1880, was called to the bar of Lower Canada, and is now practising in Three Rivers, in partnership with J. M. Deselets, Q.C. Mr. Duplessis did not take an active part in politics until the general election of 1886, when he was returned to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the county of St. Maurice. In religion he is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics a Conservative. He is a rising man, and not many years hence will make his mark in the legislature of his native province. On the 14th July, 1886, he was married to Bertha Cécile Genest, daughter of L. U. A. Genest, clerk of the peace for the district of Three Rivers.

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=Clarke, Henry Edward=, M.P.P. for West Toronto, the subject of this sketch, and one of the rising men in the provincial capital, was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, on the 20th of March, 1829. He is a son of Henry Clarke, and Ellen Armstrong, both of whom came from Midhill, county of Fermanagh, Ireland. Our subject received his tuition, which comprised a sound and practical English education, from public teachers and private instructors, and at fifteen years of age Mr. Clarke left home to push his fortune in the world. Commerce drew him into its busy and active field. At the age of eighteen he had learned the trade of saddle and trunkmaking, and found employment in one of the largest shops in Montreal. Here he remained until 1848, and then removed to Ottawa (then Bytown), where, in the following year, when barely twenty years of age, we find him foreman of the largest saddlery shop in the town. At Ottawa he remained for about four years, working diligently, and perfecting himself in his trade. Mr. Clarke again returned to Montreal in 1853, and the next year he was sent to Toronto to open a branch trunk store for R. Dean & Co., of Montreal. Mr. Clarke now resolved to carry on business for himself, and in ten months after his arrival here he bought out the business of R. Dean & Co. Although he had little capital at his command, he had industry and perseverance, and the result is that we now find him at the head of one of the largest trunk manufacturing establishments in America, and one of the most solid and enterprising of Toronto’s citizens. Although an active man in his own business, yet Mr. Clarke has found some time to devote to public affairs. For eight years he was a director of the Mechanics’ Institute; was alderman for St. George’s Ward in 1879, and for St. Andrew’s Ward for the years 1881, ’82, and ’83. He was chairman of the Court of Revision in 1881, and of the Executive Committee in 1883. He was elected, in 1883, and again in 1887, to represent Toronto West in the Ontario Parliament, and this seat he still holds. He was also for a time one of the directors of the Federal Bank. As a politician Mr. Clarke has achieved distinction and won a high place for himself in the Ontario legislature. He is an effective speaker, and has on repeated occasions ably supported his leader, Mr. Meredith, in the active duties of legislation, and done good service to his party on the floor of the house. As an ardent Conservative, he sits at present in the cold shades of opposition; though did a change of government come, Mr. Clarke would find himself not only “on the Treasury benches,” but no doubt among the prominent members of the cabinet. He possesses an active and practical mind, is fairly well read, and keeps himself posted on all the leading questions of the day, in so far as they come under the purview of politics. Lately he has taken a prominent part in opposing the Commercial Union of Canada with the United States, feeling that it might tend to an undesirable political alliance with the Republic, and retard the industrial life and development of Canada. On this subject, Mr. Clarke contributed his views on the opposition side of the argument to the _Canadian Almanac_ for 1888, Mr. Erastus Wiman, of New York, taking the affirmative side. On other subjects of practical moment, in the domain of politics and legislation, Mr. Clarke has written and spoken much, and his views always command considerable public attention. Mr. Clarke is an Orangeman, having joined the order in 1849. He travelled extensively in 1878, and visited London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Geneva, Mont Blanc, Berne, Lucerne, Munich, Vienna, Trieste, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and other historic places. On his return, he delivered a lecture called “Impressions of a Tour in Europe,” in Richmond street Methodist Church, and afterwards published it in pamphlet form. Mr. Clarke belongs to the Methodist denomination, and in politics is a Conservative. He married in May, 1856, Anne, daughter of the late Thomas Kennedy, of Montreal, and has a family of three children, a boy and two girls. His son died at the age of fourteen years. Mr. Clarke’s career has been industrious and honorable, and he enjoys the fruits of his labors and the respect of his fellow men.

