The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)

In 1855 he married Miss Georgina Frederica Locke, daughter of Mr. Thomas Sandwith, of Beverley, Yorkshire, England. In 1857 he became a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He was for some time Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Queen's College, Kingston. He is connected with several important financial enterprises, and is a man of much social influence. He would probably have gained a much wider reputation in the Canadian Assembly and the House of Commons than he has been able to acquire in the less stirring atmosphere of the Legislative Council and the Senate. He has, however, been a most useful man in the sphere which he has chosen, and his retirement from public life would be a serious loss to the Conservative Party, and to the country at large.

THE HON. LEVI RUGGLES CHURCH

The ex-Treasurer of the Province of Quebec is descended from one of the old colonial families of Massachusetts, several members of which attained considerable distinction in the early history of that colony. The name of Colonel Benjamin Church, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, occupies a very conspicuous place in the annals of New England warfare. He was the first white settler at Seaconnet, or Little Compton, and was the most active and noted combatant of the Indians during the famous war against Metacomet, or King Philip, the great sachem of the Wampanoags. In August, 1676, he commanded the party by which King Philip was slain. The barbarous usage of beheading and quartering was then in vogue, and it is said that Church decapitated the fallen monarch of the forest with his own hands. The sword with which this act of barbarity is alleged to have been committed is still preserved in the cabinet of the Historical Society of Massachusetts, at Boston. Colonel Church kept a sort of rough minute-book, or diary, of his exploits, and it was from these minutes, and under his direction, that his son, Thomas Church, wrote his well-known history of King Philip's War, which was originally published in 1716, and which is still the highest original authority on that subject. At a later period the members of the Church family (which was very numerous and well connected) were conspicuous adherents of the Whig Party, and at the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary War nearly all of them took the Republican side in the memorable struggle. There were, however, two exceptions, and these two both enlisted their services in the cause of King George III. One of them was killed in battle in 1776. The other, Jonathan Mills Church, was captured by the colonial army in 1777, and would doubtless have been put to death, had he not contrived to escape from the vigilance of his captors. He made his way to Canada, and ultimately settled in the Upper Province, in the neighbourhood of Brockville, where he died at a very advanced age in 1846. His son, the late Dr. Peter Howard Church, settled at Aylmer, in Ottawa County, Lower Canada, where he practised the medical profession for many years. Dr. Church had several children, and his second son, Levi Ruggles, is the subject of this sketch. The latter was born at Aylmer on the 26th of May, 1836. He received his education at the public schools of his native town, and afterwards attended for some time at Victoria College, Cobourg. He chose his father's profession, and graduated in medicine, first at the Albany Medical College, New York State, and afterwards at McGill College, Montreal, where he gained the Primary Final and Thesis Prizes, and acted as House Apothecary at the General Hospital during the years 1856-7. Becoming dissatisfied with his prospects, and believing that the legal profession presented a more suitable field for the exercise of his abilities, he determined to relinquish medicine for law. Acting upon this resolve, he studied law under the late Henry Stewart, Q.C., and afterwards under Mr. Edward Carter, Q.C., at Montreal, and was called to the Bar in the year 1859. He commenced the practice of this profession in his native town, where he has ever since resided, and where he has long since acquired high professional standing and a profitable business connection, as well as a large measure of social and political influence. He is a partner in the legal firm of Fleming, Church & Kenney, and a Governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the Lower Province.

