Part 16

Judge Wilmot was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Balloch, daughter of the Rev. J. Balloch. His second wife, who still survives, was Miss Black, a daughter of the Hon. William A. Black, of Halifax, a member of the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia. It may also be mentioned, in conclusion, that during the visit of the Prince of Wales, in 1860, Judge Wilmot raised and commanded a troop of dragoons for escort duty, for which service he personally received the thanks of His Royal Highness.

THE HON. HENRY ELZÉAR TASCHEREAU.

Judge Taschereau is the eldest son of the late Pierre Elzéar Taschereau, who, prior to the union of the Provinces, was for many years a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and after the union, of that of the United Provinces. His mother was Catherine Hénédine, a daughter of the late Hon. Amable Dionne, who was at one time a member of the old Legislative Council. He is descended from Thomas Jacques Taschereau, a French gentleman who settled in the Province of Quebec many years before the Conquest. Various members of the Taschereau family have achieved high distinction in Canada, no fewer than seven of them having occupied seats on the Judicial Bench. The present Judge was born at the Seignorial Manor House, Ste. Marie de la Beauce, on the 7th of October, 1836. He was educated at the Quebec Seminary, and after completing his scholastic education, studied law in the office of his cousin, the Hon. Jean Thomas Taschereau. The last named gentleman was one of the most eminent lawyers in his native Province, and became a Puisné Judge of the Supreme Court of the Dominion upon its formation in 1875. He was superannuated about two years ago.

Upon the completion of his legal studies, in October, 1857, the subject of this sketch was called to the Bar of Lower Canada, and immediately afterwards entered into partnership with his cousin, the eminent jurist already mentioned, at Quebec. He attained high rank in his profession, and subsequently formed partnerships with M.M. William Duval and Jean Blanchet. He entered political life in 1861, when he was elected to a seat in the Legislative Assembly for his native county of Beauce. He continued to represent that constituency until Confederation, when, at the general election of 1867, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the House of Commons. During the same year he was appointed a Queen's Counsel. The following year he was appointed Clerk of the Peace for the District of Quebec, but resigned that office after holding it only three days. For some time afterwards he confined his attention to professional pursuits. On the 12th of January, 1871, he was appointed a Puisné Judge of the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec, and held that position until his forty-second birthday--the 7th of October, 1878--when he was elevated to his present position--that of a Puisné Judge of the Supreme Court of the Dominion.

He is the author of several important legal works, the most noteworthy of which is "The Criminal Law Consolidation and Amendment Acts of 1869, 32, 33 Vic., for the Dominion of Canada, as amended and in force on the 1st November, 1874, in the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and on 1st June, 1875, in British Columbia; with Notes, Commentaries, Precedents of Indictments, &c., &c." This work extends to two volumes, the first of which, containing 796 pages, was published at Montreal in 1874. The second volume, containing 556 pages, was published at Toronto in 1875. Both volumes display much erudition, and have been highly commended by competent legal authorities; among others by Mr. C. S. Greaves, an English Queen's Counsel, who is one of the most eminent living writers on Criminal Jurisprudence. In 1876 Judge Taschereau published "Le Code de Procédure Civile du Bas Canada, with Annotations," which has also received high commendation from legal critics.

On the 27th of May, 1857, he married Marie Antoinette Harwood, a daughter of the Hon. R. U. Harwood, a member of the Legislative Council, and Seigneur of Vaudreuil, near Montreal, by whom he has a family of five children. Judge Taschereau resides at Ottawa, and is joint proprietor of the Seigniory of Ste. Marie de la Beauce, which was conceded to his great-grandfather in the year 1726.

THE HON. ALFRED GILPIN JONES.

Mr. Jones, the leader of the Reform Party in the Province of Nova Scotia, and one of the most prominent citizens and merchants of Halifax, is descended from an English family, the head of which emigrated from England to Massachusetts during the early years of the history of that colony, and settled in Boston. The family resided in New England until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, when they espoused the royalist side in the quarrel, and endured their full share of the persecutions of that memorable period. Stephen Jones, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a graduate of Harvard College, who accepted a commission in the King's American Dragoons, and fought in the royal cause until the proclamation of peace. He then, like many scores of his compatriots, gathered together what property he could save out of the wreck, and removed, with his family, to Nova Scotia, where he thenceforward resided until his death, which took place in 1830. His son, the father of the subject of this memoir, was named Guy Carleton Jones, in honour of Lord Dorchester. He was a man of influence and good social position in the county of Digby, where he held the office of Registrar of Deeds.

