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IIkk Majesty the Queen and Empress. 
 
The Rt. Hon. Sir John S. D. Thompson, P.C., K.C.M.G., Q.C. 
 
 Fourth Primt Minister of Canada. 
 
His Excellency the Earl of Aberdfen, P.C., LL.D. 
 
 Governor-General of Canada. 
 
LIFE AND WORK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RT. HON. SIR JOHN THOMPSON 
 
 P.C, K.CM.G,, Q.C. 
 
 ) 
 
 PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA 
 
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 '*••?- I* ».» 
 
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 BY 
 
 J CASTELL HOPKINS 
 
 WITH A 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 BY 
 
 His Excellency the Earl of Aberdeen 
 
 Governor General of Canada. 
 
 UNITED PUBLISHING HOUSES 
 
 TORONTO, LONDON AND BRANTFORD 
 l8 9 5 
 
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 "- • * 
 « % t 
 
 - - 
 
 1 - 
 
 Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, by Thomas S. Linscott, in the 
 Office of the Minister of Agriculture. 
 
Her Excellency the Countess of Aberdeen. 
 
L 
 
 i 
 
 The Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, B.C., G.C.B., Q.C., M.P. 
 
 First Prime Minister of the Dominion oj Canada. 
 
 *\ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The " Lite and Work " of a man. — The phrase is sug- 
 gestive ; and it is eminently applicable as the title of a 
 biography of Sir John Thompson. His life was full of 
 work, and of work to which emphatically might be applied 
 the old maxim, " Laborare est orare," for the labours of 
 his busy life were pervaded and prompted by lofty aims 
 and religious principles. 
 
 That a record, a description, of his career should be 
 given to his country and to the world, is a matter not 
 merely of appropriateness but of obligation ; for the vari- 
 ous grounds upon which a claim for a biography of any 
 person may be made on behalf of the public, are in this 
 case combined, whether regarded from the historical, the 
 political, the legal, the exemplary, or the personal point of 
 view. 
 
 To say this implies that the biographer will have 
 no lack of material ; but it does not follow that his task 
 will be easy. Indeed it must be admitted that in no case 
 can the authorship of a biography be free from difficulty ; 
 and of course, especially is this the case when the life to be 
 presented is that of a statesman whose position and duties 
 inevitably brought him not only into the midst of the stir 
 and stress of a central place in public life, and the contro- 
 versies and emulations with which it is surrounded, but 
 also included the taking of an important part in interna- 
 tional and other transactions requiring delicate handling 
 and diplomatic skill. 
 
 The biographer of such a man will desire to exercise 
 discretion, but he will also wish to avoid the criticism 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 that in striving to exercise caution he has incurred the 
 risk of dullness. He must enable his readers to under- 
 stand the domestic and personal characteristics of his 
 subject, but he must not too freely lift the veil that pro- 
 tects the sanctity of home and family life. Above all, 
 while utilizing the opportunity for justifying any utter- 
 ances or lines of conduct which he regards as having been 
 misrepresented or misunderstood, he must not allow this 
 proper sense of loyalty, this admiration for the character 
 of his subject, to betray him into uncalled-for, perhaps 
 unfair, disparagement of those whose attitude on the occa- 
 sion in question was that of opposition. And the need of 
 good judgment and discretion in this matter is of course 
 increased, when the controversies referred to are of ex- 
 tremely recent occurrence. 
 
 But it is not necessary to say more about the functions 
 of a biographer than will serve to draw attention to the 
 manner in which the author of this memoir has performed 
 his part. It may safely be predicted that the general 
 opinion will be that he has done his work well. He has 
 evidently aimed at maintaining the impartiality of a 
 chronicler, together with the appreciation of an admirer. 
 He has also shown that sense of proportion which is 
 especially necessary in the picture of a life so many-sided 
 and so full of interest as that of Sir John Thompson. It 
 is indeed not too much to say that to describe fully the 
 chief portion of his public career would be to write a his- 
 tory of Canada during the past decade ; and it is thus that 
 the author has evidently felt it requisite to give a descrip- 
 tive sketch of several of the chief events and public ques- 
 tions which occupied or agitated the mind of the country 
 during the period in view, in order that Sir John Thomp- 
 son's actions and influence on these occasions may be 
 properly presented to the reader. 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 It has already been remarked that the reasons for the 
 appearance of this biography are numerous. A perusal of 
 the volume will make this apparent, even to those not 
 previously in any personal manner acquainted with the 
 circumstances and the subject ; while by those who were 
 in any way brought in contact with Sir John Thompson, 
 the book will be looked for with an eager, though melan- 
 choly interest. 
 
 But there is one feature in Sir John Thompson's char- 
 acter which adds especially to the value of any memoir of 
 his life. He has often been described as a man of reserved 
 and even cold demeanour. It follows therefore that he must 
 frequently have been liable to be misunderstood, or at least 
 that the beauty of his character and disposition cannot 
 always have been fulty revealed. Doubtless to those who 
 were at all intimately acquainted with him the less appa- 
 rent features of his character had become familiar. But if 
 the more genial side of his nature was to some extent hid- 
 den, how desirable that this and every other distinguishing 
 trait of the man should be as fully as possible described 
 and portrayed ! To the attainment of that object the pub- 
 lication of correspondence is doubtless a most important 
 means, and it may be a cause of some regret that the pre- 
 sent volume does not contain a larger number of letters. 
 But it must be borne in mind that the publication of cor- 
 respondence, especially of the correspondence of a person 
 who has occupied an important position in public life, is a 
 matter which requires time, for the purpose of deliberation, 
 consultation, and classification ; in addition to which, the 
 lapse of a certain period is sometimes necessary before cor- 
 respondence upon some questions can suitably be given to 
 the world. The present volume, however, is published in 
 order to meet the immediate demand of the public ; and 
 meanwhile it may be hoped that at seme later date there 
 
xii PREFACE 
 
 may be an opportunity of becoming acquainted with at 
 least a considerable portion of Sir John Thompson's corres- 
 pondence. 
 
 Reverting to what has been said regarding the manner 
 and appearance of Sir John Thompson, the writer of this 
 preface, if asked to give a description of the personality of 
 the late Premier, would say that the dominant impression 
 left on his mind and recollection is that of combined 
 strength and sweetness. When silent, his countenance no 
 doubt often wore a composed, almost a stoical expression ; 
 but this, as a contrast, only made the bright and gentle 
 smile more attractive. 
 
 His remarkable aptitude as a listener, combined with 
 an extraordinary power of grasping and presenting in a 
 clear and lucid manner the various aspects and bearings of 
 a subject, must have struck all who had occasion to confer 
 with him on matters of business ; and his faculty in this 
 respect is illustrated in a highly interesting manner by one 
 of the personal reminiscences recorded in the text by Bishop 
 Cameron. 
 
 Sir John Thompson had a ready and genial sense of 
 humour. Many a quiet laugh have I shared with him, even 
 during conversations on official matters, when anything 
 drew from him a jocular remark, or recalled to either of us 
 an amusing anecdote or reminiscence. With this sense of 
 humour, as is often the case with those who possess it, 
 there was the power of sarcasm, which (as members of the 
 Dominion House of Commons could no doubt testify) was 
 manifested on occasion. 
 
 As a public speaker Sir John Thompson has been 
 described as somewhat cold, although possessing in a high 
 degree the essentially important qualities of clear articula- 
 tion, lucidity of expression, and an accurate sense of pro- 
 portion in the division of a subject. I was debarred from 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 having many opportunities of hearing him speak in public, 
 but the occasions on which that advantage was enjoyed 
 would lead me to demur to the designation of " coldness ' 
 as applied to his oratory. Doubtless his delivery was calm, 
 and in a sense unimpassioned ; but there was frequently 
 a sympathetic ring — almost a tremor — in his tones, 
 which in a pathetic passage would readily have moved 
 many to tears. And indeed it could not be that this note 
 of sympathetic feeling, albeit as an undertone, should be 
 absent from even the public utterances of one whose 
 deep and true feeling was manifested so clearly in every 
 relation of life. 
 
 In short, as has already been said, in him were united 
 gentleness and strength — marks of true manliness and 
 nobility of character. 
 
 Such were some of the characteristics of the subject 
 of this memoir. And though the promptings of affection 
 and appreciation would incite the writer to linger on the 
 theme, this informal preface must be brought to a close. 
 
 Sir John Thompson was a great man. He has made 
 his mark. His influence has been for good, and its impress 
 is of an abiding nature. His country has reason to be 
 proud of him ; it has reason to be thankful for him ; and 
 it may be confidently recorded that his character and his 
 abilities were such as would have fitted him to occupy with 
 success and distinction the very highest positions that can 
 be attained by any statesman in the British Empire. 
 
 Ottawa, Feb. 25, 1895. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 A Great Canadian 27-34 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Early Days. Parentage— Birth— Education — An industrious student — 
 A proficient shorthand writer— Studies law and is admitted to the 
 Bar of Nova-Scotia — Gradual progress — Marriage — Change of Religion 
 — First Meets Bishop Cameron — An Alderman of Halifax— Connection 
 with various societies — A stormy political period 35-48 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Law and Politics. High legal reputation in the Province — Appointed 
 counsel for the U.S. Government before the Halifax Fisheries Com- 
 mission — Enters political life in 1877 — Becomes a member of the 
 Provincial Government and liter on Premier of Nova-Scotia — His 
 establishment of the municipal system — Appointed to the Bench of 
 the Province — His remarkable judicial faculty — Great success as a 
 Judge — Founding of the Law school at Halifax 49-67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Enters the Government. Becomes Minister of Justice after pro- 
 longed persuasion by his friends — Press comments — General congratu 
 lations and public appreciation of the appointment — Discussion in the 
 House of Commons and expressions of opinion by Mr. Blake and bir 
 John Macdonald 68-79 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Riel Question. The difficult position of the Government. Points 
 at issue — French-Canadian indignation — Importance of a right 
 decision — Mr. Landry's motion in the House — Mr. Thompson's great 
 fepeech — Wins a national reputation in a few hours — Necessity for 
 the execution of Louis Riel — His crimes and their just penalty — 
 The Minister of Justice denounces those in Quebec who would make 
 religion a political question— Sir Hector Langevin makes a mistake 
 80-96 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 15 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 
 i ■ 
 
 An Election and a Fisheries Question. A critical period — Mr. 
 Thompson makes a tour of Ontario with Sir John Macdonald — Is well 
 received and delivers numerous Speeches — An election and a Conser- 
 vative Victory — The Minister of Justice sent to Washington with 
 Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Charles Tupper — His able work — A treaty 
 arranged but afterwards thrown out by the U. S. Senate — Speech ui 
 the House upon the question — Created a K. C. M. G., by the 
 Queen. 97-115 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Jesuits' Estates Act. Exceptional difficulty of the Government's 
 position — History of the Question — The debate — His great speech 
 upon the Question — Overwhelming support given the Government 
 in the House — Attacks upon Sir John from other quarters. 116-136 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Equal Rights, The Fisheries, and the French Language. Rise and 
 influence of a strong Protestant party — Mr. McCarthy's Activity — 
 Protests against the Jesuits' Estates Policy — Fisheries' Question in 
 Parliament — Sir John's Speech — The French Language in the North- 
 West — A race question growing out of the unfortunate Riel cam- 
 paign — Sir John Thompson's fair attitude in the matter — A hot 
 debate and settlement of the Question 139-163 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Elections of 1891. A memorable battle — Questions at issue— The 
 Chief's manifesto — Sir John Thompson speaks in Toronto and else- 
 where — Elections in Antigonish — Bishop Cameron's influence — The 
 General Result ] 64-182 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Death of Sir John Macdonald. The end of a great life — Sir Johr 
 Thompson unselfishly refuses the Premiership — Private letters written 
 by Mr. Abbott and Sir John Thompson at the time of the Chieftain's 
 death — Mr. D'Alton McCarthy and the Premiership — Reconstruction 
 of the Ministry — Sir John serves under Mr. Abbott as Leader of 
 the Commons — A difficult session skilfully managed 183-202 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Scandal Campaign. The Rykert affair— The famous McGreevy- 
 Langevin matter — The case against Mr. Haggart — The Cochrane 
 charges — Sir John Thompson's attitude — His position upheld by 
 the people 205-220 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Census and Redistribution. The census of 1891, not very satisfactory — 
 Movements of population — A redistribution of seats necessary — Sir 
 John Thompson's share in the Government proposals and his able 
 leadership of the House upon the measure introduced— The Caron- 
 Edgar charges — The London election case — Triumphant Bye- 
 elections 221-238 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Sir John Thompson becomes Premier. A general recognition of his 
 great ability and merits — Rumours regarding the new Ministry — 
 The members of the new Government — The Religious difficulty — 
 
 Struggles of a Session Sir John's high character a great aid to the 
 
 party and source of confidence to the country — Severe criticism 
 of Sir R. Cartwright— Manly utterance of Mr. Clarke Wallace. 239-254 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Manitoba School Legislation. The questions involved — Steps taken 
 by the Catholics of Manitoba to recover the right to state-aided 
 schools — Reference to the Supreme Court of Canada — Taken to the 
 Privy Council of the Empire — Certain points considered by the Can- 
 adian Privy Council — Final reference to England— Speeches in the 
 House — Sir John Thompson anxious only to do his duty, legally and 
 impartially 255-272 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Canada and the United States. Sir John Thompson at Washington — 
 Conference with Mr. Blaine — Important results — Fisheries and Reci- 
 procity — Sir John's position upon International issues — His battles for 
 Canadian interests and trade — The Canal Tolls' question — The Bond 
 Blaine Treaty ' 273-289 
 
CONTENTS. 17 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Connection with the Roman Catholic Church. A cause of severe 
 criticism and unjust aspersion — The probable reasons for Sir John 
 Thompson's change of religion — His sincerity, earnestness and 
 Christian zeal — His noble Christian character — Cardinal Newman 
 and Sir John — The personal attacks of Rev. Dr. Douglas and the 
 P. P. A.— Sir John defends the Orange right of free speech 290-300 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Fiscal Matters and Trade Policy. Tariff Policy of the new Govern- 
 ment — Mr. McCarthy's attitude — Sir John Thompson announces in a 
 brilliant speech before the Toronto Board of Trade, his intention 
 to " lop the mouldering branches away" — An important utterance 
 in the Auditorium, Toronto, shortly afterwards — A great meeting and 
 reception to the Premier — Eleven Ministers present — Parliament 
 meets — The Curran Bridge Scandal — The Liberal Convention — The 
 McCarthyites and the P.P.A 301-314 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Behring Sea Question. Importance of the Issues involved — A long- 
 standing problem — England willing to stand by Canada at any cost — 
 Lord Salisbury's famous announcement — Reference to Arbitration — 
 Sir John Thompson's appointment as British Arbitrator, a marked 
 compliment to Canada and to the Minister of Justice — His great 
 services to the Dominion at Paris — Settlement of the Question — 
 Return of the Premier, and his opinion of the results — The Queen 
 appoints him a member of the Imperial Privy Council — Honours to 
 Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper and others — Receptions and a banquet at 
 Montreal 315-332 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Sir John Thompson and Mr. McCarthy. Characteristics of the two 
 men — Both strong-willed and disinclined to brook opposition — De- 
 velopment of their differences — The Empire incident — Mr. McCarthy 
 right in thinking Sir John responsible for his being read out of the 
 party — The Premier's dislike of sectarian issues — His speeches show 
 that he thought them a very great danger to the country — Mr. 
 McCarthy's views — Both honestly consistent and honestly antagon- 
 istic 333-347 
 
18 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The New Governor-General and a Political Tour. The coming of 
 Lord and Lady Aberdeen — A close friendship with Sir John Thomp- 
 son — His Excellency's successful speech at Quebec — A great meeting 
 addressed by the Premier at Montreal— He visits many of the leading 
 towns of Ontario and is everywhere splendidly received — Speaks at 
 Berlin and Elmira — At Clinton — At Walkeiton — At Tara and South- 
 ampton — At Lucan — At Durham — At Mt. Forest — At Kenil worth and 
 Clinton — At Mitchell, Owen Sound, Markdale and Glencoe — The gen- 
 eral policy of the Government clearly and forcibly outlined. .348-363 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Sir John Thompson as Minister of Justice. His wonderful legal ability 
 and industry — Position regarding moral questions, such as divorce 
 and Public frauds — Parliamentary interference in election cases — 
 Constitutional questions — The Banking Act — Attitude upon the 
 disallowance of Provincial legislation — Settlement of disputes with 
 Ontario — Insolvency Legislation 3G4-3S0 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Criminal Code and the Copyright Law. Sir John Thompson's 
 great work in the initiation and completion of a Canadian Code — 
 His long struggle for Canadian Copyright — His able speeches and 
 State papers upon the subject — Canadian Self government involved 
 — Great injustice to the Canadian publishing interests under present 
 system 381-391 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Sir John Thompson as an Imperial Statesman. His deep and earnest 
 loyalty — In this respect a fitting successor to Sir John Macdonald — 
 Thoroughly Canadian, but also devoted to British unity — Views upon 
 the question of discrimination — British connection and nationality — 
 Independence denounced by Sir John upon several occasions — Vig. 
 ourous denunciation of Annexation and its advocates— Opinion of Mr. 
 Goldwin Smith — Relations with United States — A thorough Imperi- 
 alist 392-404 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Intercolonial Conference. The central event of Sir John 
 Thompson's Premiership — Much of its success due, however, to Sir 
 
CONTENTS. 19 
 
 Mackenzie Bowell's enthusiastic and able work — Sir John's brilliant 
 speech at the not less brilliant opening — Results of the great gather- 
 ing — A triumph for British unity and Canadian commercial develop- 
 ment — The Premier's patriotism recognized by Lord Jersey and 
 others 405-416 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Later Events in a Great Life. The Budget debate — A presentation — 
 National Council of Women — Franchise, Prohibition and the French 
 Treaty — Unveiling of Monuments at Springhill and Hamilton — Visit 
 to Toronto— Opening of the Exhibition — Eloquent speeches, dealing 
 with Canada and the duties of a public man — In Muskoka for a holi- 
 day — Unveiling of the Statue to Sir John Macdonald in Queen's Park, 
 Toronto — Splendid speech and popular reception 417-430 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Last Days and Dramatic Death. Warned to retire from office in order 
 to save his life — Leaves for England to obtain a rest and to 
 be sworn in as an Imperial Privy Councillor — On the Continent for a 
 short time — Discussions with Lord Ripon and others regarding Cana- 
 dian Copyright — Does not feel well — His last speech — Leaves London 
 for Windsor Castle — Sworn in by the Queen — Dies shortly after- 
 wards — The most dramatic and perhaps saddest death in modern his- 
 tory — The noble and sympathetic conduct of Her Majesty — An 
 Imperial State Funeral — " The paths of glory lead but to the 
 grave." 433-447 
 
 CPIAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A Splendid and Historic Burial. ^Vrival of the Blenheim at Halifax 
 — The remains lie in State in the Provincial Council Chamber — Vis- 
 ited by many thousands of people — The magnificent ceremonial in St. 
 Mary's Cathedral — Religious harmony evidenced — A union of creeds 
 and sympathies — Archbishop O'Brien's eloquent sermon — A great pro- 
 cession — The Statesman at rest — Public expressions of sorrow ..448-458 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Characteristics and Home Life. Retiring disposition inherited — Dis- 
 like of politics — Love of country — Love of work — Love of justice — 
 Religious feeling — Home life— Sir John and Mr. Gladstone — An 
 example to all Canadians 461-473 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 An Article by Lady Aberdeen — Some Despatches and Resolutions 
 
 of Regret. 
 
List of Illustrations. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Her Majesty the Queen and 
 
 Empress 2 
 
 Rt. lion. Sir John Thompson 3 
 His Excellency the Earl of 
 
 Aberdeen 4 
 
 Her Excellency the Countess 
 
 of Aberdeen 7 
 
 Rt Hon. Sir John A. Mac- 
 
 donald 8 
 
 Hon. Sir Mackenzie Bowell . . 21 
 Sir John Thompson, aged 21. 22 
 
 Hon. Sir Oliver Mowat 31 
 
 Rt. Hon. the Earl of Derby 32 
 
 Hon. Alex. Mackenzie 41 
 
 Hon W.R.Meredith 42 
 
 Sir John Caldwell Abbott.. . 51 
 
 Sir Samuel Henry Strong 52 
 
 Hon. Geo. E. Foster 61 
 
 Sir Adolphe P. Caron 62 
 
 Hon. Wilfrid Laurier 71 
 
 Sir Frank Smith 72 
 
 Rt. Hon. the Earl of Rose- 
 
 bery 81 
 
 Hon. Edward Blake 82 
 
 Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper 91 
 
 Hon. John Costigan. . . „ 92 
 
 Hon. W. E Sanford 101 
 
 Hon. Chancellor Boyd ...... 102 
 
 Hon. A. R. Angers Ill 
 
 Hon. J. A. Ouimet 112 
 
 Mr. Justice Sedgewick 121 
 
 Hon. George E. King 122 
 
 Hon. Louis H. Davies 129 
 
 Rev. Dr. Carman 130 
 
 Hon. John G. Haggart 137 
 
 Hon. J. J. Curran 138 
 
 Hon. A. S. Hardy 161 
 
 Mr. Justice Fournier 153 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hon. William B. Ives 145 
 
 Sir Thomas Gait 162 
 
 Archbishop Cleary 1 69 
 
 Hon A. Turcotte 170 
 
 Hon. JohnF. Wood 177 
 
 Sir John Carling 185 
 
 Archbishop Walsh 191 
 
 Mr. Justice Gwynne 197 
 
 Hon. T. Mayne Daly 203 
 
 Hon. Thomas Green way . . .. 209 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop Baldwin.. . . 210 
 
 Hon. Arthur R. Dickey 217 
 
 Hon. N. Clarke Wallace .... 225 
 
 Hon. J. C. Patterson 233 
 
 D' Alton McCarthy, Q.C.,M.P 241 
 
 Hon. F. G. Marchand 249 
 
 Wm Paterson, M.P 257 
 
 Hon. Joseph Martin, M.P. . . 267 
 Hon. John Christian Schultz 277 
 Very Rev. G. M. Grant, D.D. 287 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop Cameron . . . 305 
 
 Hon. Clifford Sifton 323 
 
 Archbishop Tache 341 
 
 Mr. Justice Taschereau 359 
 
 Sandford Fleming, C. M.G . .. 250 
 Hon. G. W. Ross, M.P.P. . 377 
 
 Rev. Dr. Potts 258 
 
 Sir John Thompson Speaking 395 
 Douglas Stewart, Private Sec- 
 retary 413 
 
 Windsor Castle 421 
 
 Library Window, Windsor 
 
 Castle 431 
 
 Gateway of Windsor Castle 432 
 Sir Charles Tupper, Bart .... 443 
 
 H. M. S. Blenheim 453 
 
 Commander Kingsmill, R. N. 454 
 John S. Thompson, Sr 459 
 
Hon. Sir Mackenzie Bowell, K.C.M.G. 
 
 Fifth Prime Minister of Canada. 
 
Sir John Thompson. 
 
 Aged 21 Years. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 A Great Canadian. 
 
 The Right Honourable Sir John S. D. Thompson 
 possessed one of those strong minds which, in different 
 ages of the world's history, have occasionally swayed the 
 destinies of nations and controlled the people, by pure 
 force of intellect. He was undoubtedly a great man. Tried 
 by ordinary standards, it is perhaps difficult to comprehend 
 his marvellous success in public life. He had no adventi- 
 tious surroundings of family or wealth. He did not 
 possess a commanding personal appearance and had none 
 of that magnetism of manner, that charm and fascination 
 of speech and gesture, which enabled Sir John A. Mac- 
 donald, Lord Palmerston or James G. Blaine to lead men 
 whither they would. Yet, by the power of ability, con- 
 centration of purpose, and force of character, he rose with 
 unique rapidity to the highest place in his province, in 
 his party and in his country. 
 
 The last nine years of his life were filled with tri- 
 umphs which came not as the reward of popularity, nor 
 upon waves of national passion, but as the results of a 
 great mind working with patience and patriotic zeal ; with 
 clear insight and acute intelligence, upon the different 
 problems which were presented. Triumphs over personal 
 prejudice, born of that self-repression which made a strong 
 man shrink from the arts of the ordinary politician and 
 take refuse in a coldness of manner which concealed his 
 
24 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 really warm heart and many generous and sympathetic 
 qualities. Triumphs over that deplorable sectarian senti- 
 ment which for a long time refused to admit the greatness 
 of the statesman and the goodness of the man who, in early 
 life, had obeyed his conscience and conviction by a change 
 of religion. Triumphs of oratory at the Bar and in Par- 
 liament, upon the Bench and before the people. Triumphs 
 of statesmanship, in the treatment of race and creed ques- 
 tions which, under the manipulation of demagogues, threat- 
 ened the disintegration of the Dominion ; and in the control 
 of Parliamentary matters which more than once endangered 
 the unity and strength of the party. Triumphs of diplo- 
 macy, which forced Mr. Blaine, with all his acuteness and 
 ability, into the confession of a desire to obtain commercial 
 control of Canada and a refusal to grant reciprocity on 
 any other terms : and which compelled the settlement upon 
 satisfactory lines of the long-standing Behring Sea troubles. 
 Triumphs as an Imperial statesman which brought about 
 the success of the Intercolonial Conference, created steam 
 communication with Australia, paved the way to closer 
 British unity, and led to the heaping of honours upon the 
 head of Canada through its Premier and representative. 
 
 It was a combination of qualities which made Sir 
 John Thompson so great in character, so successful in his 
 career. He was undoubtedly self-confident as well as self- 
 sustained. He was conscious of his own strength and did 
 not feel the necessity of intimidating others, or of asserting 
 himself. And, as Archbishop O'Brien said shortly after 
 the Premier's death, he had the quiet repose of strong 
 minds, the dignified reticence of genius. In his profession : 
 upon the Bench : in public life : in the Department of 
 Justice : his mastery of details was marvellous, and con- 
 tributed greatly to his success. No case for trial in his 
 earlier career found him unprepared, and no argument 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 25 
 
 came to him as a bewildering surprise. Lucidity of 
 thought and language characterized him as a lawyer, 
 marked his decisions as a Judge, and his State papers as a 
 Minister. This faculty of clothing the most difficult and 
 involved transactions or propositions in clear and concise 
 language he possessed in an extraordinary degree. Judge 
 Townshend, of Nova Scotia, once declared that, " in shap- 
 ing, modifying and adapting resolutions and statutes to 
 meet the views of public bodies of which he was a member, 
 I think he was unequalled." 
 
 Like most really great men, Sir John possessed a 
 wonderful capacity for work. He never seemed to be in 
 a hurry, and yet succeeded in constantly despatching an 
 enormous amount of business, quickly and efficiently. For 
 some time before the death of Sir John Macdonald, it is 
 an open secret that the Chieftain leaned greatly upon his 
 Minister of Justice, who, during that period, as well as 
 later under the leadership of Sir John xVhbott, bore the 
 burden of work in the House of Commons, besides the 
 many and heavy labours connected with his own Depart- 
 ment. Since then, also, he has at times assumed diplo- 
 matic duties and taken a position and share in the settle- 
 ment of questions, such as the Behring Sea and Copyright 
 problems, which must have demanded much time and 
 study. And in addition, there have been the continual and 
 normal requirements of deputations, speeches and journeys. 
 Perhaps it would be an elaborate state paper to-day upon 
 the London election case, a speech in the House to-mor- 
 row upon the Tarte charges, an address the next day upon 
 the unveiling of a monument to the Springhill N. S., 
 miners. And Sir John Thompson never did anything by 
 halves. Whatever he undertook was done as well as ability 
 and close observation and application could make possible. 
 
 In reading Sir John Thompson's papers and speeches 
 
26 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 upon questions like those of Riel's execution, the dis- 
 allowance of the Jesuits' Estates Act, the Copyright Law* 
 or the Manitoba Schools, one is struck by the completeness 
 and thoroughness of his argument, the keenness and analy- 
 tical quality of his mind, and the industry and skill dis- 
 played in obtaining and marshalling the facts of the case. 
 In dealing with constitutional or international questions. 
 he seemed to be entirely at home. Early training had no 
 doubt made him familiar with the Fisheries question as it 
 affected the Maritime Provinces, and his work in connec- 
 tion with the Halifax Commission gave him a still wider 
 insight into both sides of the dispute. His later expe- 
 rience as a Nova Scotian Judge and Premier increased 
 this knowledge, while his position as Minister of Justice 
 finally brought him into touch with all the legal complica- 
 tions which followed the abrogation of the Fisheries' Clause 
 of the Washington Treaty and the unjust seizure of Cana- 
 dian vessels in the Behring Sea. The British North 
 America Act was thoroughly familiar to him in all its 
 intricacies, and every shade of public opinion in Canada 
 recognized frankly his high judicial insight and knowledge 
 when it was crowned by selection as one of England's 
 arbitrators in that brilliant gathering of statesmen and 
 jurists at Paris. 
 
 ♦ A marked feature of the late Premier's character was 
 his entire unselfishness. Devotion to duty was his watch- 
 word, disregard of personal considerations and comfort his 
 principle of action. Without any particular liking for 
 politics as such, he left the Bench of Nova Scotia, with its 
 life of comparative ease and affluence and the prospect of 
 undoubted and high promotion, for the stormy career of 
 statesmanship. No doubt he had that ambition for fame 
 which all great men have and which the next few years so 
 fully realized. Perhaps, also, he felt that it was possible 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 27 
 
 for him to render greater service to the country which he 
 loved so well. Judging indeed by his subsequent career, 
 there can be little doubt that Sir John Thompson did 
 deliberately surrender the ermine of ease, as he at a later 
 period refused to take the Chief Justiceship of Canada, in 
 order to devote himself to promoting the welfare of the 
 Dominion. 
 
 This quality of unselh'sh loyalty was well exhibited 
 in those dark days which followed the death of Sir John 
 A. Macdonald. It was a time of political stir and stress ; 
 a moment when the Conservative party was bewildered by 
 the greatness of its loss ; a period when very little causes 
 might have produced striking and startling results. A 
 man actuated by ambition only would have thought and 
 said in Sir John Thompson's position that he had earned 
 the Premiership, and would have expected it as a right. 
 But Sir John was a true statesman, and his appreciation of 
 the situation made him see that the patriotic course was to 
 step aside for the moment and to continue doing his duty 
 in a high, though still subordinate, sphere. No doubt, too, 
 he felt the consciousness of personal power, and realized 
 that his time could not be far distant. But it must also 
 be remembered that at the moment in question no one 
 knew the full strength of the sectarian feeling in Ontario. 
 It might have prevented Sir John Thompson from ever 
 obtaining the Premiership, as the strength of a similar 
 sentiment in Quebec in earlier days kept George Brown 
 permanently out of power, and during many years in the 
 recent history of Ontario, kept Mr. Meredith in Opposi- 
 tion. 
 
 In still another way was his self-sacrifice shown. No 
 one doubts that Sir John could have made large sums of 
 money at his profession, and maintained himself and his 
 family in affluence. So also, had he remained a judge, or 
 
28 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 at any later period accepted a judgeship once more, there 
 is every probability that his life would have been indefi- 
 nitely prolonged, and his promotion rapid ; while his even- 
 tual elevation to the lofty and remunerative post of a 
 member of the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy 
 Council would have been almost a certainty. But he pre- 
 ferred the path of public life and duty to the ease and 
 dignity of the Bench, and his sudden death left a family 
 unprovided for, which, but for unstinted devotion to his 
 national work, would have had ample fortune and an 
 assured future. 
 
 His was a peculiar style of oratory — typical of the 
 man and his work. He was unable, and in any case would 
 have been unwilling, to move the masses by appeals to 
 prejudice and passion. But if eloquence finds its perfect 
 expression in convincing minds and swaying intellects, then 
 Sir John Thompson was emphatically a great orator. His 
 memorable speech upon the Riel question placed the new 
 Minister of Justice at one bound in the front rank of 
 Parliamentary debaters, and there he remained until his 
 death. Indeed the full supremacy of his master-mind 
 could hardly be appreciated save by those who heard and 
 felt its operation in the debates of Parliament. Sir John 
 Macdonald held sway in that Chamber for many years by 
 the force of matchless political skill and dexterity, and in the 
 latter period of his life was aided by a ripe and respected 
 experience ; a deep personal affection on the part of mem- 
 bers ; a devoted and united following. But Sir John 
 Thompson stepped up at once to the place held by Sir 
 Charles Tupper and Mr. Blake, and upon their retirement 
 from the scene his supremacy as a debater was practically 
 unchallenged. In command of language he excelled Mr. 
 Blake, who is known to have put much labor into the 
 wording of his speeches ; in beauty of expression he some- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 29 
 
 what resembled Lord Rosebery ; in clearness and incisive- 
 ness of style he might have been compared to Mr. Cham- 
 berlain. His rank amongst the trained debaters of the 
 Imperial Parliament would have been high ; his place in 
 the Canadian House of Commons was the highest. 
 
 In the annals of the British Empire he will hold a 
 permanent and lofty place. Under his leadership, though 
 fostered and guided by the patriotic hand of the Hon. 
 Mackenzie Bowell, the movement for closer British rela- 
 tionship found expression in the Ottawa Conference by 
 means of which, tariffs, cables and steamship lines will be 
 freely utilized in drawing the distant parts of our vast 
 Imperial realm into commercial, political and personal 
 union. As the Louden Daily News so well said, that step 
 " established a precedent and suggested the possibility of 
 an imperial federation. The calling of it belonged almost 
 to the dreamland of statesmanship " But the result 
 belongs also to the record of practical work and progress 
 which Sir John perhaps appreciated more than sentimental 
 considerations. The latter he by no means deprecated, 
 however, and his mournful death, almost at the feet of the 
 Sovereign he had served so well, illustrates, as did his life 
 and policy, the famous utterance in a speech at Belleville : 
 " He who serves Canada, serves the Empire, and he who 
 serves the Empire serves Canada as well." 
 
 But while his statesmanship exceeded the bounds of 
 the Dominion and stamped itself upon Imperial history ; 
 while his heart went out to the Mother-land and his policy 
 strove to bind its children in close union and brotherly 
 intercourse ; yet the life work of Sir John Thompson 
 was essentially Canadian. Be was emphatically a son of 
 the soil. Born and educated in Canada, his early political 
 battles and later political successes were all fought and 
 obtained within the Dominion. Imperial honours were 
 
30 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 showered upon him, and more of them might have come in 
 the future, but they were bestowed for services which in 
 benefiting Canada, benefitted the Empire as well. He was 
 filled with a passionate patriotism which was neither un- 
 derstood nor properly appreciated by the people during his 
 life-time, being as it was to a great extent concealed from 
 view by his calm and cold exterior and by the even flow 
 of his logical and unsympathetic oratory. But it was shown 
 in his policy, and occasionally surprised the public in some 
 unusually eloquent and striking phrase; while his death 
 exhibits the man as he really was — unwilling to give up his 
 post even under the physicians' warning of a fatal termin- 
 ation, because it might lead to party disorganization and 
 the consequent defeat of the principles he held so dear, 
 and of the policy lie considered so necessary to the progress 
 and welfare of the Dominion. 
 
 No one but a true Canadian, devoted to his country 
 and his cause, could have led the Conservatives through 
 the troubles following the fatal Gth of June, 1JS91. But 
 Sir John inspired the rank and file of the party with 
 thorough confidence in his ability, and impressed even his 
 most bitter opponents with respect for his honesty and 
 honour. The result was that his moderation, his intellec- 
 tual strength, his justice, and sincere conscientiousness had 
 become qualities to conjure with, and had lent a peculiar 
 power to his leadership which it is safe to say would have 
 remained unshaken by all the bubbles and foam of secta- 
 rian advocacy. 
 
 It is difficult to be critical concerning such a life and 
 character as that of Sir John Thompson. Apart from the 
 sympathy which the Angel of Death creates for all men 
 and particularly when it comes amid such surroundings 
 and with such dramatic and painful suddenness, it is not 
 easy to find faults in either his public or private career. 
 
Hon. Sir Oliver Mow at, K.C.M.G., M.P.P. 
 
 Prime M blister of Ontario. 
 
Rt. Hon. The Eari. of Derby, P.C., G.C.B. 
 
 Late Governor-General of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 33 
 
 Men differed from him in politics, but all united in praise 
 of his life, his motives his character, his attainments. 
 When death came, the Opposition press was as eulogistic 
 as were the Government organs. Men differed from him 
 in religion, but his life was so pure, his change of faith has 
 been proved to have been so conscientious and at the time 
 so injurious to his material interests, that all criticism has 
 been hushed, and the denunciations of Dr. Douglas, sincere 
 as that eloquent divine no doubt was, are buried with him. 
 Eiis faults were undoubtedly few, his virtues many. He 
 lived indeed as though he fully appreciated the fact that 
 
 " Our life of mortal breath 
 
 Is but a suburb of the life Elysian, 
 Whose portal we call death." 
 
 It is not fulsome flattery of a man, who was good as 
 well as great, to say that his whole career and character 
 constitute a noble example for young Canadians. There 
 was never any doubt that Sir John Thompson would do 
 right in any public emergency, in accordance with his con- 
 victions, and up to the extreme limit of his power. His 
 inflexible purpose compelled respect from the leaders of 
 his party, and combined with his high character and great 
 ability, caused his Cabinet, as well as his followers in the 
 House, and in the country, to give an extraordinary degree 
 of consideration to his wishes. A well-regulated ambition 
 coupled with concentration of aim and a wide degree of 
 culture, brought him the highest place in a field which his 
 patriotism had made as wide as the Empire. These quali- 
 ties render the career of Sir John Thompson memorable, 
 and important to all Canadians. They carried him from 
 the reporter's table to the foot of the Throne ; they made 
 the young lawyer of other days Minister of Justice for 
 this wide Dominion and a British representative upon more 
 
34 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 than one important occasion ; they made the once youthful 
 politician and debater a great Prime-Minister and powerful 
 speaker. They will carry his name still further down the 
 corridors of time, as 
 
 " Were a star quenched on high, 
 
 For ages would its light, 
 Still travelling downwards from the sky, 
 
 Shine on our mortal sight. 
 So. when a great man dies 
 
 For years beyond our ken. 
 The light he leaves behind hr«- '-»rs 
 
 Upon ih+ v*^* c»< s^eo/' 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 35 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 Early Days. 
 
 The Maritime Provinces have become fame <\s for 
 the men they produce. The broad Dominion of Canada 
 from end to end has felt the impress of their virile force 
 and unusual ability. The name of Sir Charles Tupper is 
 stamped in vivid letters upon the pages of provincial, 
 national and imperial history. The eloquence of Joseph 
 Howe still thunders down through the years which have 
 passed since his wonderful voice was hushed in death. 
 The ability, energy and skill of Sir William Dawson have 
 made McGill University one of the great educational 
 centres of the world, and left his name a lofty one in the 
 difficult realms of science. The great work of Principal 
 Grant has built up Queen's University, Kingston, and 
 his fame as an earnest and eloquent exponent of Imperial 
 unity has not been confined to the shores of Canada. The 
 financial ability of Hon. George E. Foster has been a tower 
 of strength to three Canadian administrations ; and the 
 rapid rise of Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper in reputation and 
 position, presage a place in history hardly second to that 
 held by his distinguished father. 
 
 But history will probably say that the career of Sir 
 John Thompson was more remarkable than that of any 
 other native of the Provinces. His rapid rise, his lofty 
 position, his great honours, his dramatic death, all com- 
 bined to render the life of the fourth Premier of Canada 
 the most eventful and remarkable in the national annals. 
 
36 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 There was, however, nothing in his surroundings to indicate 
 
 this future when John Sparrow David Thompson was born 
 
 at Halifax on November 10th, 1844. His mother, a 
 
 thoroughly good woman, was a native of the Orkney 
 
 Islands, her maiden name being Charlotte Pottinger. His 
 
 father, Mr. John Sparrow Thompson, was a man of 
 
 culture and position, though not possessed of private 
 
 means. He was a native of Waterford, Ireland, and had 
 
 emigrated, when quite young, to the Province of Nova 
 
 Scotia, then an isolated, out of the world sort of place, 
 
 possessed of charms and resources which seemed to be 
 
 buried in almost primeval obscurity. For some years, Mr. 
 
 Thompson was Queen's Printer, and subsequently for a 
 
 prolonged period, held the restricted but fairly comfortable 
 
 post of Superintendent of the Nova Scotian Money Order 
 
 system. 
 
 He seems, however, to have participated in other 
 
 pursuits as well, and was assistant editor of the Nova 
 Scotian, at a time when Joseph Howe as its proprietor 
 was occupied in moulding public opinion with pen 
 and voice and influence. Naturally, he fought with his 
 chief during the struggle for responsible government 
 in the Province, and naturally also, be taught his then 
 youthful son an affectionate regard for the great tri- 
 bune, which had its effect in later days. Mr. Thompson, 
 who died in 1867, seems to have enjoyed in his day a 
 high reputation as a graceful and well-informed writer, 
 and an accomplished gentleman. The circumstances sur- 
 rounding his son's boyhood therefore were not at all 
 unfavorable to the youthful development of any remark- 
 able qualities which he might possess. But, as in so many 
 other cases, the child hardly seems to have been the father 
 of the man. He attended the common schools of his 
 native city, and afterwards took a course at the Free 
 Church Academy in Halifax, besides receiving most care- 
 
sir john Thompson. 37 
 
 ful home training and advice, in all his studies and pur- 
 suits. 
 
 At the early age of fifteen he commenced the study 
 of law as an articled clerk in the office of Mr. Henry 
 Pryor, afterwards stipendiary magistrate of Halifax, and 
 was called to the Bar of the Province in 1865, when barely 
 twenty-one. He is described in his student days as having 
 been a slight and rather delicate youth, with a shy and timid 
 manner, and as utterly devoid of anything like conceit or 
 self-assertion. And the daily work of the junior articled 
 student was not then made as pleasant or useful as it is at 
 the present time. It was indeed of the dullest and appar- 
 ently most useless character, including such labor as the 
 copying of voluminous writs and pleadings, now long done 
 away with, and the general performance of a class of work 
 which is nowadays handed over to the office typewriter. 
 Some one has said in this connection that it was a formid- 
 able undertaking even to peruse an ordinary set of the 
 pleadings of thirty years ago ; it was a still more difficult 
 task to write out the complete copy of such a set ; but the 
 superlative was reached by the bewildered student in the 
 attempt to comprehend the precise meanings of the super- 
 subtle technicalities thus expanded upon so many pages of 
 foolscap. Browning may indeed be termed the embodi- 
 ment of lucidity in comparison with the intricate legal 
 phraseology of some of the documents of a generation or 
 two since. 
 