He entered public life at the first general election under Confederation in 1867, when he successfully contested the representation of his native county of Ottawa in the Local Legislature. He espoused the Conservative side, and sat in the House throughout the existence of that Parliament. He attended closely to his duties, both in the House and as a member of various committees, and made a favourable reputation for himself as acting Chairman of the Committee on Private Bills. In July, 1868, he was appointed Crown Prosecutor for the Ottawa District, and retained that position until his acceptance of a seat in the Cabinet somewhat more than six years afterwards. At the general election of 1871, he did not seek reëlection, and for some time thereafter confined his attention to his professional duties. He was associated with Judge Drummond and Mr. Edward Carter in the Beauregard murder case as Junior Counsel for the defence. On the 22nd of September, 1874, he was appointed a member of the Executive Council of Quebec, and accepted office as Attorney-General. He was returned by acclamation for the county of Pontiac, and enjoyed a similar triumph at the general election of 1875. He continued to hold the portfolio of Attorney-General until the 27th of January, 1876, when he became Provincial Treasurer, in which capacity he repaired to England during the following summer, and negotiated a loan on behalf of his native Province. He held office as Treasurer until March, 1878, when the DeBoucherville Government was dismissed from office by M. Letellier de St. Just, the then Lieutenant-Governor, under circumstances which are already familiar to readers of these pages. Mr. Church was one of the signatories to the petition addressed to Sir Patrick L. Macdougall, who then administered affairs at Ottawa, praying for the dismissal of M. Letellier from his position as Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. At the last general election for the Province, held in May, 1878, Mr. Church was opposed in Pontiac by Mr. G. A. Purvis, but defeated that gentleman by a majority of 225 votes, and still sits in the House for the last named constituency. On the 3rd of September, 1859, he married Miss Jane Erskine Bell, of London, England, daughter of Mr. William Bell, barrister, and niece of General Sir George Bell, K.C.B.

CHARLES, FOURTH DUKE OF RICHMOND,

GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA

The Duke of Richmond's administration of affairs in Canada was not of long duration, but his high rank, and the melancholy circumstances attending his death, have invested his name with an interest which would not otherwise have attached to it. His rank was higher than that of any other Governor known to Canadian annals, and his death was due to the most terrible malady that can afflict mankind.

Charles Gordon Lennox, Duke of Richmond, Earl of March, and Baron Settrington in the peerage of England; Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darnley, and Baron Methuen in the peerage of Scotland; and Duc d'Aubigny in France, was a descendant of King Charles the Second, by the fair and frail Louise Renée de Querouaille, "whom," says Macaulay, "our rude ancestors called Madam Carwell." He was the only son of Lieutenant-General Lord George Henry Lennox, by Lady Louisa Ker, daughter of the Marquis of Lothian, and nephew of the third Duke. He was born in 1764, succeeded to the family titles and estates in 1806, and married, in 1789, Charlotte, daughter of the Duke of Gordon, by whom he had a numerous progeny. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1807 till 1813, during the Secretaryships of the Duke of Wellington and Mr. — afterwards the Right Honourable Sir Robert — Peel. Having displayed much ability in the public service, he was appointed Governor-General of Canada as successor to General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke. He entered on the duties of his office in the month of July, 1818, having been accompanied across the Atlantic by his son-in-law, Major-General Sir Peregrine Maitland, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Upper Province.

The Duke brought with him a good reputation. His Irish administration had been remarkably successful, and it was believed that his tact, good nature, and capacity for governing would be productive of happy results in this country. He spent the remainder of the summer following his arrival in a trip to the Upper Province, and after his return to Quebec he was engaged in various diplomatic matters which consumed the greater part of the following autumn. He met the Legislature for the first time in January, 1819, when he opened the session with a speech which augured well for his popularity. It was not long, however, before complications arose. There was a gradually widening breach between the branches of the Legislature as to their respective rights and privileges under the constitution, and it soon became evident that the Governor-General was not the man to heal this breach. Among the chief points in dispute was the management of the colonial finances. When the estimates for the year were presented, it was found that there was an increase of £15,000, including an item of £8,000 for a pension-list. The Assembly became alarmed, and referred the estimates to a committee. The committee cut down several items of expenditure, including that relating to pensions. The Upper House declined to pass the supply bill, as amended, and the result was a practical dead-lock in public affairs. It was clear that the Assembly had no confidence in the Executive. The session was prorogued on the 12th of April, nothing of importance having been accomplished. The Governor, in his prorogation speech, expressed his dissatisfaction with the Assembly, and harangued that body in a fashion which aroused much ill-will on the part of the members, who repaired to their homes with a fixed determination to resist to the utmost all attempts to infringe upon their rights. They were not destined, however, to come into any further collision with his Grace the Duke of Richmond. Soon after the close of the session he drew upon the Receiver-General on his own responsibility for the necessary funds to defray the civil list.