Alfred Gilpin Jones was born at Weymouth, in the county of Digby, Nova Scotia, in 1824. He received his education at Yarmouth Academy, and after leaving school embarked in commercial life in Halifax, where, in course of time, he became a member of the firm of Messrs. Thomas Kinnear & Sons, West India commission merchants. He subsequently founded the firm of Messrs. A. G. Jones & Co.--engaged in the same trade--of which he has long been the senior partner. His commercial ventures were prosperous, and he became, and now is, one of the most extensive ship-owners in the Maritime Provinces. He was known as a man of energy and public spirit, and took a keen interest in all the political questions which agitated the country for some years prior to the formation of the Dominion. Like many of his compatriots, he was a strenuous opponent of the Confederation scheme, and spoke and wrote against it with much vigour. He regarded the terms upon which Nova Scotia was admitted into the Union as financially disadvantageous to that Province; and he disapproved of the plan adopted by the Tupper Administration to impose those terms upon the people. When Confederation finally became an accomplished fact, and when further opposition could be productive of no practical result, he acquiesced in the new order of things, and gave a loyal support to all measures for advancing the interests of the new nationality.

He soon afterwards entered public life, for which he has since proved himself to be in many respects well fitted. At the first general election after the Union, in 1867, he offered himself as a candidate for the representation of the city and county of Halifax in the House of Commons. He was subjected to a well-organized and powerful opposition, but he was returned at the head of the poll, and continued to represent the constituency until the general election of 1872. On first taking his seat he identified himself with the minority led by Messrs. Mackenzie, Holton, Blake, and Dorion, his commercial experience and independent character securing for him at once a recognized position in the House of Commons. He continued to support the Liberal policy there as long as he remained in Parliament. At the general election of 1872 he was again a candidate for the representation of Halifax, but on this occasion he was unsuccessful, and he remained out of Parliament until the general election of 1874, by which time Mr. Mackenzie's Government had come into power. At that election no serious attempt at opposition was offered to his return. His claims as a member of the new House to a seat in the Privy Council were considered incontestable, but he declined all invitations to exchange his position as a private member of the House for the charge of a Department, although frequently solicited to do so. In the session of 1876 the seats of several members were attacked for alleged violations of the Independence of Parliament Act. Among the members whose seats were assailed were Mr. Jones and his relative the Hon. William Berrian Vail, the representative of the county of Digby in the House of Commons, who held the portfolio of Minister of Militia and Defence in the Government of the day. These gentlemen had, in the interest of their Party, taken shares in a Halifax newspaper and printing establishment, which had obtained a certain amount of advertising and printing from the Government. Neither Mr. Jones nor Mr. Vail had ever derived, or expected to derive, any pecuniary profit from their connection therewith, but the decisions of the Select Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections in other cases led to the conclusion that they must also be held to be disqualified, and, therefore, subject to the heavy penalties imposed by the statute in that behalf if they ventured to sit and vote in the House of Commons. They both accordingly resigned their seats and appealed to their constituents for reëlection. Mr. Vail was defeated in Digby by Mr. John Chipman Wade, the Conservative candidate, and at once tendered his resignation as a member of the Government. Mr. Jones, whose election was still pending, was prevailed upon to accept the vacant portfolio. He was sworn in before Sir William O'Grady Haly, as Administrator of the Government of Canada, at Halifax, on the 23rd of January, 1878. This event stimulated the opposition to his return which had already been inaugurated by his political opponents. Mr. Matthew H. Richey, the Mayor of Halifax, a very popular citizen, was brought out in opposition to him. The conflict was short, but most exciting, and resulted in Mr. Jones's election by a majority of 208 votes, six days after his acceptance of office. He at once entered upon his official duties, and displayed in his new sphere of action a great capacity for an efficient administration of the public service. He exhibited a very ready grasp of departmental details, and a familiarity with Militia organization highly useful and important in connection with his relations to that branch of the public service. During the progress of the session he engaged in several active passages of arms with Dr.--now Sir Charles--Tupper, who made somewhat telling references to a speech made by Mr. Jones at a meeting in Halifax just prior to Confederation, and during a period of great political excitement. This speech afforded Dr. Tupper an opportunity for impugning the loyalty of the new Minister of Militia, of which the former did not neglect to avail himself very early in the session. The reply of Mr. Jones was vigorous, eloquent, and aggressive, and although the subject was more than once revived at later stages of the discussions it was felt that Mr. Jones had fully held his own in the wordy warfare. The latter remained in Mr. Mackenzie's Government as Minister of Militia and Defence so long as that Government remained in power, and was looked upon as one of its shrewdest and most capable members. At the general election held on the 17th of September, 1878, he shared the fate of many other members of the Party to which he belongs. He was opposed by his former antagonist, Mr. Matthew H. Richey, who was returned by a considerable majority. He did not present himself to any other constituency, and has since remained out of Parliament, though he continues to take an active part in the direction of the Reform Policy in Nova Scotia, and will doubtless be heard from at future election contests.