 But " Johnnie " Thompson, as he was called, not only 
 found time to do his office work and to be an industrious 
 student of the principles of law, but also to master the 
 difficult art of stenography. Then as in the future, what 
 he found to do, he did thoroughly. And when the early 
 years of hard and constant struggle at the bar commenced, 
 the young lawyer was only too glad to eke out his income by 
 
38 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the use of an accomplishment not very common at the time. 
 As s, matter of fact also, there is as much difference be- 
 tween a first-class stenographer, such as he was, and one 
 who can only take down words and then give a literal 
 translation of them, as there is between the writer and 
 the pen he drives over the paper. The one will summa- 
 rize in a short time a ten-column speech so that it will not 
 exceed a column in space and yet include every salient 
 point, grammatically worded, and perhaps embellished in a 
 way the speaker himself was incapable of doing. The 
 other will take down his letters from dictation, and give 
 an exact copy, as may perhaps be his duty, without the 
 exercise of thought or of any special ability. 
 
 This was not the way with young Thompson. He 
 practised law and, at the same time, reported the 
 debates of the Legislative Assembly. In 1867, the 
 Official Reporter of the House was Mr. John George 
 Bourinot, now the learned and distinguished Clerk of the 
 Dominion House of Commons. His volumes for that 
 year make acknowledgment to John S. D. Thompson for 
 assistance given, and in the succeeding year they bear the 
 signature of Mr. Thompson as Reporter-in-chief. During 
 the four following sessions he continued to report the 
 debates with great advantage to himself in the gaining of 
 a thorough and ready knowledge of the procedure of Par- 
 liament. It must also have given him a very complete 
 acquaintance with the politics and political leaders of his 
 province, and been of great assistance when he later on 
 came to enter the House of Assembly. Meanwhile the 
 reputation of the young lawyer was growing. When he 
 had been at the Bar but little more than two years he had 
 won the respect and confidence of the Bench and of his 
 professional brethren. Simplicity, sincerity and fairness 
 seem to have been the predominant qualities of the lawyer 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 39 
 
 as they were afterwards of the judge and the statesman. 
 His first partner was Mr. Joseph Coombes, for whom he 
 did the office work and prepared briefs; his second, 
 after a few years of indifferent progress, from a pecuniary 
 standpoint, was Mr. Wallace Graham. The firm thus finally 
 formed was a success, and Mr. Thompson soon rose in his 
 profession until he attained the foremost place before the 
 Provincial Bar. 
 
 During these years he worked exceedingly hard. 
 Matters were complicated by his father's health failing, and 
 for some years the son performed much of the work per- 
 taining to his parent's Government position by sitting up 
 and labour; far into the night. It is a melancholy fact 
 stated by one of his friends in those seemingly distant 
 days, that his ambition then was to make sufficient money 
 to keep his own family from ever being in the difficulties 
 he himself had experienced. As a lawyer during this 
 period he contributed to the true dignity of a great pro- 
 fession, scorned pettifogging tricks, and was ever on the 
 side of peace and settlement where such results were at 
 all possible. His powers of concentration were very great, 
 and of course aided him not a little in getting through 
 multifarious duties and in winning legal successes. 
 
 In 1870, at the age of twenty-six, John Thompson 
 was married to Miss Annie Affleck, daughter of Captain 
 Affleck, of Halifax. To her, the partner of his early 
 struggles and his later greatness, he was ever the most 
 devoted of husbands, as he has been to his children a most 
 thoughtful and tender parent. But the marriage was not 
 accomplished without some difficulty. Miss Affleck was a 
 Roman Catholic, he was a Protestant His family were 
 most devoted and pronounced Methodists : with perhaps a 
 little of that undue religious prejudice which is apt to de- 
 velop in small communities and in the hearts and minds of 
 the very best of people. He was, however, drifting into 
 
40 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 closer communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and 
 had about this time been deeply impressed by a series of 
 sermons on the "Foundations and Doctrines of the Church," 
 preached by Archbishop Connolly of Halifax, an ecclesiastic 
 whom he greatly admired, and who soon came in turn to 
 appreciate his young friend's ability and keenness of 
 thought. 
 
 It seems clear that his future wife had little or nothing 
 to do with his change of faith, which came later, and which 
 bo influenced the course of his whole life. It is indeed un- 
 derstood that they never discussed religious matters, either 
 before or after marriage, until he announced his intention 
 of becoming a Roman Catholic. During their engagement 
 Mr. Thompson would frequently meet her at the church 
 door and walk home, but he seldom or never attended the 
 services with her. At the time the marriage was decided 
 upon, Archbishop Connolly was unfortunately away and as 
 mixed marriages were never celebrated in Halifax, arrange- 
 ments were made with some little difficulty to have the 
 ceremony performed in Portland, Maine. Canon Power 
 ultimately gave Mrs. Affleck letters to Bishop Bacon of that 
 place, who did everything possible to facilitate matters. 
 She and her daughter reached there early in July, and on 
 the 5th of the month the young couple were married in 
 the Bishop's parlor. 
 
 A year afterwards Mr. Thompson joined the Roman 
 Catholic Church. A change of religion is always a marked 
 and striking action whichever direction it may take, and in 
 his case was rendered especially noteworthy by the silent 
 opposition of his relatives and friends, by the fact that as a 
 boy he had been the pride of the Brunswick Street Metho- 
 dist Sabbath School, and as a young man, one of its most 
 efficient teachers. But there was no room for surprise in 
 the matter. His friends knew that for years he had been 
 
Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, M.P. 
 
 Second Prime Minister of Can. i da. 
 

 Hon. W. R. Meredith, LL.D. 
 
 Chit/ Justice of Ontario— Late Leader of the Conservative Opposition 
 
 in the Province. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 43 
 
 debating the question, and that the final step was only 
 taken after the deliberate weighing of arguments and con- 
 clusions which characterized him throughout life. He was 
 never the creature of circumstances, and there cannot be 
 the slightest doubt of his having made the change from the 
 highest and purest of motives. As he remarked at the 
 time to an intimate friend : — " I have everything to lose 
 from a worldly standpoint by the step T am about to take." 
 But so convinced were all his friends of his sincerity, and 
 so much did they admire his high-minded indifference to 
 any success which might be attained by refusing to run 
 counter to public opinion or individual prejudice, that they 
 clung to him all the more closely, and his popularity grew 
 rather than diminished. A few months after the event he 
 was elected an Alderman of Halifax in the fifth ward, and 
 by acclamation. This position he continued to hold for six 
 years, in 1874 being also elected a member of the City 
 Board of School Commissioners. Of the latter body he was 
 for a time chairman. In civic affairs the young Alderman 
 soon took an active and prominent part, and his surviving 
 colleagues, as well as the records of the Council itself, bear 
 ample testimony to his ability and skill. And so with the 
 School Board. 
 
 Education was then, as it always is in mixed religious 
 communities, a difficult matter to deal with in Halifax. 
 There were no Separate Schools, though of course many 
 private institutions were maintained of a more or less reli- 
 gious character. The School Board was chosen without 
 reference to creed and it had to manage the conflicting 
 views of the different elements of the people. In this Mr. 
 Thompson showed marked skill. It is said that he hardly 
 ever offended any one. He did not believe in antagonizing 
 people, and if his manner was too cold and distant to win 
 popular affection, his qualities at least compelled public 
 
44 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 respect, while his quiet, dignified way of discussing matters 
 prevented people from taking personal offence at his oppo- 
 sition to their views. He once warned a close personal 
 friend, who now holds a high judicial place in the Dominion, 
 that he was " too impulsive," and advised him to use every 
 possible argument against the point in dispute, but never 
 so as to personally offend the other disputant. And there 
 is no doubt about his own success in these years of prelimi- 
 nary struggle. His influence in the Council was supreme, 
 and no one could throw oil upon the troubled waters of the 
 School Board better than he. Writing on Dec. 4th, 1877, 
 the Halifax Herald says that " If any Alderman ever con- 
 ducted himself in such a manner as to win popularity and 
 confidence that man was Alderman Thompson." 
 
 During these years the young lawyer was for some 
 time President of the Young Men's Literary Association of 
 Halifax, and of the Charitable Irish Society, taking a deep 
 interest in their affairs and general proceedings. Naturally 
 also he was steadily developing his debating powers as well 
 as increasing the stores of information and knowledge of 
 precedents, which lie at the basis of a genuine and perma- 
 nent Parliamentary reputation. The shyness of early youth 
 soon wore away, so far as any outward manifestation was 
 concerned, but the reserved manner remained and clung to 
 him through life. But then, and always, he disliked public 
 speaking, and for this reason, probably, was never a good 
 campaign orator. Any audience, however, which desired 
 to hear a clear-cut analysis of the questions at issue with 
 out oratorical frills or appeals to sentiment and passion, 
 could appreciate an address from John Thompson, and 
 would probably leave the building impressed by the hon- 
 esty and honor of the man, as well as by the logical strength 
 of his arguments. 
 
 M this time the storms which had swept over the 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 45 
 
 politics and parties of Nova-Scotia were somewhat abated, 
 though much of bitterness still remained. The great figure 
 of Joseph Howe had passed from the scene and only the 
 memory was left of a man whom the Canadian people of 
 to-day can hardly appreciate at the full measure of his 
 superb ability and disinterestedness. The historic battles 
 which he waged for responsible government and against 
 confederation had brought out a display of eloquence and 
 power which in a less circumscribed sphere would have made 
 Howe one of the great men of the age. The latter contest 
 was a struggle of giants. The sledge-hammer blows of Dr. 
 Tupper ringing against the shield of his eloquent antag- 
 onist made the prolonged battle a memorable one to all 
 Nova-Scotians, and the literary part taken in it by Mr. 
 Thompson, senior, as a devoted friend and follower of the 
 Anti-Union leader, was by no means small. 
 
 During this period the Province was literally deluged 
 with pamphlets and political literature of all kinds ; the 
 press was loaded with arguments and fiery denunciation ; 
 the air was filled with the sounds of oratory. Finally, on 
 the 18th of September, 18G7, the new Dominion was startled 
 by intelligence of the terrific defeat which the supporters 
 of Canadian federation had received in Nova-Scotia. Out 
 of eighteen members oi' the Commons, but one Confederate, 
 Dr. Tupper, was returned ; and out of 38 members of the 
 Provincial Assembly only two Confederates had survived 
 the political hurricane. Howe literally held the Province 
 in his hand and had he pleased, during the next year or 
 two could have taken Nova-Scotia out of the Union and 
 compelled the Dominion to conquer it or else wait for a 
 turning tide. But the Imperial Government refused to 
 grant constitutional repeal of the Union, and he was too 
 loyal a man to dream of using force. Many of his followers 
 however, began to assume a disloyal attitude and to even 
 dally with American sympathizers. 
 
46 LIFE AND WOlUv OF 
 
 Here was the opportunity for the Dominion party, 
 which had been gradually regaining ground during the in- 
 terval. And no one could seize an opportunity quicker 
 than Sir John A Macdonald. He came to Halifax and 
 saw Howe ; played upon his love of British connection and 
 closer Imperial unity ; convinced him of the serious danger 
 into which the Anti-Confederates were drifting and the 
 utter impossibility of separation ; offered him better finan- 
 cial terms for the Province, and finally won him over. 
 Howe entered the Dominion Parliament and Government 
 in order to more effectually guard the interests of Nova- 
 Scotia, and though much of his marvellous popularity 
 departed with that act, and the misrepresentation to which 
 it was subjected, he nevertheless lived to occupy for a short 
 time the Government House of his native Province, and 
 when he died received the tribute of heart felt and univer- 
 sal mourning from its people. 
 
 Mr. Thompson, who had in the meantime lost his 
 father by death, was not sorry when circumstances com- 
 pelled Howe to sever himself from his old-time associates. 
 His admiration for the man was very great, his regard for 
 his memory was afterwards deep and sincere, but he would 
 never have followed him in any unconstitutional action or 
 disloyal advocacy. This union of Tupper and Howe — the 
 Conservative and Radical of earlier days — founded the Lib- 
 eral-Conservative party in Nova-Scotia which, in Provin- 
 cial matters, John S. D. Thompson was to lead in the course 
 of a few years, and in later times was to represent in the 
 Government of the Dominion. About 1874, he became 
 known as a strong advocate of protection to native indus- 
 tries, and with a small coterie of active friends in Halifax, 
 urged the issue which four years afterwards was to sweep 
 the country like a whirlwind. 
 
 Meanwhile he was connected with various important 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPS >N. 47 
 
 cases coming before the Supreme Court of Nova-Scotia, 
 and was rapidly acquiring a foremost place at the bar, as 
 well as in municipal politics, and in the appreciation of 
 public men who were able to judge of ability in those rising 
 around them. It was a curious friendship which existed 
 at this time between the young lawyer, with his cold 
 and reserved manner, his suppressed emotions and solid 
 judgment, and the emotional and impetuous Archbishop 
 Connolly, with his fervid temperament and characteristic 
 Irish eloquence. Bishop Cameron of Antigonish describes 
 his first meeting with Mr. Thompson as being at a dinner 
 in the Archbishop's house some years after the religious 
 change, which has been elsewhere referred to, and says : * — 
 " Dinner over, His Grace invited us to his room and began to 
 give us the detailed history of a case at law in which he was 
 largely interested. As a listener, a perfect listener, he 
 (Mr. Thompson) impressed me very much. And when he 
 broke his dead silence, his rapid and searching examination 
 was a study, soon followed by unbounded admiration at 
 the easy skill with which he proved that he had already 
 thoroughly mastered the whole complicated subject at issue 
 and completely dissipated every difficulty that had the mo- 
 ment before seemed all but insurmountable." 
 
 Archbishop Hannan, who succeeded Dr. Connolly in 
 1876, was not upon very intimate or friendly terms with 
 Mr. Thompson, and the latter's action in defence of a local 
 religious sisterhood which appealed to him for legal aid, 
 actually embittered their relationship. It seems that the 
 sisterhood in question consulted the lawyer regarding cer- 
 tain regulations made by the Archbishop which they did 
 not like, and he advised an appeal to Rome. After a pro- 
 longed controversy, in which Archbishop Lynch of Toronto 
 was accidentally involved, the sisterhood finally triumphed. 
 
 •Letter to the Author, dated December 20th, 1894. 
 
48 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 But this was sometime after the period now under consi- 
 deration. 
 
 Meanwhile an important epoch in his career was at 
 hand. During the thirty-three years of his past life he 
 had proven the possession of certain qualities which almost 
 ensure success to the man who has them. As a bov 
 and a young man his affection for his parents had been 
 something remarkable. His father naturally inspired re- 
 spect, and the judicious and close intimacy to which he 
 admitted the son, did much to mould the mind and char- 
 acter of the future statesman. He won and wedded his 
 wife despite the difference of religion which his education 
 and famity. influence made a considerable difficulty, and 
 being the man he was, it is probable that he never even 
 considered the fact that her lack of money made the future 
 depend entirely upon his own exertions. He had clearly 
 shown in the practice of law and in the practice of prelim- 
 inary politics that the performance of duty and the main- 
 tenance of absolute integrity, were to him far more pre- 
 cious than the glamour of a fleeing popularity, or the 
 glitter of success obtained by doubtful means. And in 
 the public recognition of these qualities he had laid the 
 foundation for a higher position and a permanent reputa- 
 tion. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Law and Politics. 
 
 The time had now come for Mr. John S. D. Thompson 
 to rise out of the Provincial sphere of legal practice and to 
 take a place amongst the more or less leading lawyers of 
 the Dominion. He had, it is true, already made himself 
 felt before the Bench of Nova-Scotia, and had been con- 
 nected with a number of important cases. He had thor- 
 oughly familiarized himself with the law and practice of 
 his own Province, but as yet the sphere had been too limi- 
 ced for fame and not sufficiently remunerative for wealth. 
 But in 1877 came the chance. 
 
 In the early part of that year the Halifax Fisheries' 
 Commission met. It was the outcome of the Washington 
 Treaty of 1871, by the terms of which the Americans had 
 been given the right to fish for twelve years within the 
 limits of Canadian waters in return for a similar right on 
 the part of British subjects within the jurisdiction of the 
 United States. As this latter privilege was almost value- 
 less it was agreed that an International Commission should 
 meet at some date to be thereafter arranged and settle the 
 amount of the compensation which was to be paid Great 
 Britain on behalf of Canada. From various causes nothing 
 definite was done during the following half-dozen years. 
 It was not the fault of the Canadian Government. On the 
 8th of February, 1877, Mr. Mackenzie's administration an- 
 nounced through the Speech from the Throne that in spite 
 of every effort no advance had been made in obtaining a 
 
 4> 
 
50 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 settlement from the United States as pledged under the 
 terms of the Treaty. Sir John Macdonald in speaking to 
 the Address admitted that the fault did not lie with Can- 
 ada, and expressed the earnest hope that the incoming 
 American Government would "remove the stigma that had 
 been cast upon the good faith of the American people," by 
 the previous and positive refusal to carry out this provi - 
 sion of the Treaty of Washington. 
 
 The expectations based upon the coming into office of 
 President Hayes were promptly realized, and on June 15th 
 the Commission met at Halifax. The central figure in the 
 gathering was M. Maurice Delfosse, Belgian Minister at 
 Washington, who was named by the Austrian Minister in 
 London, and was expected to hold the scales with absolute 
 justice between the British Commissioner, Sir Alex. T. Gait, 
 K.C.M.G., and the American Commissioner, Hon. Ensign 
 H. Kellogg. M. Delfosse was elected President, and per- 
 formed his duties with dignity and fairness. Hardly less 
 important personages were the two Agents, the British 
 being Mr. (now Sir) Francis Clare Ford ; the American, the 
 Hon. Dwight Foster. There was a brilliant array of coun- 
 sel, the British side being especially strong in this respect. 
 It included such men as Joseph Doutre, Q.C., of Montreal ; 
 S. R Thomson, Q.C., of St. John, N.B. ; Hon. W. V. White- 
 way, Q.C., of Newfoundland Hon. L. H. Davies, of Char- 
 lottetown ; and R. L. Wheatherbe, Q.C., of Halifax. Upon 
 the American side were Richard H. Dana, Jr., and Francis 
 H. Trescott. But, fortunately for the case he had to pre- 
 sent, Mr. Dana recognized the necessity of calling in to his 
 assistance some Nova-Scotian lawyer who was known to 
 be thoroughly posted in Maritime Provincial matters and 
 versed in the; law of maritime nations. He selected Mr. J. 
 S. D. Thompson and thus gave him the one opportunity he 
 required. It was with him, as it is in such cases with all 
 lawyers, a purely business transaction. 
 
Sir John Caldwell Abbott, K.C.M.G., Q.C., D.C.L. 
 
 Third Premier of Canada. 
 
The Hon. Sir Samuel Henry Strong. 
 
 Chief Justice of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 53 
 
 Two sides in an important international case had to be 
 presented before certain judges, and he undertook to aid in 
 the preparation of the American brief. On the 30th of 
 July and after the Commission had been sitting for three 
 days, he was formally introduced in the following words, 
 extracted from the official minutes : 
 
 " Mr. D wight Foster then requested permission to in- 
 troduce Mr. J. S. D. Thompson, of Halifax, and Mr. Alfred 
 Foster, of Boston, who would attend the Commission to 
 perform such duties on behalf of the United States as 
 might be assigned to them." 
 
 Those duties, so far as Mr. Thompson was concerned, 
 were sufficiently onerous. There was no publicity for him 
 in connection with the case ; his name only appears once 
 upon the minutes of the meetings ; he delivered no speeches 
 and received no official thanks. Yet there can be no doubt 
 that he prepared the greater part of the American case, and 
 especially that which had a local application ; that he had 
 to make a profound study of the whole Fisheries question ; 
 and was required to analyze the evidence produced, for the 
 benefit of the United States counsel. His reward was a 
 large fee — estimated at $6,000 — and a considerable increase 
 in reputation. As the Halifax Herald said some months 
 afterwards, "It is a point of pride with us that Mr. Thomp- 
 son was deemed so eminent in his profession as to be 
 sought after by the American Government " 
 
 The result of the Commission was not all that Canada 
 desired or expected, but to the United States it was 
 intensely unsatisfactory. The tribunal awarded Canada 
 $5,500,000 by a majority vote, Messrs. Del fosse and Gait 
 supporting, and Mr. Kellogg dissenting. For nearly a year 
 the American Government delayed the payment to which 
 they were in honour pledged, and while at least one-half of 
 the fifteen millions paid by Great Britain in full for the 
 
54 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Alabama, damages was lying in their vaults uncalled for 
 and unclaimed. Finally, towards the close of 1878, the 
 amount was handed over, but only after an ungracious 
 protest from Mr. Welsh, the American Minister to England, 
 in which he declared that " the Government of the United 
 States cannot accept the result of the Halifax Commission 
 as furnishing any just measure of value of participation 
 by our citizens in the in-shore fisheries of the British 
 Provinces." Mr. Thompson was afterwards, for political 
 purposes, criticized for his share in the case, but the very 
 general feeling was that he had acted perfectly within his 
 rights as a lawyer, and that the very fact of a leading 
 Halifax barrister being allowed without public objection to 
 take such a part, showed the Canadian desire to give our 
 rivals every fair right to assistance before the tribunal. 
 It, no doubt, helped also in the moral compulsion after- 
 wards required to obtain payment of the award. 
 
 In November, 1877, the opportunity came for one who 
 had proved himself an able lawyer to show whether he also 
 possessed the qualities of a politician and statesman. As 
 a rule, and despite the number of lawyers who play at 
 politics and the politicians who meddle with law, the 
 qualifications are not often combined in any great degree. A 
 training in law is apt to limit the intellectual horizon and 
 restrict the broad-minded interpretation of precedents and 
 that freedom of mental action, so essential to a man who 
 aspires to true statesmanship. The great English party 
 leaders have never been lawyers, and men like Brougham, 
 Eldon or Campbell would perhaps have been greater in 
 character and reputation had they adhered to law and not 
 dabbled in politics. And it is probable that Mr. Thomp- 
 son's first essay in political life was not in the end success- 
 ful, from a party point of view, because he was inclined to 
 look too much at legislation from the legal standpoint and 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 55 
 
 think too little of popular sentiment in connection with it. 
 Other and specific causes there were, but in a general sense 
 this had much to do with the result. 
 
 However, all went well at the beginning. A vacancy 
 had occurred in the representation of Antigonish county 
 in the Local House of Assembly, and a movement at once 
 commenced for the nomination of Mr. J. S. D. Thompson. 
 At that time a little coterie of men were active in Halifax 
 Conservative circles, all of whom afterwards attained more 
 or less eminence. Robert Sedgewick is now a Judge of 
 the Supreme Court of Canada ; Martin J. Griffin, Editor of 
 the Halifax Herald, is Parliamentary Librarian at Ottawa, 
 and a well-known Canadian writer ; Wallace Graham, Q.C., 
 is a Judge of the Supreme Court of Nova-Scotia ; C. J. 
 Townshend became a member of several Nova-Scotian 
 Governments, and is now a Judge of the Province ; George 
 Johnson is Dominion Statistician at Ottawa. There were 
 others also, including Mr. J. J. Stewart, the present pro- 
 prietor of the Herald. And the way in which they clung 
 together was as remarkable as the manner in which the 
 most of them rose to fame. Not less noteworthy, perhaps, 
 was the regard in which Mr. Thompson was held by these 
 rising men of his own home city. 
 
 On the 21st of November, the Halifax Herald came 
 out with an editorial declaring that, "Should Mr. Thompson 
 be nominated by the Opposition in Antigonish, should he 
 accept a nomination, at least seven-eights of the city 
 readers of the Government organs will be found hoping 
 he may win. For the organs fight against him under the 
 melancholy disadvantage of knowing that the majority of 
 their party look upon Mr. Thompson as a man who ought 
 to be in public life, who will be in public life, who will 
 make his mark in public life, and who has the ability, 
 character and standing to do credit to any public position 
 
56 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 in which he may be placed." Shortly after thh high 
 tribute, he was given the unanimous Conservative nomin- 
 ation, and during the brief campaign of a week which 
 followed made ten speeches in the constituency. 
 
 But it was not all clear sailing. His opponent was a 
 Roman Catholic Conservative named Joseph McDonald, 
 who received the strong support of the Local Government, 
 and who expected to obtain enough Conservative votes to 
 defeat the Opposition candidate. The Halifax Chronicle 
 commenced the campaign against Mr. Thompson by the 
 charge that he was the nominee of Bishop Cameron, and 
 that " his religion was expected to have more to do with 
 his prospects in Antigonish than his politics." This was 
 rather an absurd argument to address to a county which 
 was overwhelmingly Catholic in population, but which had 
 for years shown its moderation by electing one Protestant 
 and one Roman Catholic. And in connection with this 
 first appearance of a statement which has had considerable 
 currency during many following years, a further extract 
 from the letter of Bishop Cameron, which has been pre- 
 viously mentioned, will be of interest. He writes : 
 "Towards the end of October, 1877, I was convalescing 
 after a serious attack of illness, when one day I received a 
 friendly visit from Senator Miller. A by-election was soon 
 to take place in Antigonish. In that connection the 
 Senator said : ' What do you think of the idea of inviting 
 Mr. J. S. D. Thompson to become a candidate ? ' My reply 
 was as follows : ' I should be delighted to see my native 
 county represented by a man of Thompson's standing and 
 ability.' Upon my being asked whether Miller would be 
 allowed to make use of the above expression, I readily 
 replied that my words were but the honest expression of 
 my views, and that T was not ashamed of their being known 
 to all whom they might concern." The Bishop then goes 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 57 
 
 on to say that he resided at that time in Arichat and did 
 not visit any part of Antigonish County during the cam- 
 paign that ensued. 
 
 As a matter of course, the knowledge that Bishop 
 Cameron favoured any particular candidate would help 
 rather than hurt him under such conditions as prevailed 
 in the contest, and there can be no doubt that the Halifax 
 Herald hit the nail upon the head in saying that even if 
 the Chronicle was true in its assertion, Mr. Thompson was 
 to be congratulated on having secured the favourable 
 regards of " one of the most able and scholarly, the most 
 refined and powerful, ecclesiastics in the Lower Provinces." 
 But in fact, he was the candidate of no one man. Halifax 
 Conservative opinion almost pushed him into public life ; 
 his nomination papers were signed by the principal men in 
 Antigonish County, which in any case had strong Opposi- 
 tion leanings ; he did not seek the constituency, it sought 
 him. After the nomination, his speech was described 
 by a local paper, The Gasket, as something unusual. " We 
 have heard public speakers in Canada, in the States, and 
 in our own Province., and we fear not to assert that Mr. 
 Thompson is the most perfect public speaker we have ever 
 listened to. In fluency and ease, and grace and vigour of 
 expression, he is without a peer in this country." Other 
 local references to his ability and gentlemanly bearing 
 indicate the forces that were at work, and which finally 
 resulted in the large majority of 517. 
 
 It was a very considerable victory for a young man 
 who had hitherto only taken a quiet interest, and not a 
 public part, in political matters. He had been compelled 
 to fight the whole Government interest and an alleged 
 Independent candidate, besides facing a constituency to 
 which he was a stranger, and in which he had only a week 
 to become acquainted. The Conservative Opposition in 
 
58 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the Local House was jubilant, and the Herald congratu- 
 lated the County of Antigonish on having secured the ser- 
 vices of one of the ablest young men in the Province. It 
 congratulated Nova-Scotia upon obtaining the public ser- 
 vices of a man of high character and tried ability. It 
 congratulated the Opposition upon such an accession of 
 strength to its ranks. 
 
 • The Government of Nova-Scotia was at this time in 
 the hands of the Liberal party, under the leadership of the 
 Hon. P. C. Hill. A large majority of the Legislature was 
 at its back, but it had become somewhat weakened by a 
 reckless management of the finances, by certain scandals 
 in connection with details of administration, and by the 
 growing unpopularity of the Liberal Ministry at Ottawa, 
 coupled with that omniscient factor in political affairs — 
 hard times. Mr. Thompson's victory in Antigonish marked 
 the turning of the tide, and a year later, at the same time 
 that the Mackenzie Government was swept from power by 
 the rising waves of Protectionism, the Nova-Scotia Minis- 
 try was so badly beaten at the polls that only eight of its 
 supporters were returned to the Legislature out of a mem- 
 bership of thirty-eight. All the ministers but one were 
 defeated. 
 
 Mr. Thompson came back to the Assembly from Anti- 
 gonish by acclamation, and on the 21st of October, 1878, a 
 Conservative Government was formed by the Hon. Simon 
 H. Holmes, who took the portfolio of Provincial Secretary, 
 with J. S. D. Thompson as Attorney-General, and the Hon. 
 Samuel Creelman, a veteran Radical of the days of Howe, 
 as Commissioner of Works and Mines. Messrs. C. J. 
 McDonald, W. B. Troop, J. S. McDonald, N. W. White, C. J. 
 Townshend, and H. F. McDougall held office without port- 
 folios. The new Attorney-General was warmly welcomed 
 by a portion of the press, the Herald declaring him to be 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 59 
 
 of high standing in every situation of public or private 
 life, with a reputation as clear as noonday from all charges 
 and even all suspicions. 
 
 Much was expected from the new Ministry, and in a 
 very substantial way much was received. To extricate 
 the Province from financial difficulties, to lift its railway 
 system out of the hopeless muddle into which it had fallen, 
 and to reform the loose method of municipal government, 
 were the requirements of the moment. The Premier and 
 his chief assistant set themselves to this task, and in three 
 years of economy and retrenchment paid off $70,000 of the 
 $400,000 debt incurred by their predecessors ; reduced 
 expenditures by $150,000 ; doubled the receipts from 
 mines; and trebled the receipts from Crown Lands. 
 
 In another direction considerable success was achieved. 
 The preceeding Government had subsidized Provincial 
 railways to the extent of $1,400,000 during its term of 
 office, but without securing the results aimed at. There 
 now seemed to be difficulties in every direction. Grants 
 had been expended without half the work being done, and 
 in the case of the Eastern Extension Railway, the Com- 
 pany, contractors, and Government appeared to be in a 
 perfect tangle of trouble. One or two minor roads were 
 soon completed by the new Ministry, and its energies were 
 then devoted to the production of a schen .e which should 
 effect the complete consolidation of ihj railways of the 
 Province under the control of an English syndicate. 
 Some local men of wealth were interested, but the principal 
 members of the Company were Sir Henry Tyler, Lord 
 Ashley, Lord Colin Campbell, and other Englishmen of 
 similar standing. Under a voluminous contract prepared 
 by the Attorney-General, the Company, after considerable 
 discussion, both public and private, agreed to complete 
 some of the existing roads, and to construct 140 miles of 
 
60 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 new railway. The Government in turn promised con- 
 siderable grants of land, and consented to guarantee the 
 interest on certain bonds. 
 
 There seemed to be no general opposition to the 
 scheme. From one quarter, however, came steadfast and 
 stinging criticism, and the ability with which Mr. W. S. 
 Fielding, then editor of the Halifax Morning Chronicle, 
 handled the question, not only effected the public mind 
 injuriously to the Government, but helped to place him in 
 the prominent position which he afterwards attained of 
 Prime Minister of Nova-Scotia. But these attacks made 
 no impression upon the Legislature. In opening the ses- 
 sion of that body on January 19th, 1882, the Lieut- 
 Governor was very optimistic, and prophesied that the 
 railway consolidation arrangements would " mark a new 
 era in the development of the Province." On Feb. 1st, 
 following, Mr. Thompson delivered a long and powerful 
 speech upon the Railway Bill, which embodied the scheme 
 in its entirety, and the measure was carried by a sweeping 
 majority. It easily passed the Council, but the success of 
 the Liberals at the polls a few months later prevented it 
 from ever going into operation. 
 
 Another matter dealt with, and to the lasting benefit 
 of the Province, was the reform of its municipal system. 
 It was a most difficult task. The old method of municipal 
 government was vastly inferior to that of Ontario, and 
 even to the system which had been established in New 
 Brunswick two years previously. Attorney- General 
 Thompson, however, went into the matter with his usual 
 thoroughness, and seemed to be utterly oblivious of local 
 popular clamor or of political exigencies. His Municipal 
 Corporation Act, which finally became law, effected a 
 genuine revolution. Each county in the Province was 
 incorporated and provided with municipal self-government, 
 
Hon. Geo. E. Foster, D.C.L., M.P. 
 
 Finance Minister of Canada. 
 
Sir Adolphe Caron, K.C.M.G., M.P. 
 
 Postmaster-General. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 63 
 
 largely upon the Ontario plan, in place of the antiquated 
 method of rule by Sessions of the Peace and Grand Juries. 
 liie control of road and bridge moneys was vested in the 
 municipal councils, and many abuses developed as the 
 natural outgrowths of an old system were done away with. 
 It was natural that a measure of wholesale reform such as 
 this should create discontent in different quarters. The 
 Liberal Opposition, as a matter of course, opposed and 
 censured it. Magistrates all over the Province, whom it 
 deprived of the share in governing the counties which they 
 had hitherto held, were naturally indignant. And an army 
 of officials who had been previously connected with the 
 expenditures upon roads and bridges fought vigorously 
 against the new proposals and against Mr. Thompson as 
 the author of the reforms. But the measure was so good 
 as a whole that the Legislature could hardly refuse to pass 
 it, even though the majority knew that the conscientious 
 labours of the Attorney -General would deprive the Gov- 
 ernment party in the coming elections of the support of 
 what had practically become a political machine — the 
 magistracy of the Province. 
 
 A prolonged effort was also made by the Holmes- 
 Thompson Government, as it was called, to abolish the not 
 very useful, and certainly expensive, Upper House. In 
 1879, the Ministry introduced a bill for that purpose, which 
 was passed by the Assembly but thrown out by the Legis- 
 lative Council. An address to the Queen was then carried 
 through the popular chamber praying for such amendment 
 to the British North America Act as would permit the 
 Lieut.-Governor-in-Council to appoint enough members of 
 the Upper House to carry the measure. The latter body 
 presented a counter address to Her Majesty, and the 
 Ministry followed that up with an able document prepared 
 by Mr. Thompson, and endorsing the views of the Assembly. 
 
64 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 The Imperial Government, however, refused to interfere, 
 and the Legislative Council still stands as one of the 
 institutions of Nova-Scotia. Other legislation was 
 attempted or carried out and, taken altogether, the course 
 of the Government won it a reputation which caused so 
 well-informed a paper as the St John Sun to declare that, 
 *' Nova-Scotia had never been so well governed " as it was 
 during this period. 
 
 Meanwhile important changes were pending, and on 
 the 25th of May, 1882, it was announced that a re-con- 
 struction of the Cabinet had taken place. Mr. Holmes 
 had resigned the Premiership on account of ill -health, and 
 had accepted the office of Prothonotory of Halifax. The 
 new Ministry was formed as follows : 
 
 Premier and Attorney-General Hon. John S. D. Thompson. 
 
 Provincial Secretary Hon. A. C. Bell. 
 
 Commissioner of Public Works Hon. S. Creelman. 
 
 Without Portfolio , .Hon. W. B. Troop. 
 
 ii ii .Hon. C. J. Townshend. 
 
 Mr. Thompson became Prime Minister as a matter of 
 course. He was now, as a leading local paper declared, 
 first in his profession and first in the Legislature, while, 
 " as the son of one of the founders of Liberalism in Nova- 
 Scotia, he still retains the spirit which actuated the men 
 who won responsible government for us a nd made future 
 reforms possible." But he was destined to hold the position 
 for only a very brief period. Dissolution followed early 
 in June, and in the elections which took place on June 20th 
 the Thompson government was defeated by a majority of 
 five. 
 
 The Premier himself was again returned for Anti- 
 gonish, and amongst other notable selections at the polls 
 was that of J. W. Longley for Annapolis, and W. S. Field- 
 ing for Halifax. Early in July the Government resigned, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 65 
 
 and on the 27th of the same month Mr. Thompson accepted 
 a place on the Supreme Court of the Province. 
 
 There were many reasons for the defeat of the 
 Ministry. The ability displayed by the Chronicle in its 
 strong but unscrupulous attacks was one ; the enemies 
 made by the municipal reforms was another; and the 
 following statement by Mr. Fielding in a speech at Halifax 
 on June 1st was widely believed : " As Premier we have a 
 gentleman who has -many friends. , It is well known that 
 the Hon. gentleman who temporarily fills that office has no 
 intention of remaining in politics, but will at the earliest 
 opportunity take a seat upon the Bench which his recog- 
 nized ability as a lawyer fits him to adorn." 
 
 There is no doubt that this was a popular impression, 
 strengthened by the Attorney- General's disregard of the 
 usual arts of the politician. And there seems also to have 
 been a certain limited display of that sectarian spirit which 
 had been shown in the first contest fought by Mr. Thomp- 
 son in Antigonish. When a very few scattered votes could 
 change the result in many constituencies, appeals to 
 bigotry, whether secretly or openly made, would naturally 
 have some effect in a general election. Of genuine religious 
 narrowness, however, such as was developed at a later period 
 in Ontario, there never had been very much in Nova-Scotia. 
 But, whatever the measure oi influence wielded by diverse 
 causes may have been, the battle was now over ; Mr. 
 Thompson had ceased to be Premier ; his star of political 
 success appeared to have paled forever ; and he had assumed 
 at the early age of thirty-eight the ermine of the Provincial 
 judiciary. 
 
 There seemed to be no discord or disagreement in 
 opinion regarding his appointment. The Liberals said : 
 " We told you so." The Conservatives declared that the 
 ablest lawyer in Nova- Scotia had taken the place which 
 
 5 
 
66 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 he perhaps most desired, and which he was splendidly fitted 
 to fill. Long afterwards a few whispers were heard to the 
 effect that he had deserted his party in its time of need, 
 and that he should have stayed by the political ship in the 
 shadow of failure as well as in the sunshine cf success. 
 But there was no public expression of this feeling at the 
 time, and it was confined to a few who may have been 
 offended by his political rectitude or judicial manner of 
 dealing with party questions. The Halifax Herald gave 
 the Tory view in a parting eulogium in which reference 
 was made to his having brought order out of Legislative 
 chaos ; inaugurated many valuable reforms ; secured the 
 completion and publication of the Provincial Law Reports, 
 and rendered the Province many other services which it 
 would feel for all time to come. An interesting tribute, 
 unexpected at the time, and destined to be of political 
 service in years to come, was that tendered by the new 
 Judge's most bitter critic and ablest journalistic adversary 
 — the Morning Chronicle. Writing on July 27th, that 
 paper spoke of him as probably the youngest Judge in the 
 Dominion, and then went on to say : 
 
 " In politics we have differed from him, but our differ- 
 ences have never prevented a recognition of his fine abili- 
 ties and high standing as a lawyer. It will be admitted on 
 all sides that he is one of the foremost men in his profession, 
 and possesses all the qualities necessary for a good Judge. 
 . . . We predict for him a brilliant judicial career." 
 
 It was therefore under very favourable circumstances 
 that Judge Thompson began what appeared to be his real 
 life-work. Politics had been a sort of passing experiment 
 in which he had not succeeded as a party leader, though 
 proving himself more than successful as a masterful debater 
 and legislator. And during the next three years he did 
 good work for Nova-Scotia. The Judicature Act of 1884, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 67 
 
 by which the system of pleadings and practice in the Pro- 
 vince was greatly simplified and brought up to the standard 
 of Ontario and England, was chiefly his work. He took 
 the greatest interest in the founding of the Law School at 
 Halifax in connection with Dalhousie University ; contri- 
 buted liberally to its support at a time when his aid meant 
 life or death to the institution ; lectured for years in h> 
 nails without charge and while holding a seat on the Bench 
 and devoted much time in other ways to what is now a 
 most successful and valuable legal establishment. 
 
 Personally he displayed many of the qualities of an 
 ideal Judge. He was prompt in decision, fertile in prece- 
 dent, invariably courteous to the members of the Bar, and 
 was undoubtedly possessed of that indescribable qualifica- 
 tion known as a judicial mind. He seemed to have a pecu- 
 liar faculty for getting down through a huge mass of 
 apparently relevant, or really irrelevant, questions to the 
 crucial point in the most intricate of disputes. No student 
 *t college ever worked harder than did Judge Thompson. 
 In pursuance of a resolution made when he ascended the 
 Bench, it is understood that during the years he remained 
 in his position he devoted at least five hours a day to the 
 study of law. So deep was the impression this legal know- 
 ledge now began to make upon the public mind that when 
 his lectures upon " Evidence," at Dalhousie University, 
 were announced, a large number of the barristers of Halifax 
 enrolled themselves as general students of the college for 
 the purpose of hearing them. And these addresses upon a 
 most difficult branch of legal study are considered to be of 
 the highest value, as well as distinguished for lucidity and 
 scholarly style. When therefore the call came to higher 
 duties, and in his case to national responsibilities, Judge 
 Thompson was prepared for advancement, as is every man 
 who does thoroughly and well that which his hand finds 
 to do. 
 
68 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Enters the Government. 
 
 By the autumn of 1885 some important changes in the 
 composition of the Dominion Cabinet had become necessary. 
 Sir John Macdonald was not all that he had once been in 
 health and energy, though his cheerincs: of disposition 
 showed no signs of failing. Sir Leonard Tilley had found 
 the Finance Department too great a strain for one of his 
 years and strength, and the ministry was therefore about 
 to lose the services of one of the best trusted of Canadian 
 statesmen. Sir Charles Tupper intended also to shortly 
 retire to the High Commissionership in London, and Sir 
 Alex. Campbell was desirous of resigning his position. To 
 find new men capable of in some measure taking the place 
 of these distinguished veterans was the task which the 
 Premier had to face. And it was all the more important 
 that his selections should be men of vigour and ability be- 
 cause the Riel question was at this moment threatening 
 the party with disintegration and the country with serious 
 disaster. 
 
 It was, therefore, a happy stroke of wisdom and good 
 fortune combined, when Sir John Macdonald called in Mr. 
 Thomas White as Minister of the Interior, and Mr. George 
 E. Foster as Minister of Marine and Fisheries. Both had 
 been of considerable service to him in the preceding 
 session when various causes had made debating talent 
 rather scarce upon the Conservative side of the House, and 
 both were well-known throughout the country as skillful 
 speakers and clever politicians. But when it was announced 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 69 
 
 4 
 
 a short time afterwards that the most important portfolio 
 in the Cabinet at that moment — the Ministry of Justice — 
 had been offered to a Nova-Scotian judge whom the Prime 
 Minister had never even seen, and who, as a politician, had 
 never rilled the public mind of the country in any national 
 sense, there were undoubted and natural expressions of 
 surprise. 
 