Towards the end of the following June the Governor-General left Quebec, on an extended tour through both the Provinces. He had a summer residence at William Henry, or Sorel, in the county of Richelieu, on the River St. Lawrence, where he made a short stay on his upward journey. During his sojourn there he was bitten on the back of his hand by a tame fox with which he was amusing himself. His Grace thought nothing of the matter, although he experienced some uneasy sensations on the following morning. He proceeded on his tour to the Upper Province, visited Niagara Falls, York, and other points of interest, and reached Kingston on his return journey about the middle of August. He had arranged to visit some recently surveyed lots in what was then the back wilderness on the line of the Rideau Canal, between the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa. He set out from Kingston on the 20th of August accompanied by several members of his staff. It had been calculated that the expedition would occupy several days. On the morning of the 21st he began to suffer from a pain in his shoulder. The pain steadily increased and he was recommended to drink some hot wine and water. He did so, but found great difficulty in swallowing it. In the evening he reached Perth, and found the pain somewhat abated. He remained at Perth until the morning of the 24th, when he resumed his journey, and proceeded on foot over a rugged country of thirty miles, accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Cockburn. He was much overcome by fatigue and passed a restless night. On the 25th, he arrived within three miles of Richmond West, on the Goodwood River, about twenty miles from Bytown — now Ottawa. There he rested well during the night, and walked to the settlement on the following morning. He felt much relieved, and attributed his healthy sensations to his laborious exercise. In a few hours he again complained of a returning illness, but passed the night with so much composure that he continued his journey on the following morning. It was noticed by his staff that he was moody and irritable, very unlike his ordinary self, and that he displayed an extraordinary aversion to water, when crossing the little streamlets in the forest. He was advised by Lieutenant-Colonel Cockburn to rest himself and send for medical advice, but he continued his journey until he reached a stream where a canoe was waiting to convey him a short distance. He must have been sensible of the terrible fate impending over him for several days before this time, but he bore up with much strength of mind. Upon reaching the stream just mentioned he expressed his desire to embark in the canoe, but declared that he did not think he should be able to do so. He added, "Gentlemen, if I fail, you must force me." His officers had no suspicion of the real state of affairs, and attributed his dread of approaching the water to a sort of delirium induced by the fatigue he had undergone, and the excessive heat of the sun. He was no sooner seated in the canoe than his face displayed such mortal terror at the near neighbourhood of the water that the truth flashed upon one of his officers, who exclaimed: "By Heaven, the Duke has the hydrophobia!" As the Duke proceeded down stream in the canoe, his officers walked through the forest to the point where he was expected to disembark. As they were threading their way along, they were horrified to see His Grace dart across their path into the depths of the wood. They pursued, and after a long chase overtook him. He was raving mad. They secured him, and held him down until the paroxysm had passed, when, with much self-possession, he explained his terrible situation, and requested them to do whatever seemed to them best. They resolved to return with him to the settlement, and began to retrace their steps. Upon reaching the creek which they had crossed on the previous day, His Grace stopped, and begged that they would not force him across the stream, as he felt that he could not survive the effort of crossing the water. They accordingly made a detour into the forest, and soon arrived at a little bush shanty, where they requested the Duke to rest himself. The Duke expressed his desire to take refuge in an adjoining barn, rather than in the shanty, as the barn, he said, was farther from water. His wish was complied with, and he sprang over a fence and entered the barn. There he spent a terrible day, sometimes being quite calm and collected, but with frequent recurrences of his malady. Towards evening he consented to be removed into the shanty, where he was made as comfortable as circumstances admitted of. His paroxysms returned frequently in the course of the following night, and at eight o'clock on the following morning — which was the 28th — death put an end to his sufferings. The ruins of the old hovel on the banks of the Goodwood in which the Duke expired, are, or recently were, still in existence. The spot is in the county of Carleton, about four miles from Richmond, and near the confluence of the Goodwood and Rideau rivers, about sixteen miles from the junction of the Ottawa and Rideau.