Mr. Jones is a Governor of the Halifax Protestant Orphans' Home. He is also a Governor of Dalhousie College; a Director of the Nova Scotia Marine Insurance Company, and of the Acadia Fire Insurance Company. He was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st "Halifax" Brigade of Garrison Artillery for several years. He has been twice married; first, in 1850, to Miss Margaret Wiseman, daughter of the Hon. W. J. Stairs, who died in February, 1875; and secondly, in 1877, to Miss Emma Albro, daughter of Mr. Edward Albro, of Halifax.

THE HON. JOHN NORQUAY,

PREMIER OF THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA.

Mr. Norquay is a native of the Red River country, and has taken a conspicuous part in public affairs ever since the admission of the Province of Manitoba into the Confederation in 1870. He was born a few miles from Fort Garry, on the 8th of May, 1841. His father, the late Mr. John Norquay, whose namesake he is, was a farmer, and a man of some influence in the colony. The future Premier followed in his father's footsteps, and has devoted the greater part of his life to farming pursuits, although public affairs have for some years past engrossed much of his time. He received his education at St. John's Academy, under the tutelage of Bishop Anderson, and took a scholarship there in 1854. In June, 1862, he married Miss Elizabeth Setter, the second daughter of Mr. George Setter Jr., a native of Red River. He entered public life immediately after the admission of Manitoba to the Union, having been returned at the general election of 1870 as the representative of the constituency of High Bluff in the Local Legislature. He continued to sit for that constituency until the general election of 1874, when he was returned for St. Andrew's, and he has ever since represented that constituency in the Local House, having been reëlected by a large majority in 1878, and having been returned by acclamation at the last general election for the Province held on the 16th of December, 1879.

Upon the formation of the first Local Government in Manitoba, on the 28th of January, 1871, under the Premiership of the late Hon. James McKay, Mr. Norquay accepted the portfolio of Minister of Public Works, to which was subsequently added that of Minister of Agriculture. He held office until the 8th of July, 1874, when he resigned, with the rest of his colleagues. Upon the formation of the new Ministry on the 2nd of December in the same year, under the Hon. R. A. Davis, Mr. Norquay accepted a seat in it without portfolio. When Mr. Royal resigned the office of Minister of Public Works, and became Attorney-General of the Province, in May, 1876, Mr. Norquay succeeded to the vacant portfolio, and retained it until October, 1878. During the month last named, Mr. Davis, the Premier, retired from public life, and thereby rendered necessary a reconstruction of the Government. Mr. Norquay was called upon to carry out this reconstruction, which, in conjunction with Mr. Royal, he successfully accomplished, he himself becoming Premier and Provincial Treasurer. During his tenure of office as Minister of Public Works, in 1878, he visited Ottawa while the Dominion Parliament was in session, on business connected with the educational interests of his native Province, and for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of certain accounts between the Government of Manitoba and the Governor and Council of the District of Keewatin.