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=Desilets, Joseph Moise=, Q.C., Advocate, Three Rivers, Quebec, was born on the 13th April, 1838, at Bécancour, county of Nicolet. He is the son of Isidore Desilets and of Marie Perenne de Moras, both belonging to old French families. He received his education at the College of Nicolet and St. Hyacinthe. He adopted law as a profession, and was called to the bar of Lower Canada on the 2nd September, 1862. He was appointed a Queen’s counsel, March 9th, 1887. He was alderman for the city of Three Rivers from 1864 to 1869; mayor of the same city from 1869 to 1872, and district magistrate for the district of Three Rivers from 1873 to 1878. Mr. Desilets is now practising in partnership with N. L. Duplessis, advocate, and M.P.P. for the county of St. Maurice. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, and in politics a Conservative. He was married, June 3, 1863, to Marie Malvina Trudel, the only daughter of the late Oliver Trudel, notary, and of Sophia Sulte.

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=Morris, John Lang=, B.C.L., Q.C., Barrister, Montreal, born at Perth, Ontario, in 1835, is the youngest son of the late Hon. William Morris and Elizabeth Cochrane, and was educated at High School, Montreal, and McGill College, graduating as B.C.L. in 1859. He studied law under his brother, the Hon. Alexander Morris, the late Judge Torrance and the Hon. Judge Cross, and was admitted to the Montreal bar in June, 1859. Mr. Morris has long enjoyed a large and influential practice—his partners having been Robert A. Leach, son of the late Very Rev. Archdeacon Leach, a talented young advocate whose promising career was prematurely cut short by death; the late Judge Torrance, and subsequently the late Thomas W. Ritchie, Q.C., and William Rose, son of Sir John Rose, Bart. His present partner is Charles M. Holt, B.C.L., son of the late Judge Holt, of Quebec, and the business is carried on under the firm name of Morris & Holt. Mr. Morris is a specialist in commercial, real estate and ecclesiastical law—is a clear, logical and convincing pleader, and has been for many years the counsel of the Presbyterian Church. In this last capacity he conducted successfully in all the courts of the province of Quebec, the celebrated case of Dobie and the Temporalities Board. He was retained by the church to plead the same cause before her Majesty’s Privy Council in England and although the judgment of our court was modified in some respects, he was successful in inducing that tribunal not to grant the prayer of the anti-unionists that the funds be handed over to them. Upon the strength of this judgment legislation was subsequently obtained from the Dominion Parliament which set at rest the pretensions of the minority to hold the church funds. This act, as stated by the Rev. Robert Campbell, D.D., in his “History of the St. Gabriel st. Church, Montreal,” “met with stout opposition in the private bills committee of both houses of parliament—calling forth the magnificent speeches of Principal Grant, of Kingston, Mr. Macdonnell, of Toronto, and John L. Morris, of Montreal, in reply to Messrs. Macmaster, Brymner and Lang.” In religion, Mr. Morris, following in the footsteps of his father, is a “true blue” Presbyterian, and has been an elder in connection with St. Andrew’s, and since the union of Presbyterians, with St. Paul’s Church, Montreal. He took a very active and leading part in promoting the union of the Presbyterian churches in 1875, both by his speeches on the floor of the synod and professionally in successfully defending the various suits instituted by the minority opposed to the union. He has been a Sunday school teacher and superintendent for over thirty years. Like his elder brother the Hon. A. Morris, he has taken a great interest in Canadian affairs, and has delivered a number of popular lectures upon the history of Canada. In politics, Mr. Morris has always been a consistent Conservative, and although too much devoted to the interests of his profession to have entered into public life, has in a quiet but energetic way exerted a good deal of influence in supporting his party. He is married to Agnes McCulloch, youngest daughter of the late Dr. Michael McCulloch, of Montreal, who fell a victim to his heroic devotion to the sick during the time of the last visitation by cholera in 1854. His only sister is married to W. B. Lambe, of Montreal, advocate. His brother, William J. Morris, has devoted himself exclusively to mercantile pursuits.