His body was conveyed in a canoe to Montreal, where his family awaited his return from his tour. It was subsequently removed in a steamer to Quebec, where it was interred close to the communion table in the Anglican Cathedral. Such was the tragical end of Charles Gordon Lennox, fourth Duke of Richmond.

THE HON. CHARLES A. P. PELLETIER, C.M.G

Mr. Pelletier was born on the 22nd of January, 1837, at Rivière Ouelle, in the county of Kamouraska, in Lower Canada. He is a son of the late Jean Marie Pelletier, by Julie Painchaud his wife. His maternal uncle, the late Rev. C. F. Painchaud, acquired a Provincial reputation as the founder of the College of Ste. Anne de la Pocatière, in the building of which the reverend gentleman expended much of his fortune, and to promoting the prosperity whereof he gave up many years of his life.

It was at Ste. Anne's College that the subject of this sketch was educated. After going through all his classes in a highly creditable manner, he entered Laval University in 1856 as a student at law, being articled to L. de G. Baillairge, Q.C., the Attorney for the City of Quebec. After the required lapse of time Mr. Pelletier passed such a creditable examination that the University, on the 15th of September, 1858, conferred on him the degree of B.C.L. In January, 1860, he was called to the Bar of his native Province, and for several years devoted himself entirely to his profession, in partnership with his former principal, Mr. Baillairge. In July, 1861, he married Suzanne A. Casgrain, a daughter of the late Hon. C. E. Casgrain, member of the Legislative Council of Canada. She died during the following year, leaving one son. In February, 1866, Mr. Pelletier married Virginie A. de Sales La Terrière, second daughter of the late Hon. Marc Paschal de Sales La Terrière, M.D., who sat for many years in the Parliament of Lower Canada, and afterwards in that of the United Provinces.

Mr. Pelletier was for some time Syndie of the Quebec Bar. The Société St. Jean Baptiste de Quebec has three times elected him as its President, an honour seldom conferred more than once on the same person. For several years he served in the Militia of Canada, and the last Fenian raid found him in command as Major of the 9th Voltigeurs de Quebec, which battalion he greatly contributed to organize and maintain in a most efficient state. In 1867, immediately after Confederation, he was unanimously chosen by the Liberal Party in the county of Kamouraska as their standard-bearer, and was put in nomination for the House of Commons. Having secured by his popularity a large majority over his then opponent, the Hon J. C. Chapais, on a plea of informality in the proceedings, a special return was made, and the constituency disfranchised for some months. A short time afterwards the Returning Officer was censured by the Committee on Privileges and Elections for his partisan conduct in the matter. Another election having been ordered, Mr. Pelletier was again chosen as the Liberal candidate, and elected, in February, 1869, by a large majority, for the county of Kamouraska, where party strife has always been very bitter, and where a majority of twenty had previously been considered a decisive victory. At the general election in 1872 Mr. Pelletier again defeated the Conservative candidate, Mr. — now Judge — Routhier. In 1873, the Liberals of Quebec East, having decided to wrest the constituency from the grasp of the faction which had for several years previously controlled the vote there, requested Mr. Pelletier to stand for the Division in the coming contest for the Local Legislature. He acceded to the request, and an active campaign was set on foot. The event was a memorable one. Both parties strained every nerve to ensure the success of their respective candidates, and a loose rein was given to the most violent passions. Threats were freely indulged in, and on the day of nomination a shot was fired at Mr. Pelletier on the hustings by some unknown hand. The bullet grazed his forehead, and passed through the fur cap which he wore. Nothing daunted by this reprehensible act, Mr. Pelletier continued to prosecute his canvass with unabated vigour, and a week later he was returned by a majority of more than 900 votes. In January, 1874, in consequence of the operation of the Act respecting dual representation, he resigned his seat in the Quebec Assembly, and remained in the Federal Parliament. At the general election of 1874, which took place at the advent to power of the Mackenzie Administration, after the retirement of Sir John A. Macdonald's Ministry, Mr. Pelletier was returned by acclamation for Kamouraska.