 The Dominion Liberals did not attack the appoint- 
 ment of Judge Thompson on personal grounds, but made 
 the mistake of trying to minimize it. Referring to the 
 Ministerial changes generally, the Toronto Globe observed, 
 on the 26th of September, the day after the new Minister 
 of Justice was gazetted, that " these changes and shuffles 
 are of very little consequence to the country. The men 
 who remained in the Cabinet and the men who have lately 
 been taken into the Cabinet, are small men who will exer- 
 cise no influence on the country." Such a comment upon 
 politicians of the calibre of White and Foster and Thomp- 
 son is enough to make partisans on either side smile to-day 
 and it is quite safe to say would not be offered by the 
 Globe under its present clever management, should any 
 similar occurrence again take place. 
 
 The Toronto Mail, then under the able editorship of 
 Martin J. Griffin, was on familiar ground in dealing with 
 the Hon John S. D. Thompson, and naturally did him 
 more justice. It was in a position to tell the Dominion 
 something of his services as a lawyer ; of his occasional 
 successes as an orator ; of his " high and unstained per- 
 sonal character " ; of his eminence as a judge; and of his 
 reputation since 1869 as " a most faithful, high-minded, 
 unselfish, and respected advocate of the policy of the great 
 chief of the Liberal Conservative party of Canada." Still 
 it must be admitted that the country as a whole accepted 
 the appointment largely on trust, and waited for time and 
 
70 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 experience to develop results before expressing any partic- 
 ular opinion. 
 
 The Conservative party, of course, had confidence in 
 Sir John Macdonald's wonderful judgment of men, and 
 those who followed politics closely knew also that there must 
 be something remarkable in the new Minister or he would 
 never have been selected to fill an exceedingly difficult 
 post at the moment when a most complicated constitu- 
 tional issue was darkening the whole national horizon 
 with sectarian and sectional storm clouds. 
 
 The man most directly concerned did not want the 
 position. His party had almost forced him into public 
 % life when he first consented to contest Antigonish for the 
 Local House. During the following period, while Mr. 
 Thompson held office in Nova-Scotia, he made as few 
 public appearances as possible, seldom delivered platform 
 speeches, and though he laboured earnestly and unre- 
 mittingly, was know T n to have retired to the Bench with 
 pleasure, when defeat ultimately came. And now his 
 paity had again demanded his aid. It was given with 
 hesitation, and only from a final conviction of duty. The 
 well-known statement of Sir John Macdonald's, that " the 
 great discovery of my life was the discovery of Thomp- 
 son," is ; like most epigrams, somewhat inaccurate. It was 
 absolutely necessary that a successor should be found to 
 Sir Charles Tupper, and Nova- Scotia had, of course, the 
 first claim to produce him. But it seemed very doubtful if 
 the man was to be obtained in the Province. 
 
 Mr. (now Sir) Charles H. Tupper, and his distinguished 
 father, Mr. Robert Sedgewick, Q.C., and the other local 
 Conservative leaders urged upon Sir John the ability and 
 services of Judge Thompson. The latter however told his 
 friends he would not take the position, and there really 
 seemed to be no one else upon whom the mantle of Howe 
 

 Hon. Wilfrid Laurier, Q.C., M.P. 
 
 Leader of the Canadian Opposition, 
 
Sir Frank Smith, K.C.M.G., Senator. 
 
 Minister without Portfolio. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 73 
 
 and Tupper could for the time being fall. Meanwhile the 
 claims of the Hon. George E. King, ex-Premier and then 
 Judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, were being 
 pushed by friends in his Province, and the result seemed 
 very doubtful. Finally, Mr. C. EL Tupper, Mr. Sedgewick, 
 and others went once more and urged Judge Thompson to 
 accept the post they thought him so well fitted to occupy. 
 A letter from Sir John Macdonald was taken to him, form- 
 ally offering the position, and stating that a County Judge- 
 ship had been accepted by Mr. Mclsaac, the Liberal M.P. 
 for Antigonish, and that his old constituency was once 
 more open to receive him. 
 
 Sir Charles Tupper at the same time and with the 
 consent of Sir John Macdonald, went down to Antigonish 
 in order to obtain, if possible, the concurrence and aid of 
 Bishop Cameron, who had now for some years been Judge 
 Thompsons closest friend and confidant. He pointed out 
 to the Bishop what a wide sphere of influence the change 
 would open up for his friend, and how greatly in the inVjv- 
 est of Nova-Scotia and of the country generally it w/ild 
 be to have such a strong man in control of the Depari .\ient 
 of Justice. Bishop Cameron eventually concurred and 
 under the varied pressure thus brought upon him th» Hon. 
 J. S. D. Thompson entered the Dominion Cabinet. The 
 whole proceedure was a great compliment to the nun and 
 his ability, and it proves also that the astute ChiefVain at 
 Ottawa had been more than favorably impressed by what 
 had been told him regarding the Nova-Scotian Judge. In 
 this way he may be said to have " discovered " him. 
 
 But the fact that Mr. D'Alton McCarthy, Q.C., M.P. 
 was first offered the Ministry of Justice before Judge 
 Thompson was approached in the matter, rather tends to 
 make the appointment one of those accidents of politics 
 which bring about the most strange and striking results. 
 
74 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Mr. McCarthy's refusal of the portfolio really paved the way 
 for the successful national career of his great rival. 
 
 It must have required considerable courage to face the 
 large opposing majority in Antigonish. Several constitu- 
 encies were offered the new Minister, in any one of which 
 he would have been elected by acclamation, but he pre- 
 ferred going back to his old friends. Without hesitation, 
 or taking time to ;< sound ' : the electorate, he faced a Lib- 
 eral majority of 333 ; placed his faith and political future 
 in the hands of the people of Antigonish; and despite 
 renewed appeals in certain quarters to the old religious 
 prejudice ; and a natural local desire for a local represen- 
 tative such as Dr. Mcintosh was, who opposed him as an 
 Independent Conservative ; the brief campaign resulted in 
 a sweeping triumph for the new Nova-Scotian leader by 
 the splendid majority of 228. 
 
 The comments of the Nova Scotian press had in the 
 meantime been generally eulogistic and congratulatory. 
 Unlike that of Ontario it could speak with knowledge of 
 the past record and of the personal character and abilities 
 of the lawyer and politician who was now to enter upon a 
 career of broader statesmanship. The Halifax Herald, 
 speaking on the 24th of September, when the appointment 
 was first announced, represented very accurately the opinion 
 of most of the intelligent Conservatives of the Province : 
 
 " As a gentleman the new minister has ever been a 
 favorite among men of all parties, creeds and classes ; as a 
 lawyer he has no equal in the Lower Provinces, and few if 
 any superiors, in Canada ; while as a public man he dis- 
 played all the highest qualities of an ideal statesman. . . . 
 Honest, industrious, broad-minded, clear-headed and cour- 
 ageous, with a thorough mastery of his profession and a 
 patriotic ambition to be useful in his day and generation, 
 Mr. Thompson is unquestionably of all the men in the Pro- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 75 
 
 vince the one best qualified to succeed Sir Charles Tupper 
 as the representative of Nova-Scotia in the Government of 
 Canada." 
 
 Fair minded Liberal opinion was voiced by the follow- 
 ing from the Windsor, N.S. Courier : — 
 
 " We congratulate the people of Nova-Scotia upon 
 having in the Dominion Cabinet a gentleman of Mr. Thomp- 
 son's ability and untiring energy. He is an excellent speaker, 
 a clear-headed lawyer, and will undoubtedjy fill the office 
 to the satisfaction of the countr^ " 
 
 Well-informed opinion outside of the Province was 
 represented by the Toronto Mail — already quoted — and 
 the Montreal Gazette, which declared that in the new min- 
 ister the Government would receive a valuable acquisition. 
 It went on to describe him thus : — " A profound lawyer, 
 universally admitted as being in the foremost rank of his 
 profession, he combines the qualities of a sound jurist, with 
 those of an eloquent and effective speaker, who will prove 
 a valuable addition to the debating power of the Ministerial 
 benches." How valuable, not even the Gazette had the 
 faintest conception ! The rabid and extreme partisan view 
 may be obtained from a despatch sent by the Ottawa cor- 
 respondent of the St. John Telegraph, which declared that 
 " the members of the Orange order are greatly enraged 
 over the appointment. They say he supplants a Protestant 
 and that Riel will not be hanged." 
 
 There was a very interesting discussion following upon 
 the appointment, which was partisan in origin, constitu- 
 tional in form, and not exactly personal in application. A 
 good many years before this time Vice- Chancellor Mowat 
 of the Ontario Judiciary had stepped down from the bench 
 to assume the Attorney-Generalship of his Province, and to 
 enter that political arena in which he has since had such con- 
 spicuous success. The Conservative press and speakers of 
 
76 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 that day had censured the Liberal party for thus degrading 
 the Bench of Justice by making its occupants eligible for 
 party favours and party rewards, and had especially de- 
 nounced Mr. Blake, the retiring Premier of Ontario, who 
 had nominated the distinguished Judge as his successor 
 and had urged him to accept the post. Whatever force 
 these arguments may have had in Provincial politics, and 
 it is not probable that an occasional retirement from the 
 Bench to enter political life will ever really injure the 
 Judiciary, they had still less in connection with the Domi- 
 nion post of Minister of Justice. 
 
 Who indeed could be better fftted to administer jus- 
 tice for the nation ; to control the law-work of the Domi- 
 nion ; to look after and abolish, modify, change or amend 
 its laws, than one who had previously possessed judicial 
 experience ? Then in a matter of precedents — those things 
 which lawyers and politicians appreciate so much and 
 which constitute such excellent reasons for action or inac- 
 tion as the case may be — there is a considerable resemb- 
 lance as to the duties performed, between the position of 
 Canadian Minister of Justice and that of the Lord Chan- 
 cellor in England. In the Mother-country many of the 
 most distinguished holders of that great blue ribbon of the 
 legal profession went from the Bench to the woolsack. 
 Amongst them were Lord Hardwicke, Lord Bathurst, Lord 
 Loughborough, Lord Truro, Lord Hatherley, Lord Camden. 
 Lord Campbell, and, greatest of all, Lord Eldon. And cer- 
 tainly it has never been claimed that the English Bench 
 was degraded thereby, though it is open to any one to urge 
 that men like the late Lord Chief Justices Cockburn and 
 Coleridge have left greater legal reputations than the vast 
 majority of those who preferred the temporary glory of 
 the woolsack to the lasting splendour of a distinguished 
 judicial record. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 77 
 
 But none the less the discussion was entertaining, and 
 gave the party organs something to talk about. As there 
 was nothing special about the new Minister to denounce, 
 they fired a good deal of political ammunition over this 
 little point, and it was one of the earliest matters referred 
 to when Parliament opened its fourth session on the 25th 
 of February, 1886. The new member for Antigonish was 
 introduced for the first time to the House, of which in five 
 years he was to be leader, by Sir John A. Macdonald and 
 the Hon. A. W. McLeilan, and at once took his seat as 
 Minister of Justice. At the same time the Hon. Thomas 
 White and Hon. George E. Foster went through the form 
 of introduction and took their places, after having returned 
 to their constituents for election upon appointment to office. 
 Within eight years from that day four out of those five 
 political leaders had passed through more or less eventful 
 phases of political life, and had departed from the scene ! 
 How wonderfully true in this connection seem the beautiful 
 lines by Lowell : 
 
 '* Life is a leaf of paper, white, 
 Upon which each of us may write 
 His word or two. 
 Then comes the night." 
 
 On the following day the debate upon the Address in 
 reply to the Speech from the Throne took place, and Mr. 
 Blake, as leader of the Opposition, proceeded to pour the 
 usual hot shot into the Ministerial ranks. He was parti- 
 cularly sarcastic concerning the two different opinions 
 apparently held by the party in power regarding the 
 appointment of judges to political office. It was with them, 
 he declared, not a matter of principle, but simply one of 
 expediency. And then speaking of the Mowat incident, 
 he said : " I was told that I had degraded the Bench; that I 
 had soiled the hitherto unspotted ermine; that I had created 
 
78 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 a feeling of want of confidence on the part of the people in 
 the judges of the land ; that I had rendered it impossible 
 for the judges to conduct impartially the trials of election 
 cases." And after this he paid his respects to the new 
 Minister in a style which was meant to make prominent 
 Conservatives feel secretly annoyed, and to make Mr. 
 Thompson slightly uncomfortable had he really been, as 
 Mr. Blake supposed, a small man in a large place. 
 
 "I congratulate the honorable incumbent of the office. 
 He enters Federal politics, as the French would say, by the 
 great gate. For him there is no apprenticeship in our 
 Parliament. . . . No greater compliment could be paid 
 a public man. The Government felt the office was impor- 
 tant ; they felt they had no one available in Parliamont, 
 and that they had to look outside. As a lawyer, the hon. 
 gentleman has come to the front with a bound over many 
 heads ; as a legislator, he begins his Federal career at once 
 as a Minister." 
 
 In his reply, Sir John Macdonald chaffed the Opposi- 
 tion leader in his usual effective style ; spoke of him as 
 " the dissolving view ' of the Mackenzie Government, 
 sometimes in and sometimes out ; referred to the Hon. W. 
 B. Vail having been brought into that Government from 
 Nova-Scotia over the heads of many Liberal members in 
 the House ; criticized the retirement of Vice-Chancellor S. 
 H. Blake from the Bench ; and spoke of the elevation of 
 the Hon. E. B. Wood to the Chief Justiceship of Manitoba 
 by Mr. Blake as the employment of the Bench for (Aie 
 reward of political services. Finally, he had a few wjiy'js, 
 and only a few words, to say about the new Minister : " I 
 looked out in Nova-Scotia when the (Ministerial) vacancy 
 existed, for a lawyer who could fill that position cr^itably, 
 and I found him in my hon. friend, and if he were not 
 here at this moment I might enter more fully into the fact 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 79 
 
 of his fitness, but I believe that even the hon. gentlemen 
 opposite will admit before the Session closes the correctness 
 of my selection and choice." 
 
 It is probable that a very few months of intimate 
 association in Cabinet and private political discussion 
 would be all that was necessary for a man of Sir John 
 Macdonald's keen insight to have guaged the ability and 
 knowledge of the new Minister of Justice. But in making 
 that last prophetic remark, even he could hardly have 
 foreseen the skill and value of Mr. Thompson as a Parlia- 
 mentary debater, though, no doubt, he was able to make a 
 shrewd guess at the truth. In the course of a few weeks, 
 however, there would be no possible doubt concerning the 
 matter. 
 
80 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Riel Question. 
 
 The opening of this session of the Parliament of 
 1886, was perhaps the most critical period in the life of 
 the new Minister of Justice. At a crisis in the history of 
 the government which he had joined and of the party to 
 which he belonged, he found himself called upon to bear 
 the burden of defence against the fiercest and best organ- 
 ized attack in the annals of Canadian legislation. Fresh 
 from the Bench of his Province and long unaccustomed to 
 heated discussions and party strife, he was to endure the 
 lash of sectarian bitterness and sectional prejudice, inten- 
 sified as it was, by an external and seemingly successful 
 campaign of unscrupulous misrepresentation. Unknown 
 as a speaker to nearly the whole of his critical, or already 
 prejudiced, audience in the House, he had to face the 
 oratorical graces of Mr. Laurier, the powerful eloquence of 
 Mr. Blake, and the fervid utterances of a score of others, 
 who were borne by the excitement of the time to the crest 
 of a storm-tossed political wave. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the position of the 
 Ministry was very precarious. The old-time influence of 
 the Conservative party in the Province of Quebec, seemed 
 to have gone forever. The magnetic personality of Sir 
 John A. Macdonald appeared to have lost its power. He 
 was freely denounced in great French- Canadian meetings 
 as " the enemy of our nationality," and was even burned 
 in e&igy at Montreal, whilst the Hon. J. A. Chapleau, the 
 
Rr. Hon. the Earl of Rosebery, K.G. 
 
 Prime Minister of Great Britain. 
 
Hon. Edward Blake, Q.C., M.P. for Longford, Ireland. 
 
 Late Leader of the Liberal Party in Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 83 
 
 eloquent tribune of the people, was bracketed with Sir 
 Hector Langevin and Sir Adolphe Caron, in public 
 resolutions, as " traitors to their country." Riel was to be 
 the hero of Qu3bec and one of the political martyrs of his 
 nationality: Mr. Mercier was to be the leader of a new move- 
 ment which in the sacred name of race and religion was to 
 avenge his execution : the Parti-National e was to sweep 
 out of existence the enemies of French Canada and of the 
 Roman Catholic Church : Mr. Blake was to stir up the 
 Province of Ontario against those who had committed 
 what 30,030 people on the Champ de-Mars in Montreal, 
 declared " an act of inhumanity and cruelty unworthy of a 
 civilized nation." 
 
 From the moment when the man who had caused so 
 much of sorrow and bloodshed, suffering and death, was 
 executed at Regina, on the lGth of November, 1885, this 
 agitation had grown in force and sunk deeper and deeper 
 into the hearts of the people. Popular passion is always 
 easy to arouse when questions are raised touching even 
 the fringe of creed or nationality, and Mr. Mercier, who 
 was trying to ride into power upon a wave of sectarian 
 prejudice, seemed utterly indifferent to the danger of his 
 course. And in allowing the law to be carried out the 
 Dominion Government had to face a double difficulty. 
 Not only was the situation in Quebec critical : not only 
 did Le Monde, a Conservative paper, represent the senti- 
 ments of its press as a whole in declaring, after the 
 execution, that " Fanaticism wanted a victim : Riel has 
 been offered as a holocaust : and Orangeism has hanged 
 him for hate and to satisfy an old thirst for revenge ": but 
 the remarkable utterances of the Toronto Mail and Orange 
 Sentinel, provided additional fuel for the flame of 
 excitement. The former had declared on the 3rd of 
 November, preceding the execution, that " as Britons we 
 
84 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 believe the conquest will have to be fought over again and 
 Lower Canada may depend upon it, there will be no treaty 
 of 17G3." The Sentinel declared, in reply to fiery state- 
 ments from Quebec, that the Government did not dare to 
 hang the rebel; that " English-Canadians will not longer 
 suffer this galling bondage : and the day may not be far 
 distant when the call to arms wiL again resound through- 
 out the Dominion." 
 
 Tremendous pressure had been brought to bear upon 
 the French-Canadian Ministers to resign from the Dominion 
 Cabinet. They were told, and truly, that Mr Mercier was 
 about to sweep the Province of Quebec, defeat the Local 
 administration, and then turn his attention to aiding Mr. 
 Laurier at Ottawa. Many of their Conservative sup- 
 porters pointed out that refusal to leave a doomed 
 government meant political extinction, and that if they 
 attempted to condone the execution of Riel, even a 
 seat in Parliament would be an impossibility. Whole 
 batches of French-Canadian Conservatives declared that 
 they dare not support the Government in their proposal 
 to let justice take its course, or in their subsequent 
 definite performance of that duty. Meanwhile, Mr. Blake 
 had not made the outlook more pleasant by vigorous 
 speeches in Ontario, during which he denounced the whole 
 North- West policy of the Government. If appearances 
 could be trusted it seemed indeed as though a general 
 break-up of the national Conservative forces was about to 
 take place. 
 
 This then was the situation when the Hon. J. S. D. 
 Thompson faced a storm-tossed House of Commons on the 
 11th of March, and listened with stocial composure to Mr. 
 Landry's long- anticipated and now famous motion : — 
 
 " That this House feels it its duty to express its deep 
 regivl that the sentence of death passed upon Louis Riel, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 85 
 
 convicted of high treason, was allowed to be carried into 
 execution." 
 
 Mr. Landry's speech was the key-note of much that 
 followed during a week's debate. He described the 
 Government's action in a strain of the fiercest invective. 
 It was a provocation flung at the face of a whole nation- 
 ality : it was a breach of the laws of justice : it was an 
 evidence of weakness on the part of the Ministry : it was 
 the gratification of a long-sought vengeance : it was the 
 wanton sacrifice of the life of a French- Canadian Catholic 
 upon the altar of sectarian hatred and bigotry. He spoke 
 of the petitions that had been disregarded, and considered 
 the actions of Riel to be those of an insane man or of a 
 monomaniac. He quoted the pardoning of Jefferson Davis, 
 the exile of Arabi Pashi, and the treatment of Abd-el-Kader 
 by France, as affording ample precedents for the forgiveness 
 of Riel. Lt. Colonel Amyot, another Conservative, followed, 
 and declared with all the vigour of passionate declamation, 
 that after an examination of the record in Riel's case, the 
 Ministry had ordered the hanging in spite of the favourable 
 nature of the record : in spite of the recommendatioa to 
 mercy by the jury : in spite of the madness of Riel, which 
 was admitted and proved : in spite of the petitions which 
 they h id received. " We go further " added the orator, 
 " we say they did it after mature deliberation, in order to 
 please a certain section of the country, not caring about 
 offending the other." 
 
 Many others spoke. Mr. Clarke Wallace declared that 
 out of 2000 Orange Lodges in the country not more than 
 six had passed any resolutions whatever upon the subject. 
 Mr. M. C. Cameron denounced the Government as having 
 " trafficked in the destiny of a fellow mortal." Mr. Lau- 
 rier made a speech which was remarkable for the purity 
 of its diction, the beauty of its language and style. He 
 
86 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 stated his belief, and the belief of his Province, that the 
 execution of Riel was " the sacrifice of a life, not to 
 inexorable justice, but to bitter passion and revenge." 
 He claimed that the American, English and French press, 
 almost without exception, had taken the ground that the 
 execution of Riel was unjustified, unwarranted and against 
 the spirit of the age. He urged that Riel had been deprived 
 at his trial of certain witnesses, and that papers and docu- 
 ments taken from him and his house had not been placed 
 at the disposal of his counsel as requested. He compared 
 Riel to Jefferson Davis, and quoted from the evidence of 
 General Grant before a committee of the American Congress 
 to show what were considered the rights of surrendered 
 officers. If Riel had thought that he was going to be 
 treated as a captured rebel he would have escaped instead 
 of surrendering to Major- General Middleton. Mr. Laurier 
 concluded an oration, which Mr. Blake afterwards character- 
 ized as the best he had ever heard upon the floors of 
 Parliament, by appealing for that justice which, in his 
 opinion, the unfortunate half-breeds had fought for and 
 had never yet obtained. 
 
 Sir Hector Langevin, Minister of Public Works, and 
 the nominal leader of the French -Canadian Conservatives, 
 referred to the great difficulties which he and his colleagues 
 had been compelled to contend with during the previous 
 four months of wild excitement, of agitation in Quebec, 
 and counter-agitation in Ontario. He spoke of the rebel- 
 lion ; its inception through the machinations of Louis Riel ; 
 its progress and final suppression by the gallantry of the 
 Canadian volunteers. General Middleton had kept his 
 promise to Riel, and had handed him over in safety to the 
 civil authorities. He had been tried under a law which 
 was put on the Statute book when the Liberal party had 
 been in power. And so anxious was the Government tc 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 87 
 
 give the rebel leader every legal chance for his life that 
 the case had been carried to the Supreme Court of Mani- 
 toba, and thence to the Judicial Committee of the Imperia 
 Privy Council. He summed up strongly and eloquently in 
 the following words : 
 
 " We are the Government of the countrv ; we had no 
 revenge against this man ; he had done us nothing person- 
 ally ; but he had attacked the authority of the Queen ; he 
 had revolutionized that country; he had called the half- 
 breeds to his aid and had deceived them in a most shameful 
 way, as the missionaries of that country have all testified ; 
 he had destroyed their faith; he had destroyed their religion 
 to establish one of his own, and my friends from the 
 Province of Qnebec call that man a compatriot ! No, Mr. 
 Speaker, the sober second thought of the people will not 
 be so." 
 
 Mr. R >yal contended that the rebellion was a crime 
 against God and humanity ; Mr. Gigault thought it was a 
 political scaffold and a political execution that took place 
 at Regina, though he did not say how the matter could 
 possibly have benefited the party in power. Mr. J. J. 
 Curran (afterwards Solicitor-General) declared that the 
 central figure in this war of races and religions which was 
 being inaugurated, had been alternately exhibited as a 
 hero, a martyr, a fool and a lunatic. He quoted from 
 documents, speeches at the trial, interviews, etc., in order 
 to prove that Riel was simply an ambitious and utterly 
 unscrupulous schemer. Mr. Coursol denounced the attitude 
 of the Toronto Mail, as did Mr. Langelier, who contributed 
 the following remarks to the debate : 
 
 "Our ancestors, when only 60 000 in number, including 
 men, women and children, stood their ground for five years 
 against 50,000 of the best soldiers, not only of England, 
 but of the world. Now that we are a million and a half 
 
38 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 we could offer a pretty stiff resistance to the Tory land 
 grabbers who threaten us." 
 
 Sir Adolphe Caron, in an eloquent speech, declared 
 that if circumstances should ever arise similar to those of 
 last year, he would again do what he had then thought was 
 his duty. He considered that Riel had deceived the half- 
 breeds, and showed how he had offered to sell for a bribe 
 both his followers and his " cause." He read letters from 
 Bishop Grandin showing the trtu' >le and misery the rebel- 
 lion had caused, and from Riel lo " Pound maker." which 
 proved that he had tried to raise the Indians in revolt. 
 Mr. Chapleau, in a most able effort, defended the Gov- 
 ernment's position and his own share in supporting the 
 law of the land. He referred to the brilliant offers made 
 him by the Parti-Nationale ; spoke of his refusal to take 
 the leadership of that organization in Quebec, which for a 
 time seemed, and was, all powerful; and urged strongly his 
 conviction that Riel was entirely responsible for his own 
 actions. 
 
 But the speeches around which centered the greatest 
 interest, and upon which depended the ultimate verdict of 
 Parliament, of the people and of posterity, were those of 
 Mr. Blake and Mr. Thompson. The House was expectant 
 when the leader of the Opposition rose to his feet. It 
 looked for a powerful arraignment of the Government ; 
 for close reasoning ; for a wide display of constitutional 
 knowledge ; for vigorous invective. But in the case of 
 the Minister of Justice, it was simply curious. Conserva- 
 tives anticipated a fair presentation of the case, but were 
 hopeless of any real reply to the great speech which it was 
 known Mr. Blake had prepared. And Liberals would have 
 laughed exceedingly had afciy one hinted that Blake might 
 meet his match in the short, stout, fresh-coloured, young- 
 looking gentleman who had just come in from a Nova- 
 
SIR JOH*N THOMPSON. 89 
 
 Scotian constituency, and who was to soon make his maiden 
 speech in the House. Mr. Blake reviewed the whole 
 matter. He went into the history of the rebellion ; the 
 discontents of the half-breeds ; the action or inaction of 
 the Government. He contended that the trial had not 
 been a fair one ; that the choice of the magistrate had 
 been unfortunate, and that the evidence and facts of the 
 case proved Riel to be insane. He spoke of the disregard 
 of the jury's recommendation to mercy, and enlarged upon 
 the question of executive interference by the Government, 
 and as to when it was warranted. His case was a very 
 wide and varied one ; the reference to authorities was 
 extensive, and many precedents were produced to show 
 that as Riel, in his opinion, was not responsible for his 
 actions, he should not have been executed. The speaker 
 concluded by saying that though he knew that many of 
 those of his own race and region would differ from him, 
 it was his conviction that the sentence should have been 
 imprisonment for life ; that by the execution a great blow 
 had been inflicted upon the administration of justice, and 
 that the Government was responsible for it. 
 
 In making what was really a great speech upon this 
 occasion, there is no doubt that Mr. Blake fell into the fatal 
 error of under-estimating his antagonist. Had he felt any 
 comprehension of what was to follow, he would not ha,ve 
 made his argument so general or so broad, and would have 
 depended upon the strong points in the case without intro- 
 ducing weak ones, which seemed specious and plausible at 
 first sight, but which could not stand the shock of logical 
 and keen analysis. Unfortunately for him, too, it was 
 past midnight when the speech was finished, and this 
 gave the Minister of Justice an inestimable advantage — one 
 wdiich experienced debaters know how to appreciate and 
 make use of. He promptly moved the adjournment of the 
 
90 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 debate, and, after a couple of days' interval, rose to reply 
 during the afternoon of Monday, the 22nd of March. 
 
 It is very seldom indeed that a public man achieves a 
 reputation of the highest order by a first speech in Parlia- 
 ment. If in England a future leader, or a i; a i of admitted 
 and commanding ability, makes a mere favourable impres- 
 sion upon the House, he is considered to have done 
 exceedingly well for the first time. In Canada it had only 
 been the case, and then in a very modified form, upon one 
 previous occasion, when the Hon James McDonald, now 
 Chief-Justice of Nova-Scotia, delivered a maiden speech in 
 the Parliament of 1873. Of course, in the American Con- 
 gress where only pluck and pyrotechnics are required, it 
 is comparatively easy to make an oratorical success of a 
 first effort. But in the case of the Hon. J. S. D. Thompson 
 success meant the defeat of the greatest logician and debater 
 in the House of Commons, and the defence of the Govern- 
 ment's position in a matter involving most intricate 
 constitutional issues. It meant that a new man was to 
 pitt himself victoriously against a veteran in Parliamentary 
 debate and knowledge of constitutional law. It meant 
 that he was to become a power in the House and the 
 nation, while failure involved results which would have 
 made his subsequent rise impossible, or, at least, unlikely. 
 The Chamber" was crowded to excess, and from the 
 moment when the musical voice of the unpretentious, and 
 not at all imposing, speaker was first heard, until he sat 
 down at the end of two hours, he held the close and 
 undivided attention of the House, and it may be almost 
 literally said that a pin could have been heard to fall. 
 Those who know the normal condition of the Commons, 
 no matter who is speaking, in regard to attention and 
 quietness, will appreciate the full force of the compliment 
 thus conveyed. The speech was strong, clear and convinc- 
 
Hon. John Costigan, M.P. 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
Hon. Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, 
 K.C.M.G., Q.C., M..P. 
 
 Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 93 
 
 ing. The Minister of Justice seemed to be master of him- 
 self, master of his subject, master of the law in its theory, 
 practice and precedent, master of his audience. He pierced 
 the armour of Mr. Blake's argument with the most direct 
 and irresistible skill, and while not appealing in the least 
 to his hearers' passions, prejudices or sympathies, he 
 subdued a critical and censorious body of men by pure 
 force of reasoning and logical aigument. Before that 
 speech was ended, it is absolutely accurate to say that he 
 appeared to both friends and opponents as a 
 
 *' Tower of strength 
 That stood four-square to ill the winds that blow." 
 
 Mr. Thompson first deprecated the extreme feeling, if 
 not actual animosity, which had been shown throughout 
 the greater part of the prolonged debate. He made a 
 statement of the part taken in the case by his own Depart- 
 ment — that of Justice — and then proceeded to combat the 
 claim that Parliament was a court of appeal in criminal 
 cases, pointing out some of the evil results which might 
 ensue in such an event. He defended the composition of 
 the Regina Court, and met fully and squarely Mr. Blake's 
 contention that the Judge was an inferior one and the 
 choice unwise. He held that it would have been gross 
 injustice, and a very dangerous precedent, to have enacted 
 any special law to meet the case. After going over the 
 evidence and proceedings at the Regina trial, Mr. Thompson 
 took up the assertion that Riel was a political offender, 
 and, therefore, should not have been hanged. He instanced 
 the case of John Brown ; dealt with that of Lord George 
 Gordon ; quoted Mr. Gladstone in connection with the 
 Fenians and the murder of Constable Brett, and gave the 
 opinion of the English Commission on Capital Punishment, 
 which declared that " in cases of treason accompanied by 
 
94 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 overt acts of rebellion, assassination or other violence, the 
 extreme penalty must be maintained/' Lord Cranborne, 
 now the Marquis of Salisbury, had said that " You must 
 treat treason as the highest crime known to the law. If 
 you impose capital punishment for murder you must for 
 treason." 
 
 He pointed out that Lord Bramwell had declared that 
 " Treason is worse than murder, because it involves the 
 taking of many lives." The condition of a new country 
 such as the North- West absolutely required strong enforce- 
 ment of the law, and any laxity m the punishment of 
 admitted crime would have been a criminal act on the part 
 of the Government. He then dealt with the insanity 
 question in a lucid and convincing manner, and asked in 
 that connection how others who took part in the rebellion 
 could have been dealt with if the head and front of the 
 movement had been granted executive clemency. " I 
 should like to ask how the Frog Lake murderers could 
 have been punished if the man who incited them to rebel- 
 lion was allowed to go free or to repose in a lunatic asylum 
 until he got rid of his delusion ? ' And then, in a few 
 ringing words, he concluded his speech amid loud and 
 prolonged cheering : 
 
 " I think, Sir, it was absolutely necessary for us to 
 show to those Indians, to every section of the country, to 
 every class of the population, that the power of the Govern- 
 ment in the North-West was strong, not only to protect, 
 but to punish as well ; and in the administration of justice* 
 with regard to those territories in particular, it was 
 absolutely necessary that the deterrent effect of capital 
 punishment should be called into play. (Cheers.) I am 
 not disposed, remote as that territory is, strong as the 
 calls are for vigorous government there and for the enforce- 
 ment of every branch of the law, to be inhuman or 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 95 
 
 unmerciful in the execution of the penalties which the 
 law pronounces ; but in relation to men of this class, men 
 who time and again are candidates for the extreme penalty, 
 men who have despised mercy when it was given to them 
 before, I would give the answer given to those who pro- 
 posed to abolish capital punishment in France, " Very well, 
 but let the assassins begin." 
 
 With the close of this speech there arose a new figure 
 in Canadian politics and a chief amongst those who played 
 the leading parts in the great game of public life. Three 
 days afterwards the division was taken, and the Govern- 
 ment found itself sustained by 146 to 42. Meantime, the 
 echoes of the speech delivered by the new Minister of 
 Justice had permeated every part of the Dominion, and 
 the man from Nova-Scotia, the stranger who had entered 
 the great arena of debate and overthrown the hitherto 
 almost invincible Blake, found himself famous as a consti- 
 tutional lawyer and powerful speaker. 
 
 Canada has every reason to be grateful for the firm 
 disposition and straightforward character of its Minister 
 of Justice during the crisis which prevailed in the autumn 
 of 1885, as well as in that which has just been described. 
 There is no doubt that Sir Hector Langevin had given his 
 friends in Quebec secret assurances during the storm of 
 protests which came in while the execution of Riel was 
 pending, that a commutation of the sentence might be and 
 would be granted. He spoke with the authority of a 
 senior Privy Councillor and a right hand man of the 
 Premier's for many a long year, and it is probable really 
 believed that his influence over Sir John Macdonald, both 
 as a personal friend and as the successor of Sir George 
 Cartier in the French-Canadian leadership, would be suf- 
 ficient to eventually obtain it. Hence his organ Le Monde 
 was permitted to join the chorus of protesting papers and 
 
96 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 politicians ; many Conservatives were deceived into join- 
 ing the movement ; and it was only when the agitation got 
 beyond control and threatened the very existence of the 
 Conservative party in the Province, that Sir Hector woke 
 up at the same time to the dangerous situation he had 
 allowed to develop in the ranks of his own followers, and 
 to the probability that he would be unable to guide the 
 issue in the Cabinet. 
 
 Stronger men than he were at the back of Sir John 
 Macdonald, and had the chieftain entertained the least 
 idea of interfering with the course of the law, the forceful 
 personality of Mr. Thompson would have probably averted 
 the evil. There is no indication or evidence that he ever 
 did think of taking such an action, but Sir Hector ap- 
 pears to have been in a serious predicament, and the crisis 
 was so acute that a weak-kneed Minister of Justice might 
 have been cajoled or coerced into advising that the sentence 
 be commuted. The excuse thus given for bending before the 
 storm might have been accepted or it might not, the pro- 
 babilities being that a large majority of the Cabinet would 
 still have been in favour of the upright and honourable 
 course which was in the end pursued. And this may be said 
 without considering " the Old Man's " masterful disposition. 
 But none the less was the fact of Mr. Thompson being a 
 Roman Catholic and possessing a vigorous will and char- 1 
 acter of his own, very effective in keeping the Govern- 
 ment united to all intents and purposes upon the question 
 which was shortly to be the central one in a general elec- 
 tion, extending from the shores of the Atlantic to the 
 rock-bound coasts of the Pacific. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 97 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 An Election and a Fisheries' Treaty. 
 
 The campaign which preceded the Dominion elections 
 of 1887 brought the new Minister of Justice into personal 
 contact with the people of Ontario. Hitherto he had been 
 a sort of political myth, powerful in the Cabinet and in 
 Parliament, but personally unknown to the public. He 
 was now to be introduced to Ontario by the Chieftain 
 himself, and to take a leading part in the battle upon 
 which depended the fate of the party ; for, as Ontario 
 went, so it was felt would go the country. The Conserva- 
 tives in Quebec were fighting a lost cause ; Rielism, and 
 all that it involved of racial agitation and revengeful cries, 
 was uppermost, and the Province on Oct. 11th, 1886, 
 returned the Liberals to power in the Local Legislature, 
 and placed the sweets of office in the hands of Mr. Mercier. 
 Nothing could, therefore, be hoped from what had once 
 been the mainstay of Canadian Toryism, and everything 
 turned upon the result in Ontario. 
 
 On the 11th of November, Sir John A. Macdonald, the 
 Hon. J. S. D. Thompson, the Hon. Thomas White and Mr. 
 W. R. Meredith, started in the afterwards famous private 
 car " Jamaica " upon their political tour of the Province, 
 commencing with a large meeting at Renfrew. Mr. Mere- 
 dith, who was conducting his own campaign at the same 
 time against Mr. Mowat, and who, in this election, came so 
 near to winning the day, did not, of course, speak at all the 
 meetings, and a little later the three first-named leaders 
 were joined by Hon. George E. Foster. With them at 
 
 7 
 
98 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 occasional intervals were the Hon. J. A. Chapleau, the Hon. 
 John Costigan and Mr. J. J. Cumin, Q.C. Everywhere 
 the reception given the Ministers was not only cordial but 
 enthusiastic. All along the line vast crowds turned out to 
 see the " Grand Old Man," and the hero of the Riel debate. 
 The drill-hall, rink, or city hall, as the case might be, was 
 invariably crowded to the doors, and it was not long before 
 Sir John Macdonald found that far from supporting a lost 
 cause in Ontario, he had the great mass of the people with 
 him. 
 
 It was known to his intimate friends in that campaign 
 that Sir John had expected defeat ; that he thought Quebec 
 was going solidly against him, while Ontario would do well 
 if it left the party representation about equal ; that he left 
 Ottawa weak in health and dispirited to the last degree. 
 But the greetings of the people were so cordial, the meetings 
 so enthusiastic, and the reports began to get so favourable as 
 the tour progressed, that he visibly improved in health and 
 spirits and rapidly became himself again. Mr. Thompson 
 was given a prominent place on the programme of almost 
 daily speeches, generally opening the ball with a powerful 
 arraignment of the Opposition's alleged policy of race and 
 revenge in Quebec, secession in JN ova-Scotia, annexation 
 in New Brunswick, and detraction everywhere. He 
 invariably handled the Riel question, urged the preserva- 
 tion of the Union, and spoke of the oneness of the Conser- 
 vative policy as it was now presented in every part of the 
 Dominion. Mr. White or Mr. Foster would follow, and 
 then Sir John Macdonald would close with a few pithy, 
 witty remarks. Very often there were two meetings — one 
 in the afternoon, and one in the evening at the next town. 
 
 A preliminary mass-meeting and demonstration was 
 held at London on Sept. 10th, 1886. Sir John Macdonald, 
 Mr. Thompson, Mr. White, Mr. Chapleau, Mr Meredith 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 99 
 
 and Mr. Carling were the speakers, and the " Old Man " 
 delivered a lengthy and elaborate address. The Minister 
 of Justice received a splendid reception, and the eloquent 
 speech of Mr. Chapleau, the great Quebec orator, was one 
 which, it is safe to say, will never be forgotten by those 
 who heard it. A little later, on Oct. 14th, Messrs/ White, 
 Foster and Thompson addressed an immense gathering at 
 St. John, N.B., and the Daily Sun on the succeeding day 
 observed that " Too much cannot be said in praise either 
 of the style or matter of the address of the Minister of 
 Justice. He is the more polished speaker of the three. 
 Every sentence is clear, incisive and graceful." 
 
 At Owen Sound, on Nov. 15th, when the Ontario tour 
 really commenced, the reception was particularly elaborate 
 \n arrangement and enthusiastic in spirit. Mr. Thompson 
 jras warmly received and brought ringing cheers from a 
 great audience by the declaration that " one loyal man is 
 as good as ten rebels." Then followed a large gathering at 
 Uungannon in Huron County, and on Nov. 20th the party 
 reached Hamilton. Here we find in Mr. Thompson's speech 
 a rather amusing comment on the varied policies of the 
 Liberals. " There, however, Mr. Blake did have a policy 
 in his pocket. He had a right to christen his own baby, 
 and, therefore, he called it the ' alternative policy.' A 
 better name for it, however, would have been the 'all- 
 turnative policy/ " 
 
 Gait, Listowel, Stratford, Guelph and Sarnia were 
 then visited, with all the now familiar accompaniments of 
 tremendous crowds., torch-light processions and loyal 
 addresses. At Stratford the crowd was so great that the 
 Ministers could hardly get through it to the platform. 
 When they did get there, Mr. Thompson referred to " the 
 warm-hearted hug" he had received as one which a man 
 only wanted once in a lifetime. At Sarnia he said a rather 
 good thing at the expense of one of the Liberal leaders : 
 
100 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 ''■ Sir Richard Cartwright has recently stated that the 
 Prime Minister ought to pass into nothingness, but these 
 demonstrations did not indicate such a result. Eight years 
 ago he had himself passed into nothingness, and he was 
 realizing to-day the bitterness of the old axiom that out of 
 nothing, nothing comes." 
 
 In speaking of the recent Quebec elections, the success 
 of the Nationalists, and Mr. Merciers promised aid to Mr. 
 Laurier in the coming Dominion contest, he referred — with 
 more bitterness than usually characterized him — to "the 
 blasphemer, Mr. Mercier, and the traitor, Mr. Laurier." 
 It is not unlikely that he afterwards regretted the violence 
 of this language, but the provocation was great, and the 
 people of Ontario only partially realized then, and have 
 forgotten now, the terrific storm of abuse and misrepresent- 
 ation by which Quebec had just been carried for the Local 
 House, and by the continued use of which it was hoped to 
 capture the Dominion. The applause, however, upon this 
 occasion was long and continued. The episode showed, as 
 did a certain reply to Sir Richard Cartwright some years 
 later, that the Minister of Justice could, when he desired, 
 denounce his opponents as vigorously, as he could argue 
 with them skilfully. 
 