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=Shortt, Rev. William=, B.D., Rector of St. Thomas Church, Walkerton, Ontario, was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in 1824. His father was Jonathan Shortt, attorney, and six-clerk, of No. 11 Blackhall street, Dublin, who married Anna Maria Antisell, daughter of Joseph Antisell, of Arbourhill, in the county of Tipperary, and both descended from a long line of highly respectable and respected ancestors. The subject of our sketch was educated in the city of Dublin, and in 1850 emigrated to the United States; was ordained deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church by the Right Rev. Bishop Horatio Potter, of New York, in 1854, and priest in 1855; was for some time assistant to the rector of St. Thomas Church, N.Y., then assistant minister to St. George’s Church, Flushing, and first rector of Grace Church, Whitestone, L. I., until 1865, when, on account of ill-health, he was obliged to resign his charge. Finding the climate of Canada to agree with him, he was licensed by the Bishop of Ontario, to the mission of Amherst Island, and afterwards to Wolfe Island. In 1872 he was invited to take charge of Christ Church, St. Catharines. In 1875 he was appointed to the rectory of Walkerton, by the Bishop of Huron. Rev. Mr. Shortt’s parents were attached members of the Church of Ireland, and he has ever been loyal to her discipline and worship, has served her altars to the best of his ability, and hopes and expects to die in her communion. He took the purple degree in the order of Good Templars in 1875; and was chaplain of the Saugeen lodge, 197, A. F. and A. Masons. In 1857 he was married to Mary Amanda Haggerty, daughter of Bonnell Moody Haggerty and Martha Phillips, both of New Jersey, U. S. Mrs. Shortt’s grand-parents were loyal to the British government in the revolution, and were compelled to move to Nova Scotia, but returned to their native land when the act of amnesty was passed.

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=Langevin, Hon. Sir Hector Louis=, K.C.M.G., Q.C., Ottawa, Minister of Public Works of the Dominion of Canada, M.P. for Three Rivers, Quebec province, was born in the city of Quebec, on the 25th August, 1828. He is descended from an illustrious line of ancestry, and has proved himself worthy of his descent. His father, the late Jean Langevin, acted as assistant civil secretary under the Earl of Gosford and Lord Sydenham, during the period those noblemen held the office of governor-general of Canada; and his uncle was the Right Rev. Jean Langevin, bishop of St. Germain de Rimouski. His mother, Sophia Scholastique La Force, was a daughter of Major La Force, who faithfully served his country during the war of 1812-14, and whose grandfather was acting commodore of the British fleet on Lake Ontario during the American revolutionary war. Sir Hector Louis Langevin, the subject of our sketch, received his education at the Quebec Seminary, and in 1846 left school to begin the study of law with the late Hon. A. N. Morin, at Montreal. He had an early taste for literature, and while pursuing his studies, wrote a great deal for the press. He became editor of the _Mélanges Religieux_ in 1847, and subsequently editor of the _Journal of Agriculture_, both papers being published in Montreal. When Mr. Morin retired from practice, Mr. Langevin entered the office of the late Sir George Etienne Cartier. Thus began the connection between those two distinguished men which was destined to last so long, to be so close and so loyal, and of such importance to the French Canadians, as well as to the Dominion of Canada. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada in October, 1850. In 1856 Mr. Langevin was elected representative of Palace ward in the Quebec city council, subsequently became chairman of the water works committee, and during the absence of the mayor, Dr. Morrin in England, acted as chief magistrate of Quebec city. In 1857 he assumed the editorial management of the _Courrier du Canada_, published in Quebec. The same year he was chosen mayor of Quebec, and also representative for Dorchester county in the Legislative Assembly of Canada. On entering parliament he very naturally supported the administration, one of the leaders of which was the gentleman at whose hands he had received his political as well as his legal training. The Macdonald-Cartier ministry, however, held life by a very precarious tenure, and as the difficulties thickened about it, numbers yielded up their support, and it was forced to resign. Then George Brown was called to office, but had to relinquish it in three days. The old ministry was recalled to power, and a readjustment took place. On the 30th of March, 1864, Mr. Langevin became a Queen’s counsel, and on the same day entered the Taché-Macdonald administration as solicitor-general east. In 1866 he became postmaster-general, which office he retained till the consummation of confederation. In the confederation movement he took a prominent part. He was a delegate to Charlottetown, was a member of the Quebec conference, and went to England to aid the home office in perfecting the confederation scheme. During this entire movement, the tact, suavity and broad statesmanship which he has shown so prominently in later years came into light. Sir George E. Cartier was energetic, forceful, patriotic, but he had not the _savoir-faire_ of the Hon. Mr. Langevin, and he often exasperated where he should have conciliated. In the first Dominion administration Mr. Langevin was secretary of state for the Dominion, and the following year he was created a C.B., civil. In 1869 he assumed the portfolio of public works. In 1870 he was created a Knight Commander of the Roman order of Pope Gregory the Great. During Sir George Cartier’s absence in England, in 1873, Mr. Langevin acted as leader of the French Canadian Conservative party, and upon the death of his chief became the permanent leader. In 1873, on the downfall of Sir John A. Macdonald’s administration, he resigned office. At the general election of 1878, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Rimouski; but William McDougall, the member for Three Rivers, having made way for him, he was chosen for the vacated constituency by acclamation. In the new Conservative administration he became postmaster-general, which office he retained till 1879, when he became again minister of public works, and this office he still holds. Regarding his brilliant parts, and the service he has been to the Dominion and to the French Canadian people, the Queen conferred upon him the knighthood of the order of St. Michael and St. George. Sir Hector Langevin is an astute and wise statesman, and his whole aim is to create a feeling of brotherhood among his own people and their English-speaking compatriots, and to develop a feeling of loyalty throughout the country to the British empire. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, and in religion a Roman Catholic. In 1854 he was married to Justine, eldest daughter of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Charles H. Peter, J.P. Mrs. Langevin died on the 30th October, 1882.