In December, 1876, the Hon. L. Letellier de St. Just resigned the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture in the Dominion Government, and was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec. Mr. Pelletier succeeded him in the Department of Agriculture, and was sworn of the Privy Council in January, 1877, being appointed at the same time Senator for the Grandville Division. As Minister of Agriculture Mr. Pelletier was appointed President of the Canadian Commission at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, but was prevented on account of pressing public business, from attending personally in Paris. He, however, devoted his energies while in Ottawa towards making the Canadian exhibit a success. For his services the British Government created him a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, President of the Royal Commission, also acknowledged his services in a very complimentary letter, which was accompanied by His Royal Highness's portrait.

In October, 1878, Mr. Mackenzie placed the resignation of himself and Cabinet in the hands of Lord Dufferin. Mr. Pelletier in consequence ceased to preside over the Department of Agriculture. In 1879 he was created a Queen's Counsel, and since his retirement from the Mackenzie Government he has devoted his time to his profession at the Quebec Bar.

Mr. Pelletier is a gentleman of great tact and urbanity of manner, and his fine social qualities and unassuming demeanour have endeared him to a wide circle of friends. His popular manners, and his constant readiness to preach peace and good fellowship well qualify him as leader of the French Canadian Liberals in the Senate. He has in no small degree been the means of smoothing away that bitterness which for many years marked political contests in Quebec and Kamouraska. An indefatigable worker, Mr. Pelletier is recognized as one of the best election organizers in the Province, and the proof of it lies in the fact that in no county where he persistently worked did victory desert his banner in 1878. He is known as a fast and firm friend, and though he has been mixed up in most of the political contests of the District of Quebec for the past fifteen years, it is believed that he has not a single enemy in the ranks of his opponents.

THE HON. WILLIAM PROUDFOOT

Vice-Chancellor Proudfoot was born near Errol, a small village of Perthshire, Scotland, situated about midway between Perth and Dundee, on the 9th of November, 1823. He is the third son of the late Rev. William Proudfoot, who was for many years Superintendent of the Theological Institute of the United Presbyterian Church, at London, Ontario. The late Mr. Proudfoot was one of the earliest missionaries sent out to this country by the United Secession Church, as it was called. He came out from Scotland with his family in 1832, and after a few months spent at Little York, removed to London, where he organized a church in which he officiated until his death, in January, 1851, when he was succeeded by his second son, the present incumbent. His life was a busy and useful one, and his services in the cause of theological education have left a decided impress behind them. He was a man of strong political opinions, and had before his emigration from Scotland been identified with the Whig Party. In Canada his sympathies were entirely with the Reformers throughout their long struggle to obtain Responsible Government and equal rights for all. During the troubled times of the rebellion he was subjected to a certain amount of persecution by the Tory Party, but as he of course had no share in the rebellion, and was a loyal subject to British connection, he escaped without serious annoyance. Early in 1838 he was informed by some officious friend that he was an object of suspicion to the ruling powers, and that the Sheriff of the District had been instructed to watch his movements carefully. With characteristic intrepidity he at once repaired to the Sheriff's office, and entered into conversation on the subject with that functionary. He professed his perfect readiness to be taken into custody. The Sheriff, who held Mr. Proudfoot's character in high respect, and who well knew that the Government had nothing to fear from him, begged him to go quietly home and think no more of the matter. He subsequently aided in establishing a church in the neighbouring township of Westminster. Not long afterwards the Theological Institute already referred to was projected. The Presbyterian Body in this country had no regular seat of advanced learning at that time, and candidates for the ministry were subjected to serious drawbacks. Mr. Proudfoot and another clerical gentleman — the Rev. Alexander Mackenzie — were entrusted with the training of students, and out of this arrangement the Theological Institute was finally developed. Many of the leading Presbyterian theologians of Canada received their training at this establishment, and the name of Mr. Proudfoot is a grateful remembrance to them at the present day.