 Immense meetings followed at Orangeville, Orillia, 
 Sunderland, Port Hope, Peterboro', Cobourg, Deseronto, 
 Wei land, Essex Centre and Windsor. At Sunderland, on 
 Dec. 1st, Mr. Thompson referred to the name applied by 
 the Globe to the party of speakers, " the Chestnut Combina- 
 tion," as being in a certain sense correct. The successful 
 receptions to different Ministers in New Brunswick, Nova- 
 Scotia and Ontario were, no doubt, becoming unpleasant 
 " chestnuts " to the Liberal organ. " And," said he, " there 
 was another sense in which they might be called a ' chest- 
 nut combination,' and in respect of which they gloried in 
 
> • > 
 
 i . • > 
 
 I 1 
 
 Hon. W. E. Sanford, 
 
 Dominion Senator. 
 
Hon. John A. Boyd, 
 
 Chancellor oj Ontario. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 103 
 
 the name. They were able to go from one Province to 
 another, from one town to another, and tell the same story 
 to the people." At Deseronto he joked with the same 
 phrase in a rather effective way : " Why, Mr. Blake him- 
 self repeated but one speech in every part of Nova-Scotia. 
 He dished up chestnuts roasted, chestnuts fried, chestnuts 
 on the hard shell, chestnuts salted down, and reproduced 
 long after they were stale and out of use." 
 
 Speaking at Peterboro of the good times which 
 followed the depression of 1878, and as an illustration of 
 the general progress under Conservative rule, he said that 
 an old and wealthy Maritime Province man was once asked 
 how he had acquired his money, and replied, " I bought pro- 
 perty when the Liberals were in power : I sold it when the 
 Tories came in." At Well and, Mr. Thompson declared that 
 " Mr. Blake had better confine his attention to the laborious 
 and malignant satire which suited his disposition so very 
 much better than any allusion to facts or figures." At 
 Windsor he once more struck at Mr. Laurier. as one who 
 "justifies murder, pillage and rebellion under the sacred 
 right of resistance. Do not the settlers, the Government 
 officials, the mounted police and the volunteers possess some 
 sacred rights as well as Riel and his associates ? ' 
 
 The closing meetings of the tour were at Lucan, 
 Wingham and Chatham, with a final demonstration at 
 Toronto. For some reason connected with the general 
 campaign, Mr. Thompson was not present in the Queen 
 City on Dec. 21st, but addresses were delivered by Sir John 
 and by Messrs. White, Foster and Chapleau. 
 
 This prolonged tour made the new Minister deservedly 
 popular, though, of course, never in the same sense as was 
 Sir John Macdonald. His proper place was not upon the 
 stump, though in this campaign many things combined to 
 render his speeches exceedingly effective and useful to the 
 
104 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 party. He could be sarcastic, and at times humorous in 
 narrative, though never magnetic with that personal merri- 
 ment which has such influence upon a crowd. He was also 
 much too self-contained and deliberate to arouse large 
 gatherings. Meantime the campaign had been progressing 
 all over the country. Mr. Chapleau had done much to 
 even matters up in Quebec, assisted by the efforts of Sir 
 Hector Langevin and Sir Adolphe Caron. Sir Hector had 
 finally thrown in his lot with the Ministry, and his 
 work in organization during that time of political uncer- 
 tainty, and amid the loss of party followers and friends, 
 and the smashing of party ties, was of great value. 
 Sir A. P. Caron was always an effective and popular 
 campaigner, and on this occasion he worked like a Trojan. 
 Between them, they managed to hold the balance so that 
 election day showed, instead of the expected Liberal sweep, 
 a representation of about half and half. 
 
 On the 22nd of February, 1887, the ballot box settled 
 the destinies of Canada for a few years longer. The 
 Maritime Provinces returned a pretty solid Conservative 
 contigent, Mr. Thompson being elected for Antigonish by 
 a majority of forty over an old-time antagonist in local 
 politics, Mr. Angus McGillivray. Manitoba, the North- 
 West and British Columbia went straight Conservative, 
 and Ontario gave a fair majority. Once more, Sir John 
 Macdonald had appealed successfully to 
 
 " A weapon that comes down as still 
 As snowflakes fall upon the sod ; 
 But executes a freeman's will 
 As lightning does the will of God." 
 
 The Riel question was thus disposed of so far as 
 Dominion politics were concerned, but it was already pro- 
 ducing, in the form of Mercierism, many serious evils, of 
 which Sir John Thompson himself did not live to see the 
 end. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 105 
 
 The cessation of party struggles at home for the time 
 being, now gave the Government an opportunity to deal 
 with the trying and difficult Fisheries' Question. And in 
 writing a number of years after the crucial point had 
 been faced by Canada, Sir Charles Tupper declared that 
 he only accepted the post of Plenipotentiary to Washing- 
 ton in 1887 upon the condition that he should be accom- 
 panied by the Hon. J. S. D. Thompson as legal adviser. 
 There is no doubt that he very fully apprehended the 
 situation, and after sitting for a time in the same Gov- 
 ernment with the Minister of Justice, understood how great 
 the value his wide knowledge and clear grasp of interna- 
 tional law would be in such a connection. It was the 
 revival of the old, old question which had been settled in 
 1818, settled again in 1871, and re-adjusted by the Halifax 
 Commission of 1877. Through the deliberate abrogation 
 of the Fisheries' Clause of the Washington Treaty by the 
 American Government in 1885, the Canadian Administra- 
 tion had found itself face to face with the alternative of 
 giving the Americans a free hand in the immensly valuable 
 in-shore fisheries of the Dominion, or else of falling back 
 upon the treaty of 1818 which gave full power for the regu- 
 ation and control of foreign fishermen in British waters. 
 
 The Government had naturally taken the latter course; 
 made the necessary arrangements for the complete protec- 
 tion of Canadian interests and British subjects within the 
 three mile limit ; and prepared to endure with patience the 
 outburst of American indignation which was of course in- 
 evitable. But unfortunately the United States refused alto- 
 gether to recognize the Canadian construction of the Treaty 
 of 1818; its Government denounced the protective regula- 
 tions as unfriendly and illegal ; its fishing interests clam- 
 oured for action, while their men and vessels proceeded boldly 
 into Canadian waters and did as they liked without regard to 
 
106 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 either law or license. Armed coasting- steamers had been at 
 once despatched to the disputed fishing grounds with orders 
 to capture and carry into the nearest British port any vessel 
 found poaching within British jurisdiction. These orders 
 were freely obeyed, and during the next two years many 
 American vessels were seized, the cases tried by the Cana- 
 dian Maritime Courts, and not infrequently the cargoes and 
 vessels confiscated. More than once there had been colli- 
 sions between c xcited crews. More than once bloodshed was 
 only averted by the merest chance, and not infrequently 
 during this perilous period, the possibility of a war between 
 the Empire and the Republic seemed to hang upon trifles 
 light as air. Many were the menaces from the other 
 side of the line. The abrogation of the bonding privilege, 
 the refusal to permit Canadian vessels to enter American 
 ports, the cessation of all commercial intercourse, were each 
 in turn threatened either by the newspapers, by Congress or 
 by the President. Canada, however, stood firmly by what 
 the Government believed to be its rights, and the Minister 
 of Justice w T as at one with the Minister of Marine and 
 Fisheries in the determination to uphold the legal rights 
 and Maritime interests of the Dominion and of its large 
 fishing population. 
 
 The result was that on November 15th of this year, a 
 Commission met at Washington to discuss the points at issue 
 and make an attempt at settlement. The British Plenipo- 
 tentiaries were the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., the 
 brilliant and keen-witted English Radical ; the Hon. Lionel 
 Sackville West, British Minister to the United States, and 
 Sir Charles Tupper, G.C.M.G., Canadian Minister of Finance. 
 The American Commissioners were the Hon. Thomas F. 
 Bayard, United States Secretary of State, and Messrs. W. 
 L Putnam and James B. Angell. With Sir Charles Tupper. 
 was associated Mr. Thompson as legal adviser. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 107 
 
 No more fitting appointment could have been made. 
 The Canadian Minister of Justice was closely in touch with 
 the business and legal details of the whole question ; he 
 understood thoroughly the views and wishes of his col- 
 leagues ; and the American side of the case was by no 
 means new to him. It is very seldom indeed that a Pleni- 
 potentiary in negotiating a Treaty has the assistance of an 
 acute legal mind which not very many years before had 
 thoroughly mastered the other side of the questions at 
 issue and prepared the brief for the representatives of the 
 country which he was now to meet in discussion. And no 
 doubt Mr. Thompson's acquaintance ten year's previously 
 with American methods at Halifax, had oiven him an in- 
 sight into the somewhat tortuous paths of American diplo- 
 macy which was useful to even the long experience of Sir 
 Charles Tupper, or the trained intellect of Mr. Chamberlain. 
 So far, however, as Mr. Bayard was concerned, he showed 
 in this case how honourable, straightforward and honest an 
 American statesman can be when he allows himself to rise 
 above the narrow anti-British prejudices of his own envi- 
 ronment. 
 
 A great deal of discussion and cross-firing of commu- 
 nications between the three Governments concerned, to- 
 gether with many and diverse comments by the newspapers 
 of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, followed. 
 From November, 1887, until February, 1888, the negoti- 
 ations were continued off and on. For a prolonged period 
 meetings of the plenipotentiaries and their counsel were 
 held almost daily. It is understood that many able papers 
 were submitted to the British Commissioners upon different 
 questions and phases of the general problem by Mr. 
 Thompson, and that his knowledge and quick perception 
 of technical and legal points were of invaluable service to 
 Sir Charles Tupper. And Canadians of the future when 
 
108 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 they learn something of the wonderful ability and unique 
 power of mental grasp shown by Mr. Chamberlain upon 
 this occasion, and regarding a subject of which he had 
 naturally known very little before coming to Washington, 
 will indeed regret that Sir John A. Macdonald had not 
 received the same keen appreciation and co-operation 
 from the British Commissioners who helped or hindered 
 him in negotiating the Washington Treaty of 1871. 
 
 On the loth of March a Treaty was duly signed. By 
 its terms an International Commission was to be appointed 
 for the decision of the exact limits of Canadian waters, 
 within which by the Treaty of 1818, the United States had 
 renounced for ever all rights as to taking, drying or curing 
 fish. A method of calculating the three marine miles of 
 exclusion was decided upon. Privileges were mutually 
 given as to vessels reporting, entering or clearing for shelter, 
 for repairing damages, for the purchase of wood or the ob- 
 taining of water. Such vessels were relieved of compulsory 
 pilotage and of harbour and other dues. Vessels under 
 stress of weather or accident were to be allowed to unload, 
 reload, tranship or sell all fish on board, subject to customs' 
 regulations, when such action might be necessary as inci- 
 dental to repairs. Full privilege was given for the replen- 
 ishing of outfits, supplies, etc., when damaged or lost by 
 disaster. Reciprocity was promised by Canada whenever 
 the United States should remove the duty from fish, fish- 
 oil and other produce of the fisheries of the Dominion. 
 Upon this step being taken United States' fishing vessels 
 were to be given annual licenses free of charge for the fol- 
 lowing purposes : 
 
 I. The purchase of provisions, bait, ice, seines, lines 
 and all other supplies and outfits. 
 
 II. Transhipment of catch, for transport by any 
 means of conveyance. 
 
 III. Shipping of crews. • 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 109 
 
 Such was the Treaty finally made, in which, of course, 
 Newfoundland was included. And in order to show inter- 
 national friendliness and prevent any possible friction 
 before the ratification of the Treaty, Canada offered the 
 United States a most favourable modus vivendi or tempo- 
 rary arrangement. This was accepted, and all seemed to 
 be well at last in this most troublesome of disputes. In 
 presenting it to Congress on February 20th, President 
 Cleveland declared that " the Treaty meets my approval 
 because I believe that it supplies a satisfactory, practical 
 and final adjustment, upon a basis honourable and just to 
 both parties, of the difficult and vexed question to which it 
 relates." And in speaking of the modus vivendi which 
 had been offered by the British plenipotentiaries, he said 
 that it appeared to have been " dictated by a friendly and 
 amicable spirit." 
 
 On the 2nd of March a banquet was given Mr. Cham- 
 berlain in New York by the Canadian Club and its Pres- 
 ident, Mr. Erastus Wiraan. In his speech the distinguished 
 English statesman pointed out the difficulties which the 
 Commissioners had encountered, and declared that they 
 had left the Treaty " to the calm and sober judgment, to 
 the common sense and reason, and above all to the friendly 
 feeling of the peoples of both countries." He gave a 
 brief sketch of its terms and of the concessions made on 
 either side; spoke strongly regarding the absolute justice 
 and fairness of the Canadian policy in the whole affair; 
 and concluded with an appeal to the United States Senate 
 to accept the settlement. After a visit to Canada and 
 a most eloquent address in Toronto, Mr. Chamberlain 
 returned to England, and in a speech at Birmingham 
 shortly after his arrival, declared that " the Canadian 
 Government and its representatives were desirous of 
 terminating a state of irritation, dangerous in its pos- 
 
110 LIFE AND WOKK OF 
 
 sible consequences, which had existed for a considerable 
 time. They were quite willing to surrender the strict 
 interpretation of their rights, and extreme contentions, 
 and to deal with the matters submitted in a spirit of equity, 
 and wifch the anxious hope of promoting neighbourly 
 intercourse." 
 
 A little later Mr. Bayard wrote that "Conciliation and 
 mutual neighbourly concession have together done their 
 honourable and honest work in this treaty, and have paved 
 the way for relations of amity and mutual advantage." 
 In the beginning of April the measure came before the 
 Canadian Parliament for ratification. Mr. L. H. Davies 
 delivered a speech of general denunciation, and was followed 
 by Mr. Thompson, who referred to the onslaught made 
 upon the Treaty by the Liberal party and then to the 
 equally strong claim of the Republicans on the other side 
 of the line, that the interests of the United States were 
 sacrificed in the arrangement : — " The enemies of the 
 Administration, the enemies of this Treaty, the enemies of 
 Canada, have been ringing the changes which he (Mr. 
 Davies) has reversed here tonight." The Minister of 
 Justice proceeded first to speak of the Fisheries as Canada's 
 most valuable possession, and one that would as the years 
 rolled by steadily increase in value ; and then defended the 
 Canadian interpretation of the Treaty of 1818 — " It was 
 always assumed, even in the courts of law, that the enter- 
 ing of an American fishing vessel in defiance of a treaty 
 would result in the forfeiture of the vessel and her cargo, 
 and we were only putting on the statute book in 1886 
 what had been the view of the law acted on from the 
 earliest times, with the exception that the seizures in 
 earlier times were by British vessels of war, and that 
 lately they have been made by Canadian revenue cutters." 
 
 It had not been, he declared, an " anti-civilized policy," 
 
W*>W 
 
 /XH cZi^jCr^ 
 
 Hon. A. R. Angers, Senator, 
 
 Minister of Agriculture. 
 
!»■'■■■ - '■■'■ " ' ■ »«pi ■ •■ ' » ! 
 
 Hon. J. A. Ouimet, M.P., 
 
 Minister of Public Works. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 113 
 
 as the Liberals had called it, but one of proper protection 
 of Canadian interests, and one which the United States 
 carried out to a far greater degree in its own ports and 
 harbours. " I support this Treaty," he added, " because it 
 contains fair concessions on the part of Canada and fair 
 and liberal concessions on the part of the United States." 
 He then pointed out that Nova-Scotian fishermen did not 
 particularly want a treaty — so long, in fact, as their 
 inshore fisheries were protected they did not care about it 
 at all. " The only necessity that existed for one was the 
 fact that our neighbors alongside of us were dissatisfied 
 with the construction which we put on the Treaty of 1818." 
 And then came an eloquent peroration : " If the Govern- 
 ment had not protected the fisheries as they have, with 
 vigilance and with strictness, instead of occupying the 
 proud position we occupy to-day, we should have had no 
 treaty on the Table ; we should have had no concessions to 
 make ; we should have received no concessions in return ; 
 our fishermen would not have fared as well as they have 
 during the past few years ; our fisheries would not have 
 been as valuable as they are to-day, and neither the United 
 States nor any other country would have thought it worth 
 their while to go through the solemnities of negotiating 
 and making a treaty in regard to fisheries which the owners 
 thought so little of that they did not take the trouble to 
 administer the laws of their own country for their protec- 
 tion." 
 
 The Treaty finally passed the House of Commons with- 
 out amendment and without a vote being taken. In the 
 month of August following, however, the American Senate, 
 actuated by considerations of demagoguery and unfriendli- 
 ness, very far removed from Jhe spirit of conciliation and 
 good will to which Mr. Chamberlain had appealed, sum- 
 marily threw out the whole arrangement. President Cleve- 
 
 8 
 
114 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 land then. issued his remarkable Message, dated the 23rd 
 of August, in which he declared his belief that " the treaty 
 just rejected was well suited to the exigency and its provi- 
 sions were adequate for our security in the future and for 
 the promotion of friendly intimacy without sacrificing our 
 national pride and dignity." And then, in the teeth of all 
 honour, friendliness and common sense, he recommends " a 
 policy of national retaliation," one which " manifestly em- 
 braces the infliction of the greatest harm upon those who 
 have injured us, with the least possible damage to ourselves"! 
 " I recommend," he continued, "immediate legislative action 
 conferring upon the Executive the power to suspend by 
 proclamation the operation of all laws and regulations per- 
 mitting the transit of goods, wares, and merchandize in 
 bond, across or over the territory of the United States, to 
 or from Canada." 
 
 Needless to say no overt action followed this extraor- 
 dinary message. The President was given the authority 
 desired but never used it : the ensuing election swept him 
 from the power which he had hoped to strengthen by this 
 very means ; and the Canadian Government fell back once 
 more upon its own regulations for the care of its fisheries. 
 But it was not the fault of Canada or England that this 
 measure of peace and conciliation had been refused. It was 
 not the fault of the able negotiators who had spent time 
 and labour in its preparation. It was the strength of that 
 anti-British element in the United States to which even a 
 President with the strong will, clear intellect, and vigorous 
 convictions of Mr. Grover Cleveland, found it necessary to 
 bow and to offer sacrifice, as did the men of old before 
 Moloch. 
 
 On the 11th of September the work done by Mr. J. S. 
 D. Thompson was rewarded by Her Majesty the Queen 
 with a Knight Commandership of the distinguished order 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 115 
 
 of St. Michael and St. George, bestowed " in recognition of 
 his eminent services on the Commission." He accepted it 
 with that loyal appreciation which is a natural accompani- 
 ment of true modesty and genuine ability. It is said that 
 on the morning Mr. Thompson was apprised of the honour 
 conferred upon him, Sir John Macdonald put his head into 
 the room of the Minister of Justice and enquired : " How is 
 Sir John this morning ?" " You ought to be best able to 
 answer that question," replied Sir John Thompson, forget- 
 ting for the moment his new designation. This mark of 
 distinction was most fully approved by the Canadian press, 
 and the Montreal Gazette, in the following comment, pretty 
 well voiced public opinion : 
 
 " Though but a young man, in Dominion politics, Sir 
 John Thompson has won a foremost place among the coun- 
 try's public men. As Minister of Justice it has been his 
 duty to act in a number of cases calling for the greatest 
 legal skill and the surest judgment, and in all he has 
 acquitted himself with honour, even when in opposition to 
 so powerful a legal authority as Mr. Blake." And a Par- 
 liamentary question was now about to darken the political 
 horizon which would require all the skill and ability pos- 
 sessed by the Minister of Justice, and which was destined 
 to leave its mark upon the remaining years of his public 
 life. 
 
116 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Jesuits' Estates Act. 
 
 The action of the Dominion Government in the case 
 of Riel, had stirred to a white heat the prejudices of ultra 
 Catholics in the Province of Quebec. Its refusal to disallow 
 the Jesuits' Estates Act was now destined to have a similar 
 effect upon the ultra Protestants of the Province of Ontario. 
 The ablest defence of the refusal to pander to the sectarian 
 elements of French-speaking Canada, had been made by Mr. 
 John S. D. Thompson. And his great deliverance during the 
 debate upon Colonel O'Brien's famous motion, defended up 
 to the hilt the Government's policy of refusal to interfere 
 with the Provincial legislation of Quebec, at the dictation of 
 the sectarian elements in English-speaking Canada. By 
 the first speech the Minister of Justice made his reputation. 
 By the second he confirmed and enhanced it. And curiously 
 enough, they were each made upon opposite sides of the 
 semi-religious issue which has more than once threatened 
 the Dominion with serious disaster. 
 
 In connection with this Jesuits' Estates question there 
 seemed to be combined nearly every element which could 
 embarrass a Government, provoke ill-will between the Pro- 
 vinces, raise sectarian issues, and make the action of the 
 Dominion Ministry unpopular whichever line it might 
 ultimately take. The Premier of Quebec, who had planned 
 and passed the legislation, was intensely unpopular in 
 Ontario and other Provinces, because of his speeches during 
 the Riel agitation. The preamble to the Bill as carried 
 through the Parliament of Quebec was exceedingly offensive 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 117 
 
 in its terms to a great majority of Protestants. The 
 measure itself seemed to be specially adapted to misrepre- 
 sentation and to the uses of those who might and did 
 believe in all honesty that Roman Catholicism was advanc- 
 ing its influence and power to a dangerous degree through- 
 out the Dominion of Canada. And, although it is a 
 delicate matter to refer to, there can be no doubt that the 
 personal position of the Minister of Justice, as a converted 
 member of that great church, was freely used to enhance 
 this injurious sentiment. 
 
 The first stages in the history of the affair did not 
 indicate any serious trouble. On the 3rd of July, 1888, a 
 Bill for the settlement of the long-standing dispute between 
 the Jesuits, the Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, and 
 the Province of Quebec, was passed without opposition or 
 protest through the Lower House of the Quebec Legislature. 
 It passed the Upper House also without opposition, and in 
 due course was assented to by the Lieut.-Governor and 
 became law, subject within a certain period to disallowance 
 by the Dominion authorities should the legislation be con- 
 sidered unconstitutional or dangerous to the interests of 
 the country as a whole. At first there was neither opposi- 
 tion nor serious criticism. With the exception of the 
 Huntingdon Gleaner, not a paper in Quebec discussed the 
 matter from a hostile standpoint, and the Protestant Com- 
 mittee of Public Instruction quietly accepted the promise 
 of $60,000, included in the measure. Mr. Mercier was 
 therefore justified in concluding while the Bill was before 
 the Legislature that there could be no very strong feeling 
 against the proposal in the Province interested. Indeed 
 the Hon. Mr. Lynch, a Protestant representative, declared 
 during the passage of the measure, that " there was noth- 
 ing in it alarming in character." 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Starnes, in the Legislative Council, said 
 
118 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 that " Protestants and Catholics ought to be satisfied with 
 the manner in which the question is now settled." The 
 Hon. David Ross, declared that " we had to deal with a 
 question of justice and I gave it my support. The Pro- 
 testants whom I represent in the Cabinet are well satisfied 
 with the settlement." None the less however, Mr. Mercier 
 was necessarily well aware of the ultimate result of such 
 legislation, especially when the introductory portion of the 
 Bill was worded in a way so peculiarly offensive to large 
 elements of the national population. He supplied the pro- 
 vocation, and it is hardly unjust in view of his previous and 
 subsequent record, to surmise that he did it deliberately, 
 knowing the advantage which a sectarian agitation in 
 Ontario would be to his own political position in Quebec. 
 
 The origin of the question was simple enough. Stripped 
 of all technicalities and complex developments, it seems 
 that in 1791 the King of Great Britain issued a proclama- 
 tion suppressing the Order of the Jesuits in Canada, but 
 leaving them the use of their estates so long as those who 
 were then members should remain alive. In 1800 the last 
 Jesuit died and the properties, it was claimed, were 
 escheated to the Crown. But in cases of escheat a liberal 
 proportion is generally appropriated to the carrying out of 
 the intention of the donors, or to indemnifying those who 
 morally may consider themselves entitled to it. And the 
 re-instatement of the Jesuits at a later period, together 
 with their incorporation, gave them this moral right — 
 such as it was. Meanwhile through the suppression for a 
 time of the Order by the Pope, it was also claimed that the 
 estates instead of reverting to the Crown, passed to. the 
 dioceses in which they were placed. Hence the claims of 
 the Quebec Bishops and a situation generally, which for 
 a long period either precluded the sale of the lands by 
 the Government or very seriously hampered its action in 
 dealing with them. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 119 
 
 At every step it was met by protests from the united 
 hierarchy of Quebec demanding that the lands should not 
 be diverted from the charitable and religious purposes to 
 which they had been originally devoted, in some cases by 
 private donors, in others by grants from the French King. 
 Under these conditions, and it must be remembered in a 
 Catholic Province, several Governments had attempted to 
 adjust the question but without success, because they did 
 not like to negotiate upon the fact that there was only one 
 authority whom the Jesuits and the Bishops as branches of 
 the same church, could each recognize as an arbiter, and as 
 having the moral power to act for them in the settlement of 
 the dispute. 
 
 By the calling in of the Pope, Mr. Mercier solved the 
 problem, but by the way in which it was done, he created 
 a storm in Ontario which it has taken years to calm. 
 Summed up in a few words the head of the Roman Catholic 
 Church consented to perform the part of an arbiter, and 
 appointed the Archbishop of Quebec to act as his attorney 
 in the matter. This latter arrangement was afterwards can- 
 celled, and in a letter dated May 7th, 1887, which was freely 
 used in the subsequent Ontario campaign, the Pope states 
 that he has " reserved to himself ' the right to settle the 
 question. That is to say, he reserved to himself the author- 
 ity previously given to the archbishop. Without, however, 
 going into the matter further at this stage, it seems clear 
 that the business arrangement was not in itself as bad as 
 it has been depicted. The Quebec Premier claimed that 
 some settlement was absolutely necessary ; that the Pope 
 was the only authority recognized in a church dispute by 
 the two religious bodies in question; and that the $400,000 
 was made by his intervention a full, legal settlement of 
 claims aggregating $2,000,000. Nevertheless the in- 
 troduction of his preamble into the bill and some of the 
 
120 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 correspondence itself, was a gross illustration of political de- 
 niagogism and a dangerous menace to the good-feeling in 
 Ontario which had survived the ebullition of fanaticism 
 of a couple of years before in Quebec itself. 
 
 There could be no doubt about the sentiment which 
 the publication of the bill speedily aroused in many sections 
 of the Upper Province. Aggressive Protestantism was 
 stirred up ; Orange Lodges passed denunciatory resolutions ; 
 the Mail renewed its vigorous and able but unjust and un- 
 wise attacks, upon Quebec and the great religious institu- 
 tions of that Province ; the Jesuits were painted in the 
 blackest shades which tongue and pen could produce ; and 
 Equal Rights and Disallowance became the cries of the 
 hour. Though this ebullition of strong and sincere senti- 
 ment was confined to a limited number of the people it had 
 the usual effect elsewhere. Extremes in one direction are 
 almost sure to produce the opposite extreme. The Protes- 
 tants of Quebec therefore commenced to think themselves 
 aggrieved and a section of them began to agitate and pass 
 resolutions which served to fan the flame in Ontario. The 
 unwise language which is always used in sectarian disputes 
 stirred up both sides to the controversy and very soon the 
 French-Canadian press was denouncing the fanaticism of 
 the Upper Province in language very like that used by 
 many Ontario papers during the Riel discussion. 
 
 This then was the position of affairs which Sir John 
 Thompson had to face before the country, and in the great 
 Parliamentary debate which soon became imminent. With 
 the forgetfulness of his stand in the Riel matter, which 
 always characterises a busy public, he was looked upon by 
 ultra Protestants as the central figure in a great drama of 
 surrender to the mandates of the Church which he was 
 known to regard with such devotion. It did not seem to 
 occur to many of them, although the great mass of enlight- 
 
Hon. Robert Sedgewick, 
 
 Puisne Judge Supreme Coiat of Canada. 
 
Hon. George E. King, 
 
 Puisne Judge Supreme Court of Canada, 
 Formerly Premier of New Brunswick. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 123 
 
 ened Canadians believed otherwise, that a statesman could 
 be a Roman Catholic and at the same time a patriotic 
 citizen. If Sir John Thompson's career had served no 
 other purpose than to dispel such bigoted and dangerous 
 views he would not have lived in vain. 
 
 On February 13th, 1889, the first mutterings of the 
 coming Parliamentary conflict were heard, as Mr. J. A. 
 Barron, Q.C., rose from his place in the House of Commons 
 to ask five questions regarding the consideration which 
 the Jesuits' Estates Act had received from the Dominion 
 Government. Sir John Thompson's reply was character- 
 istically precise and complete : 
 
 " The answer to the first question of the hon. gentle- 
 man is that the Act referred to has been before the 
 Government for their consideration ; to the second question, 
 that the Minister of Justice reported on the Act to His 
 Excellency the Governor-General on the ICth January last; 
 to the third question, that the Minister of Justice reported 
 that the Act in question, together with the 112 other Acts 
 passed at the same session of the Quebec Legislature, 
 should be left to its operation ; to the fourth question, that 
 the report of the Minister of Justice was approved on the 
 19th January, 18^9, and the result was at once communi- 
 cated to the Government of Quebec ; to the fifth question, 
 that the Acts of the Legislature of Quebec for the session 
 of 1888 were received by the Secretary of State on the 8th 
 August." 
 
 This statement set at rest all speculation as to the 
 course the Government intended to pursue, but it opened 
 the flood-gates of sectarian agitation and made the Minister 
 of Justice the theme of much fiery denunciation and 
 eloquent invective. The Rev. Dr. Douglas, Bishop Carman, 
 Canon DuMoulin, Principal Caven, Mr. James L. Hughes, 
 and many others, denounced the action or inaction of the 
 
124 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Ministry in permitting the Act to go into operation. 
 Great mass meetings were held in Toronto and elsewhere ; 
 and Mr. D ; Alton McCarthy was urged to become the Pro- 
 testant champion and to take the field against those who 
 were willing — it was claimed — to sacrifice religion upon 
 the altar of political expediency. Finally, after many 
 rumours, and amid great political purturbation, Lieut. 
 Colonel William E. O'Brien moved the following resolution 
 in the House on March 26th : 
 
 " That an humble address be presented to His Excel- 
 lency the Governor-General setting forth : I. That this 
 House regards the power of disallowing the Acts of the 
 Legislative Assemblies of the Provinces, vest:d in His 
 Excellency in Council, as a prerogative essential to the 
 national existence of the Dominion : II. That this great 
 power, while it should never be wantonly exercised, should 
 be fearlessly used for the protection of the rights of a 
 minority, for the preservation of the fundamental principles 
 of the Constitution, and for safe-guarding the general 
 interests of the people : II I. That in the opinion of this 
 House, the passage by the Legislature of the Province of 
 Quebec of the Act entitled ' An Act respecting the settle- 
 ment of the Jesuits' Estates,' is beyond the power of that 
 Legislature. Firstly, because it endows from public funds 
 a religious organization, thereby violating the undoubted 
 constitutional principle of the complete separation of 
 Church and State, and of the absolute equality of all 
 denominations before the law. Secondly, because it recog- 
 nizes the usurpation of a right by a foreign authority, 
 namely, His Holiness the Pope of Rome, to claim that his 
 consent was necessary to empower the Provincial Legisla- 
 ture to dispose of a portion of the public domain, and also 
 because the Act is made to depend upon the will, and the 
 appropriation of the grant thereby made as subject to the 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 125 
 
 control, of the same authority. And, thirdly, because the 
 endowment of the Society of Jesus, an alien, secret and 
 politico-religious body, the expulsion of which from every 
 Christian community wherein it has had a footing has 
 been rendered necessary by its intolerant and mischievous 
 intermeddling with the functions of civil government, is 
 fraught with danger to the civil and religious liberties of 
 the people of Canada. And this House, therefore, prays 
 that His Excellency /will be graciously pleased to disallow 
 the said Act." 
 
 Such was the famous motion which precipitated an 
 able, but somewhat violent, debate in Parliament, and still 
 further promoted the sectarian agitation in the country 
 generally. It was skilfully worded, and was intended to 
 obtain the support of all who believed in limited Provincial 
 powers; of all who disliked or dreaded Roman Catholicism ; 
 of all who shared in the popular prejudice against the 
 Papal spiritual and temporal power, and against the Jesuit 
 body. 
 
 Colonel O'Brien delivered a speech which in ability 
 and eloquence surprised the House. He gave the lead, 
 however, in a direction which was very generally followed 
 by his supporters in debate, and endeavoured to hold up 
 the Jesuits to popular execration. He admitted the hard- 
 ships, trials and sufferings they had endured in attempting 
 to convert and civilize the Indians of early Canadian days, 
 but would admit no good points in their work or history 
 in any other country. Reference was made to the glaring 
 difference between this grant of money by Quebec to a 
 religious body, and the abolition of the Clergy Reserves 
 in Ontario, in order that perfect religious equality might 
 prevail. In dealing with the Pope's exercise of his moral 
 authority over the parties to the dispute, he quoted from 
 the instructions given to Governor Murray in 1762 : " You 
 
126 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 are not to admit of any ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the See 
 of Rome," and of those in which Governor Carleton is 
 reminded in 1775, " That all appeals to, or correspondence 
 with, any foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction is absolutely 
 forbidden under very severe penalties." The subsequent 
 relaxation of restrictions was claimed to be simply tolera- 
 tion, and not the giving of any legal right. A Jesuit was 
 described as " a being abnormal in his conditions ; he has 
 no family ties, no home nor country. He is subject abso- 
 lutely to the will of his superior. Such a system, such an 
 order, being subject to an irresponsible power, must be 
 dangerous, as it always has been dangerous, to every com- 
 munity in which it has existed." 
 
 Mr. Rykert followed in a somewhat vigorous defence 
 of the Jesuits, by quotations from Macaulay, Parkman, 
 and others. Perhaps the most important part of his address 
 was the following extract from a letter written by the 
 Very Rev. Principal Grant, of Queen's University, Kings- 
 ton: "If the matter was to be settled at all, let us remember 
 that the great majority of the people of Quebec are Roman 
 Catholics. I do not see what else Mr. Mercier could have 
 done than require the sanction of the Pope to the bargain. 
 It may seem astonishing to Protestants that Roman 
 Catholics should acknowledge a man living in Rome as the 
 head of their Church. But they do. Protestants must 
 accept that fact in the same spirit in which all facts should 
 be accepted." The delicate satire of the last sentence or 
 two is simply inimitible. Mr. Rykert also referred to the 
 Pope's interference in Irish matters, solicited, as it was 
 upon more than one occasion, by the British Government, 
 and notably, to his denunciation of the Plan of Campaign. 
 
 Mr. Barron went back to the days of Elizabeth, to 
 statutes passed regarding foreign potentates and prelates 
 at a time when England had been in serious danger from 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 127 
 
 the attempted invasion of Philip of Spain. He claimed 
 that the Act of Supremacy remained as much a living force 
 in the Canada of 1888 as it had been in the England of 
 1554, and quoted Todd in support of his contention. He 
 also instanced the Royal instructions to the Duke of 
 Richmond when appointed Governor of the Canadas in 
 1818, and in reference to the people of Quebec : " It is a 
 toleration of the free exercise of the religion of the Church 
 of Rome only, to which they are entitled, but not to the 
 powers and privileges of an established Church. . . . 
 It is our will and pleasure that all appeals to a correspon- 
 dence with any foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction, of what 
 nature or kind soever, be absolutely forbidden under very 
 severe penalties." He claimed that the Jesuits' Estates 
 Act was an usurpation of the right to make denominational 
 grants, which had never yet been allowed a Province; and 
 strongly denounced the Incorporation of the Jesuits in 
 Quebec in 1887. 
 
 Mr. C. C. Colby, of Montreal, afterwards for a short 
 time a member of the Government, made an eloquent and 
 effective appeal for moderation and toleration. He referred 
 to the many instances of it in Quebec, where for some time 
 the Hon. H. G. Joly de Lotbiniere, a Protestant, had been 
 Premier and the representative of a Catholic constituency ; 
 where the Hon. J. G. Robertson, " a good old orthodox 
 Presbyterian," had for years been Provincial Treasurer 
 under the Conservative regimS ; where even at the time 
 of speaking two Provincial Ministers out of seven were 
 Protestants. Not long before, Cardinal Taschereau had 
 presided over a mixed meeting, held for the advancement 
 of temperance. And, in concluding, he expressed very 
 strongly his opinions as a Protestant along lines which will 
 be interesting to many in these times of unrest : 
 
 " The Roman Catholic Church — I will not speak of it 
 
128 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 as a religious body — I look upon from a political stand- 
 point as one of the strongest, if not the strongest, bulwark 
 we have in our country against what I conceive to be the 
 most dangerous element abroad in the earth to-day. The 
 Roman Catholic Church recognizes the supremacy of 
 authority ; it teaches observance to law ; it teaches respect 
 for the good order and constituted authorities of society. 
 It does that, and there is need of such teaching ; for the 
 most dangerous enemy abroad to-day in this land and on 
 this continent is a spirit of infidelity ; is a spirit of anarchy 
 which has no respect for any institution, human or divine ; 
 which seeks to drag down all constituted authorities, 
 emperors, kings, presidents, from their seats, the Almighty 
 from the throne of the universe, and to lift up the Goddess 
 of Reason to the place of highest authority." 
 
 The Hon. Peter Mitchell then spoke briefly, and was 
 followed by Mr. D' Alton McCarthy. It is impossible to do 
 justice here to the able effort of the Equal Rights leader. 
 He was forcible, and sometimes, in view of the manifest 
 unpopularity of his position so far as the House and its 
 members were concerned, became almost bitter. And it 
 would have been impossible to have denounced any body 
 of men more strongly than he did the Jesuit organization. 
 Mr. McCarthy, in commencing, claimed that he should have 
 been allowed the privilege of a reply to some one of the 
 Ministers, and evidently did not like the idea of being 
 followed by Sir John Thompson without previously know- 
 ing the lines of Ministerial defence. He was, however, 
 unwilling to let the occasion go by without explaining his 
 reason for having to separate himself from "the political 
 friends with whom it has been my pride and pleasure to 
 act up to this time." He then went into the history of the 
 Jesuit claims, and of the limits of religious toleration and 
 privilege accorded by the British Government from the 
 
Hon. Louis H. Davies, Q.C., M.P., 
 
 Foniierly^Pt oilier of P.E. Island. 
 
'kMim 
 
 Rev. Dr. Carman, 
 
 Gtncral SuJ erintendent of the Methodist Church oj Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 131 
 
 days of the cession to the present time. Lengthy quota- 
 tions from various sources were given to show that finally 
 the estates in question were surrendered by the Crown to 
 the Province for educational purposes and nothing else. 
 
 But there were other grounds. " I say," declared Mr. 
 McCarthy, " that either this Act is unconstitutional., that it 
 is ultra vires of the Province, that it ought to have been 
 disallowed upon that ground, because it violates a funda- 
 mental principal of this country that all religions are free 
 and equal before the law ; or, if that be not so as a legal 
 proposition, then, Sir, I claim that there should have been 
 exercised that judgment, that discretion, that policy, which 
 would at once stamp out, in whatever Province it reared its 
 head, the attempt which has been made to establish a kind 
 of State Church amongst us." Mr. McCarthy took his seat 
 after a speech which those who heard it could not but ad- 
 mire, even while many of them disliked the speaker and 
 had at every opportunity passionately denounced his views. 
 It was a clear and cutting arraignment of the Government 
 and the Opposition alike, and it made him immensely 
 popular with the element in the country which had been 
 recently stirred up to boiling point by various religious 
 cries. 
 
 Sir John Thompson had a most difficult duty to per- 
 form in his reply, and that he was brilliantly successful 
 from the logical and constitutional standpoint was after- 
 wards almost generally admitted. In making his first great 
 speech in the House he had been obliged to win his way to 
 success over an audience to which his personality was un- 
 known and against an antagonist whose place was thought 
 too great and secure for successful attack. Upon this second 
 occasion he had to face the bitter prejudice which only reli- 
 gious differences can arouse, and which is often none the 
 less real because it is concealed beneath a nominal support 
 
132 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 and even a favourable speech or vote. lie fully recognized 
 also, the gulf which it would place for the time being be- 
 tween himself and many of the people, by saying in a few 
 introductory remarks that he would have to speak " under 
 a sense of the fact that with one large portion of the people 
 of Canada nothing that I can say will be satisfactory, and 
 that with another, and I hope the greater portion, no de- 
 fence of the Government is necessary." But as in the Riel 
 question, he did what he thought his duty and no man can 
 do more. 
 
 The, Minister of Justice began by pointing out in refer- 
 ence to Mr. McCarthy's charge of unfairness, that it was 
 the place of the ministry, and especially of himself, as the 
 minister most largely responsible, to hear the charges that 
 were to be brought before making a reply. He compli- 
 mented the member for Simcoe upon his " admirable ad- 
 dress," and then pointed out that Mr. McCarthy, in a three 
 hours' speech, had presented a very learned and complete 
 case for the purpose of " proving that the Jesuits of Quebec 
 had lost their title to the estates in question — a fact which 
 is admitted in the preamble to the Act." He analyzed the 
 Treaty of 1763 ; and summed up its provisions and their 
 relation to the Act of Supremacy as follows : — " Obviously 
 His Britannic Majesty (in granting the liberty of the Cath- 
 olic religion to the inhabitants of Canada) meant that there 
 should be perfect freedom of worship in the newly ceded 
 country, subject only to the legislation which might be 
 made upon this subject from time to time by the Parlia- 
 ment of Great Britain, certainly not that it was subject 
 then to the laws as regards freedom of worship in Great 
 Britain ; for let me remind the House that instead of there 
 being any such freedom at that time, the exercise of the 
 Roman Catholic religion then amounted to the crime of 
 high treason ; and no dissenter under the risk of being im- 
 prisoned could enter a conventicle or a meeting-house." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 18o 
 
 Sir John then proceeded to summarize the correspon- 
 dence between Mr. Mercier and the Pope, and pointed out 
 that the latter 's intervention really only consisted of a 
 mediator's part btween two rival claimants who acknow- 
 ledged his moral, spiritual and legal authority in any mat- 
 ter pertaining to the church, and that his " consent ,: to 
 the Quebec Government retaining the proceeds of the sales 
 of disputed property, was merely on behalf of the two other 
 claimants and subject to a future settlement of the ques- 
 tion. And then he hit at Mr. McCarthy's religious refer- 
 ences and the abuse of the Jesuits which had been introduced 
 into the debate, by a remark regarding "the theological 
 questions which my honourable friend from Simcoe and I 
 are to join issue on, with a view to the House passing judg- 
 ment as to which is the better theologian forsooth, and as 
 to whose advice on the su ject of theology His Excellency 
 the Governor-General, as the supreme theologian, is to take." 
 He pointed out as a matter of business in this transaction, 
 that the Premier of Quebec had stipulated that before the 
 Province should be asked to pay over one dollar of the 
 money, it should have a conveyance of all rights and titles, 
 legal and moral, to the disputed lands; in the first place 
 from the Society of Jesus, in the second place from the 
 Pope himself, and in the third place from the Sacred Col- 
 lege of the Propaganda and the Roman Catholic Church 
 in general. 
 