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=Bridges, Henry Seabury=, Fredericton, Professor of Classical Literature and History in the University of New Brunswick, was born November 23rd, 1850, at Sheffield, Sunbury county, N.B. His father was Henry Putnam Bridges, who died in December, 1881. His mother, Eliza Ann Burpee, is still living. Both parents have descended from the Puritan colony which came from Rowley, in Massachusetts, in 1763, and settled in Sheffield and Maugerville. Professor Bridges received his early education at the Grammar School, Sheffield, and matriculated at the University of New Brunswick, in September, 1866. He graduated in June, 1869, with honors in classics and French; also took the Alumni Society’s gold medal for the best Latin essay. He proceeded to the degree of M.A., in June, 1871; and since his graduation he has followed the teaching profession. He was appointed assistant master of the Sunbury Grammar School just after having left college, and remained in this position till July, 1872, when he received the appointment of second master of the Collegiate School, Fredericton, and then removed to his new sphere of duty. In June, 1874, he was appointed principal of the High School, and superintendent of the other schools of St. Stephen. In September, 1877, he left St. Stephen for Oxford, England, and then spent a year in the study of classical literature there. Returning to his mother country, he was appointed second master of the Grammar School in the city of St. John, in August, 1878, and principal in May, the following year. He received the appointment of professor of classics in the University of New Brunswick in June 1881; and that position he still holds. He has been president of the Alumni Society since June, 1885, and was one of its representatives on the senate of the university during the academic year, 1882-83. He married, October 7th, 1880, Alice Middlemore Foster, daughter of the late S. R. Foster, of St. John, New Brunswick. The fruit of this union has been two children,—a daughter, Edith Hazlewood, born August 31st, 1881, still living; and a son, Atlee Burpee, a child of great promise, born June 23rd, 1885, but who died of croup in November, 1887.

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=Starnes, Lieut.-Col. Hon. Henry=, Montreal, was born at Kingston, Ontario, on the 13th October, 1816. He is the son of Benjamin Starnes and Elizabeth Melville, his wife. His grandfather, Nathan Starnes, was a United Empire loyalist who left the state of New York and settled in Canada at the close of the revolutionary war, the family being of Scotch descent. Mr. Starnes was educated at the Academy of Rev. Henry Esson, afterwards taking a course at Montreal College. After leaving college he entered the service of James Leslie, merchant, was admitted a partner in the business in 1849, and the firm of Leslie, Starnes & Co., wholesale merchants, continued until 1859 to do a very large and successful business. Mr. Starnes retired from mercantile life to assist in organizing the Montreal branch of the Ontario Bank, upon the organization of which he was appointed manager, and continued in charge for about ten years. He is now president of the Montreal branch of the well-known London and Liverpool and Globe Insurance Company. He has been and still continues to be identified with a great many local enterprises and interests. He was president of the Metropolitan Bank from its establishment until November, 1875; has been a director of Le Banque du Peuple; vice-president of the Montreal Board of Trade, the St. Jean Baptiste Society, and the Montreal Warehousing Company; a director of the Richelieu Steamboat Company, the Canada Engine and Machinery Company, and the International Transportation Company; and was at one time warden of Trinity house. In municipal matters Mr. Starnes has always taken a great interest, being a public spirited man, and taking much pride in the continued growth of the city which he had made his home. His fellow citizens were not unmindful of his efforts in their behalf, and he was elected mayor of Montreal in 1856-57, and again in 1866-67. In politics, Mr. Starnes is a Conservative, and sat for Chateauguay in the Canadian Assembly from the general election of 1857 until 1863, when he retired. He contested Montreal in 1857, but was defeated; declined a seat in the Quebec cabinet in 1867; was appointed to the Legislative Council in the same year, and appointed speaker of that body on the 8th March, 1878. He has for many years taken an active interest in militia matters, and at present holds the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Montreal Centre Reserve. In August, 1841, he was married to Eleanor Stuart, of Quebec, and has had issue seven children, of whom one has died, one daughter is a nun, and the other three daughters and two sons are all married.