The Government formed, as above mentioned, in October, 1878, remained intact until the month of May, 1879, when a difference of opinion arose between Messrs. Norquay and Royal. The latter, who held the office of Minister of Public Works, and Mr. Delorme, who was Minister of Agriculture, both resigned their portfolios, and thus left the Government with only three members. Overtures were made to several French members of the House to accept the portfolios thus rendered vacant, but these overtures were not successful. Mr. Norquay then addressed a letter to the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Cauchon, in which he requested that his Government might be permitted to retain office, and that the public business might be proceeded with. It was further requested that the filling of the vacant offices might be deferred until after the close of the session. To this application the Lieutenant-Governor declined to accede, upon the ground that his compliance would be contrary to the spirit and meaning of the Constitution, more especially as some of the proposed legislation of the session was very important, and had not been foreshadowed to the people at the previous elections. The two vacant offices were accordingly filled by English members, and a round-robin was signed by all the English members of the House in which the latter pledged themselves to support a new line of policy announced by the Government. The session proceeded; and a Bill was passed redistributing the seats. The House was dissolved in the following October, and on the 16th of December a general election was held in the Province. Mr. Norquay was returned by acclamation by his constituents in St. Andrews, and all the other members of the Government were elected except Mr. Taylor, one of the new accessions, who was defeated. His portfolio--that of Minister of Agriculture--was accordingly offered to the Hon. Maxime Goulet, member for La Vérandrye, who accepted office, and returned to his constituents for reëlection, when he was returned by acclamation Mr. Norquay's Government, being fully sustained, has ever since remained in power. The lines of party in Manitoba are by no means analogous to those in the other Provinces, but they are rapidly assimilating, and practically speaking Mr. Norquay's Government may be said to be a Conservative one.

At the general election for 1872 Mr. Norquay was an unsuccessful candidate for the representation of Marquette in the House of Commons. He has not since attempted to obtain a seat in that House, but has confined his attention solely to Provincial affairs. He is a member of the Board of Health, and also of the Board of Education for Manitoba. He is a man of much natural intelligence, and enjoys a large measure of public confidence and respect. Though not an orator, he is a ready speaker, both on the platform and in the House, and has hitherto proved fully equal to the requirements of his position.

THE HON. SIR RICHARD JOHN CARTWRIGHT.

Readers of this work have already made the acquaintance of the Cartwright family in the sketch of the life of the late Bishop Strachan. The Hon. Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a United Empire Loyalist of English descent, who, soon after the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, emigrated, with his family, from the Province of New York to the wilderness of what soon afterwards became Upper Canada. He acted for some time as secretary to Colonel Butler, of the Queen's Rangers, and after the close of the war settled at Kingston, where he became a man of mark and influence. He was possessed of considerable acquirements and mental capacity. Soon after the division of the Provinces, in 1791, he was appointed to the important office of a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the duties of which position he discharged, without any remuneration, for some years, and in a manner alike honourable to himself and beneficial to the public. Upon the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in the Province he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council, and was thenceforward most assiduous in his attendance to his Parliamentary duties. He was also a Colonel of militia, and took an active part in the promotion of all matters for the advancement of the public interests. His services to the cause of education have already been touched upon in the sketch of the life of Bishop Strachan. He died in 1815. His son, the father of Sir Richard, was the Rev. R. D. Cartwright, who was at one time Chaplain to the Forces at Kingston. The latter married Miss Harriett Dobbs, by whom he had four children, the eldest of which is the immediate subject of this sketch.

Richard John Cartwright was born at Kingston, Upper Canada, on the 4th of December, 1835. He was educated, first at Kingston, and afterwards at Trinity College, Dublin. He was brought up to business habits, and has been connected with various important financial enterprises. He was a Director, and afterwards President, of the Commercial Bank of Canada; and was also a Director of the Canada Life Assurance Company. He displayed great aptitude in dealing with financial matters, on which he was, and is, regarded as one of the highest authorities in this country. He also interested himself in matters connected with the militia, and in 1864 published at Kingston, a pamphlet of 46 pages, entitled "Remarks on the Militia of Canada." In the month of August, 1859, he married Miss Frances Alexander, eldest daughter of Colonel Alexander Lawe, of Cheltenham, England, by whom he has a numerous family.