 Sir John Thompson did not attempt, nor did he desire, 
 to defend the manner in which the preamble was drawn 
 up, or the loose way in which the correspondence had been 
 carried on, and in which a power seemed to be recognized 
 that did not really exist. But he did point out that all 
 further claims in this connection were made impossible by 
 the terms of the arrangement. And he also declared that 
 in the history of the scores of Canadian Statutes disallowed 
 
134 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 in the Mother-Country, there was not one instance of a pre- 
 amble to a bill being considered a reason for such action. 
 
 As to the supremacy of the Queen which Mr. McCarthy 
 had just proclaimed " with gravity and force and elo- 
 quence "to be seriously undermined by the Act, Sir John 
 observed : " It does not, I submit, place the public money 
 of the Province at the disposal of a foreigner ; it sets aside 
 a sum of money for the extinguishment of a claim upon 
 the public property of Quebec, and then calls upon those 
 who are litigants in regard to it, to abide by the decision 
 of their arbitrator in the matter. ... In the ordinary 
 course, it (the $400,000) would be paid to one of the 
 claimants on the property ; but as there happen to be two, 
 it is paid in the hands, or held subject to the order of, the 
 person who has to settle disputes between them." 
 
 Upon the subject of Provincial powers in legislation 
 the Minister of Justice spoke with no uncertain sound. 
 " I say that within the limits of its authority and subject 
 only to the power of disallowance, a Provincial Legislature 
 is as absolute as is the Imperial Parliament itself." He 
 pointed out that thirty-seven years before — in 1852 — the 
 Parliament of Canada had actually incorporated St. Mary's 
 College, Montreal, a body of the Jesuits, and that the 
 division list on that occasion showed in favour of the action 
 29 Protestants and 27 Catholics. He referred to Stoney- 
 hurst and other great Jesuit institutions in the England of 
 to day as showing what a dead letter the old religious 
 laws of Elizabeth had become, and pointed out that not 
 only had the Jesuits been incorporated by the Quebec 
 Legislature in 1887, but that the whole body had been 
 incorporated by the Dominion Parliament in 1871. 
 
 He claimed that a society of teachers and preach- 
 ers is not a church, and that money paid to the Jesuits 
 could not, therefore, be the endowment of a Church. And 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 135 
 
 in conclusion he declared with emphasis and earnest- 
 ness that " whenever we touch these delicate and difficult 
 questions, which are in any way connected with the senti- 
 ments of religion, or of race, or of education, there are two 
 principles which it is absolutely necessary to maintain, for 
 the sake of the living together of the different members of 
 this Confederation, for the sake of the preservation of the 
 Federal power, for the sake of the good- will, and kindly 
 charity of all our people towards each other, and for the 
 sake of the prospects of making a nation, as we can only 
 do by living in harmony and ignoring those differences 
 which used to be considered fundamental; these two piinci- 
 ples surely must prevail, that as regards theological ques- 
 tions the State must have nothing to do with them, and 
 that as regards the control which the Federal power can 
 exercise over Provincial Legislatures in matters touching 
 the freedom of its people, the religion of its people, the 
 appropriations of its people, or the sentiments of its people, 
 no section of this country, whether it be the great Province 
 of Quebec or the humblest and smallest Province of this 
 country, can be governed according to the fashion of 300 
 years ago/' 
 
 Mr. Alex. McNeill, the Hon. David Mills, Mr. Charlton, 
 Mr. Mulock, Mr. Scriver, the Hon. Mr. Laurier, Sir John 
 A. Macdonald, and Sir Richard Cartwright followed, and 
 upon a division, the attitude of the Government as well as 
 the view taken by the Minister of Justice, was endorsed 
 by a non-partisan vote of 188 to 13. The speech of Sir 
 John Thompson had been a magnificant success. At its 
 close Mr. Edward Blake crossed the floor of the House, and 
 amidst general applause congratulated him upon what 
 had undoubtedly been his greatest effort in Parliament. 
 As an argument of sustained power, delivered by a brilliant 
 lawyer with all the " cold neutrality " of an impartial judge, 
 
136 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 it will remain a monument of oratorical and legal ability. 
 From a party standpoint there was perhaps one blemish 
 upon its success. A defence of the Jesuits was hardly 
 required from the Minister of Justice, and no matter how 
 strongly he might have felt, as was undoubtedly the case, 
 that they were grossly misrepresented, it was unnecessary 
 and under the stormy circumstances of the moment, worse 
 than useless, for him to try and change the popular preju- 
 dice of Ontario and other Provinces. 
 
 But none the less was the action admirable, and it can 
 only be properly appreciated by the supposition that at 
 some critical moment in the future political development 
 of Quebec, a Protestant member of the Government there 
 should feel it his duty at whatever risk to his personal 
 popularity, to defend some branch of his church from a 
 long sustained and powerful attack made on historic 
 grounds. The Toronto Mail, of course, denounced the 
 Minister of Justice and his speech with great vigour ; the 
 Globe declared it to be " a combination of masterpieces. 
 . . . In part a masterpiece of reasoning, in part a mas- 
 terpiece of casuistry, and on the whole a masterpiece of 
 audacity." Sir John Thompson was in fact singled out 
 for most of the attacks which marked the ensuing Equal 
 Rights campaign. 
 
Hon. John G. Haggart, M.P., 
 
 Minister of Railways and Canals. 
 
■ 
 
 Hon. J. J. Curran, Q C, M.P., 
 
 Solicitor-General of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 139 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Equal Rights, the Fisheries and the French 
 
 Language. 
 
 The phenomenal majority given by Parliament to the 
 Government in connection with the Jesuits' Estates ques- 
 tion, proved to have by no means silenced the agitation. 
 Both political parties had hoped it would have that result, 
 and both were sincerely anxious to get rid of the question 
 before the general elections should loom upon the horizon. 
 But religious sentiment had been aroused ; racial prejudices 
 had been stirred up ; and just as it had been impossible to 
 control the storm in Quebec over the execution of Louis 
 Riel, so now it was found impossible to check the anti- 
 Jesuit agitation in Ontario until it had run its course. 
 
 On the very day that Colonel O'Brien's resolution was 
 proposed in the House of Commons, a mass meeting had been 
 held in the Pavilion at Toronto, with Mr. W. H. Howland 
 as Chairman. The Jesuits' Estates Act was condemned in 
 no measured language, and the speeches of men like Rev. 
 D. J. Macdonell, Mr. J. J. McLaren, Q.C., Principal Caven, 
 and others, were fervent and denunciatory. The last 
 motion was proposed by Mr. J. L. Hughes, and appointed 
 a Committee to extend the movement throughout the 
 Dominion against all who had supported or condoned the 
 legislation in question. This was the beginning of the 
 Equal Rights Association of a few months later. On April 
 22nd another large meeting was held in the Granite Rink 
 in Toronto, and resolutions of approval and congratulation 
 were tendered to the " noble thirteen," who had, as the 
 
140 LIFE AND WORK OP 
 
 phrase of the moment put it, stood up for civil and religious 
 liberty, for the people against the politicians, for true 
 British liberty, and against any union of Church and 
 State. Mr. McCarthy delivered the principal address and 
 accused the Minister of Justice of having adroitly mixed up 
 the divisions of the question so as to create confusion in the 
 minds of the people. " He had been perfectly amazed at 
 the speech of the Minister of Justice. He had heard 
 speeches in which the hairs were split very freely, but he 
 had never heard any arguments more specious, misleading, 
 and, at the same time, so captivating, as those used by the 
 Minister of Justice." 
 
 In accordance with an address issued by the Citizen's 
 Committee to the people of Ontario and an approving 
 resolution passed at this meeting, a Provincial Convention 
 was held in Toronto on June 11th and 12th. It was largely 
 attended and very enthusiastic. The Equal Rights Asso- 
 ciation was duly organized, with influential oflicers, and 
 with Mr. McCarthy as the Parliamentary leader and the 
 real chief. Meanwhile action had been taken in Montreal 
 by Mr. Hugh Graham, who petitioned the Governor- 
 General to refer to the Supreme Court of Canada for hear- 
 ing and consideration an inquiry as to the constitution- 
 ality of the Incorporation Act and the Jesuits' Estates Act. 
 This was sent to the Minister of Justice for advice, and 
 eventually the request was refused. A most able State 
 paper was published in August, giving Sir John Thomp- 
 son's reasons for recommending His Excellency not to grant 
 the appeal. It was an exhaustive document, both in its 
 wealth of legal learning and in the number of precedents 
 produced. 
 
 His reasons were apparently very strong, and may be 
 concisely summarized : 
 
 I. The petitioner was duly represented in the legisla- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 141 
 
 ture by which these enactments were adopted, and his 
 representatives there seem to have concurred in the adop- 
 tion of both these statutes almost with unanimity. 
 
 II. He had the right of petition and remonstrance 
 against the adoption of both these enactments, but does 
 not appear to have used it. 
 
 III. Ample opportunity was afforded for such pro- 
 tests or petitions as are now being made, before the Lieut. - 
 Governor of Quebec was informed that the Acts respectively 
 would be left to their operation. There was an interval of 
 several months which was not taken advantage of in any 
 way, and Mr. Graham's petition was not presented until by 
 lapse of time in the case of the Incorporation Act, as well 
 as by the obligations of public faith and honour in regard 
 to both of them, it had ceased to be in the Governor- 
 General's power to interfere with their operation. 
 
 IV. The petitioner still possessed the opportunity of 
 calling the attention of his Provincial Government to the 
 desirability that the statutes referred to should not be 
 acted upon by the transfer of the public money and pro- 
 perty being completed. 
 
 V. The petitioner also possessed the right to call 
 upon the Attorney- General of his Province to take legal 
 proceedings, in accordance with the law of Quebec, to test 
 the validity of the Act of Incorporation. " If that Act 
 should be decided to be invalid and unconstitutional, there 
 can be little doubt that the second Act will be nugatory, 
 as the grant of money and land which the second Act 
 authorizes is, by its terms, to be made to the corporation, 
 established by the Incorporation Act." 
 
 Here was an opening for action pointed out with 
 distinctness by the Minister of Justice himself. Had Mr. 
 Graham and his friends taken the course indicated, it 
 would have been a turning of the tables indeed upon Mr. 
 
142 LIFE AND WUKK OF 
 
 Mercier and his Mi istry, but the idea was not followed 
 up. The object of too many of the Equal Rights advocates 
 in both Provinces seemed from the beginning to be the 
 embarassment of the Dominion Government, and not the 
 genuine pursuit of equal laws and equal privileges as 
 between race and race, religion and religion. Later on in 
 Ontario, as Mr. McCarthy has so bitterly complained, this 
 was indicated by the partisan conduct of Mr. Charlton and 
 Principal Caven in the Local elections of 1890. Sir John 
 Thompson summed up his advice to the Governor-General 
 in the following words : 
 
 " The Acts referred to in the petition relate only to 
 the Province of Quebec. They do not conflict in any 
 degree with the powers of the Parliament of Canada, or 
 with the rights and powers of Your Excellency. They do 
 not concern in any way Your Excellency's officers, and they 
 do not affect the revenue or property of Canada or any 
 interest of the Dominion. They should, therefore, in the 
 opinion of the undersigned, be left to the responsibility of 
 those whom the Constitution has entrusted with the power 
 to pass such enactments." 
 
 Previous to the publication of this Report, though 
 some time after its submission to the Governor-General -in 
 Council, His Excellency had received, on August 2nd, a 
 deputation at Quebec, which presented an Ontario petition 
 160 yards long, and containing 156,000 signatures ; another 
 signed by the members of the recent Equal Rights Conven- 
 tion to the number of 860 ; and one from Montreal and the 
 Province of Quebec bearing some 9,000 names. The peti- 
 tioners asked for the disallowance of the Jesuits' Estates 
 Act. Principal Caven was the chief speaker for the deputa- 
 tion, and the reply of Lord Stanley of Preston was listened 
 to with deep interest and attention. As the Liberal jour- 
 nals throughout the country claimed in the discussion 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 143 
 
 which ensued, that the Governor-General spoke practically 
 from a brief handed him by the Minister of Justice, it is 
 important to note how substantially his views really did 
 harmonize with those of Sir John Thompson. 
 
 He declared that in his opinion the introduction of the 
 Pope's name in this case had not in any way weakened or 
 assailed the Queen's authority. He spoke from his personal 
 experience as a one time Secretary of the Treasury in 
 England, regarding the frequency with which a moral 
 claim is recognized when no legal one exists. He declared 
 as a matter which had been carefully investigated, that in 
 this nineteenth century, the Society of Jesus were not less 
 law-abiding and loyal citizens than were the majority of 
 people. He pointed out how utterly unconstitutional it 
 would be for the Governor-General to disallow a bill in 
 face of his Minister's advice, and in the teeth of a large 
 Parliamentary majority. Such were the conclusions pre- 
 sented by the Governor-General, and endorsing the position 
 assumed by his Minister of Justice. The delegates had 
 nothing to say at the moment in reply to His Excellency's 
 refusal to interfere, but later on they met and formally 
 protested, urging at the same time that a more vigorous 
 agitation and organization for the promotion of Equal 
 Rights should now be pushed forward to a successful issue. 
 
 Some time after this occurrence, in February, 1891, 
 Mr. (now Sir) Mackenzie Bowell was addressing an audi- 
 ence at Madoc, Ontario, and stated that prior to arriving 
 at a decision " Lord Stanley had telegraphed to the 
 Imperial Government, and asked the law officers of the 
 Crown whether the Act was within the power of the 
 Province of Quebec to pass it, and three days later the 
 answer came that it was strictly within the purview of 
 the Legislature of Quebec, and further, that there was no 
 necessity to refer it, as the petition which had been 
 
144 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 received suggested, to the Judicial Committee of the 
 Privy Council." This particul .-.:• step was therefore not 
 advised by Sir John Thompson, but it is -very probable 
 that Lord Stanley was more or less influenced in his 
 general conclusions by the clear and forceful reasoning of 
 his Minister. There is absolutely no ground, however, for 
 believing that the latter actually prepared the reply which 
 was given to the Equal Rights deputation. 
 
 Shortly after this, the Protestant Committee of the 
 Quebec Council of Public Instruction — 25th September — 
 passed a resolution accepting in the name of the Protes- 
 tants of the Province the public trust imposed upon them 
 to distribute the $(30,000 given under the terms of the 
 Jesuits' Estates Act. Certain conditions were made to 
 which, however, Mr. Mercier, as Premier, agreed without 
 hesitation, and on the 5th of November, the closing scene 
 in a memorable drama took place in the City of Quebec. 
 Here, amid a large gathering of the Provincial Ministers, 
 the Roman Catholic clergy and sundry Protestant repre- 
 sentatives, the $400,000 was paid over in the manner 
 decided upon. A check for $160,000 was handed to the 
 Jesuits ; $40,000 went to Laval University ; and the rest 
 was distributed in sums of ten and twenty thousand 
 amongst the different dioceses. In accepting the check on 
 behalf of the Jesuit Order, the Rev. Father Turgeon, S. J., 
 made a rather interesting remark : " I also thank Mr. 
 Mercier as a Canadian. Thanks to God first, then to him 
 and the Legislature, we are now recognized as citizens. 
 In becoming a Jesuit 1 still remained a Canadian. Ancient 
 Rome, I must say, conferred the title of citizenship for less 
 than has been done by our fathers. Our Order has glorious 
 pages in the history of this , country. Our fathers have 
 shed their blood for the country, and they surely deserve 
 the name of Canadians." 
 

 
 Hon. William B. Ives, M.P., 
 
 President of the Privy Council of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 147 
 
 Meantime the Equal Rights party had not been idle 
 in Ontario. On the 10th of October a mass-meeting had 
 been held in Toronto, and the Report of the deputation to 
 Lord Stanley of Preston, received. Principal Caven and 
 Mr. McCarthy were the chief speakers. The spirit of the 
 audience was pretty well shown in the hisses which upon 
 one occasion greeted the name of Sir John Thompson. 
 Mr. McCarthy declared himself against the teaching of 
 French in the Ontario public schools ; against the exten- 
 sion of the Separate School system through privileged 
 legislation; against an official dual language system in 
 Manitoba and the North- West. A few months later, on 
 April 30th, 1890, the Jesuits' Estates matter came up once 
 more before the House of Commons, upon a motion by Mr. 
 Charlton, claiming that the question of the constitutionality 
 of the Act should have been submitted to the Supreme 
 Court of Canada. Sir John Thompson spoke in defence of 
 the Government's course, and of the ground taken by the 
 Governor-General. 
 
 Referring to an appeal made afterwards by certain 
 representatives of the religious minority in Quebec, claim- 
 ing the Act to have been an invasion of their rights, the 
 Minister of Justice said : 
 
 " The petitioners presented their appeal and it having 
 been referred to myself, I recommended that a day should 
 be appointed on which the appeal should be heard ; and it 
 is quite possible that if the claimants had established any- 
 thing like a case for the interference of the Governor-in- 
 Council on the ground that the rights of the Protestant 
 minority in Quebec had been infringed, a reference of the 
 question as to whether it was an infringement or not might 
 have been made to t.ie Supreme Court of Canada. But 
 before the day came the appellants withdrew the appeal, 
 and they did it on account of the statement made by the 
 
148 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Premier of Quebec that the redress they desired would be 
 given without any appeal being made." 
 
 It will thus be seen that on the broad question of the 
 constitutionality of the Act neither the Government nor 
 the Governor-General, nor Sir Richard Webster and Sir 
 Edward Clarke, the Imperial law officers, would advise or 
 permit an appeal ; but upon any direct claim of injury done 
 to a minority, they were at least willing to consider the 
 question in all seriousness. In speaking of the charges of 
 religious bias made against himself, Sir John Thompson 
 took the opportunity to say : " I am very far from finding 
 fault with those who, rightly or wrongly, were under the 
 impression that I was swayed by my own private opinions 
 in tendering the advice which His Excellency had acted 
 upon. While 1 feel that that impression was unjust to me, 
 I w T as only too glad when His Excellency was disposed to 
 receive the deputation and to give them his answer upon 
 the question." 
 
 The course of asking the Colonial Office to obtain the 
 opinion of the Crown Law Officers was declared to have 
 been His Excellency's own action " not by our advice and 
 not by our request," though " we accept to the fullest ex- 
 tent the constitutional responsibility for such action." This 
 debate terminated the question so far as Parliament was 
 concerned. The Equal Rights Association flourished until 
 the disputes connected with the Local elections of 1890 in 
 Ontario practically destroyed its influence. Speaking in 
 Toronto on June 2nd of that year, Mr. McCarthy vigor- 
 ously denounced Mr. Charlton, M. P., for not supporting the 
 Equal Rights candidates against the Mowat Government, 
 and declared that he and others simply aided the move- 
 ment for religious equality so far as it might injure the 
 Dominion Government. And the absence of Principal 
 Caven from the gathering spoke for itself. A little later, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 149 
 
 the Provincial Protestant Association rose from the wreck 
 of the previous organization. 
 
 During the three years following the elections of 1887, 
 many other important matters had been dealt with by the 
 Minister of Justice, besides the much too prominent Jesuits' 
 Estates question. One of these was the disallowance of the 
 Montreal District Magistrates' Bill, passed by the Provin- 
 cial Legislature under Mr. Mercier's auspices. This measure 
 abolished the Circuit branch of the Quebec Supreme Court 
 and vested its powers in two Judges clothed with a similar 
 jurisdiction " for hearing and deciding civil matters as that 
 exercised by the said Circuit Court of the District of Mon- 
 treal." As the British North America Act gives the right 
 of appointing Superior Court Judges to the Dominion Gov- 
 ernment, Sir John Thompson regarded this bill as a distinct 
 attempt to take from the Dominion Parliament one of its 
 constitutional prerogatives, by simply changing the name 
 of the Court, and the designation of the Judge. Hence he 
 recommended its disallowance. 
 
 Incidentally this action was the cause of his first 
 speech in Montreal. It was in Sept., 1888, during the by- 
 election in which Mr. Lepine and Mr. Poirier were the can- 
 didates for the vacancy caused by Mr. Coursol's death. The 
 charge was freely made that the Minister of Justice in con- 
 nection with this disallowance had been actuated by hosti- 
 'ity to the French- Canadian people. And this at a time 
 when he was suffering unmeasured abuse in certain other 
 quarters for alleged subservience to their interests and reli- 
 gious sentiments ! 
 
 Sir John Thompson went down to the commercial 
 metropolis in order to support Mr. Lepine and defend the 
 Government and himself. The old Bonsecours' market hall 
 was filled to the doors by a mixed multitude of men. The 
 Minister of Justice spoke in a low, measured voice and was 
 
150 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 listened to with marked attention. He explained the 
 nature of the bill, and the reasons for disallowing it, con- 
 cluding with a vigorous appeal for unity of race and creed. 
 " We ask you," he said, " to stand by the old principles 
 that Montreal has stood by so long — the National Policy. 
 We ask you, above all, workingmen, English, Scotch, Irish 
 and French- Canadian, to stand by your country which is 
 threatened by the appeals made on behalf of sectarianism 
 and race. When any man tells you that injustice can or 
 will be attempted in this country against a French-speak- 
 ing Roman Catholic Province, you can laugh in his face 
 and tell him you are not a fool." The Conservative candi- 
 date was afterwards elected by a large majority. 
 
 On the 26th of February, 1889, the Fisheries' question 
 again came up in Parliament. Mr. Laurier moved a reso- 
 lution expressing regret at the present differences with the 
 United States and urging that steps should be taken for 
 their adjustment ; and for the securing of unrestricted 
 freedom in trade relations between the two countries ; 
 direct representation at Washington ; and the renewal of 
 the modus vivendi. The debate proceeded for some days 
 and on March l&t Sir John Thompson rose to speak. As 
 illustrating the fairness of the Government and its desire 
 for the maintenance of friendly relations, he pointed out 
 that on the abrogation of the Washington Treaty by the 
 United States, the Canadian Government had offered to 
 extend the operation of the Fisheries' clause until the close 
 of the season. When the Opposition press urged that the 
 United States would not accept this offer for fear of claims 
 to future indemnity, the Government had asked Great 
 Britain to inform the United States that it would give the 
 use of the fisheries without stint or price. " Now the cry 
 is that we folded our hands and did nothing." 
 
 The Minister of Justice then went on to say that " the 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 151 
 
 one supreme difficulty which the negotiators had to meet 
 with in Washington last year, was the conviction which 
 has gained ground in the United States, that we were 
 perishing for reciprocity, and were raising the Fisheries' 
 question in order to obtain reciprocity." He stated that the 
 proposal made to the American Government was to con- 
 sider the whole question of the fisheries, and in order to 
 get a broad and liberal settlement of the question, " we 
 throw open the fishing grounds as well as commercial 
 privileges to the American fishermen for the remainder of 
 1885, on the assurance of the President of the United 
 States, that he would recommend to Congess that a Com- 
 mission be appointed to consider the fishery interests of 
 the two countries." After six months enjoyment of the 
 Canadian fisheries, together with the right of obtaining 
 supplies, transhipment, etc., the President sent his Message 
 to Congress, and the Senate replied by passing a resolution 
 that such a Commission was not worthy of receiving a 
 vote from Congress for its expenses ! And only seventeen 
 members voted against the motion. 
 
 When, owing to the vigour with which Canada pro- 
 tected its interests during the following period, a Treaty 
 was eventually negotiated (as previously described), another 
 modus vivendi was offered and accepted. The Senate 
 received the courteous and generous offer of Canada by 
 throwing the Treaty out, and thus once more disarranging 
 the entire relations of the two countries. " Yet we are 
 told that we have made no concessions to these people, and 
 that every fault in the whole negotiations of the last 
 twenty years has been with us." In referring to the Pre- 
 sident's Retaliation Message, which followed the Senate's 
 rejection of the proposed arrangement, Sir John Thompson 
 declared emphatically that " while no one would regret the 
 enforcement of an Act of Retaliation by either of the two 
 
152 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 countries more strongly than I would, or apprehend more 
 seriously the consequences than I would; if any such danger 
 and difficulty should come, the Canadian Government 
 would be able to leave its record to the judgment of any 
 man of fairness, honesty and probity." And since then, 
 owing to the wise, yet strong, administration of the Cana- 
 dian fisheries, there has been no serious trouble with the 
 American Government, and matters have adjusted them- 
 selves satisfactorily to the general terms of the Treaty of 
 1818. Such difficulties as have arisen were upon the 
 Pacific Ocean and not on the coasts of the Atlantic. 
 
 In the following Session of 1890, a question which 
 had been intermittently discussed for some months past 
 was brought before Parliament. The dual language system 
 in the North- West Provinces was one of those issues which 
 must always have a rare charm for the agitator. It 
 involved a stirring up of race sentiment and the revival of 
 many of those old prejudices, and even animosities, which 
 help so greatly in the agitation of any specific question 
 amongst the people of a mixed community. And 
 whatever else may be said regarding the debates in 
 the House of Commons during the period in which Sir 
 John Thompson's influence was felt within its walls, no 
 charge can be made that they lacked interest. The Riel 
 debate produced a score of eloquent speeches covering the 
 whole ground of international law, and of experience in 
 the punishment of rebels and the treatment and trial of 
 political prisoners. The Jesuits' Estates agitation in the 
 same way had been the cause of much oratory of a high 
 rank and was conspicuous for research into the older 
 history of Cana,da and into the constitutional powers once 
 vested in the French King, then transferred to the mon- 
 archy of Britain, and now held in the main by the 
 Government of Canada or the Executive of its Provinces. 
 

 Hon. Tei.esphore Fournier, 
 
 Puisne Judge Supreme Court of Canada 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 155 
 
 As studies in history, in constitutional law, and in 
 the duties owed to one another by partners in a Federal 
 compact, these debates may have been illustrative of tht 
 fact that good does sometimes come out of evil. Perhaps it 
 would be more correct to say however that the evil which 
 might have come out of the agitations in question, was to 
 a considerable extent averted by judicious action on the 
 part of men who were Canadians first, Provincialists 
 second. And the discussion of the questions introduced 
 into the Dual Language debate of 1890, was not less 
 interesting and valuable in this educational sense than 
 were the others which had been dealt with. The question 
 in itself was an inevitable product of the race and religion 
 cry which had been commenced by the admirers of Louis 
 Riel, promoted by the assaults upon the Jesuits' Estates 
 legislation, continued in the French language discussion and 
 terminated, it may be hoped, in the Manitoba Schools' case. 
 
 As had been forshadowed by speeches during the 
 Equal Rights agitation, it was Mr. McCarthy who moved 
 in the matter. On the 22nd of January, 1890, amidst 
 considerable excitement in political circles, he introduced 
 his measure for an amendment of the North-West Terri- 
 tories Act, abolishing the official dual language system in 
 that portion of the Dominion. His speech was afterwards 
 the subject of very wide comment, and without at present 
 going into the reasons for the denunciation of its terms, 
 may very fairly be described as unwise, though clever and 
 forcible in argument. The preamble to the bill made it in 
 any case an impossibility : " It is expedient in the interest 
 of the national unitv of the Dominion that there should be 
 community of language among the people of Canada, and 
 that the enactment in the North- West Territories Act 
 allowing the use of the French language should be expunged 
 therefrom." 
 
156 LIKE AND WORK OF 
 
 It had the effect of mixing up the question of an 
 official French language in the Parliament of Canada and 
 in the Province of Quebec with its use in the distant terri- 
 tories of the North- West, where comparatively few French 
 Canadians were to be found, and where very little real 
 importance could be attached to the question as a purely 
 local matter. But, under existing circumstances, to urge its 
 abolition there as a precedent for the future at Ottawa 
 itself, was to arouse all the inflammable French sentiment 
 in Parliament and to make the case absolutely hopeless 
 from the first. Mr. McCarthy, in his address, gave a 
 history of the Act which permitted the English or French 
 language to be used in the debates of the Council or Legis- 
 lative Assembly of the North- West Territories or in the 
 Courts, and which rendered compulsory the printing of its 
 records, journals and ordinances in both languages, lie 
 quoted many writers upon the necessity of one language in 
 the building up of a common and united nationality ; 
 denounced the racial and religious difficulties of Canada as 
 primarily due to the differences in language ; pointed to 
 Germany, Russia and France as countries whose greatness 
 and unity depended upon their peoples speaking the same 
 tongue in private and public life; and concluded by 
 announcing that " My desire is to further and promote the 
 welfare of this great Dominion, advance its national life 
 and have a language common to all.' 5 Whatever his bare 
 proposal might have done if submitted without a preamble 
 or speech of this nature, it is hardly surprising that such 
 remarks — made by a member whom the French Canadians 
 were beginning to look at in a way not unlike that with 
 which Ontario Orangemen regarded Mr. Mercier — should 
 have aroused all their susceptible and sentimental regard 
 for the language of their ancestors. The speeches at once 
 became fierce in denunciation of the proposal and of its 
 author. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 157 
 
 Sir Hector Langevin denounced it as a development 
 of the fanaticism shown in the Equal Rights movement. 
 Speaking of the French settlers in the North- West, he 
 declared that " Providence put them into this world, and 
 they came here with French blood, and when they could 
 speak they spoke the French language. They went there 
 from the other Provinces knowing that the subjects of Her 
 Most Gracious Majesty the Queen had the right under the 
 laws of the empire to speak their language provided they 
 did not speak treason." It could not be a matter of 
 expense with Mr. McCarthy. During thirteen years the 
 cost of public printing in the Territories by reason of this 
 dual language system had only been increased by $4<,000. 
 " He wants to tyrannize over the French Canadians of this 
 country. He does not like them. He hates them and has 
 hated them from the time he came into Parliament." Sir 
 Hector took the line which was followed by nearly all the 
 speakers from all parts of the Dominion, and dealt with 
 the proposal as an attack upon the language, and upon the 
 French Canadians' freedom of speech. " Just now," he 
 declared, " the French members of the House will stand as 
 one man against Mr. McCarthy. It is not a matter of 
 politics, but the question of the preservation of their race 
 and nationality. The French are loyal to the British 
 Crown, but at the same time they will not abandon their 
 language and religion without a struggle." 
 
 The Hon. David Mills referred to the preamble to the 
 bill, and the speech of the mover, as enunciating a principle 
 far more important than the measure itself. Mr. McCarthy 
 had in fact " laid down the principle that there could only 
 be a Canadian nationality by having one language." He 
 had spoken as though it were an offence for any of Her 
 Majesty's subjects to speak the French language. But, said 
 Mr. Mills, " I have never seen an oath of allegiance which 
 
158 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 required the subject to speak only English. The British 
 subject may talk Italian in Malta, French in Quebec, Hindu 
 at Calcutta, and Chinese at Hong-Kong, and so long as he 
 does not speak treason will not sacrifice any of his rights 
 as a British subject." He pointed out that the dual lan- 
 guage system was in operation in Cape Colony, and Mauri- 
 tius, as well as in other places within the Empire. He con- 
 cluded by referring to a very similar attempt made early 
 in the century by the King of the Netherlands, which 
 resulted in the disruption of his kingdom and the estab- 
 lishment of the separate states of Holland and Belgium. 
 
 Mr. Laurier, who in 1877 had beocme leader of the 
 Opposition in succession to Mr. Blake, illustrated in his 
 speech the mistake which had been made in confusing the 
 issue : i( If it (the North-West Bill) were not to be followed 
 by any other ; if it were to remain, as it is here, simply the 
 abolition of the French language in the North- West Terri- 
 tories ; I would be tempted to say, let the measure pass." 
 And then he quoted from a speech by Mr. McCarthy in 
 which he declared that " we must buckle on our armour 
 and make the French-Canadians British." He went on to 
 speak of the high attributes and qualities of the people of 
 Quebec in characteristically beautiful language : " There is 
 not under the sun to-day a more honest, moral and intellec- 
 tual race. If the honorable gentleman would come to 
 Lower Canada it would be my pride to take him through 
 one of those ancient parishes and show him a population 
 to which, prejudiced as he is, he could not but apply the 
 words of the poet : — 
 
 ' Men whose lives glide on like rivers 
 Watering the woodland, 
 Darkened by shadows of earth, 
 And reflecting the image of heaven.' 
 
 Let, therefore, the two races stand together, each with its 
 own characteristics, and yet united in a common object." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 159 
 
 Sir John Macdonald in his remarks voiced the principle 
 of moderation — the true basis of union. " We have a con- 
 stitution now under which every British subject is in a 
 condition of absolute and perfect equality — having the 
 same rights of language, of religion, of property and of 
 person — the same right is extended to every race. There 
 is no conquered race in this country ; we are all British 
 subjects, and those who are not English are none the less 
 British on that account." He denounced Mr. Laurier, for 
 having tried to make political capital out of the measure, 
 and suggested that Mr. McCarthy had commenced at the 
 wrong end. " If the butcher goes to kill an ox, he strikes 
 him on the head ; he does not cut a little piece off the tail." 
 Mr. McCarthy should have commenced his agitation in 
 Quebec. His measure was " like the sting of a gnat ; 
 merely a source of irritation." Sir John announced him- 
 self in favour of leaving the matter to the decision of the 
 Territorial Assembly. 
 
 Mr. Chaplean delivered an eloquent and fervent speech. 
 He referred to the fact that General Murray, the first 
 English Governor of Quebec, had used the French language 
 in all his dealings with the King's new subjects. " I take 
 it for granted," declared the speaker, " that the quality of 
 British citizenship is not incompatible with a foreign 
 origin ; that a British subject may be of French origin and 
 a Roman Catholic." He spoke of the use of French in the 
 Windward Islands, in Mauritius, and in the Seychelles. 
 He referred to the teaching of Welsh in Wales ; of Gaelic 
 in Scotland ; and of various native languages in the schools 
 of India. So in the Austrian Empire, where a number of 
 different languages were taught in the schools, and where 
 the Fundamental Law, promulgated in 1867, declares that 
 "all the races of the Empire are on a footing of equality, 
 and each one of the nations severally has a right that the 
 
160 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 inviolability of its nationality and its language shall be 
 secured." He quoted Montesquieu to the effect that men 
 are governed less by terror than by love and confidence. 
 " It' absolute perfection in matter of Government is a myth, 
 it is a fact that the best is the Government which adapts 
 itself most closely to the climate, to the character, the 
 usages, the habits, the prejudices even, of the country." 
 
 Late in the debate, Sir John Thompson rose to speak, 
 and to put into shape the policy of the Government. 
 Amendments to Mr. McCarthy's motion had been proposed 
 by Mr. Bechard and Mr. Davin, but neither were considered 
 satisfactory. What the Minister of Justice had to say 
 was very little, but what he suggested in the form of an 
 amendment was very effective. He pointed out how little 
 real importance there was in the mere enactment covering 
 an optional right to the use of either French or English. 
 " I have seen that right conceded frequently in the Legisla- 
 ture of my own Province where there is no legislative 
 guarantee on the subject, and the man who would object 
 to the Acadian of Nova- Scotia speaking his own tongue in 
 the Legislature of his own Province would be laughed to 
 scorn, as unworthy to sit in that Assembly." 
 
 But he strongly urged the importance of the laws 
 being published in both languages, where it might be 
 desired in the interest of a minority ; and the necessity of 
 permissive legislation concerning the use of either language 
 in the local Law Courts. He announced his intention to 
 propose, therefore, that the regulations as to publishing the 
 ordinances in both languages and permitting the use of 
 English or French in the courts, should be left intact, but 
 that the records, the journals and the debates of the 
 Assembly should be referred to the control of the next 
 duly elected Territorial Assembly. His amendment read 
 as follows, and was carried by a vote of 117 to 63: — 
 
Hon. A. S. Hardy, Q.C., M.P.P., 
 
 Commissioner of Crown Lands, Ontario. 
 
Sir Thomas Galt, 
 
 Chief Justice of Common Picas of Ontario. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 163 
 
 " That this House, having regard for the long-con- 
 tinued use of the French language in old Canada and to 
 the covenants on that subject embodied in the British 
 North America Act, cannot agree in the declarations con- 
 tained in the said Bill as a basis thereof, namely, that it is 
 expedient in the interest of the national unity of the 
 Dominion that there should be unity of language amongst 
 the people of Canada. That, on the contrary, this House 
 declares its adhesion to the said covenant, and its deter- 
 mination to resist any attempt to impair the same. That 
 at the same time this House deems it expedient and proper, 
 and not inconsistent with the covenants, that the Legisla- 
 tive Assembly of the North-West Territories should receive 
 from the Parliament of Canada power to regulate the 
 proceedings of the Assembly and the manner of recording 
 and publishing such proceedings." 
 
 This settled for a time a question which in itself was 
 insignificant, but in its environment was exceedingly 
 unpleasant and disastrous to the good feeling which ought 
 to exist amongst all races and creeds within the Dominion 
 of Canada. 
 
164 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Elections of 1891. 
 
 The conflict at the polls which commenced by the 
 dissolution of Parliament on the 4th of February, 1891, was 
 in many respects the most momentous in the history of 
 Canada. In 187-fc a general election had overthrown a 
 Government charged with corruption, and, whether right 
 or wrong in this particular application of the principle, had 
 clearly demonstrated that Canadians will not endure even 
 a suspicion of dishonesty in their rulers. In i 878 protec- 
 tion to national industries had been proclaimed emphati- 
 cally as the national policy of the country, and in 1882, 
 amid the fair weather of good times and abounding pros- 
 perity that policy had been confirmed and strengthened. 
 In 1887 a dangerous racial and religious agitation in Que- 
 bec had been rendered almost harmless by the patriotism 
 of its people i n rallying to the support of a Government 
 which^ whatever its faults, had acted in the best interests 
 of the Dominion by allowing the law to take its course in 
 the case of Louis Riel. 
 
 But four years later a new question had arisen and 
 one which involved a clear and distinct issue to all who 
 would honestly read the signs of the times. Leaving to 
 one side all partisan cries and strictly partisan statements ; 
 accepting as a fact the loyalty of the great mass of the peo- 
 ple in both parties ; waiving ^resent consideration of the 
 utterances of men like Wiman and Farrer : it yet seems 
 perfectly plain that the country had to consider during 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 165 
 
 that campaign the principles of British unity, British 
 commerce, and British sympathy, as against Continental 
 unity, Continental trade, and Continental sympathy. 
 There were side issues, of which the cry for Equal Rights 
 was by no means the least, but this question of the 
 British Empire versus "the Continent to which we belong," 
 was the dominant and absorbing matter submitted to the 
 consideration and decision of the people. 
 
 In stating this fact there is no intention of charging 
 any one, whether leader or follower, with annexationist 
 sentiments or with personal disloyalty. But in dealing 
 with the principles which during this important contest, 
 Sir John A. Macdmald defended with such vigour as to 
 fatally undermine his health; which Sir Charles Tupper 
 came from England to help in supporting; which Sir John 
 Thompson aided by many a speech and with all the force 
 of his clear and logical eloquence; which other Conserva- 
 tive leaders joined in urging with a passionate earnestness 
 unusual in Canadian politics, it must be made clear that 
 there really was some great underlying element of serious 
 import. 
 
 Apart, therefore, from specific utterances and party 
 charges, the great issue lay in the tendencies of the two 
 policies. Everyone knows that a new country, like a 
 young man, should have some high ideal, some great ambi- 
 tion, some future hope which constitutes in itself a living 
 principle of conduct and a substantial basis for present 
 action. During the dozen years in which it had held 
 power, the Conservative party, with all its sins of omission 
 and commission — and no public organization is devoid of 
 them — had evolved and placed before the people some such 
 principle and plan of national development. It was in this 
 that Sir John Macdonald had shown his supreme states- 
 manship. Without the sentiment which surrounds the 
 
166 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 ideal of Canada for Canadians within the British Empire, 
 the National Policy would have been a mere fiscal experi- 
 ment, lasting as long as the good times continued, but 
 blown away like chaff before the first storm of depression 
 or financial difficulty. 
 
 But when the people clearly recognized that the whole 
 tendency of this new policy was to build up the resources 
 of Canada, by the development of trade, inter-communica- 
 tion, and investment within the Empire : when they heard 
 and accepted the claim that it was none the less British for 
 being Canadian : that it was safe from the charge of 
 dependence on either Great Britain or the United States: 
 and that it combined national sentiment and progress with 
 a distinct tendency towards closer Imperial connection in 
 the future; the natural effect was a strengthening of the 
 protective system bj? the support of a large element of the 
 people who considered loyalty of the first importance in 
 conducting the affairs of our rising nationality. 
 
 On the other side of the political fence there had been, 
 however, for several years, as Sir John Thompson pointed 
 out in several of his more important speeches, a tendency to 
 deprecate sentiment in the conduct of public affairs : to 
 denounce loyalty as unimportant, or, at the best, of second- 
 ary importance : to place alleged material interests first, 
 and national ideals and aspirations second. And as the 
 campaign developed, this distinction between the parties 
 came out even more plainly. The Commercial Union 
 advocacy of the Toronto Globe and Mail in previous years ; 
 the unfortunate speeches of Mr. Laurier and Sir Richard 
 Cartwright in Boston ; the mixing up of the party papers 
 and leaders with the annexationist ideas of Messrs. Wiman, 
 Farrer, and Hitt ; the scarcely disguised support given to 
 the principle of discrimination against British goods, if 
 necessary, in order to obtain American reciprocity ; all 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 167 
 
 combined to add strength and inspiration to Sir John 
 Macdonald's famous Manifesto and to his equally vigorous 
 denunciation of the alleged disloyalty of the Liberal 
 leaders. 
 
 On February 4th, the Government gave to the press a 
 despatch which had been sent by the Governor-General to 
 the Colonial Secretary, on Dec. 18th, 1890, outlining the 
 terms of certain negotiations into which his ministers 
 desired to enter with the United States' Government. 
 It was proposed that a Joint Commission should be formed 
 similar to that of 1871, and with power to deal with the 
 following questions : 
 
 I. Renewal of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, with 
 necessary modifications. 
 
 II. Re-consideration of the Treatv of 1888, with 
 respect to the Atlantic fisheries, with a view to reciprocity 
 in fish, and in the privileges of buying bait, transhipment 
 of fish, etc. 
 