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=Gravel, Rev. Joseph Alphonse=, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, was born the 2nd February, 1843, at St. Antoine de Richelieu, his father, Louis Gravel, being a highly respected farmer of that place, and his mother was Emilie Gladu. He received his early education at the St. Hyacinthe College, and entered the Seminary at Montreal for his theological studies December 8th, 1862. After a highly satisfactory completion of these, he was ordained the 26th August, 1866. Was vicar of Compton from August, 1866, to September, 1868, and rector of Compton for two years. He was director of the Classical and Commercial College at Sorel, from September, 1870, to July 1st, 1872, at which time he became assistant secretary to the bishop of St. Hyacinthe; January 17th, 1876, was made secretary to the bishop, procurator of the Episcopal body, and diocesan adviser; and was appointed vicar-general of the diocese in 1877. In April of the same year was made canon, and in 1888 was appointed prevost of the chapter-house,—administrator of the diocese on two occasions, in 1878 and in 1887. As will be seen by our enumeration of the many important offices of trust and responsibility, the subject of our sketch has been a worthy and deserving recipient of the confidence reposed in him. His principal mission has been to restore the revenues of the Episcopal corporation, in which laudable undertaking his indefatigable efforts and industry have been crowned with success. He has built the beautiful cathedral at St. Hyacinthe—a lasting monument of his energy and talents—and under his personal supervision it will shortly be decorated in a suitable manner, in keeping with, and worthy of, its artistic exterior.

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=Fraser, John A.=, Big Bras d’Or, Cape Breton, M.P.P. for Victoria county, is a native of Boularderie, C.B., where he was born 6th of November, 1840. He is the only surviving son of a Scotch pioneer clergyman, the late Rev. James Fraser, who emigrated to the island of Cape Breton from Ross-shire, Scotland, in 1835. He was employed as a missionary of the Church of Scotland, and like many another hard-working, self-denying pioneer minister, lived hard and travelled far, preaching the blessings of peace and contentment among a poor and scattered population. In many a fishing village of Cape Breton, and through many steep mountain paths in that inclement region, the name of Rev. James Fraser is held in reverence. The men who carried the gospel into the wilds of Cape Breton were possessed of more than ordinary courage. One of them, Rev. John Stewart, forty years pastor at Whycocomagh, a profound Gaelic poet and scholar, but lately passed away. The educational facilities of the island forty years ago being of the scantiest, John A. Fraser removed to Halifax, N.S., and received his scholastic training at the Free Church Academy in that city. Having completed his course he returned to his native county and went into business. He held the position of postmaster in Big Bras d’Or for eighteen years, and resigned it in obedience to the wishes of his numerous friends, in order to contest the constituency of Victoria at the general election of 1874, and was successful. He took his seat in the Legislative Assembly and earned a good reputation as a parliamentarian, being listened to with respect in the debates, and attending well to the work of committees. The great question agitating the public mind in Cape Breton for some years past has been the matter of railway construction. Cape Breton may be described a huge coal-bed, much of it worked, but by far the larger part being quite unexplored. Ocean steamers call at North Sydney and at the coal-shoot of Sydney proper, and carry away much coal for their own consumption. A large export of the black diamond is also carried on in coasters. Parts of the island are admirably adapted to agriculture, notably the shores of the Little Bras d’Or. A railway is wanted to weld together all parts of the island, and the great question is, what course shall it take? People living at Whycocomagh advocate a road travelling their section, whilst the central route from Port Mulgrave to Sydney, with a branch to Mabon and Port Hood, has many to support it. The population is rent by the favorers of either route. Last summer the Dominion government undertook the initial steps of the work, and every move since has been carefully criticized. Whichever route is finally adopted, the gain to the island will be great, and Cape Breton, which steadily increases her output of coal year by year, will gradually become a very opulent section of Canada. Its attractions in summer draw a great influx of visitors from the southward. Gold and marble have also been found there, whilst superior iron ore has been smelted. Mr. Fraser, having sat out his term of office did not offer again until the general election of 1886, when he was elected second on the list, there being six candidates. The vote stood: Dr. John L. Bethune, 777; John A. Fraser, 513; defeating M. A. McLeod, 459; John Morrison, 408; J. J. McCabe, 389; J. Munro, 468. Mr. Fraser also sat for four years in the municipal council of Victoria. He is a Liberal and takes a warm interest in all matters affecting the welfare of Cape Breton.