From his earliest youth he took a keen interest in the political questions before the country, and was a man of great influence on the Conservative side, to which he was attached by training and early association. His entry into Parliamentary life dates from the year 1863, when he was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly for the united counties of Lennox and Addington. He took his seat as an Independent Conservative, and for some years rendered a loyal support to his leader, the present Sir John A. Macdonald. Throughout the various coalitions formed for the purpose of carrying out the scheme of Confederation, no grave differences of opinion seem to have arisen between Mr. Cartwright and those with whom he acted. Upon the accomplishment of Confederation Lennox and Addington became separate constituencies, and at the first general election held under the new order of things, in 1867, Mr. Cartwright was returned to the House of Commons as the representative of the county of Lennox. It soon afterwards began to be whispered that he was not thoroughly in accord with the Party with which he had always acted, with reference to some important public questions. Soon after the opening of the session of 1870 the whispers received confirmation from Mr. Cartwright's own lips, as he formally notified the leader of the Government that while he had no intention of offering a factious opposition, his support could no longer be counted upon. On the introduction by Sir Francis Hincks, who had recently accepted the office of Minister of Finance, of his banking scheme, Mr. Cartwright gave it his most determined opposition, as tending in his opinion to undermine the security of the banking institutions of the country. During the same session he supported Mr. Dorion's motion deprecating the increase of the public expenditure, and in 1871 he seconded Sir A. T. Galt's more emphatic declaration to the same effect. His vote was also recorded in successive divisions against the terms of union with British Columbia, and in 1872 he supported the Opposition leaders in their efforts to amend the objectionable provisions of the Bill providing for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The rupture between him and the Government Party was by this time complete; and it is no slight tribute to the estimation in which he was held by his constituents that he was able to carry them with him in his secession. At the general election of 1872 he was opposed by the Hon. J. Stevenson, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario under the Sandfield Macdonald regime, but defeated that gentleman by a majority of 711. During the following session Mr. Cartwright acted uniformly with the Opposition, and towards its close he delivered a powerful speech on the assumption by the Dominion of the debt of Ontario and Quebec, in the course of which he reviewed the whole financial policy of the Government, and criticized it in severe language.

Upon the formation of Mr. Mackenzie's Reform Government in November, 1873, after the Pacific Scandal disclosures, and the consequent downfall of Sir John Macdonald's Government, Mr. Cartwright accepted office as Minister of Finance, and was sworn of the Privy Council. His acceptance of office of course compelled him to return to his constituents for reëlection. He had to encounter a very bitter opposition, but succeeded in carrying his election by a larger majority than he had ever had before. At the general election held in the following year he was returned by acclamation.

At the time of his accession to office as Finance Minister the condition of the exchequer was such as to require a readjustment of the tariff, with a view to additional customs duties. Such a task is not a grateful one for a Minister to undertake, and Mr. Cartwright necessarily came in for a due share of hostile criticism from the supporters of the recently deposed Government. In 1874, 1875 and 1876 he visited England on business connected with the Finances of the Dominion. During the session of 1878 he introduced and successfully carried through the House an important measure respecting the auditing of the Public Accounts. This measure, which was modelled on an English Act, provides for the appointment of an Auditor-General, removable, not at pleasure, but on an address by both Houses of Parliament. Its object was to make the Auditor-General thoroughly independent, and thereby to inspire the public with entire confidence in the public accounts. The Bill also provides for the appointment of a Deputy Minister of Finance.

Mr. Cartwright's abilities as a Finance Minister will of course be viewed differently according to the political bias of the reviewer. It may be said, however, that in the opinion of his own political adherents he is one of the ablest financiers that Canada has ever produced, and that he successfully tided the country over a period of great political depression without imposing any unnecessary burdens upon the people. As a Parliamentary speaker and debater he is deservedly entitled to the high rank which he enjoys. Finance is not a subject provocative of any very lofty flights of oratory, but Mr. Cartwright's Budget speeches were marked by a thorough mastery of his subject, and by clear and impressive diction. He took a prominent part in the political campaign of 1878, and some of his speeches at that time are among the ablest of his public utterances. He of course opposed with all his might the protective policy of the Party now in power. The electors of Lennox, like those of many other constituencies, were desirous of testing the promises of the advocates of the "National Policy," and at the general elections held on the 17th of September Mr. Cartwright was defeated by Mr. Hooper, the present representative, by a majority of 59 votes. Mr. Horace Horton, the member-elect for Centre Huron, having accepted an office in the department of the Auditor-General, resigned his seat, and Mr. Cartwright, on the 2nd of November, was elected by a majority of 401 votes for that constituency, which he still continues to represent in the House of Commons.

On the 24th of May, 1879, Mr. Cartwright was created a Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, at an investiture held in Montreal by the present Governor-General, acting on behalf of Her Majesty.

THE HON. THEODORE ROBITAILLE,

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.

The Hon. Theodore Robitaille is by profession a physician and surgeon, and, prior to his elevation to the position of Lieutenant-Governor, was commonly known throughout the Province of Quebec as "Doctor" Robitaille. He is descended from an old French family which has long been settled in the Lower Province, and several members whereof have seen service in the cause of the British Crown. One of his grand-uncles acted as a chaplain to the Lower Canadian Militia Forces during the War of 1812, '13 and '14, and several other members of the family fought on the loyal side during that struggle. Another grand-uncle, Jean Robitaille, occupied a seat in the old Canadian Legislature from 1809 to 1829.