 III. Protection of mackerel and other fisheries on 
 the Atlantic coast and in the inland waters. 
 
 IV. Relaxation of the seaboard coasting laws of the 
 two countries, and also of the coasting laws on the great 
 lakes. 
 
 V. Mutual salvage and saving of wrecked vessels. 
 
 VI. Arrangements for settling boundary between 
 Canada and Alaska. 
 
 It was stated that the presentation of these proposi- 
 tions arose through the negotiations which had for some 
 time been going on between Newfoundland and the United 
 States, and in which Canada insisted upon having some- 
 thing to say. The United States Government at first 
 demanded separate negotiations, but eventually Mr Blaine 
 expressed a willingness to discuss matters, and a desire to 
 know the basis upon which the Dominion Government 
 
168 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 desired to act. Lord Stanley's despatch was the result, 
 and its publication at this moment had the effect of making 
 it a campaign document, and of taking the reciprocity 
 wind to a certain extent out of the Opposition sails. 
 
 Naturally the Liberals were taken aback, and many 
 were exceedingly angry at the clever political stroke. It 
 was an instance of "the Old Man's strategy," which could 
 be fully appreciated at the moment. And the terms of the 
 preliminary announcement were strongly criticised. It was 
 claimed that the American Government had never consented 
 to negotiate ; that the whole thing was a fraud intended to 
 deceive the electorate ; and that after the campaign was 
 over nothing more would be heard of it. Strength was 
 added to this view by the publication of a letter from Mr., 
 Blaine denying that he had ever made any overtures in 
 the matter, and asserting that only the very widest reci- 
 procity would be considered by the American Government 
 Upon the other hand, Sir John Thompson declared 
 emphatically at the great mass meeting in Toronto, on 
 Feb. Cth, which practically opened the campaign, that " we 
 had the proposition which was submitted to Mr. Blaine ; 
 the answer that Mr. Blaine made to us was that he was 
 willing to enter upon a preliminary discussion to precede 
 the more formal commission ; he was willing to enter upon 
 that discussion, and to consider all points embraced in it, 
 but would not be prepared to do so until after the 4th of 
 March, when the term of the present Congress expires." 
 It is safe to say in this connection that where the personal 
 statements of a Canadian and an American leader disagree, 
 the Canadian people as a whole prefer to believe the 
 former. And that was about all that could be said upon 
 the subject at the time. 
 
 The Toronto meeting was a great success, besides being 
 the occasion of Sir John Thompson's first appearance 
 
Most Rev 7 . James Vincent Clearv, D.D. 
 
 R.C. Archbishop of Kingston. 
 
"V 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 Hon. Arthur II. R. Turcotte, Q.C., 
 
 Ex- Attorney-General of Quebec. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 171 
 
 before an audience in the Queen City. He had already 
 been down in Nova-Scotia, accompanied by the Hon. C. H. 
 Tupper, and had paid a hasty visit to Antigonish, where 
 the Liberals had been raising a storm by attacking Bishop 
 Cameron, and where the Minister of Justice had once more 
 to meet the bitter feeling aroused through denunciation of 
 clerical activity in elections. It seemed, indeed, as if it 
 were his fate to encounter everywhere this religious preju- 
 dice, and to meet sectarian questions in every portion of 
 his political career. The only thing which marred the 
 success of the great gathering in the Toronto Auditorium 
 was the rude interruption of some one in the gallery who 
 shouted out the word "Jesuit" when the Minister of 
 Justice was half-way through his speech. It appeared to 
 have an unexpected effect upon the apparently cool and 
 collected speaker, and to have considerably shortened his 
 address. The fact is, that he was more easily moved upon 
 these points than the public would have thought possible, 
 and his calm exterior gave no indication of the passionate 
 feelings and sensitive disposition of the man. 
 
 None the less was his speech a success and the impres- 
 sion *made, a most favourable one. The other speakers 
 were the Hon. Mackenzie Bowell, the Hon. G. E. Foster, 
 the Hon. Frank Smith, and the Hon. John Carling. The 
 Minister of Justice dealt largely with the Reciprocity 
 question. At the first he spoke of himself in a character- 
 istically plain and dignified manner : " Let me say at the 
 outset that I am no orator, and that even if I had the gift 
 of eloquence it would not be useful to me to-night in the 
 task that is before me, because we are not here to carry 
 away your feelings or to influence your passions b^ 
 eloquent appeals, but to make a plain statement as behooves* 
 public men placing an issue of the greatest consequence 
 before this country." He described the attitude of the 
 
172 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Opposition ; reviewed the history of Canadian relations 
 witli the United States ; and defended the Government in 
 its dissolution of Parliament. 
 
 Upon this latter point he said : "If you and the people 
 of Canada accept the policy that we put before you now, 
 we will go to Washington with a Parliament behind us, 
 and we will be able to treat with Mr. Blaine with the 
 assurance that the Premier of this country has the renewed 
 confidence of the people of Canada." He pointed out that 
 the Liberals were everywhere criticising the Government's 
 Reciprocity proposal as impossible of success. " Well, Sir, 
 if it should fail, I will tell you why. It will fail because 
 the followers of Sir Richard Cartwright have put on record 
 whole volumes against Canada with regard to the necessi- 
 ties of this country, and with regard to her bankruptcy if 
 she cannot get better trade relations with the United States. 
 If it fails, it will be because of the cloud of witnesses he 
 has produced against his country. The records of debates 
 on Reciprocity in the House of Commons, the record of 
 evidence given before Committee after Committee of Con- 
 gress at Washington, have the names of these men appended 
 as indicating that this country can be starved into*sub- 
 mission." 
 
 Sir John Thompson concluded his speech with a very 
 clear-cut definition of what the Government would do and 
 would not do : " We appeal not to the sentiment of the 
 United States. We do not, in the words of the gentleman 
 who presided at the banquet in Boston, and which Sir 
 R ; chard Cartwright addressed, look to them for the sign by 
 which we conquer, but we appeal to our Canadian fellow- 
 citizens, and if they sustain us in the policy I have stated 
 to you to-night, the negotiations will proceed in March for 
 a fair extension of the trade of this country — not for 
 Unrestricted Reciprocity, not for any surrender of our tariff 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 173 
 
 control, not for any discrimination against Great Britain — 
 but for a fair line of interchange that will be beneficial to 
 both countries." 
 
 The campaign was now in full swing, and it soon 
 proved to be the most bitter contest ever fought in the 
 Dominion. Sir Charles Tupper brought his forceful 
 eloquence to bear upon the result, and at Toronto, Windsor, 
 Hamilton, Kingston, London, Halifax and Quebec dealt 
 sledge-hammer blows against the policy of the Opposition. 
 The publication by Sir John Macdonald of the correspon- 
 dence between Edward Farrer, Congressman Hitt and 
 Erastus Wiman, followed by his eloquent and pathetic 
 appeal to the British sentiment of the people, had a great 
 effect. In his manifesto he characterized the policy of the 
 Liberals as being veiled treason, and denounced it as involv- 
 ing discrimination against the Mother country ; as necessi- 
 tating direct taxation to the extent of $14,000,000 annually; 
 and as inevitably resulting in annexation. Mr. Blake, after 
 having resigned the Liberal leadership in 18 37 into the 
 hands of Mr. Laurier, now retired from Parliament alto- 
 gether, and thus weakened his party by the defection of one 
 whom all respected, whether they were in harmony with 
 his views or the reverse. 
 
 The Conservatives however, did not have things all 
 their own way. A manifesto was issued by the Equal 
 Rights Association vigorously denouncing the Government 
 for its action in connection with the Jesuits' Estates and 
 French language questions. Mr. Laurier delivered a num- 
 ber of addresses in Ontario, and made the most of his power 
 of persuasive eloquence and his personal charm of manner. 
 On the 13th of February he published a manifesto dealing 
 with Sir John Macdonald's charges and explaining his 
 position regarding Unrestricted Reciprocity. He accepted 
 the National Policy as the one issue put forward by the 
 
174 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Conservatives, and declared the platform of the Liberals to 
 be " absolute reciprocal freedom of trade between Canada 
 and the United States." He denounced the premature dis- 
 solution of Parliament, proclaimed the loyalty of himself 
 and his party, and arraigned the protective tariff as a 
 public curse. A strong point in the Liberal speeches was 
 the effect wnich the McKinley bill might be expected to 
 
 » 
 
 have upon the farmers, and the claims that these anticipated 
 evils could be averted by giving the party a free hand 
 for the negotiation of a wide reciprocity treaty with the 
 American Republic. 
 
 Another source of aid was the influence of Mr. Mercier 
 in Quebec. He had made every preparation to leave for 
 Europe in order to float a loan of $10,000,000, but deferred 
 his trip, because, as he declared at a mass meeting in Mon- 
 treal on February 9th, " his place was beside his esteemed 
 chief, Mr. Wilfred Laurier." It is not unlikely that ho 
 hoped to make a portion of the proposed loan unnecessary 
 by thus helping into office a leader who was pledged to 
 carry out the increased subsidies to the Provinces proposed 
 by the Inter-Provincial Conference of a few years before. 
 " Mr. Laurier accepted the resolutions," declared the speaker, 
 " and promised to carry them into effect if he came into 
 power. He (Mr. Mercier) had telegraphed asking him if 
 he would ratify this declaration and Mr. Laurier had re- 
 plied ' I accept the declaration as the expression of my 
 policy.' The Rykert scandal in the scarifying hands of 
 Sir Richard Cartwright was also an element of substantial 
 help to the Liberals, while the severe criticisms of tne 
 Toronto Mail and a speech or two made by the Hon. Oliver 
 Mowat were of additional service. 
 
 As much can hardly be said of the assistance which 
 Mr. Goldwin Smith tried to render. His letter to the New 
 York Times of February cSth, stating that the Tories "seek 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 175 
 
 to make Canada the engine of the Conservative aristocracy 
 of Great Britain for averting the triumph of democracy in 
 the New World," was merely regarded as a renewed effort to 
 prejudice American public opinion against any Conservative 
 attempt to obtain a fair and reasonable Reciprocity Treaty. 
 And his subsequent letter to a Toronto paper denouncing 
 the National Policy, only helped those who were trying to 
 affix the disgraceful stigma of annexationism to the Liberal 
 party. His aid was indeed an injury to the Opposition in 
 this campaign as it might have been to the Conservative 
 party had the distinguished English writer remained after 
 1878 a supporter of Protection and a follower of Sir John 
 A. Macdonald. 
 
 Meanwhile Sir John Thompson had been making a 
 speech or two in Nova-Scotia, and attending so far as was 
 possible to his own interests in Antigonish, where his old 
 opponent, the Hon. Angus McGillivray, was once more run- 
 ning against him. As his majority had only been 40 in 
 the campaign of 1887, care was required at this juncture, 
 especially in view of the somewhat unscrupulous nature of 
 the contest on the part of the Opposition in the constitu- 
 ency. Mr. McGillivray was a man of considerable ability 
 and standing. He had been first elected as a colleague of 
 Mr. J. S. D. Thompson in Antigonish, to the Local Legisla- 
 ture, and had been re-elected in 1882. Three years' later 
 he became Speaker of the Assembly and continued to hold 
 that position until appointed a member of the Local Gov- 
 ernment in 1887. In this latter year he had for the first 
 time opposed his old friend and fellow-Conservative in the 
 elections for the Dominion House. In doing so he came 
 into conflict with Bishop Cameron, which was not a very 
 wise thing to do in that constituency, and had been beaten, 
 though not by a very large majority. 
 
 It had long been a matter of course in Antigonish 
 
176 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 and a custom which the people regarded with respect, for 
 the Bishop to intervene in the elections. Usually, several 
 Catholics would be in the field, and he would express a 
 preference for the one or the other. Then upon several occa- 
 sions one Protestant would be returned to the Local House 
 and one Catholic, showing clearly that there was no bigotry 
 in the n.atter. When the close friendship, which has now 
 become historical, grew up between the future Premier and 
 the Bishop, it was not, therefore, surprising that the latter 
 should help his friend, and it was not considered anything 
 unusual i« the constituency chiefly interested. In his 
 earlier elections, Sir John Thompson had been greatly 
 aided by this influence. In 1887, Mr. McGillivray, how- 
 ever, had allowed his supporters to spread abroad the 
 impression that the Bishop's sympathy and support were 
 no longer with the Minister of Justice, and that a letter to 
 that effect was in existence. These statements brought out 
 a characteristically vigorous manifesto from His Lordship, 
 addressed to the electors, and urging them to support his 
 friend. An extract from it will be of interest and impor- 
 tance, as showing the very substantial and effectual manner 
 in which Bishop Cameron stood by Sir John : 
 " To the Electors of Antigonhh County: 
 
 "Gentlemen, — I did not expect that designing politicians would dis- 
 turb you by organizing a factious opposition to the return of the Hon. Mr. 
 Thompson at the ensuing election, much less did I apprehend that either 
 the factionists or their dupes would take such liberty with my own name 
 as to oblige me in honor publicly to repudiate their misrepresentat : ons of 
 my views and sentiments regarding the present unseemly contest. In 
 this and some of the neighbouring counties it is assorted, urged and con- 
 fidently reiterated that my estimation of the Minister of Justice has 
 undergone such a change that I have decided not to support him any more ; 
 that far from disapproving of his being ignominiously discharged by you, 
 I have furnished Mr. A. McGillivray with an assurance of my entire 
 unconcern ; nay, that he had in his pocket a letter pledging me to strict 
 neutrality. (It is scarcely necessary to remark that such a statement was 
 never made either by Mr. McGillivray or any reul friend of his.) 
 
— -~] 
 
 
 < ' 
 
 ■ 
 
 Hon. John F. Wood, M.P., 
 
 Comptroller of Inland Revenue. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 179 
 
 " Gentlemen, no such letter exists, no such assurances have been 
 given ; while my estimate of Mr. Thompson is even far greater now than 
 when I last had the honor to ask your suffrages in favor of his election in 
 1885. 
 
 " About seventeen months ago, you chose him as your representative 
 m the House of Commons, and you have since had abundant evidence of 
 the wisdom of your choice. You have seen that he has proved himself to 
 be one of the most gifted, most honoured, most influential and most irre- 
 proachable statesmen of the Dominion, and you have felt that his 
 unequalled success is a source of legitimate pride to yourselves and to all 
 Nova Scotians. You have seen, also, that while honouring you so highly 
 by his eloquence in debate, and his wisdom in council and committee, he 
 has never neglected your more immediate public interests — nay, that he 
 has promoted them with a success altogether unprecedented. 
 
 " Seventeen months ago you needed postal communication and 
 facilities in various localities, and already you have no fewer than five 
 new post-offices opened, besides more frequent mails in several other 
 places. You needed improvement in our railway tariff; through Mr. 
 Thompson's strenuous efforts you have obtained it. You needed money 
 to repair most useful public works, fallen into neglect and decay, to com- 
 plete others and to originate more, and already no less than $34,346 has 
 been placed at our disposal for that purpose ; yet this magnificent sum is 
 doubtless but an instalment of the amount which we may expect under 
 the auspices of this most efficient benefactor, to be expended for our 
 advantage. Lastly, he has been mainly instrumental in persuading the 
 Cabinet to undertake to build a railway through Cape Breton, as a Gov- 
 ernment measure, and already forty-five miles of it are under contract 
 and in course of construction. He has thus conferred an inestimable boon 
 on Eastern Nova Scotia as well as on that fine Island in whose prosperity 
 we all feel the liveliest interest. 
 
 " To give him his discharge, in existing circumstances, would bean act 
 of senseless ingratitude, a public calamity and a lasting disgrace, for 
 which I trust you will never be guilty of making yourselves answerable. 
 In a word, to do yourselves full credit, you ought not only to return Mr. 
 Thompson, but to return him by an overwhelming majority, since you 
 have not been allowed the privilege of electing him as he deserved, by 
 acclamation. 
 
 " The above is my reply to those who have unathoritatively dragged 
 
 my name into the contest, and now, gentlemen, I confidently leave the 
 
 issue in your hands, and remain, 
 
 " Your devoted well-wisher and servant in Christ, 
 
 "John Cameron, 
 
 " Bishop of Antigonish. 
 "Antigonish, Feb. 11, 1887." 
 
180 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 During the canvass of the constituency which took 
 place in the elections of 1891, Mr. McGilKvray came 
 out with a vigourous attack upon the Bishop, and in 
 reply the Rev. Father Macclonald of Stellarton accused the 
 former of having personally made the very statements 
 which Bishop Cameron in the above circular charitably 
 disbelieved. Archbishop O'Brien also came to the support 
 of His Lordship, and indirectly of Sir John Thompson. In 
 an address delivered at Halifax., he eloquently defended 
 clerical intervention under certain conditions and in certain 
 circumstances : 
 
 " The interest of the country and the fond, proud love 
 of his country find a place in the heart and engage the 
 attention of the true priest. Hence, should a candidate for 
 Parliament advocate, say Unrestricted Reciprocity, and 
 should a prelate conscientiously believe that to be the first 
 step towards annexation — should he have good reason to 
 believe that its promoters had that result in view, namely, 
 to destroy our fair Canadian nationality and make of this 
 country the battling ground of carpet-baggers and traitors 
 — should he not advise, exhort, entreat, aye, and command, 
 his people to vote against such a candidate ? " 
 
 Needless to say, in a Catholic constituency like Anti- 
 gonish it was not surprising that the influence of such 
 appeals and the personal popularity of a prelate so respected 
 and esteemed as Bishop Cameron, should have had great 
 weight, and have prepared the way for the majority of 227 
 with which the Minister of Justice swept away his antago- 
 nist on March 5th. Before that final result of the cam- 
 paign occurred, however, Sir John Thompson delivered 
 two important addresses in the Province — one at Halifax 
 in conjunction with Sir Charles Tupper and the Hon. C. H. 
 Tupper, on February 14th, and the other at Kentville, four 
 days later. The Halifax meeting was a great demonstra- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 181 
 
 tion. Sir Charles Tupper in one of his old-time ringing 
 speeches, stirred up the loyalty and enthusiasm of his 
 audience to an unprecedented degree, and was followed by 
 Sir John in a speech which seems to have been instinct 
 with unusual earnestness and vim. He handled the Lib- 
 eral party without gloves. Referring to the Reciprocity 
 policies — restricted and unrestricted — he declared that 
 " the Liberals made no offer to negotiate, but proclaimed in 
 advance that they were prepared to give away everything 
 The Liberals appealed to the manufacturers of Boston foi 
 ' a sign by which to conquer.' Sir John Macdonald appeals 
 to the people of Canada, and says, ' To you I look for the 
 sign by which to conquer. . . . When Nelson was 
 once signalled to retire, he gave the command ; ' Keep my 
 signal for closer battle flying, and nail it to the mast.' 
 Mr. Laurier had said at Halifax that he nailed his Unre- 
 stricted Reciprocity colours to the mast, but his mast has 
 already been shot away, and his colours all tattered and torn 
 are hanging in ribbons over the drifting hulk of his party." 
 The battle now progressed with intense vigour in all 
 parts of the country to its termination, On the one 
 side were "the Old Man, the Old Flag, and the Old 
 Policy " ; earnest appeals to British sentiment and allegi- 
 ance ; fierce denunciation of the alleged American sympa- 
 thies, policy and environment of the Liberal leaders. 
 Upon the other were vigorous protestations of loyalty ; 
 charges of wholesale corruption against the Government, 
 departmental and national ; advocacy of free trade with 
 the States and wider markets for Canadian produce. 
 Incidentally, there were Ontario protests and votes against 
 those who had refused to support the disallowance of the 
 Jesuits' Estates Act ; while in Quebec Mr. Mercier directed 
 all the smouldering fires of the prejudices aroused by 
 the old Riel agitation, against the Dominion Government. 
 
182 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 The result, however, was the sustaining of the Con- 
 servative party, policy and Ministry by a majority oi 
 between twenty and thirty. Two members of the Gov- 
 ernment, Mr. C. C. Colby, and Mr. John Carling, were 
 defeated, while the Opposition lost Mr. A. G. Jones, Mr. 
 Peter Mitchell and Mr. Weldon. And thus ended the most 
 desperate fight in the history of the Dominion, and one 
 which was destined to indirectly cause a greater loss to the 
 Conservative party and to the country than any which 
 had yet taken place. Sir John Macdonald, against the 
 advice of his physicians, had taken a wonderfully active 
 part in the campaign." The " Grand Old Man," with an 
 energy perfectly phenomenal in one of his years and physical 
 weakness, seemed to be everywhere urging on the battle ; 
 putting life and soul into his supporters; arousing the 
 enthusiasm of vast audiences as only his magnetic person- 
 ality could do ; and giving to the struggle that swing of 
 victory which was necessary to overcome the many adverse 
 circumstances. 
 
 Without him, indeed, it is not unlikely, that the party 
 would have been defeated, and of this he was quite well 
 aware. Taking, therefore, his life in his hand, Sir John 
 Macdonald had gone into the conflict determined to win one 
 more success for what he believed to be the fundamental 
 principles of Canadian nationality and progress — British 
 connection and loyalty to the close and honourable union 
 of the Dominion and the Empire. But his efforts in 
 managing the campaign and addressing immense audiences 
 almost daily for weeks — upon one day he spoke five times 
 — were too much for his feeble frame, and after success 
 had been achieved the inevitable reaction set in, an 1 the 
 laurels of victory instead of contributing to a new lease of 
 power and influence, could only be used to crow i the tomb 
 of departed greatness. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 183 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Death of Sir John Macdonald. 
 
 On the 24th of May it became known to the public 
 that the illness of Sir John A. Macdonald was somewhat 
 serious. He himself did not appear to regard it in that 
 light, however, and during the next day or two improved 
 considerably. On the 29th, when the fatal stroke fell upon 
 him, he had been dictating letters ; holding a long conver- 
 sation with Sir John Thompson upon questions of public 
 policy and party tactics ; and receiving a visit from the 
 Governor-General. But shortly afterwards the paralytic 
 seizure came and stilled the busy brain, numbed the mar- 
 vellous faculties, and silenced forever the voice which had 
 so long been the voice of Canada. During the week of 
 anxious waiting which followed, a sorrowing people, a 
 sympathetic Empire, and a Queen, who is as great a woman 
 as she is a sovereign, watched beside the sick-bed at Earns- 
 clitfe, where the greatest of Colonial statesmen, the Father 
 of Canadian confederation and the champion of Imperial 
 unity, lay fighting his sad and hopeless battle. 
 
 As days and hours went by, and the great leader was 
 passing slowly away, people began to realize what enor- 
 mous consequences might follow. Sir John Macdonald to 
 manj' minds seemed the actual embodiment of Canadian 
 Conservatism. To them he was the party, and without 
 him the party was nothing. Others, who understood more 
 clearly the condition of affairs, knew that there were 
 several men quite able to take the leadership, and that fore- 
 most amongst them stood the Minister of Justice. Outside 
 of Canada, however, there is no doubt that the name of 
 
184 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Sir John Macdonald was at that time the only one which 
 could be said to bear an international or imperial reputa- 
 tion. He had grown up with Canada. His policy had 
 made itself felt abroad, and his name, in many places, was 
 synonymous with that of the Dominion. His death, there- 
 fore, might involve political chaos, it might result in the 
 disintegration of the party he had formed and led so long, 
 it did undoubtedly imply serious political difficulties. 
 
 Parliament promptly adjourned upon the news of the 
 Premier's fatal illness, and from that time till the end 
 came, upon the memorable 6th of June, 189], the pulse of 
 the Canadian people was stirred as it had never been 
 before. Publicly, of course, there could be no serious dis- 
 cussion as to the future leader, as to the future of the 
 party or of the country. But privately there was a great 
 deal. Ottawa was disturbed as it had not been since the 
 days of 1873, when the fate of Sir John Macdonald's first 
 ministry hung in the balance of a great parliamentary 
 trial. Letters from all over the Dominion poured into the 
 capital, rumours of a hundred kinds were current, consid- 
 erations of all sorts were discussed. It was recognized 
 then, and in the week which followed the Premier's death, 
 that Sir John Thompson, by force of ability and political 
 service, was the inevitable leader — if not at once, then in 
 the near future. 
 
 Had there been an impression that Sir Charles Tupper 
 would have cared to take up political life again, the opinion 
 of the party would have probably united upon him, but 
 the circumstances being otherwise there seemed a large 
 majority of sentiment in favour of the Minister of Justice. 
 Here, however, the sectarian element intervened. His reli- 
 gion it was claimed, in connection with the Jesuits' Estates 
 and other questions, would fatally prejudice the chances of 
 the party in certain portions of the country and it would be 
 
"** 
 
 1 J 
 
 
 Hon. Sir John Carling, K.C.M.G., M.P.. 
 
 Minister without Portfolio 
 

SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 187 
 
 better if, for a time at least, the Premiership of the Domi- 
 nion were placed in the hands of someone who, in the exist- 
 ing crisis, would be able to unite all sections of the Conser- 
 vative forces. The name of the Hon. J. J. C. Abbott was 
 suggested, and his private correspondence at the time, as 
 well as that of Sir John Thompson, illustrates the utter 
 unselfishness which in this connection characterised the two 
 men. In a letter written to an intimate friend on the 4th 
 of June, and only two days before Sir John Macdonald's 
 death, Mr. Abbott commented very frankly upon the 
 proposal that the leadership shouH fall to him. He said : 
 
 " I have heard from many people lately very similar 
 ideas of the situation to yours — but from none whose 
 opinions I should place more confidence in. But I Uate 
 politics, and what are considered their appropriate methods. 
 I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses, 
 and every thing that I know of that is apparently the 
 necessary incident of politics — except doing public work 
 to the best of my ability. Why should I go where doing 
 honest work will only make me hated and my ministry 
 unpopular; and where I can only gain reputation and 
 credit by practising arts which I detest, to acquire popu- 
 larity ? Besides breaking up all my family arrangements 
 in which I have settled down and hope to spend any time 
 I may hope to have left, now that I have reached the 
 allotted span. No doubt some such arrangement as you 
 mention would be the best solution of the crisis — but there 
 are lots of men better known than I, and better capable of 
 working out the political problem ; and who would be glad 
 of the chance. My own impression is that Thompson is 
 the man to be sent for, and I should think he could carry 
 the work through, though of course I am not familiar with 
 the feeling in Ontario. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, J. J. C. Abbott." 
 
188 LIFE .AND WORK OF 
 
 Such a letter, written by an old man who in shortly 
 afterwards assuming the heavy duties of the Premiership, 
 accepted a burden too great for his years and strength, has 
 a pathetic ring in its every line. Little wonder that he 
 hesitated to surrender his quiet home life, and in his de- 
 clining days take up such a task. But none the less it was 
 an honour which many would have liked to receive and a 
 duty which few ambitious men would shrink from accept- 
 ing, even in succession to such - an unequalled leader as Sir 
 John A. Macdonald. Writing to the same gentleman on 
 the memorable Oth of June, Sir John Thompson breathed 
 very similar sentiments : 
 
 " I am much obliged for your letter. At this crisis 
 any member of the Government must feel grateful for the 
 frank advice of sincere friends as I well know you to be. 
 I fear, however, that you have conceived the idea that I 
 aspire to lead the party, now or in the future. No greater 
 mistake could be made. I am not willing to take that 
 position now, or to enter on a period of probation with a 
 view to that end. I hope that the party can be much bet- 
 ter led, and I am willing to serve or to retire as may seem 
 best to the man who shall take up the reins which have 
 fallen from the hands of Sir John Macdonald. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " Jno. S. D. Thompson." 
 
 The death of the great Conservative leader on the 
 very day this letter was written compelled action while 
 for the moment interdicting discussion. Sir John Thomp- 
 son had moved the adjournment of the House after brief 
 speeches from Sir Hector Langevin and others. And the 
 eloquent tribute paid upon that occasion to the memory of 
 the dead statesman by the Hon. Wilfred Laurier is one of 
 the bright spots in the record of Canadian political struggle. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 189 
 
 Then followed the prolonged State funeral, amid such 
 evidences of sincere national grief as are very rarely given 
 to a public man, no matter how great he may have been in 
 character or achievement. Sir John Macdonald was finally 
 laid away in the distant cemetery at Cataraqui, amidst 
 surroundings of almost unique sorrow : 
 
 " Muffled peals and drooping banners, 
 Bated breath and measured tread, 
 Emblems of a nation's mourning 
 For her great and noble dead." 
 
 With the passing of the Chieftain, came the imperative 
 necessity for the selection of a new leader and a new Pre- 
 mier. Lord Stanley of Preston, had postponed action for 
 six days and until the funeral was finished, but on the 12th 
 of June, it was announced that His Excellency was in com- 
 munication with Sir John Thompson and the Hon. Mr. 
 Abbott. Meantime the intrigue and speculation customary 
 in Cabinet crises had been going on. Sir Hector Langevin, 
 as the member of the late ministry who had served the 
 longest time in office, and who by virtue of his leadership 
 of the French Canadian wing of the party, really had 
 strong claims to consideration, was being strenuously urged 
 for the Premiership by Le Monde and other journals of 
 Quebec. Unfortunately, however, he was resting under 
 the shadow of the Tarte charges, and was in a position 
 which Sir John Thompson had declared in his speech at 
 Halifax during the general elections, made an investigation 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 Mr. Chapleau was also vigorously opposed to him, and 
 publicly urged the claims of the Minister of Justice to the 
 position. " I regard Sir John Thompson," said he, on June 
 12th, " as the only man who can give the quality of 
 stability in the re- organization of the Government. He 
 may meet with Opposition from Ontario, but we believe 
 
190 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 that our Ontario friends will regard it as a duty and a 
 necessity to join and co-operate for the best interests of 
 the Conservative party. Sir John Thompson is essentially 
 an Englishman and a Britisher, and as he himself has often 
 pointed out in his speeches, is governed by political, not by 
 religious principles." The Ottawa Citizen urged the dis- 
 tinguished services and abilities of Sir Charles Tupper, 
 and in other quarters there was some talk of Mr. W. R. 
 Meredith. 
 
 During a part of this period, Mr. D'Alton McCarthy 
 was in Ottawa. And it was natural that the presence of 
 the man who for years had been looked upon as Sir John 
 Macdonald's successor ; whose legal advice and political 
 abilities had been so frequently utilized by the Chieftain 
 prior to the coming of Sir John Thompson into office; 
 whose place as an Ontario politician was now so peculiar 
 and so antagonistic to the Province of Quebec; should 
 have created much interest and discussion. The Equal 
 Rights leader had one interview with Sir John Thompson 
 during the crisis. Any political significance was denied at 
 the time, but it is now understood that Mr. McCarthy took 
 the opportunity to point out his claims to the Premiership, 
 and to make suggestions, the details of which will probably 
 never be known. Sir John was very non-committal in the 
 matter, and a little later on, when the Governor- General 
 discussed the formation of a Cabinet with him, and he felt 
 obliged to decline the honour, it was Senator Abbott whom 
 he recommended to His Excellency. 
 
 That Mr. McCarthy could not afterwards work with 
 the Minister of Justice is therefore, not surprising, apart 
 altogether from their differences upon the Jesuits' Estates, 
 the French language, or the Manitoba Schools. That he 
 was not consulted in the subsequent formation of the 
 Thompson Government is still less surprising. And that 
 
Most Rev. John Walsh, D.D., 
 
 R.C. Archbishop of Toronto. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 193 
 
 he has since drifted entirely away from the Conservative 
 party is a natural consequence of the rivalry of two able 
 men of antagonistic ambitions, and of extremely diverse 
 views and characteristics. 
 
 The Governor-General had not found it so very easy 
 to obtain a Premier. When His Excellency summoned Sir 
 John Thompson on the morning of the 12th of June, the 
 latter hesitated, and advised that Mr. Abbott be sent for. 
 After an hour's conversation, he left and spent some time 
 in consultation with the latter. The two then returned to 
 the Governor-General's office, and shortly afterwards it 
 was announced that the Hon. J. J. C. Abbott had accepted 
 the duty of forming a Cabinet. Four days later a com- 
 munication was read to the House of Commons from the 
 new Premier, stating that, " I have communicated with 
 my colleagues, and requested their consent to remain in 
 their present offices, and with their assent submitted to 
 His Excellency my recommendation that they should be 
 continued in their positions. " This was, of course, approved, 
 and Mr. Abbott himself assumed the post of President of 
 the Council. For the time being, the Ministry of Rail- 
 ways and Canals, which Mr. Chapleau thought himself 
 entitled to have, was administered by another member of 
 the Government. 
 
 At a later date the promised re-construction of the Min- 
 istry took place, and the changes may as well be noted here. 
 For months there had been rumours current concerning 
 Mr. Meredith's entry into the Cabinet. There was undoubt- 
 edly a strong feeling in his favour throughout Ontario. 
 Able, eloquent, popular and genial, the present Chief 
 Justice of the Province had always held a warm place in 
 the hearts of its people. Though unsuccessful in ousting 
 the clever political strategist, who has so long held power 
 at Toronto, he was almost equally respected by party friend 
 
 13 
 
194 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 and party foe. But the semi-religious cry of one or two 
 campaigns and the anti Separate School plank in his plat- 
 form, had for good or ill antagonized the Roman Catholic 
 vote and made it as difficult apparently for the Conserva- 
 tive Opposition leader in Ontario to enter the Dominion 
 Government as it was for him to win success in the Local 
 elections. 
 
 None the less a Cabinet position was offered him by 
 Mr. Abbott daring the re-construction. Why it was refused 
 is not known, but that the offer was made, and with Sir 
 John Thompson's full knowledge and approval, is beyond 
 doubt. The Minister of Justice as leader of the Commons 
 would have much to say in connection with such an impor- 
 tant matter, and it is interesting to note how far removed 
 from bigotry his views must have been. But this particular 
 arrangement fell through, and by the end of January, 1802, 
 all the other changes had been effected. Lieut. -Colonel 
 J. A. Ouimet entered the Government in practical, though 
 not immediate, succession to Sir Hector Langevin and took 
 the portfolio of Public Works. Mr. John G. Haggart was 
 promoted from the Postmaster-Generalship to the Ministry 
 of Railways and Canals, and was succeeded by Sir Adolphe 
 Caron, who handed over tne Department of Militia and 
 Defence to the Hon. Mackenzie Bowell. Mr. Chapleau was 
 given the Ministry of Customs — a decided promotion — 
 and his old position of Secretary of State was filled by the 
 elevation of Mr. James C. Patterson, a strong party 
 organizer and popular politician, of clean and honourable 
 record. 
 
 Such was Mr. Abbott's completed Cabinet. A word 
 might be said in this connection about one of the most 
 interesting personalities in Canadian politics — Mr. Nicholas 
 Flood Davin. There is no doubt that the brilliant writer, 
 orator and North- West representative had at this time 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 195 
 
 strong claims to a Cabinet position. His friends had urged 
 Sir. John A. Macdonald to make him Minister of the 
 Interior in succession to Mr. Dewdney, and they continued 
 to do so with Mr. Abbott, although the post had in the 
 meantime been filled by Mr. Daly's appointment. Mr. Davin 
 was finally offered the Lieut.-Governorship of the North- 
 West Territories, but refused it, and the position went to 
 Mr. C. H. Mackintosh. He would have made an ideal 
 Governor. 
 
 The accession of Mr. Abbott had not been well received 
 in all quarters. It was not that his self-denial and patriotism 
 lacked appreciation, or that his ability as a manager of men 
 and a wise tactician was not considered fully equal to the 
 task before him. But there was a popular impression in 
 French Canadian circles that Sir John Thompson was being 
 put to one side on account of his religious views. La Presse 
 of June 15th declared that " the Catholics are not going to 
 be the victims of exclusionism because of their religious 
 belief. Sir John Thompson is the most remarkable man 
 in our Federal politics, and he has the right to be judged 
 from a political standpoint " Mr. Chapleau was also dis- 
 satisfied : "lam still of opinion that Sir John Thompson 
 is the best available man at this juncture. It seems 
 apparent that the obstacle against him was his religion." 
 The Ottawa Citizen, on finding that Sir Charles Tupper 
 did not care to be put forward for the position, had already 
 come out strongly for the Minister of Justice, and pro- 
 claimed on June 13th that " No more able, honourable, 
 industrious, courteous and painstaking representative can 
 be found in the ranks of the Conservatives. He is loved 
 by all who know him, and the more responsible the position 
 he is placed in the greater intellectual power will he 
 display." 
 
 But these utterances were without result. Sir John 
 
196 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Thompson knew something of the difficulties which threat- 
 ened the new Ministry, and he had no desire to add any 
 sectarian complication to them if an act of personal 
 self-sacrifice would avail to avert the evil. As it was, 
 he at once assumed the leadership of the House of 
 Commons in fact, if not in name. For a brief period 
 courtesy gave Sir Hector Langevin a certain precedence, 
 but it was not long before the aggressive and merciless 
 Opposition placed the veteran Conservative leader in a 
 position where self-defence was the only consideration. 
 The Toronto Globe, and the Liberals generally, did not 
 altogether like the new leadership. The organ declared 
 that Sir John was too cold and grave ; and pointed out 
 that the blood and fire that leaps and flames in the men 
 who seem born to lead their fellows, did not charge through 
 the veins of this studious and deliberate politician. 
 
 This was hardly sufficient ground, however, for denoun- 
 cing to the electorate the coming wearer of the mantle of 
 Sir John Macdonald. The Globe could not charge personal 
 or political corruption against him, so it alleged that he was 
 returned for his county, not by the free votes of the people, 
 but through " the strenuous intimidation of a Bishop." It 
 could not criticise his administration of the Department 
 of Justice, so it gravely alleged that he had been "a failure 
 in the Local politics of Nova-Scotia." It was difficult to 
 minimise the respect in which he was generally held out- 
 side of the ranks of extreme bigots and partisans, so the 
 public were informed that " he came from a remote 
 Province." However, these were not very severe or 
 damaging charges. Far more injurious wereVthe comments 
 of the Toronto Mail, and it is not unlikely that the remarks 
 of that paper on June 9th had influenced him considerably 
 in his feelings as to the Premiership. After a reference to 
 his admitted ability, unblemished character and high sense 
 
j%%m 
 
 Hon. John Wellington Gwynne, 
 
 Puisne Judge Supreme Court of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 199 
 
 of honour, the Equal Rights organ went on to say that 
 " the obvious objection to him is that he is a Roman 
 Catholic and a convert, animated by a convert's zeal, as he 
 showed when he came forward to lead in the defence of 
 the Jesuits' Estates Act." 
 
 But whatever the future result might be, he had now 
 done what seemed to be his duty to the party and the 
 country, at a crisis which can only be appreciated by a 
 recollection of the familiar phrase used for so many years 
 by his opponents to depict the time when Sir John Mac- 
 donald would leave the scene of his struggles and his 
 victories : " After me, the deluge." The long- looked for 
 event had come, bub other men had picked up the threads 
 of power as they fell from the nerveless hands of the 
 Chieftain, and his words uttered in Toronto on Dec. 18th. 
 1884, had assumed life and form : " I am satisfied that 
 whoever may be chosen as my successor, he and those who 
 act with him will move in the same line, will be governed 
 by the same principles, and will be supported by the same 
 party." 
 
 The first Session of the seventh Parliament of Canada 
 resumed its work with a most satisfactory Budget Speech 
 from Mr. Foster, following upon a motion of Mr. Laurier, 
 which showed a Government majority of only twenty. 
 The available surplus was placed at $2,100,000, and the 
 removal of the sugar duties to the extent of $3,500,000 was 
 met by an increased excise and a reduced expenditure. 
 On May 20th, the interminable Franchise Act came up for 
 discussion, on a Liberal motion for its repeal, as being 
 inconvenient, cumbersome, and inefficient. Sir John 
 Thompson showed how useless these continued debates 
 were : " In 1885 we had a most elaborate discussion on 
 every principle involved in the measure ; in 1886, when I 
 had occasion to introduce some amendments, we had a very 
 
200 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 long discussion, not only of the principles, but as to the 
 expediency of repeal ; in 1887, I think in 1888, and cer- 
 tainly last year, we had every argument exhausted and 
 every argument reviewed." He then pointed out that the 
 motion would make it necessary to fall back upon the 
 franchises of the various Provinces, which change con- 
 stantly and are never alike. 
 
 As it is, the Act " aids in securing uniformity. In 
 some of the Provinces there are revisions by municipal 
 authorities ; in others by municipal officers ; in others by 
 sheriffs who are officers at pleasure of the Provincial 
 Governments. . . . There is no pretence at uniformity ; 
 there is no attempt to secure any kind of legal qualifica- 
 tion in the officers appointed to do the work of revision ; 
 whereas the Act now under consideration establishes a 
 qualification for the office of revising barrister second to 
 none required for any public office connected with the 
 administration of any law ; second only to that required 
 for filling the highest judicial offices." 
 
 On May 29th. Mr. Laurier moved on behalf of the 
 now aggressive and hopeful Opposition, a vote of censure 
 upon Sir Charles Tupper for having taken part in the 
 recent general elections whilst holding the post of High 
 Commissioner in England ; for having imputed treason 
 against his opponents ; and for having assailed the Grand 
 Trunk Railway. Sir John Thompson in his reply made a 
 vigorous defence of his old-time colleague and friend : — 
 " Sir Charles Tupper in one place after another has shown 
 that while certain persons had put themselves forward to 
 promote the welfare and the designs of the Liberal party 
 in this country, but really to subvert the institutions of 
 this country — before the Liberal party could venture to go 
 to the polls, they were compelled to dissavow all connec- 
 tion and all sympathy with any such designs or with 
 
8IR JOHN THOMPSON. 201 
 
 individuals who were promoting those designs." Far, 
 therefore, from imputing disloyalty to the Liberal party, 
 he had simply shown that without this repudiation they 
 would have been annihilated at the recent elections. 
 
 The Minister of Justice went on to point out that 
 while the Opposition Leader made this general charge of 
 imputing treason against Sir Charles Tupper, he had not 
 laid on the Table of the House one single bit of evidence, 
 or one solitary extract. Sir John then sketched the posi- 
 tion and duties of the High Commissioner. " He is not a 
 foreign ambassador. He is simply the Agent of this 
 Government, living in London. His Excellency, the Gov- 
 ernor-General, is the medium of communication between 
 this and the Imperial Government. It is only when 
 special views are to be passed or influence used that the 
 High Commissioner comes into action. ... It is 
 necessary that he should be the confidential agent of the 
 Government he serves ; should be in sympathy with its 
 policy ; should strive to carry out that policy ; should be 
 the depository of its secrets. To be competent and efficient 
 he cannot help having political sympathies." 
 