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=Chênevert, Cuthbert Alphonse=, Barrister, Berthierville, Quebec province, was born in St. Cuthbert, Berthier county, P.Q., on 21st May, 1859. His parents were Theophile Chênevert and Mathilde Filteau. His father was for many years one of the largest merchants of the county of Berthier, and died in January, 1873. Young Chênevert studied at the College of L’Assomption and the College of Ste. Marie, at Montreal. On the 12th of January, 1880, he was admitted to the study of law, and followed the course of Laval University, at Montreal, attending at the same time the office of Longpré & David, advocates. He was called to the bar of Quebec on the 20th of January, 1883, and began to practise his profession at Berthierville, in partnership with the Hon. Honoré Mercier, prime minister of the province of Quebec, and C. Beausoleil, now member for Berthier, under the name and style of Mercier, Beausoleil & Chênevert. But he practises his profession alone at Berthierville, attending the circuits of Richelieu, Berthier, and Joliette. Mr. Chênevert is a Liberal in politics, and has been in several contests. He was a member and officer of the National Club at Montreal, and took an active part in its management. In 1881 he delivered a very interesting lecture before the members of this club, and _La Patrie_, on the 13th March of that year, thus flatteringly alludes to it:—“At the last meeting of the National Club, which was numerously attended, one of the members, Mr. Cuthbert Chênevert, delivered a very instructive lecture, prepared at the request of the secretary, entitled ‘The History of the Press.’ The work is worthy of the title. It unites in the recital didactic language, strict history and pure literature. The invention of printing, the first attempts of Gutenberg, were related in a most interesting manner, and the encomiums passed on Canada were to the effect that our newspapers were the defenders of our liberties against oligarchy and bureaucracy. This magnificent lecture was marked with patriotic sentiments, expressed with great force. We congratulate Mr. Chênevert on his success. His example should encourage his friends, being one of the youngest members of the club. We hope this effort will not be his last.” Mr. Chênevert was married, on August 27, 1884, to Valerie Berthe Rocher, daughter of Clothilde Roy and Barthelemy Rocher, notary and registrar of the county of L’Assomption.

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=Robinson, D. A.=, M.D., Coaticook, Quebec, was born at West Charleston, Vermont, U.S.A., Feb. 29th, 1836. He was the eldest son of Dr. Elijah Robinson and Ann Eliza Smith, whose ancestry were of purely English origin and among the early settlers of the state of Connecticut. The great-grandfather on the father’s side was a colonel in the Revolutionary war of the American colonies against Great Britain, and the great-grandfather on the mother’s side, with several brothers, held positions of honor and trust in the Federal army. Dr. Robinson’s early education was confined mostly to the common schools. His classical course, preparatory to his entering upon the study of medicine, was through select schools and private teachers. His strictly medical course was commenced under the direction of his father, then a prominent and leading practitioner in the county in which he lived. His first course of medical lectures commenced at Dartmouth Medical College, Hanover, N.H., in the summer of 1858. He subsequently graduated among the first of his class at the Vermont University Medical College, Burlington, Vt., June, 1859, and commenced the practice of medicine at Milan, N.H., the following year. His successful career as a practitioner led to his appointment as surgeon in the United States army, and during the great American rebellion was with the Union army under Gen. Grant, and served with it till the surrender of the Confederate Gen. Lee and the close of the war. He recommenced civil practice at Island Pond, Vt., soon after his services ended as army surgeon in 1866, and conducted a successful practice in this town till the year 1874, when he moved to the prosperous and thriving town of Coaticook, P.Q. Two years subsequently he was made a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Quebec, after having undergone a searching examination before the Provincial Medical Board in Montreal, by whom every applicant but himself was rejected, which reflected considerable honor on his ability and proficiency as a medical man. Aside from the position he now occupies in the medical profession of his adopted country, he is a member of the Vermont State Medical Society, and various other societies. Dr. Robinson is now in successful practice in Coaticook.

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