 After speaking of the Grand Trunk and Sir Charles 
 Tupper's very moderate request that it should permit the 
 employe's to vote as they liked ; Sir John referred to the 
 general issue at the election in vigorous style : — " I think 
 the Leader of the Opposition is somewhat mistaken in the 
 choice of his expression when he declares that Sir C. 
 Tupper ' stooped ' to take part in those elections. Con- 
 sidering that the fate of this country was at stake, con- 
 sidering that the trade relations of this country were 
 being discussed and fought over, and that the issues with 
 regard to those trade relations were perhaps the most 
 important ever submitted to the British North American 
 Provinces, I do not think that anybody could fairly be 
 
202 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 said to have ' stooped ' in order to take part in that con- 
 test." The motion was, of course, voted down, as had been 
 the previous one in reference to the Franchise Act. But 
 the majorities all through this difficult session were small 
 — averaging about twenty — and requiring a most watchful 
 care in debate and division on the part of the Leader of 
 the House. 
 
 In September the adjournment came after a prolonged 
 surfeit of scandals. It was the longest session but one in 
 the history of the Dominion, and the worry and work 
 which it entailed upon Sir John Thompson no doubt laid 
 the foundation of the physical troubles which were to 
 eventually carry him off. But he came through it all with 
 flying colours as a Parliamentary leader, a debater and a 
 minister. He proved himself capable of holding together 
 a weakened, almost shattered party, in the face of a terri- 
 ble personal loss ; in the teeth of serious and injurious 
 charges from a strong and united Opposition ; in spite of a 
 small and shifting majority. It was indeed a severe trial, 
 but as on previous occasions, he had risen to the emergency. 
 
-, i 
 
 i i 
 
 
 Hon. T. Mayne Daly, M.P., 
 
 Minister of the Interior, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Scandal Session. 
 
 No country in the world can boast absolute purity in 
 politics and administration. Few in this respect have 
 stood as high in the scale as Canada. Elections in the 
 Mother-land are known to cost millions ; the constituencies 
 are carefully " nursed " for years by wouid-be candidates 
 at great personal expense ; contracts upon occasion have 
 notoriously been given to inefficient concerns upon very in- 
 sufficient grounds. Yet no one will call England a really 
 corrupt country. In the United States unfortunately there 
 can be no doubt about the matter. There is corruption in 
 the Presidential elections, in the Congressional elections, in 
 the State contests, in the Civic governments, and in the city 
 elections. It is a far cry from the Pension Bureau to the 
 Lexow inquiry, but in all the varied departments of Ameri- 
 can politics between the one and the other, there is proba- 
 bly boodling to be found in a greater or lesser degree. 
 
 It is a matter of deep regret that the Dominion has 
 not been able to keep its skirts altogether clean in this 
 connection. But there are degrees of offence in this as in 
 every other case. And, during the period now under con- 
 sideration there were two parties to the charges of corrup- 
 tion. Quebec had covered itself with disgrace by allowing 
 its Government to fall into the hands of a small clique of 
 men who, under the brilliant but erratic and dangerous 
 leadership of Count Mercier, had pillaged the Province 
 without pity or remorse ; had enjoyed for years a deficit of 
 
206 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 over a million dollars annually ; had increased the debt by 
 some $15,000,000; had rioted in luxury, in costly houses, in 
 expensive horses, in journeys and fetes. The Baie de Cha- 
 leurs' case brought much of this home to the Provincial 
 Premier and his Ministry ; the Royal Commission did more 
 in developing the investigation; the Lieufc.-Gorernor finally 
 gave the people their opportunity by dismissing his advisers 
 and calling in new men and a new party. The elections 
 which followed closed the drama and restored the Province 
 to its former honorable position, while forever burying 
 under the all-powerful ballot-box, the men who had dis- 
 graced its name and temporarily blackened its repute. 
 
 The Dominion case was different. The charges made 
 against members of the Government were claimed by Sir 
 John Thompson to be bitterly partisan ; were proved, so 
 far as personal corruption was concerned, to be without 
 foundation ; and dealt in the main with a system rather 
 than with individual actions. Where charges were specified 
 and proved against officials, punishment was swift and 
 sure, though never merciless. Where they were vague, as 
 in the case of Sir Adolphe Caron, every effort was made by 
 Sir John to bring them to a point suited for investigation. 
 Where they were, however, mere fishing expeditions, 
 intended only for the purpose of throwing partisan mud 
 in the hope that some would stick, he very properly 
 refused to aid them or allow of their being carried beyond 
 a certain limit. 
 
 But none the less the session which followed upon the 
 death of Sir John Macdonald was a severe strain upon the 
 heart and mind of a man such as the Minister of Justice. 
 It may as well be frankly admitted that the great Premier 
 whom Canada had just lost forever, was not afraid to use 
 methods and means in building up the Dominion which 
 would have been absolutely impossible to Sir John Thomp- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 207 
 
 son. They were necessary in the government of a new 
 country, having crude and ill-defined institutions and 
 strong internal opposition ; permeated in many parts with 
 lack of confidence in its own powers and resources and 
 opportunities ; and possessed of an immense area together 
 with small available means for the management of great 
 party conflicts. 
 
 In England party government is reduced to a science, 
 and the vast sums of money required to manipulate elec- 
 tions are never seen or perhaps heard of, by the heads of 
 the organizations, except in the most vague and general 
 way. But in Canada the barest expenses can hardly be 
 met, and money for the most legitimate and necessary pur- 
 poses is difficult to obtain. Ministers here are more or less 
 the party managers — though the fact is to be regretted — 
 and it is therefore easy for some of the money contributed 
 by strong supporters to come, without corrupt intent or 
 consequences, from men who have received, or might receive 
 in the -future, an interest in government contracts or 
 appointments. 
 
 During the general elections the most wholesale and 
 unfounded charges had been made as to the " boodling " pre- 
 valent at Ottawa. It was alleged that the Departments 
 were permeated with corruption ; that vast sums had been 
 obtained by members of the Government during many 
 years past from contractors and others in order to purchase 
 the constituencies ; that the Conservative ministers, mem- 
 bers and the government officials were all alike corrupt. 
 Mr. J. Israel Tarte was elected for a Quebec seat in order 
 to ventilate his charges against the McGreevy's and Sir 
 Hector Langevin, and the Rykert scandal was used as an 
 illustration of what was alleged to be the prevalent state 
 of affairs. There was literally no end to the rumours cur- 
 rent when the House met in April, and possibly the worry 
 
208 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 connected with this situation had a natural effect upon the 
 already enfeebled frame of the Premier. Be that as it may 
 however, his death postponed for a time the action which 
 had been commenced regarding the Tarte enquiry. 
 
 There is no doubt that Sir John Thompson's treatment 
 of the Rykert case during the previous session was approved 
 by the country. Mr. J. C. Rykert had long been a popular 
 and respected member of the Conservative party and it was 
 hard indeed for the Minister of Justice to admit the unfor- 
 tunate position in which the member for Lincoln had placed 
 himself. But he did his duty in this as in subsequent 
 cases. Sir Richard Cartwright had moved on March 11th, 
 1890, that Mr. Rykert 's conduct had been " discreditable, 
 corrupt and scandalous." It was claimed by him that the 
 member for Lincoln had applied for and obtained certain 
 North- West timber limits in the name of one John Adams. 
 The latter in consideration of this service was alleged to 
 have agreed to assign to Mrs. Rykert, one-half interest in 
 the limits, and to pay one-half of all the proceeds from the 
 sale of timber thereon. And it was further stated that on 
 January 16th, 1883, the sum of $74,200 was paid over in 
 accordance with this agreement. Receipts, letters and 
 other documents were produced in proof of the charges. 
 This in brief was Sir Richard's case, and he presented it in 
 what the Minister of Justice termed a most " inflammatory 
 speech." 
 
 Sir John Thompson defended the Government from the 
 charge that this was a part of any general system and 
 showed that so far as they were concerned there could have 
 been no more corruption in granting Mr. Rykert a tract of 
 100 miles for a friend, than there had been upon one occa- 
 sion under the Mackenzie administration when 200 miles 
 had been similarly granted on the recommendation of Sir 
 Richard Cartwright himself. A few days later when the 
 
Hon. Thomas Green way, M.P.P., 
 
 Prune Minister of Manitoba, 
 
Right Rev. Maurice Baldwin, 
 
 Bislwp of Huron, London, Ont. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 211 
 
 debate was resumed, and after a brief but able speech by 
 Mr. Blake, the Minister of Justice spoke out plainly and to 
 the point ; describing the affair as ' a case in which the 
 honour of Parliament is most deeply involved. I regard 
 the authenticity of those letters as having been substan- 
 tially established : I regard this correspondence as a most 
 shocking correspondence, and one which appeals to the 
 House as strongly as any case could appeal to its considera- 
 tion for justice, as strongly as it can appeal to the mercy 
 of this House. ... I say that in the statements made 
 by the member for Lincoln, he has failed to exonerate him- 
 self of the censure which, the resolution of the member for 
 South Oxford makes him subject to." 
 
 He concluded by moving that the matter be referred 
 to a committee, and so strongly had his preceding remarks 
 convinced the House of his desire to do entire mstice in the 
 case, that Mr. Laurier supported the motion and added a 
 somewhat unusual compliment : " I desire to say that after 
 the strong declarations which have been made by the 
 Minister of Justice, I am somewhat inclined to modify the 
 conclusions at which I had arrived." Eventuallv the 
 Committee reported, and so unfavourably to Mr. Rykert 
 that he resigned in order to avoid the threatened expulsion. 
 He was re-elected, but did not stand again in the ensuing 
 general election. 
 
 This case is of interest only as showing that no matter 
 how strong might be the personal and political reasons 
 against a given line of action, Sir John Thompson was 
 prepared to do his duty in the beginning of this regrettable 
 series of scandals as well as in the end. Of course, it was 
 impossible that he should please his party antagonists 
 during the Session of 1891. Nothing but the expulsion of 
 half the Conservative members of the House, and the 
 retirement and prosecution of most of the Cabinet Minis- 
 
212 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 ters, would have satisfied enthusiastic Liberals such as 
 Tarte, Lister, McMullen, Edgar, Cartwright and Charlton. 
 But moderate men were pretty well satisfied that the 
 abuses which had undoubtedly grown up during a dozen 
 years of power would be rectified if the Minister of Justice 
 could have his way. And after Sir John Macdonald's 
 death there was no one in the Government who was pre- 
 pared to dispute his practical, if not nominal, supremacy. 
 So that the appeal made by Mr. Abbott in the Senate a 
 couple of months after his accession to the Premiership 
 was looked upon in the country as a fair indication of the 
 new Government's policy : "I would ask the hon. gentleisen 
 opposite to join with us in trying to find out what the 
 facts are about this alleged rascality. We ask them to 
 give us the benefit of their experience in this enquiry, to 
 assist us in ascertaining the facts and placing them before 
 the public, in order that they may be dealt with properly, 
 and, if found guilty, that summary vengeance may be 
 exercised upon those who are found guilty of appropriating 
 public money — stealing — be they high or low." 
 
 The charges against Mr. Thomas McGreevy, M.P., 
 were of a very serious nature. They were important 
 because they affected the reputation of a prominent Con- 
 servative member of the House who had bi o en the party's 
 treasurer for many years in Quebec, and who was known 
 to be a brother-in-law and intimate friend of the Minister 
 of Public Works. They were important as indicating that 
 Sir Hector Langevin had been either careless or criminal in 
 a portion of his long administration of that Department, 
 and as showing much looseness of principle to be prevalent 
 amongst certain Quebec politicians. Sir John Thompson 
 had already declared at Halifax thit neither he nor the 
 Government would defend Mr. McGreevy, or excuse him if 
 guilty. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 213 
 
 Mr. Tarte in this matter was a man with a mission. 
 He had not always been so, and had at one time been 
 under the ban of the Liberal party as an alleged '* Tory 
 corruptionist." The public interest, however, in his first 
 speech and motion had been very great for some time, and 
 the galleries of the Hoase were crowded when on May 11th 
 the slenderly-built, wiry little man, with glossy black hair, 
 and wearing a fashionable costume, rose to his feet. Briefly 
 summed up, the charges may be found in the following 
 paragraph from his speech : 
 
 " Since 1882 or 1883, the secrets of the Department of 
 Public Works have been penetrated and divulged for 
 money considerations to public contractors by the hon. 
 member for Quebec West, Mr. McGreevy, and according to 
 the evidence I have got in my hands, money has been paid 
 year after year on contract after contract, large sums of 
 money ; that during that period of time he has used his 
 influence as a member of the Quebec Harbour Commission 
 against the public interest on numerous and important 
 occasions." 
 
 Various documents had been obtained through a 
 quarrel between the brothers, Thomas and R. H. McGreevy, 
 and were certainly very damaging in their nature. The 
 claim was made that Sir Hector Langevin was implicated, 
 and that large sums received from the interested contrac- 
 tors had gone into the campaign fund of the Conservative 
 party. Mr. McGreevy, of course, denied the charges, and 
 the Minister of Public Works demanded the fullest inves- 
 tigation. By permission of the Government, the whole 
 matter was relegated to the Committee on Privileges and 
 Elections, and the ensuing inquiry was most thorough — 
 both sides showing every disposition to get at the truth. 
 The Government retained Mr. B. B. Osier, Q.C., to help in 
 the examination of witnesses. Finally, on the 25th of 
 
214 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 August, the Committee met to consider their report, and 
 its preparation was referred to a Sub-Committee composed 
 of three Conservatives — Sir John Thompson, D. Girouard, 
 and Michael Adams ; and two Liberals — the Hon. David 
 Mills and the Hon. L. H. Davies. 
 
 Naturally, they could not agree, the chief point of 
 difference being the amount of responsibility which ought 
 to be borne by Sir H. Langevin in the scandalous trans- 
 actions proven to have taken place. Ultimately, a majority 
 and minority report were presented to the House. The 
 former, prepared largely by Sir John Thompson, concluded 
 with the statement that "the evidence does not justify 
 them in concluding that the Minister knew of the conspir- 
 acy before mentioned or that he willingly lent himself to 
 its objects." The latter alleged that the fruits of the frauds 
 went into the pockets of the contractors, towards the funds 
 of the Conservative party, or to the support of Le Monde, 
 Sir H. Langevin's paper. Both reports were considered by 
 the House on Sept. 21st, and, after a prolonged debate, the 
 majority one was carried on a party vote of 101 against 
 86. An amendment moved by Mr. McCarthy, acquitting 
 Sir Hector of connivance but finding him guilty of inex- 
 cusable neglect, was voted down. 
 
 The expulsion of Mr. McGreevy followed upon the 
 motion of the Minister of Justice, and a little later Sir 
 Hector Langevin practically closed a prolonged political 
 career of much useful service to his country, by resigning 
 his place in the Ministry. Prosecutions were afterwards 
 instituted by the Minister of Justice against those concerned 
 in the frauds, and several convictions were obtained. 
 Speaking at Perth on the 21st of November following, Sir 
 John Thompson declared that the Minister of Public 
 Works had no knowledge of the robbery which had been 
 going on, but that he had fully accepted the doctrine of 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 215 
 
 responsibility for what took place in his Department by 
 resigning his position. And then he strongly denounced 
 the Opposition, and at the same time explained the difficult 
 position of the Government in attempting to do its duty 
 under circumstances which would have been, from a party 
 standpoint, greatly improved by a restriction of enquiry 
 and a stifling of investigation . 
 
 " While our attitude was that of challenging investi 
 gation, inviting investigation even to the extent of paying 
 the expenses of counsel who conducted the investigation 
 on behalf of our opponents, what was the attitude of the 
 Opposition ? Why, during the discussion of these matters 
 in the House of Commons, instead of feeling themselves 
 impressed with the responsibility of judges, and the 
 responsibility of being fair between man and man, every 
 insult that could be heaped upon the accused member was 
 rung out amidst the wildest cheering of the Opposition. 
 When they were deliberating upon the question of whether 
 a man should be found guilty of corruption or not, every 
 incident of his political career, or the career of the men 
 associated with him, was flung in his face; and the tribunal 
 of the House was lowered as it never was before. As time 
 went on and public feeling was aroused and excited by the 
 reports of these scandals, finding that opportunity was 
 given by the Government for wide investigation, they 
 became bolder in their charges, and towards the close of 
 the Session it came to this, and it has been in this state 
 for some time past, that a public man has only to be 
 accused in order to be adjudged guilty." 
 
 A lot of minor departmental scandals were unearthed, 
 and considered by different committees. It soon became 
 evident that a very loose idea of public morality had pre- 
 vailed for a long time in various branches of the public 
 service. But there was really nothing personally corrupt 
 
216 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 proved against the Ministers, though in one or two cases, 
 carelessness in looking after their subordinates was very 
 clearly indicated. The light that was shed upon the whole 
 system of Departmental Government was so keen and 
 searching, that the session, disgraceful as its results were 
 in a certain sense, unpleasant as they were to the Govern- 
 ment and the country, could not but do a great deal of 
 good in purifying the service and lopping off the excre- 
 sences of corruption which had developed during a long 
 term of office. Sir John Thompson, as leader of the House, 
 gave every possible aid to the investigations, and it is 
 probable that had the desire of the Opposition to obtain 
 political capital not been so keenly exhibited, even greater 
 good would have resulted. As it was, many officials were 
 dismissed or suspended, and others prosecuted and punished 
 upon conviction. But the tierce party feeling which was 
 aroused by the Liberal method of pushing charges in all 
 kinds of directions, often with very little proof, and chiefly 
 with a view to picking up something damaging to the 
 Government, was so exasperating that the Minister of 
 Justice often found it difficult to keep his followers in line. 
 As an illustration of this, the charges against the Hon. 
 Mr. Haggart, then Postmaster-General, may be mentioned. 
 Mr. Lister, of Lambton, whose fighting characteristics were 
 fully exhibited during this stormy session, rose from his 
 place in the House on the 23rd of September, and stated 
 that to the best of his knowledge and belief, Mr. Haggart 
 had been interested in the profits of a contract obtained by 
 Alexander Manning, Alexander Shields, and others in the 
 year 1879, for the construction of a branch of the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway from Port Arthur to Rat Portage ; that 
 while a member of Parliament he had received large sums 
 of money from these contractors which he had used for 
 political purposes or had permitted the company to pay to 
 
Hon. Arthur R. Dickey, M.P., 
 
 Secretary of State in the Boivell Government. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 219 
 
 other members of the Government for the same object. 
 It may be readily imagined that such a wide and far reach- 
 ing inquiry as was thus asked for in the dying days of a 
 prolonged session was almost too much for the weary 
 legislators to endure. 
 
 Mr. Haggart gave a prompt denial, and stated that the 
 same charges had been made in 1880, when a Royal Com- 
 mission was appointed to inquire into all matters connected 
 with the C. P. R. In the evidence given before that body 
 he had sworn positively that no such sums had ever been 
 paid to him, or that he had any personal interest whatever 
 in any contract with that railway. Mr. Peter McLaren, 
 in whose name his stock was said to have been kept, had 
 made at the time a similar declaration under oath, and 
 they were both ready to repeat it. Sir John Thompson 
 pointed out that Mr. Lister had so worded his charge in 
 requesting a committee of investigation, that no responsi- 
 bility would lie upon his shoulders in the event of his being 
 unable to prove the statements made. He added that the 
 Independence of Parliament Act could not be considered 
 as infringed by a matter which had occurred during the 
 lifetime of a Parliament long since superseded, and went 
 on to claim that the whole thing was a mere scheme to fish 
 up a little mud from the bottom of some old political 
 stream : " Here is an accusation laid as the basis for an 
 investigation as to things which occurred twelve years ago, 
 against a Government, only one member of which sits in 
 the House, and against that member there is not the slight- 
 est insinuation in this case. Under these circumstances, 
 let us consider whether there must not in reason be some 
 limit to the extent to which we are to go back." 
 
 The motion was rejected by the usual party vote, and 
 two days later Mr. Haggart laid on the table a statutory 
 declaration by Mr. Peter McLaren, in which he swore to 
 
220 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the truthfulness of the Postmaster-General's statements, 
 and explicitly denied the charge of corrupt payments to 
 the Government. A little before this the Cochrane scandal, 
 in which the member for East Northumberland was accused 
 of having trafficed in Government offices in his con- 
 stituency, had been investigated, and the majority report 
 had admitted improper transactions, but cleared Mr. 
 Cochrane personally. The inquiry into the Printing Bureau 
 management resulted in the bitterest and most disgraceful 
 wrangles of the whole session. It is almost impossible to 
 discern the rights of this matter amid the partisan storms 
 by which Mr. Chapleau's connection with it was sur- 
 rounded, and in any case it would be useless to attempt it 
 here. The brilliant French-Canadian orator has done his 
 country splendid service in his day, despite any looseness 
 of business management which can be charged against him 
 in this connection, and he may do it still more. 
 
 But all these complicated questions, violent discus- 
 sions, prolonged committee investigations, and the per- 
 sistent abuse in Parliament, and in a portion of the press, 
 made this session the most arduous since Confederation for 
 the Leader of the House. 
 
 The air became somewhat purified after the adjourn- 
 ment, and much good was expected from a bill introduced 
 by the Premier in the Senate, and carried through both 
 Houses early in September, providing for the suppression of 
 frauds against the Government. So also from the Royal Com- 
 mission appointed to enquire into the working of the Civil 
 Service. It must, however, have been an immense relief 
 to Sir John Thompson when the murky cloud which had 
 for so many hot and weary months rested like a pall over 
 Parliament Hill was at last removed, and he was able to 
 give to his department and to public business, time which 
 had so long been given to debate upon most disagreeable 
 subjects, and to party tactics which he never hked. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 221 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Redistribution and the Bye- Elections. 
 
 To the people of a young country the census is always 
 an interesting consideration. To the politicians in Canada, 
 where a redistribution of the seats takes place every 
 decade, should the movements' of population warrant a 
 change, it is of special interest. Much was expected from the 
 census ot 1891, and the disappointment which followed was 
 natural, though not altogether justifiable. A few pessimists 
 expected it to show a steady drain of population from the 
 country, a decrease in the total number of its inhabitants, 
 a lack of progress in manufactures, and in all the elements 
 of prosperity. But optimists, on the other hand, hoped it 
 would show a population of six millions at least, and a 
 tremendous industrial development. 
 
 An army of 4,300 enumerators and commissioners had 
 been employed under the command of Mr. George Johnson, 
 Dominion Statistician, and it was announced that the regu- 
 lations respecting absentees, and the rules to prevent dupli- 
 cation, would be unusually stridfc. In England it may be 
 said that 40,000 enumerators, and in British India nearly 
 one million men, were employed in the same work. The 
 difficulties encountered in taking a Canadian census are by 
 no means small. The immense area of the Dominion had 
 to be traversed by every conceivable method of locomotion. 
 A steamer amid the islands and indents of the Pacific 
 coast ; pack-horses in the Rocky Mountain valleys ; dog- 
 trains on the plains of the Saskatchewan ; canoes and port- 
 ages in the great lake and river district to the north of 
 
222 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Lake Superior ; buck-boards and boats on the prairies and 
 in the rivers of Manitoba ; a schooner in the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence ; slow and toilsome pedes trianism in A.lgoma and 
 other districts. Three months, however, sufficed to give to 
 the public the full returns. 
 
 A summary of the results showed that the population of 
 Canada had increased from 3.686,000 in 1871, to 4,324,000 
 in 1881, and thence to 4,829,000 in 1891. The increase, 
 therefore, during the preceding decade had only amounted 
 to 504,000, and there was naturally a good deal of disap- 
 pointment and dissatisfaction exp^ssed. A section of the 
 press was, if such a phrase may be used, almost jubilant 
 in its sorrow. The census seemed to reveal a complete fail- 
 ure in the vigorous efforts which had been made to promote 
 immigration and to keep the people in the country, while 
 by implication it was made to prove the absolute failure of 
 the National Policy of protection. But second thoughts 
 are proverbially best, and it was not long before people 
 saw that there were two sides to the question. 
 
 Upon reflection, it seemed clear that population, follow- 
 ing the universal trend of modern society, had during the 
 past decade drifted into the cities. In protectionist Canada 
 as in free trade Britain, people had flocked to the centres 
 of population and industry. The larger cities of the United 
 States had attracted many in spite of the inferiority which 
 most Canadians believe to exist in American institutions, 
 customs and modes of life. The introduction of agricul- 
 tural machinery had further helped to deplete rural popu- 
 lations by doing away with much of the hired help for- 
 merly required, whilst the decrease in the price of cereals 
 had in all countries enhanced the tendency to prefer city 
 work to farm life. Just as in many portions of the United 
 States population had decreased through the movement to 
 other parts of the country, so in Canada many sections had 
 
SIR ;><)HN THOMPSON. 223 
 
 been influenced by the proximity of the United States, and 
 it must be added, by the praise of everything American, 
 which has been, as Sir John Thompson more than once said, 
 so often heard from the lips of certain Canadian politicians. 
 To Mr. Abbott's Government the local increase* and 
 decreases of population brought the unpleasant embarass- 
 ment of a necessary redistribution of seats, and upon Sir 
 John Thompson as leader of the House of Commons 
 during the busy Session of 1892, fell the burden of the 
 work in connection with this difficult and never popular 
 matter. He was compelled to alter the representation in 
 some places by cutting off a member altogether, in others 
 by adding one, and again in others, by a re -organization 
 of the electoral limits. Abuse in such a case was inevi- 
 table, and he had to bear the brunt of it. 
 
 The Redistribution Bill was presented to the House 
 by the Minister of Justice, on April 24th. He commenced 
 his speech in a jocular vein, which was rather unusual with 
 him, and chaffed the Opposition upon their expectations 
 of a pronounced gerrymander, a prolonged debate and a 
 lengthened Session. " I am happy to know that the time 
 of departure is very remote, indeed, and that there will be 
 ample opportunity to consider all the merits of this Bill, 
 and there are nothing but merits in it, I can assure my 
 hon. friends opposite." Sir John then pointed out the 
 necessity, under the terms of the British North American 
 Act, for the redistribution of seats, and gave the figures 
 of the census returns as follows : 
 
 1881. 1891 
 
 Ontario 1,926,922 o ion q«q 
 
 Quebec , 1,359,027 1488586 
 
 Nova Scotia 440,572 '450523 
 
 New Bum-wick, 321,233 321294 
 
 Prince Edward Island. . 108,891 10Q088 
 
 Manitoba 62,260 154 442 
 
 British Columbia 49,459 92767 
 
 North- West Territories 25,515 67 554 
 
224 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Under the provisions of the Act, therefore, the repre- 
 sentation would have to be changed in several Provinces 
 as regarded .numbers, and in all of them, so far as the 
 arrangement of constituencies was concerned. Ontario was 
 entitled to retain its 92 members, and Quebec its 65 repre- 
 sentatives. Nova-Scotia, with 21 members, was now only 
 entitled to 20 ; New Brunswick, with 16 representatives, 
 had to be cut down to 14; Prince Edward Island, which 
 had six, could only retain five ; Manitoba having five, was 
 entitled to seven ; the Territories would retain their four 
 members, as would British Columbia, its old number of six 
 representatives. But all over the Dominion population had 
 fluctuated ; many cities had increased enormously in size ; 
 and some rural districts had become entitled to increased 
 representation, whilst others had decreased greatly in 
 population. 
 
 Beginning with Prince Edward Island, Sir John 
 Thompson described the various changes, in a detail which 
 it would be wearisome to repeat. Following the township 
 lines in the Island, five constituencies had been formed 
 averaging 22,000 of a population each. The only change 
 in New Brunswick was the taking away of one member 
 from the combined City and County of St. John's, which 
 had formerly possessed two ; and the joining of the Coun- 
 ties of Sunbury and Queen's, which together, only boasted 
 a population of 17,000 souls. In Nova-Scotia, the two 
 Counties of Queen's and Shelburne — one with 10,610 people, 
 the other with 14,954 — were united, leaving the Provincial 
 unit of population to a constituency, about 22,000. A 
 number of changes were made necessary in Quebec, by the 
 growth of Montreal. The Government's proposal was that 
 Montreal and its suburb, Hochelaga, with a united popula- 
 tion of 263,000, should have seven instead of four members ; 
 that a portion of the old constituencies of Montreal and 
 
Hon. N. Clarke Wallace, M.P., 
 
 Comptroller of Customs, and Grand Master of the 
 Orange Order. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 227 
 
 Hochelaga should be added to the Counties of Jacques 
 Cartier and Laval, so as not to increase the metropolitan 
 representation unduly; and that the County of Ottawa 
 should have the two members to which it was entitled. 
 In order to make up the new constituencies, those of Three 
 Rivers and St. Maurice were joined, and other changes were 
 made in the thirteen counties lying north of the boundary 
 of the Province of Quebec to the County of Nicolet. They 
 were only entitled to nine members, but were allowed to 
 retain ten. Napierville and Vercheres were absorbed in 
 surrounding counties, and St. John's and Iberville were 
 united. 
 
 Then the Minister turned to Ontario and remarked 
 that very few changes were proposed. Dr. Landerkin here 
 interposed one of those interruptions for which he is so 
 well known in the House, by saying, " They are not needed." 
 Sir John faced his opponent, and amid cheers and laughter 
 rejoined : " I think there are some changes needed, at least 
 in the representation of constituencies in this House. But 
 we have decided to leave that in the hands of the electors 
 who are doing it so admirably." As the Conservatives 
 were just then sweeping the bye-elections, this little hit told. 
 It was absolutely necessary to give Toronto another repre- 
 sentative — in the city itself there was a strong demand for 
 more than one — and to also give an additional member to 
 the rapidly growing population of Algoma. This was done 
 by giving West Toronto two members and creating the con- 
 stituency of Nipissing. The two new seats thus given to 
 portions of Ontario, were obtained by a re -construction of 
 the constituencies in the Niagara Peninsula. 
 
 It so happened that there were in that district six 
 seats contiguous to one another, and each smaller in popu- 
 lation than the ordinary unit of representation — about 
 22,000. Monck had in round numbers 15,000 people; 
 
228 LIFE AND WOR i OF 
 
 Haldimand, 16,000; North Brant, 17,000; and South 
 Norfolk, 17,000. The Government, therefore, proposed to 
 wipe out North Went worth, which returned a Liberal to 
 Parliament, and Monck, which was represented by a Con- 
 servative. The four constituencies remaining were re-con- 
 structed so as to give an average of 23,000 people to each 
 one of the four representatives, instead of the previous 
 average of 16,000 to each of the six representatives. Othei 
 changes were made throughout the Province, but none of 
 very great importance. Sir John Thompson claimed that 
 those undertaken were all in the direction of equali- 
 zation, and along lines which would make as little in- 
 terference necessary with existing electoral divisions as 
 was compatible with justice: "The re- construction which 
 will take place is confined to Toronto, and in the group of 
 districts about Lake Ontario, and every effort has been 
 made to interfere as little as possible with the representa- 
 tion as it exists at present on geographical lines." 
 
 In Manitoba, Lisgar was changed by name into Selkirk, 
 as being more historically appropriate ; the City of Brandon 
 was made a constituency; and Marquette was divided, 
 one-half being made into an electoral division under the 
 appropriate name of Macdonald, after "the statesman 
 who devoted so much of his life to the development of the 
 territories out of which the Province of Manitoba has been 
 created." Some changes were made in British Columbia, 
 by which the New Westminster district was enlarged geo- 
 graphically and given two representatives, while Yale and 
 Cariboo were joined to Kootenay and allowed one member. 
 Vancouver kept its one representative, and Victoria retained 
 the two it had previously possessed. Such is a bare outline 
 of the measure. To either defend or criticise it is useless. 
 It seems indeed to be the fate of all redistribution measures 
 in Canada to possess such an environment of partisanship 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 229 
 
 as to make fair discussion almost an impossibility. Only 
 combined action by the leaders of both parties would 
 produce a generally acceptable arrangement, and that would 
 involve an abrogation of ministerial responsibility which 
 puts it out of the question. 
 
 Sir John Thompson's proposals resulted in a long and 
 acrimonious conflict. The Conservative politicians and 
 press lauded them as fair, moderate and equitable; the 
 Liberals did the reverse. The Montreal Herald, for 
 instance, denounced the bill as " a plan for deliberately 
 stifling the voice of the people," while the Toronto Mail 
 published perhaps the severest criticism of the Minister of 
 Justice which had yet appeared in Canada. And accord- 
 ing to the conclusions of the same paper, the Conservative 
 party under the redistribution measure stood to gain 
 eleven seats, and to lose only four at the next general 
 election. In the House the discussion was prolonged in 
 speech, and minute in debate. Every one had something 
 to say, and usually from entirely different standpoints. 
 
 The address of Sir John Thompson upon the second 
 reading of the bill, was a closely reasoned and fair defence 
 of the Government's position and of his own measure. 
 Rising from his place on June 2nd, after an energetic 
 speech from Mr. L. H. Davies, he first pointed out that the 
 bill had been introduced by the Government in the dis- 
 charge of a compulsory, though unpleasant duty. " It was 
 not introduced, nor was it proposed with any design to 
 secure party advantage, and that I affirm in the most dis- 
 tinct manner. If the Government had designed to follow 
 even the principle of re-adjustment by population, they 
 would have made, with regard to each of the Provinces, a 
 measure in which the application of the principle would 
 have been far wider than it was in the present bill, and 
 would have secured to them eminent party advantages." 
 
230 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 He then spoke of Mr. Laurier's amendment proposing 
 a reference of the whole matter to a conference or com- 
 mittee composed of both political parties, and denounced it 
 as unprecedented and impracticable : " I have never heard 
 in all the history of Parliamentary proceedure, of a resolu- 
 tion being brought forward, the object of which was to 
 subject legislation to the two political parties." The 
 example which was alleged to have been set by the Eng- 
 lish Parliament a few years before was one of many cases 
 in British history arising out of a deadlock between the 
 Lords and the Commons. And the arrangement finally made 
 in that case was not concerning the details of the bill, but 
 upon the point whether it should form part of the general 
 franchise measure or not. The Minister of Justice went 
 on to say that the principle which it was claimed should 
 guide such a conference, was that the equilibrium existing 
 between the two political parties in the country at the 
 present time must be maintained : " No more false principle 
 could be allied with a measure of redistribution. What 
 political party in this country has a vested right in the 
 equilibrium of parties ? " 
 
 He stated that not one of the papers criticising the 
 measure had shown a careful study of the bill, and then 
 placed his views upon the general question very clearly 
 before the House : " He should say that whenever a 
 redistribution bill was brought forward and discussed, the 
 first object members should set before them should be to 
 interfere as little as possible with existing lines, and not 
 to interfere with them excepting some serious occasion 
 called for it; but that when the serious occasion occurred the 
 measure should be carried out without regard to the fate of 
 either political party, or to the equilibrium of parties." 
 
 Later on in the Session, the Redistribution Bill 
 with a few slight alterations, passed the House, and became 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 231 
 
 the basis for the next ensuing general election. Mean- 
 time, on the sixth of April, Mr. J. D. Edgar had made 
 voluminous and very serious charges against Sir Adolphe 
 Caron, the Postmaster-General. They extended in their 
 application over a period of at least ten years, and stated, 
 in brief, that the Minister had aided in his capacity as a 
 member of the Commons, and of the Government, in 
 obtaining subsides of fully a million dollars for the Quebec 
 and Lake St. John Railway. It was further alleged that 
 Sir Adolphe during these years (1882-1891) had been a 
 member of the Railway Company in question, and had 
 received large sums of money from these subsidies, which 
 he corruptly used in helping the election of himself, and 
 certain supporters in different Quebec constituencies. 
 
 Mr. Edgar wished all these matters referred to the 
 Committee on Privileges and Elections. Sir John Thomp- 
 son in his reply pointed out what experience had proved 
 during the preceding Session, and what he had himself 
 consistently maintained even during that stormy period, 
 that Parliament was not a suitable court to try cases of 
 this nature. He concluded a speech of some length by 
 refusing, on behalf of the Government, to consider the 
 allegations in the way they were put forward by Mr. 
 Edgar, stating very clearly the utter impossibility of the 
 House consenting to a motion which involved the investi- 
 gation of elections in some twenty-two Quebec constitu- 
 encies during several general elections. Every opportunity 
 would be given to a trial of the personal charges, but a 
 Parliamentary consideration of the broad issues presented 
 in a certain section of the charges, would be as unconstitu- 
 tional, as it was impracticable from the standpoint of 
 propriety and the limitations of time. 
 
 On the 4th of May, Mr. Mackenzie Bowell presented 
 an elaborate motion which included every allegation made 
 
232 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 by Mr. Edgar, excepting the paragraphs involving an 
 investigation into past elections, and asked for their refer- 
 ence to a Royal Commission of two Judges. This was, of 
 course, granted, and, eventually, the Hon. A. B. Routhier 
 and the Hon. M. M. Tait, of the Quebec Bench, were 
 appointed with full powers to try the charges referred to 
 them by Parliament. Then came the surprising refusal of 
 Mr. Edgar to make his statements good, or to appear before 
 the Commission on the ground that a portion of the original 
 allegations had been eliminated. When the affair came 
 before the House again, Sir John Thompson dealt at length 
 with this question, and pointed out that the Tarte charges 
 did not form a precedent, as they referred to matters con- 
 nected with the improper expenditure of public moneys by 
 the officers of a department. On the other hand, Clause 10 
 of Mr. Edgar's charges which had been eliminated was " an 
 attempt to try some sixty or seventy elections," some of 
 them already tried or closed in the Courts. "During all 
 the practice of more than two hundred years, no such 
 statement as that which has been eliminated from these 
 charges has ever been preferred to the British House of 
 Commons or any attempt made in that House to appoint a 
 Commission on such a charge." 
 
 And then the speaker gave Mr. Mills a neat little bit 
 of a lecture : " If you go back to the ages to which the 
 member for Bothwell has gone, you can find precedents for 
 anything." But they were " ages to which no man claim- 
 ing the name of Liberal should be otherwise than ashamed 
 to go back, either for Parliamentary precedents or for the 
 maxims of a political creed." He concluded with a denun- 
 ciation of Mr. Edgar's attitude, which will probably belong 
 remembered for its vigour and strength: "Did anyone ever 
 hear of a man occupying so contemptible a position in 
 public life as to make nine or ten of the gravest accusations 
 
% 
 
 Hon. J. C. Patterson, M.P., 
 
 Minister of Militia and Defence. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 235 
 
 which can be made against a public man, depriving him of 
 honour, of character, of title, of a seat in this House and a 
 seat in the Government, and when it is proposed that he 
 should go before a judge and give his evidence, shrinking 
 behind the privilege of a member of this House and saying 
 we had no right to call him there. If there is an atom of 
 manhood in his composition, body or soul, he will meet the 
 man he has accused before any tribunal where British law 
 will be administered and fair play will prevail." 
 
 Eventually, the Royal Commission reported such evi- 
 dence as they had to the House without comment, and about 
 four months afterwards — on March 22nd, 1893 — Mr. Edgar 
 returned to the charge with a motion declaring that the 
 evidence taken had established facts which should have 
 prevented Sir Adolphe Caron from again becoming an 
 adviser of the Crown, and which rendered his incumbency 
 of any office highly improper. Sir Adolphe defended himself 
 vigourously, and after some debate the matter was disposed 
 of by the resolution being defeated — 69 to 119. 
 
 Another matter which claimed much attention during 
 this Session, both in press and in Parliament, was the 
 London election case. The charge in brief was that 
 Judge Elliott, the revising barrister, had used his 
 position to favour the Hon. Mr. Carling and to elect him 
 in the teeth of an adverse majority. No one who knew 
 the strict honour and honesty of Mr. (now Sir John) Carling 
 would ever believe him guilty of benefiting by an act 
 which he understood to have been fraudulent. But at the 
 same time the whole question was so technical and so 
 entirely a matter of law, that the Liberals were fully 
 justified in pushing its investigation in the proper quarters 
 and in the proper way. When the subject came up in the 
 House, however, as it did on several occasions, Sir John 
 Thompson found it necessary to protest against the 
 
236 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 aspersions which were cast upon Judge Elliott from a 
 partisan standpoint, and to object — in reply to a speech 
 made by Mr. Mulock when presenting some petitions from 
 London — to the House of Commons entering into any 
 enquiry of the kind in reference to County Court Judges. 
 
 He pointed out that assaults upon personal character : 
 political attacks such as that of Mr. Mulock ; or the read- 
 ing of anonymous newspaper articles, were not the way in 
 which to try a judge or to claim the right to do so. " The 
 progress ol this debate illustrates the wisdom of the statute 
 passed ten years ago, to provide another way of trying- 
 County Court Judges." The Minister of Justice deprecated 
 the whole discussion, and especially in view of Mr. Lister's 
 statement that there was no intention of impeachment or 
 of making a formal request for the Judge's removal. 
 Eventually, the matter was allowed to rest, and amidst strong 
 protests from the Liberals Mr. Carling retained his seat. 
 
 While these matters had been interesting Parliament 
 and a section of the public, the people at large had been 
 stirred up by a series of bye-elections which constituted a 
 complete sweep for the Conservatives. There were many 
 reasons for this success. During the elections of 1891, Mr. 
 Blake had announced his retirement from political life, and 
 the day after the election a lengthy document addressed by 
 him to the electors of West Durham, but really to the people 
 of Canada, was published. In it he vigorously denounced 
 the Government's policy of protection, as might have been 
 expected, and also — as was not expected — repudiated the 
 Opposition policy of Unrestricted Reciprocity. He de- 
 scribed the latter as involving direct taxation ; a uniform 
 tariff with the United States ; discrimination against Great 
 Britain ; and every probability of ultimate annexation. 
 Such a manifesto, proving as it practically did, the asser- 
 tions made by Sir John Macdonald and the Conservative 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 237 
 
 party as to the meaning of the Opposition platform, was 
 really a staggering blow to the popularity of the Liberals, 
 although it did not immediately effect their position in the 
 House or still the buoyant hopes which soon arose of bene- 
 fiting by the scandals of the succeeding Session. 
 
 But even this latter solace was taken away by the 
 revelations which came from Quebec. The corruption of 
 the Mercier Ministry was the Conservative opportunity. 
 It soon became a case of fiofhtincf dirt with dirt, and the 
 very violence of the Liberal charges at Ottawa brought 
 about a corresponding reaction in public opinion, when it 
 was claimed that the very men who were posing as politi- 
 cal purists at the national capital had received and used 
 during the late elections large sums of money from the 
 fund provided by Quebec boodlers. And it is safe to say 
 that whether people believed or not the charges that Mr. 
 Laurier had benefited in a political sense by these expen- 
 ditures, they did very greatly dislike his refusal to 
 repudiate Mr. Mercier in the Provincial elections which 
 ensued, as well as the practical support which he gave 
 to the culprits in urging the people to vote against the 
 Conservative candidates, and "against Lieut. -Governor 
 Angers," because of the latter's dismissal of his recreant 
 ministry. 
 
 These two causes contributed greatly to the marvellous 
 success of the Conservative party in the elections, which 
 resulted from the unseating of numerous candidates in the 
 Courts, And added to them was the wave of sentiment 
 created by the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, and the 
 accompanying manifestations of popular affection and 
 sorrow. The first of the bye elections had not, however, 
 been very favourable. Richelieu went Liberal, and in a 
 speech delivered at Halifax shortly afterwards, on the 16th 
 of January, Sir John Thompson explained the result as 
 
238 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 due to the McGreevy influence, which in connection with 
 the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company controlled 
 some 300 votes in the constituency. " We found," said he, 
 " as the result of that election, what we might have told 
 you before, that you cannot prosecute a man in the Courts 
 of Justice, and at the same time ask him to walk arm in 
 arm to the polls with you. . . . My friends of the Opposi- 
 tion, we can afford to make you a present of Richelieu." 
 On February 2nd, however, the victories commenced 
 with Soulanges — which came back into the Conservative 
 column — and was followed rapidly by the gain of Prince 
 Edward County, the capture of Lennox, the carrying of 
 East Elgin by 494 of a majority, the winning of South 
 Ontario and East Hastings, the really remarkable victory 
 of the Hon. J. C. Patterson in West Huron, the gain of 
 East Simcoe, the election of Mr. Carling in London, and 
 the capture of Two Mountains in Quebec. Such was the 
 partial record of a month, followed by the unexpected 
 capture of South Perth, which for eighteen years had been 
 Liberal without a break ; the change in Monck from a 
 minority of 260 to a majority of 323 ; the victory in West 
 Northumberland after a keen and bitter contest ; and the 
 winning of East York after its vacation by the lamented 
 death of the old-time and much respected Liberal leader, 
 the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie. Many other seats were 
 won in different parts of the country, and the Government 
 of the Hon. Mr. Abbott found that instead of a fluctuating 
 Parliamentary majority of about twenty, it possessed one 
 of between sixty and seventy. And on the Queen's Birth- 
 day of this year, the Premier who had sacrificed so much 
 of ease and comfort and health to the cause of his party 
 and the country, was created a K. C. M. G., at the same 
 time that Mr. Mowat, the distinguished Liberal Premier of 
 Ontario, received a similar and deserved honour. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 239 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Sir John Thompson becomes Premier. 
 
 For some time previous to the retirement of Sir John 
 Abbott it had become clear that he could not remain at the 
 head of the Government very much longer. The Minister 
 of Justice was during this period the practical chief of the 
 Administration, as he had been the real leader of the Con- 
 servative party since the death of Sir John Macdonald. 
 And this can be said without in any way reflecting upon 
 the great services undoubtedly rendered by Sir J. J. C. 
 Abbott in a time of trial and supreme party difficulty. But 
 Sir John Thompson was leader of the House of Commons 
 and his forceful character had so impressed itself upon the 
 country while he held that position, and events had so 
 clearly combined to make him the central figure in the 
 politics of the hour, that it was not at all surprising to find 
 him accepted by the public as the next Premier, long before 
 the Governor- General had sent for him to form a ministry. 
 
 The logic of circumstances is sometimes irresistible, and 
 the rise of a strong man in politics, as in most other matters, 
 is occasionally aided by the absence of qualifications which 
 to many people may have appeared absolutely essential. 
 Though gifted with rare ability Sir John Thompson pos- 
 sessed one defect which seemed almost fatal to his success 
 as a party leader. In ordinary cases a man who aspires to 
 control a democratic electorate and a complex political ma- 
 chine, must possess the capacity of creating enthusiasm 
 amongst his party followers and of stirring up a sentiment 
 
240 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 of warm personal allegiance. This the incoming Premier 
 did not even pretend to or attempt. Yet it is probable that 
 his dignified and reserved manner, combined with his repu- 
 tation for honesty, kept at a distance the corrupt elements 
 which instinctively seek the political centre here as in other 
 countries, and helped his party through the critical scandal 
 session and other unpleasant occasions, as no qualities of 
 geniality, and mere personal graces of manner could have 
 possibly done. 
 
 Up to his time it is also very questionable whether a 
 Roman Catholic could have maintained himself in the Pre- 
 miership of Canada. Before Confederation it had been pos- 
 sible, but under very different circumstances as regards 
 population and balance of religious power. And the pecu- 
 liar fortune which had compelled him to deal with such 
 important issues in connection with race and creed, had 
 apparently augmented this difficulty. But in reality it all 
 tended to bring into prominence a question which the nation 
 — if it were to be a nation — could only answer in one way. 
 And that answer was greatly facilitated by the very strength 
 of Sir John's convictions and the pronounced nature of his 
 stand upon the subjects with which he had had to deal. 
 For Parliament, the party, or the press, to refuse under such 
 c'rcumstances to recognize him freely, fully, and honestly, as 
 the heir to a position so well earned by ability and service, 
 was to put out of court one -third of the Canadian people ; 
 shake the very basis of Canadian national life; and place the 
 country finally under the fatal influence of bitter sectarian 
 strife. It is therefore probable that the absence of the very 
 qualifications which might have seemed most essential to Sir 
 John Thompson's rise in power and position, contributed 
 rather than otherwise to his success in public life. But, of 
 course, only the certainty of his great ability could have 
 enabled him to make these hostile circumstances subserv- 
 
D'Alton McCarthy, Q.C., M.P. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 248 
 
 ient to personal use. Otherwise, his cold manner would 
 have involved Parliamentary unpopularity and loss of in- 
 fluence as a leader, while the religious difficulty would have 
 hopelessly prejudiced any inferior man with a strong sec- 
 tion of the people. 
 
 On November 25th, 1892, the retirement which had 
 been imminent for some time was announced, coupled with 
 the fact that Sir John S. D. Thompson had been summoned 
 by His Excellency the Earl of Aberdeen to form a new 
 Cabinet. A correspondent of one of the papers went 
 forthwith to interview the new Premier and in the course 
 of the evening found him at his house in Lisgar St., Ottawa. 
 He describes a children's party which was being held, with 
 the usual merry-making, home-made taffy and other 
 delights of childhood, and expresses surprise at the fact 
 that Sir John was spending the evening at home " in the 
 most ordinary domestic manner imaginable." 
 
 During the next few days the usual rumours filled 
 the air with every variation of political speculation and 
 partisan criticism. The newspaper correspondents were 
 kept busy telegraphing surmises as to the personnel of the 
 new Cabinet. In one case it would be Mr. Meredith as 
 Minister of Justice ; in another, Mr. Christopher Robinson, 
 Q.C., of Toronto ; in another, some suggested arrangement 
 with Mr. D' Alton McCarthy. One paper thought Mr. R. 
 S. White, M.P., was going in ; another alleged that Mr. W. 
 B. Ives, M.P., was to take Sir John Abbott's place as the 
 representative of the Eastern Townships and the Protestant 
 minority of Quebec ; another believed Mr. D. Girouard, 
 M.P., was coming in, and the Hon. Mr. Chapleau was going 
 out. Finally, the new Government was announced on the 
 6th of December as follows : 
 
244 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Premier and Minister of Justice Sir John S. D. Thompson. 
 
 Minister of Trade and Commerce. . . . Hon. Mackenzie Bowell. 
 
 Postmaster-General Sir Adolphe Caron, K C. M.O. 
 
 Secretary of State Hon. John Costigan. 
 
 Minister of Finance Hon. George E. Foster. 
 
 " " Marine and Fisheries. . .Sir C. H. Tupper, K.C.M,G. 
 
 " " Railways and Canals. . . . Hon. John G. Haggart. 
 
 '• " Public Works Hon. J. Alderic Ouimefc. 
 
 " " Militia and Defence Hon. J. C. Patterson. 
 
 " " fie Interior Hon. T. Mayne Daly. 
 
 " " Agriculture Hon. A. R. Angers. 
 
 Without Portfolio Sir Frank Smith, K. C. M. G. 
 
 " Sir John Carling, K.C.M.G. 
 
 President of the Council Hon. W. B. Ives. 
 
 (In the Ministry but not in the Cabinet.) 
 
 Solicitor-General Hon. J. J. Curran, Q. C. 
 
 Comptroller of Customs Hon. N. Clarke Wallace. 
 
 Comptroller of Inland Revenue Hon. J. F. Wood, Q.C. 
 
 There were a number of important changes in connec- 
 tion with the new Government. The proposed re-construc- 
 tion of the Department of Customs, the establishment of a 
 Ministry of Trade and Commerce, and the appointment of 
 a Solicitor-General to relieve the Minister of Justice of 
 some of his too onerous duties, now came into effect. No 
 better selection for head of a department dealing with the 
 trade of the country could have been made than that of 
 Mr. Mackenzie Bowell. His long control of the Customs 
 and his interest in trade questions pointed him out as 
 specially adapted for the post. The elevation of Mr. 
 Curran and Mr. Wood was the reward of long party service 
 which no one could dispute, and gave them positions which 
 they were eminently fitted to fill. The appointment of Mr. 
 Clarke Wallace was a stroke of political wisdom on the 
 part of the new Premier. It not only brought to his side 
 in the Government the recognized head of the Orange order 
 in the Dominion, but it placed in control of the Customs a 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 245 
 
 business man whose administration has since been both 
 able and popular. 
 
 Mr. T. M. Daly, the genial member for Selkirk, Man- 
 itoba, had succeeded Mr. Dewdney as Minister of the 
 Interior a month before Sir John Abbott's resignation, and 
 he was confirmed in his place. Mr. W. B. Ives, M. P. for 
 Sherbrooke, was a politician of long standing and bore the 
 reputation of being a clear-headed and eminently successful 
 business man. The retirement of the Hon. Mr. Angers 
 from the Lieut.-Governorship of Quebec made room for the 
 appointment of Mr. Chapleau to that position, and for the 
 entry into national politics of one of the most interesting 
 and honourable men whom Quebec has produced. Mr. 
 Angers united culture and honour in public life with the 
 fullest courage of his convictions, as he had shown in deal- 
 ing with Mr. Mercier. 
 
 The brilliant qualities of the Hon. Charles H. Tupper 
 and his honest, straightforward administration of the 
 Department of Marine and Fisheries pointed to his remain- 
 ing in that position, while the financial skill of Mr. Foster 
 was retained in the Department whose dry details and 
 principles of management he had enlivened with such 
 genuine eloquence. Circumstances caused the retirement 
 of Mr. Carling from a post to which he had devoted much 
 time and patient labour, but if he was no longer Minister 
 of Agriculture, he had shortly afterwards the honour of 
 receiving Knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen. So, 
 with Sir Frank Smith, whose business shrewdness and 
 experience made his advice invaluable to any Cabinet. 
 Sir Adolphe Caron had not long before left the Department 
 of Militia and Defence, in which he had done such really 
 strenuous service during the rebellion, and he once more 
 accepted the Postmaster-Generalship. 
 
 Such was the composition of the Government which 
 
246 LIFE AND WORE OF 
 
 Sir John Thompson was now to lead amid the shoals and 
 rocks which are always strewn so plentifully before the 
 ship of state. His accession to nominal, as well as real, 
 power was well received throughout the country. The 
 French-Canadian Conservative press was a unit in praise 
 of the man and his record, his ability and his services. 
 The Ottawa Citizen spoke of him as " a statesman of the 
 weightiest calibre, deep in his knowledge of human nature 
 and human affairs, of extensive reading and accurate and 
 varied information, an orator and a tactician above all." 
 It described him as one in whom the country had full faith. 
 The Toronto Empire declared that " in every duty to 
 which the necessity of the hour has summoned him, Sir 
 John Thompson has been a conspicuous success. He has 
 been a brilliant Minister. He is the absolute master of the 
 House of Commons." The Toronto Globe announced that 
 the man who by " pre-eminence of ability commands the 
 Premiership," had at last got it, while the Montreal Herald 
 with all its strong Liberal prejudices declared that " He 
 has rendered the Conservative party more valuable service 
 since Sir John Macdonald's death than perhaps any other 
 living man could have done.' 
 
 The Maritime Provinces were enthusiastic in express- 
 ing pride at the success of the leader from Nova-Scotia, and 
 the press was almost united in praise of his personal quali- 
 ties and admitted abilities. But the unpleasant religious 
 issue refused to be entirely suppressed, and the opinion of 
 militant Protestantism was voiced by the Toronto Mail of 
 a short time before his accession to power, and by the 
 Montreal Witness of the day after. The former declared 
 it " difficult to believe that the political managers of the 
 Orange order will be able to induce the order for the sake 
 of spoils to trail the effigy of William III. behind apolitical 
 confederate of the order of Father Petre." The latter 
 
SIB JOHN THOMPSON. 247 
 
 announced that " Sir John Thompson, nominee of the 
 Archbishop of Halifax and disciple of the Jesuits, has 
 become by the people's permission, absolute ruler of Canada." 
 It seemed useless to argue with this sort of spirit. It was 
 pointed out that a Catholic Premier would be apt to hold 
 the scales of justice very rigidly in connection with those 
 of his own religion so as to prove his entire freedom from 
 bias or bigotry. It was urged that no man in a Canadian 
 Cabinet, however strong might be his influence, could in 
 these times of suspicion either counsel or practice an 
 injustice towards any race or creed. 
 
 But it was, of course, little use placing such consider- 
 ations — to say nothing of facts regarding a statesman's 
 honourable character and career — before men who did not 
 believe that a Roman Catholic could possess any qualities, 
 good or bad, which were not subservient to the will of his 
 Church. Perhaps in this connection the brightest and best 
 indication of what was really the opinion of a vast majority 
 of Canadians found expression in the Globe's further com- 
 ment upon the new Premier : " With the fact that Sir John 
 Thompson is a Roman Catholic, we have nothing to do. It 
 would be a poor tribute to the liberality and intelligence 
 of the Canadian people if it were laid down that a Roman 
 Catholic may not equally with a Protestant aspire to the 
 highest office within their gift, and any attempt to arouse 
 sectarian prejudice over his appointment will not make for 
 the dignity of Canadian politics or the welfare of the 
 country." 
 
 In assuming the responsibilities of his position, how- 
 ever, the new leader was quite well aware of the difficul- 
 ties before him. Canada will never be an easy country to 
 govern, and whether its popular ruler be a Catholic or an 
 Orangeman, an English-Canadian or a French- Canadian, 
 he will have to encounter questions of the most conflicting 
 
248 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 interest, and the most embarassing import. And in speak- 
 ing same time after this with reference to the arduous 
 work which had been done by Sir John A. Macdonald, the 
 new Premier gave a striking description of the labours re- 
 quired in the position which he was then himself filling. 
 Day after day, he declared, was occupied by increasing toil, 
 unwearying watchfulness and painful devotion to details. 
 Night after night when men in all other occupations were 
 enjoying rest in their homes, he would be at his work in the 
 House of Commons, seldom leaving until early morning, and 
 often beginning a long and arduous effort after midnight. 
 This was the work which Sir John Thompson had now taken 
 up in all its fulness, and that he never shrank from any 
 portion of it, is writ large in the history of the next two years. 
 Meantime the four new Ministers had gone to their 
 constituents, and been re-elected by acclamation; Mr. 
 Wallace, in West York, Mr. Wood in Brockville, Mr. 
 Ives in Sherbrooke, and Mr. Curran in Montreal Centre. 
 The speech delivered by Mr. Clarke Wallace in the village 
 of Weston upon the occasion of his re-election, on Decem- 
 ber 21st, contained an interesting explanation of his rea- 
 sons for accepting office, and concerning certain Orange 
 objections to the new Premier. " Sir John Thompson," 
 said the speaker, " is the Premier of Canada to-day, and 
 some people have objected to him, not on account of his 
 lack of ability, for he is one of the ablest men in Canada ; 
 not because of his want of integrity, for no man's reputa- 
 tion is more unblemished ; not because of his want of 
 devotion to the interests of his country, but, and I will put 
 it plainly, because he is a Roman Catholic. I do not view 
 it in that light. I do not consider that an objection to a 
 man's becoming Premier of Canada." He then went on to 
 say that he was an Orangeman, and was proud of it ; that 
 he had been one for almost a quarter of a century ; and 
 

 Hon. F. G. Marchand, M.P.P., 
 
 Leader of the Liberal Opposition in the Quebec Legislature. 
 
■i 
 
 Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., C.E., LL.D., 
 
 Canadian ( 'ommUsioner at the Ottawa Intercolonial Conference. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. . 261 
 
 that he had been elevated to the highest position within 
 the gift of the Orangemen, not only of Canada, but of the 
 world. 
 
 But nowhere in the principles of the Order could be 
 found word or line which would prevent a Roman Catholic 
 from the free exercise of his national privileges : " Sir 
 John Thompson is a loyal Canadian. He has the same 
 rigjit as any man in this Dominion to accept the office of 
 Premier, and as an Orangeman, I am bound to support 
 every man in the exercise of his constitutional rights. 
 Therefore, I stand here to-day, on my obligations as an 
 Orangeman, consistently, squarely, and I believe properly." 
 This manly speech by Mr. Wallace did much to place the 
 new Premier in a better and truer light before a portion of 
 the community which had been inclined, perhaps naturally, 
 to feel considerably prejudiced against him. 
 
 During the Session of 1892, immediately preceding 
 Sir John Thompson's assumption of the Premiership, two 
 events had occurred which are worth being recorded. 
 Reference has already been made to the Redistribution 
 measure, to the Elliott case, and to the Caron charges In 
 his motion regarding the Crown Prosecutions, instituted as 
 a result of the Tarte-McGreeTy investigation, and in the 
 speech which accompanied it, the Minister of Justice amply 
 vindicated his own position and that of the Government. 
 His resolution as presented to the House, on April 12th, 
 was to the effect that all statements, admissions, and 
 evidence produced before the Committees of the House, 
 during the Session of 1891, should now be available for 
 use in the Courts ; that all clerks, stenographers, and other 
 officials in the service of the House should be eligible as 
 witnesses ; and that all books, papers, and other documents 
 which had been previously produced should be once more 
 brought forward, and used in the trials now being insti- 
 
252 LIFE AND WORK OP 
 
 tuted. The cases named were those against Connolly and 
 McGreevy for conspiracy; against John R. Arnoldi for 
 malfeasance in office; against Talbot and Larose for con- 
 spiracy ; and against eleven other persons or firms for the 
 recovery of money. Some opposition was made upon 
 constitutional grounds, but the motion was, of course, 
 carried, and enabled the Government to have everything 
 that was possible done towards the conviction and punish- 
 ment of those who had defrauded the country. 
 
 On the 28th of June an incident happened which 
 delighted the Convervative members of the House beyond 
 measure, astonished the country and the Opposition, and 
 perhaps surprised the Minister of Justice himself. Some 
 days previous to that date, Sir Richard Cartwright had 
 announced that he was going to say something which he 
 wished the Leader of the House to hear, and intimated 
 that he intended to address him personally and particularly. 
 When the time came he made a characteristically strong 
 speech ; denouncing the judiciary in connection with the 
 recent election trials ; the people for their action in return- 
 ing so many " corruptionists ' to the House in the bye- 
 elections the Government for renewed evidences of 
 boodling; the Minister of Justice for having, as he alleged, 
 purchased a seat in Parliament, by obtaining in 1885 the 
 appointment of Mr. Mclsaac, to a County Court Judgeship 
 in Nova-Scotia. 
 
 If the speaker had intended to "draw" Sir John 
 Thompson, he was for once successful. To the amazement 
 of its members, the House listened to a speech which was 
 absolutely stormy in its character, bitter in its invective, 
 and personal in its application. It was a perfect whirl- 
 wind of denunciation from a man upon whom the Commons 
 was accustomed to look as the embodiment of dignity, of 
 reserve, of suppression in language, and of moderation in 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 253 
 
 tone. But the delight of the Conservatives was corres- 
 pondingly great at the revelation of this new side to the 
 character of their leader, and in its particular application 
 to an opponent whom many disliked personally as well as 
 politically. 
 
 The Minister of Justice commenced by endeavoring to 
 find some reason for Sir Richard's effort in the dying days 
 of the Session. " Perhaps," he said, " in ransacking his 
 speeches of the past, he had found that there was some 
 adjective which he had missed, and he wanted to get it 
 before the House." Then he referred to the address just 
 delivered, as " one of those war, famine, and pestilence 
 speeches which have so often carried the country for the 
 Government." He denounced the Liberal leader who had 
 turned and pointed at him as having shown an intimate 
 knowledge of criminal law, and as having, no doubt, been a 
 successful defender of dangerous criminals. " Sir," said the 
 Minister of Justice, ' : I decline the hon. gentleman's brief." 
 Sir Richard Cartwright here interrupted with the remark, 
 " You must have the fee first," and brought upon himself 
 the following onslaught : " I have had some experience, 
 both in' defending criminals and in prosecuting them ; I 
 have never shrunk in my calling, as a member of the Bar, 
 from taking any man's case, no matter how desperate it 
 might be, for the purpose of saying for him what he might 
 lawfully say for himself ; but I have sometimes spurned 
 the fee of a blatant scoundrel who denounced everybody 
 else in the world, and was himself the most truculent 
 savage of them all." 
 
 This last fierce sentence was long remembered by those 
 who heard it, and is still cherished by the many who have 
 suffered personally from Sir Richard's own powers of 
 invective. Then Sir John Thompson went on to declare 
 that the hon. gentleman would rather any day abuse his 
 
254 LIFE AND WORK OP 
 
 country and defame it than eat his breakfast. " I, as a 
 member of the Liberal-Conservative party, owe him such a 
 debt of gratitude that if it shall be necessary to retain his 
 services in the party which he does not lead, and which 
 would not have him for a leader, and which barely tolerates 
 him as a supporter — if it be necessary in order to retain 
 him in that capacity, I, for one, will propose a subsidy to 
 Parliament to keep him there." He defended the Judges 
 of the Dominion ; referred to the pride which Sir John 
 Macdonald had always taken in keeping the Judiciary free 
 from the stain of partisan appointments ; explained clearly 
 but briefly the reasons for the transfer of Mr. Mclsaac from 
 Parliament to the Bench, and his own recommendation of 
 the selection, aside altogether from his personal elevation 
 to a position which he had twice refused before finally 
 accepting it ; and vigourously denied the fitness of Sir 
 Richard Cartwright to sit in judgment upon the Judiciary 
 — " He above all others made in the same mould, which, 
 thank God, nature broke when she cast him" 
 
 Such, in a nutshell, was the famous speech which Mr. 
 Laurier characterized in reply as a descent from " the 
 language of Parliament to the invective of Billingsgate." 
 No defence of Sir Richard Cartwright is required in this 
 connection. He can always take care of himself. Nor is 
 it necessary to criticise Sir John Thompson for the unique 
 character of this utterance. That it was unusual is suffi- 
 cient evidence of the tremendous provocation under which 
 it was delivered, and that it was instinct with all the 
 vigourous invective of a strong and generally suppressed 
 nature, simply proves that the Minister of Justice was a 
 man and not a saint, and that while his passions were as a 
 rule thoroughly controlled, yet they could at times burst 
 out and show his opponents that he was well able to 
 answer fire with fire. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Manitoba Schools' Legislation. 
 
 Manitoba has contributed several difficult problems for 
 national solution. It produced Riel; it developed a hot 
 agitation for Provincial rights ; it has given the Dominion 
 a separate school question. Struggles over religious educa- 
 tion are, of course, by no means uncommon in Canada, and 
 the one which Sir John Thompson had to deal with has 
 been neither better nor worse than difficulties in the same 
 connection which most other countries have at times had to 
 face. Prior to 1863 Ontario was torn with dissensions con- 
 cerning its educational system, and the Hon. George Brown 
 led in an agitation against Roman Catholic separate schools, 
 which was as earnest as it was finally ineffectual. 
 
 The result of this prolonged conflict was that it became 
 tolerably clear, for good or ill, that it was impossible to 
 harmonize Protestants and Roman Catholics upon the 
 question of education, and that it only remained for the 
 framers of Confederation to effect some compromise by 
 which a Protestant minority in Quebec and a Roman 
 Catholic minority in Ontario should be provided with a 
 secure system of separate schools. This was achieved by 
 giving them in each case a constitutional guarantee of all 
 rights and privileges existing at the time of the Union. 
 They were, necessarily, subject to the jurisdiction, in other 
 respects, of the Provincial Legislatures; and, curiously 
 enough, the concessions made to the supporters of minority 
 schools in each of these two Provinces have been the cause 
 of complaints from the religious majority. The separate 
 
256 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 schools, therefore, have had' nothing to complain of in 
 either Ontario or Quebec. 
 
 But in Manitoba it has been very different. The sys- 
 tem was not the same as elsewhere ; the Province did not 
 enter the Dominion under similar conditions ; and the fate 
 of the schools has since become involved in the general and 
 complex question of Provincial rights. Manitoba entered 
 the Union in 1870. The population was about equally 
 divided, between Catholics and Protestants, and as a large 
 influx of French Canadians was expected in the future, it 
 was at that time very generally believed that the balance 
 would be more evenly preserved than has been the case. 
 Under these circumstances the Dominion Parliament had to 
 consider the power which it might be desirable to invest 
 the future majority with, and, following the precedent of 
 the Confederation Act, authority was given to the Legis 
 lature over education, subject to the preservation of rights 
 existing at the time of the Union. And it was afterwards 
 claimed that the privilege of an appeal to the Governor- 
 General-in- Council was also allowed in the event of any of 
 those rights being infringed. 
 
 It has been since admitted that no law, ordinance or 
 regulation existed at the time of union with respect to edu- 
 cation. The point of the future dispute turned, therefore, 
 upon how far the " practice " then prevalent was a privi- 
 lege and right under the laws. Archbishop Tache, whose 
 evidence in the subsequent Barrett case was accepted as 
 accurate and complete, states that there were a number of 
 effective schools for children, some of them being regulated 
 and controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, and others 
 by various Protestant denominations. The means required 
 for the support of the Catholic schools were supplied partly 
 by fees and partly out of funds contributed to the Church 
 by its members. During this period neither Catholics nor 
 
r 
 
 •>— r )t. ."J "" 
 
 ' 
 
 ■#• 
 
 fjfrfilffr 
 
 _J 
 
 Wm; Patersox, M.P., 
 
 Bxmtford. 
 
Rev. John . Pons, I). I)., 
 
 Superintendent of Educational Department, Methodist ChurcJi of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 259 
 
 Protestants had interest in or control over any schools but 
 those pertaining to their respective beliefs. 
 
 In 1871, shortly after joining the Dominion, a law 
 was passed by the Manitoban Legislature which established 
 a system of denominational education in what were then 
 called the common schools. By this act twelve electoral 
 divisions, comprising in the main a Protestant population, 
 were to be considered as constituting twelve Protestant 
 school districts, under the management of the Protestant 
 section of the Board of Education. Similarly, twelve dis- 
 tricts, made up chiefly of a Roman Catholic population, 
 were constituted an equal number of Catholic school dis- 
 tricts, and were placed under the control of the Catholic 
 section of the Provincial Education Board. Each school 
 division raised the contribution required in addition to the 
 amount given from the public funds, as might be decided 
 at its annual meeting. And without the special sanction 
 of its section of the Board of Education, only one school 
 could be established in each district. 
 
 Changes suited to the differing proportions of the popu- 
 lation were made in 1875 ; but the general principle was still 
 maintained. And the system cannot be said to have worked 
 badly, or to have caused any very serious trouble be- 
 tween the religious divisions of the Province. In 1890, 
 however, a portion of the sectarian wave which had failed 
 to engulf Ontario, overcame the Protestants of the Prairie 
 Province — now in a large majority — and the Premier, Mr. 
 Thomas Green way, with his able lieutenant, Attorney -Gen- 
 eral Martin, seized the favourable and popular moment to 
 establish a common school system. By the Act then passed, 
 all school taxes, whether derived from Protestants or Catho- 
 lics, were appropriated to the support of the new public 
 schools, and the old arrangements constituting two Boards 
 of Education, were of course repealed. Needless to say the 
 
260 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Koman Catholics all over the Dominion were seriously 
 aroused by this action. It seemed to threaten their rights 
 everywhere as well as those they claimed in Manitoba. 
 
 Strenuous pressure was brought to bear upon the 
 Dominion Government to disallow the Act as infringing the 
 rights of the minority. A petition dated 6th March, 1891, 
 and signed by the Roman Catholic Archbishops and Bishops 
 of the Dominion, was presented, stating that both the 
 Schools' Act and the one abolishing the dual language sys- 
 tem in Manitoba were " contrary to the dearests interests " 
 of a large portion of the loyal subjects of Her Majesty ; con- 
 trary to " the assurances given during the negotiations " 
 which determined the entry of the Provinces into Confed- 
 eration; contrary to the terms of the British North 
 America Act, and of the Manitoba Act ; contrary to the 
 principles of public good faith. A little later, on April 4th, 
 the French press of Quebec, published a pastoral letter, 
 issued by Cardinal Taschereau and the hierarchy of the 
 Province, which was read in all the Catholic Churches, 
 and claimed that the legislation in question would " destroy 
 the faith of the Catholic children " of Manitoba, and would 
 " despoil the Church of its sacred rights." It urged once 
 more " the control of the Church over the education of 
 Catholic children in the schools," and called upon all Catho- 
 lics " to pray and to work for justice." 
 
 Following, however, the precedent set in the Jesuits' 
 Estates Case, the Public Schools' bill was allowed by the 
 Government to go into operation, as well as the one 
 abolishing the official use of the French language in the Pro- 
 vincial Legislature. But in the case of the Schools' Act the 
 Government intimated its willingness to pay the expenses 
 involved in testing the constitutionality of the measure. 
 Meantime, appeal had been entered by Mr. J. K. Barrett, of 
 Winnipeg, in the interest of the local Catholic ratepayers, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 261 
 
 and against two city by-laws which imposed a rate of taxa- 
 tion upon Catholics and Protestants alike, for the support 
 of the public schools. He claimed that the old law was 
 still in force, and based his case upon the 22nd section of 
 the Manitoba Act, under which the Province entered the 
 Union, and which states that " Nothing in any such law 
 (Provincial) shall prejudicially affect any right or privilege, 
 with respect to denominational schools, which any class of 
 persons have by law or practice in the Province at the 
 Union." 
 
 The Manitoba Government maintained, as against this 
 plea, that a Separate School system was not really in exist- 
 ence prior to the Province entering the Confederation and 
 that consequently the Roman Catholic minority possessed 
 no guarantee whatever. On the 2nd of February, 1891, 
 the Court of Queen's Bench in Manitoba had sustained the 
 validity of the Act, three Judges being favourable and one 
 opposed. Chief Justice Taylor gave an able review of the 
 case, holding in substance that the general educational in- 
 terests of the people had been dealt with under the dispu- 
 ted legislation and that no rights or privileges possessed 
 before confederation had been affected. Mr. Justice Dubuc 
 — a French-Canadian — dissented and upheld the Catholic 
 contention. The case was at once appealed to the Supreme 
 Court of Canada. 
 
 Towards the end of October judgment was given by 
 the latter body declaring the Act ultra vires, allowing 
 the appeals, and quashing the city by-laws. Chief Justice 
 Ritchie in presenting the unanimous decision of the Court 
 held that the Act of Union prohibited the abolition of 
 Separate Schools by Local Legislatures. There was, of 
 course, great excitement in Winnipeg over the result, and 
 the Local Government annom c^d its intention of at once 
 appealing the case to the Imperial Privy Council. At the 
 
262 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 same time a similar test case on behalf of the Church of 
 England in Manitoba, and claiming the right of that body 
 to have separate schools, on the ground that the Episcopa- 
 lians had possessed parochial schools prior to the Union, 
 was also sent forward on appeal. Late in July, 1892, the 
 decision of the highest British Court of Appeal upheld the 
 Manitoba Courts, declared the legality of the Act of 1890, 
 and reversed the judgment of the Supreme Court of the 
 Dominion. Meantime, in advising the Governor-General - 
 in-Council to allow the Act in due course, Sir John Thomp- 
 son as Minister of Justice, submitted a Report on March 
 21st, 1891, which has since been the cause of considerable 
 controversy. He reviewed the admitted legal powers of 
 the Provincial Legislature with regard to education, and 
 the questions of fact, of practice, or of privilege which he 
 declared it would be wiser to leave to the decision of the 
 Courts, than for any Government to attempt to deal with. 
 " If the appeal should be successful these Acts will be an- 
 nulled by judicial decision and the Roman Catholic minority 
 in Manitoba will receive protection and redress." He then 
 pointed out that if on the other hand the legal controversy 
 should result in the Manitoba Courts being sustained the 
 time would come for consideration by the Government of 
 the various petitions which had been presented on behalf 
 of the ministry, under the terms of a portion of Section 22 
 of the Manitoba Act which reads : "An appeal shall lie to 
 the Governor-General-in-Council from any act or decision 
 of the Legislature of the Province, or of any provincial 
 authority affecting any right or privilege of the Protestant 
 or Roman Catholic minority of the Queen's subjects, in rela- 
 t : on to education." . . . Parliament may make remedial 
 laws for the due execution of the provisions of this section, 
 and of any decision of the Governor-General-in-Council." 
 It has often been said since, that Sir John Thompson 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 263 
 
 expected the Schools' Act to be declared ultra vires, and 
 did not anticipate that this right of appeal to the Govern- 
 ment would ever be asked for or utilized. But his language 
 in concluding this Report does not seem to admit of two 
 meanings : " Those sub-sections contain in effect the provi- 
 sions which have been made as to all the Provinces, and 
 are obviously those under which the constitution intended 
 that the Government of the Dominion should proceed if it 
 should at any time become necessary that the Federal 
 powers should be resorted to for the protection of a Protes- 
 tant or Roman Catholic minority against any Act or deci- 
 sion of the Legislature of the Province or of any provincial 
 authority, affecting 'any right or privilege' of any such 
 minority ' in relation to education.' " 
 
 Upon the decision of the Judicial Committee of the 
 Privy Council being announced, the agitation for an appeal 
 to the Government and for remedial legislature was 
 renewed, and, of course, drew increased strength from the 
 Report just quoted, although Sir John afterwards claimed, 
 and especially in the House during a debate on April 26th, 
 1894, that he only referred to the petitions received at that 
 time and took this method of indicating that they could 
 not then* be considered while the matter was still pending 
 in the Courts. Strong language was used upon both sides 
 in connection with the possibility of executive interference. 
 The Toronto Mail declared on August 2nd that " the 
 tribunal of last resort has pronounced Manitoba free ; and 
 free that Province shall be if the English population has 
 any voice in the government of this country." Mr. Mercier, 
 speaking in Montreal on February 23rd following, urged 
 with equal emphasis upon the people of Quebec that " we 
 must put aside all the divisions and hatreds of the past, 
 and join in a fraternal union to place two millions of 
 French Canadians against the oppression of the other 
 Provinces." 
 
264 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Meantime the Dominion Government had appointed a 
 Sub- Committee of Council composed of Sir John Thomp- 
 son, the Hon. Mr. Bowell and the Hon. Mr. Chapleau, to 
 hear the appeals which had been previously presented, and 
 to listen to Mr. John S. Ewart, Q.C., of Winnipeg, on behalf 
 of the petitioners. On November 27th, Mr. Ewart intro- 
 duced his case and made a strong deliverance, and on 
 January 6th following, the Sub-Committee reported to the 
 Governor-General-in-Council a synopsis of the whole matter, 
 prepared, in all probability, by Sir John Thompson, and 
 recommending that another hearing should be given in 
 which the Government of Manitoba might be represented. 
 The Provincial Ministry refused, however, to consider the 
 question as in any way open or to send a representative. 
 The Report also indicated certain bases for consideration as 
 to whether the Governor-General-in-Council really had the 
 power to grant remedial legislation under existing circum- 
 stances. 
 
 These suggestions were subsequently brought before 
 the Supreme Court in the form of six questions, and were 
 dealt with on February 26th, 1894, by a judgment of 
 interpretation, which held that the Roman Catholics had no 
 ground upon which to ask for such legislation. The Court 
 stood three to two upon the question, Mr. Justice Sedge- 
 wick not taking part in the case as he had assisted in its 
 preparation while acting as Deputy-Minister of Justice. 
 Curiously enough, Mr. Justice King, who, as Premier, had 
 many years before assisted in abolishing the New Bruns- 
 wick Separate Schools, supported the Catholic contention, 
 while Mr. Justice Taschereau, a French Canadian, opposed 
 the claims of his own co-religionists. Incidentally, this 
 illustrates the high character of the Canadian Judiciary. 
 From this decision the minority once more appealed to the 
 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and it was not 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 265 
 
 until after the death of Sir John Thompson that a decision 
 was finally reached by that distinguished body, declaring 
 that the Dominion Government under the British North 
 America and Manitoba Acts did possess the right to grant 
 the remedial legislation which had been so clearly fore- 
 shadowed as constitutionally possible by the Minister of 
 Justice's famous Report in 1891. 
 
 Following upon the Government's assumption of judi- 
 cial functions in connection with the hearing of the peti- 
 tions, and prior to the submission of the new phase of the 
 question to the Imperial Privy Council, an interesting 
 debate took place in the House of Commons on March 6th, 
 1893, which was engineered by that master of political 
 fireworks, Mr. J. Israel Tarte. The member for L'Islet had 
 just returned from a campaign in his constituency during 
 which he had vigourously abused the Judiciary of Quebec, 
 and threatened innumerable revelations of Tory and 
 national corruption. He was, therefore, in splendid trim 
 to fight on behalf of the Manitoba minority, or in fact, 
 upon any other question which might injure the Govern- 
 ment of the day. His motion expressed " disapproval of 
 the action of the Government in dealing with the Manitoba 
 school question, and in assuming to be possessed of judicial 
 functions conflicting with their duties as constitutional 
 advisers of the Crown." 
 
 His speech was, as usual, rather interesting, and intro- 
 duced, as was also generally the case, a new charge. He 
 declared that in December, 1890, when the general elec- 
 tions were coming on, Mr. Chapleau had been sent as a 
 delegate from the Government to see Archbishop Tache\ 
 who was then in Montreal, and that during the interview 
 which took place he made distinct and formal promises as 
 to Conservative policy in the Manitoba Schools' question. 
 The impulsive Frenchman then pointed triumphantly to 
 
266 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the report of the Minister of Justice in (he month of March 
 following, as being the public pledge resulting from the 
 private promises. Of course, this statement aroused con- 
 siderable discussion, although Mr. Tarte's tendency to make 
 rash and irresponsible charges at a moment's notice, hardly 
 made it a matter of importance. In a subsequent criticism 
 of the member for L'Islet, Mr. Lariviere, a Conservative 
 member from Manitoba, was decidedly witty. He declared 
 that M r. Tarte " had belonged to all parties, past and 
 present (and he was going to say, future) in Canada. He 
 had said that he came to the House as a Conservative to 
 make the party pure, and what was the result ? Mr. Tarte 
 was the first man to be out of the party." 
 
 Sir John Thompson in his reply made a lengthy and 
 elaborate defence of the Government. It cannot be said 
 that he had a sympathetic audience. However wise might 
 be the action of the Ministry in exercising care ; in giving 
 every side a fair and full hearing; in having every legal 
 security for its policy in the premises; the delay could 
 hardly be popular with the great body of ministerial 
 supporters from the West or from Ontario. They wanted 
 the question out of the way, as did the Opposition mem- 
 bers from the latter province, and disallowance was so 
 against the current of thought and sentiment in Ontario 
 that, the principle of full justice to a minority hardly 
 obtained fair play, so far as individual feeling was con- 
 cerned, though receiving it in practice through the votes 
 and passive support of the members. Upon questions of 
 this nature Mr. McCarthy would have been naturally the 
 leader of his Province, had he not in so many ways 
 estranged Conservative sympathy. And perhaps, in the 
 interest of Canadian unity, it is as well that such was the 
 
 case. 
 
 The Premier claimed that Mr. Tarte and Mr. McCarthy, 
 

 Hon. Joseph Martin, Q.C., M.P., 
 
 Late Attorney-General of Manitoba. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 269 
 
 though as opposite as the poles in their opinions, were in 
 this motion working together against the Government. 
 He referred to the New Brunswick school case and to that 
 of Prince Edward Island, and pointed out that in both 
 cases the Roman Catholic minority had appealed on the 
 ground of its rights being prejudicially affected. Parlia- 
 ment had then laid down the principle that such questions 
 ought not to be settled by disallowance, and this position 
 had been further sustained by the action taken in the 
 Jesuits' Estates question, although the latter dealt with a 
 Protestant minority. In dealing with Mr. Tarte's charge 
 regarding the alleged promise to Archbishop Tache\ he 
 " denied that any such promise had been made, or that any 
 Minister, or any other gentleman, or any living person 
 was sent or delegated or authorized by the Government of 
 Canada to go upon any such mission." Archbishop Tache 
 " knew, as the Government knew, the folly of exercising 
 disallowance in such a case." 
 
 Replying to the question whether the decision in the 
 New Brunswick case was not sufficient in its general 
 application, without new appeals, Sir John pointed out the 
 obvious fact that the rights of the respective minorities 
 rested on different statutes. Then he continued : " In con- 
 sequence of the phraseology of the Supreme Court Act, the 
 Government had no other alternative than to submit the 
 case the way it did, but they were far from being influ- 
 enced by any desire to assail the province. The litigation 
 which went to the Judicial Committee of the Privy 
 Council was from first to last on the subject of the validity 
 of the statutes complained of. The question as to what 
 rights the minority might have in an application by way 
 of appeal to the Governor-General for redress, had nothing 
 to do with the question decided there in the first appeal, 
 and the litigation had nothing to do with it." 
 
270 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 He spoke of the ground taken by Mr. Blake in 1890, 
 when calling the attention of the House to these very 
 matters, and claimed that his arguments at that timo 
 " applied with powerful force to this particular question ; 
 that Sir John Macdonald accepted the resolution submitted 
 by Mr. Blake in the sense in which it was put forward ; 
 and that in the following year it was assented to by the 
 whole of Parliament in being embodied in the Supreme 
 Court Act. The exact machinery which the Government 
 had followed in the Manitoba schools' case was that which 
 Mr. Blake had suggested and Parliament had adopted." 
 
 A vigourous defence of the right of the Government 
 under the constitution to receive petitions in a judicial, 
 and not a political sense, was made, and the Premier 
 instanced as a case in point the duties assigned by Act of 
 Parliament to the Railway Committee of the Canadian 
 Privy Council. He concluded a strong speech with the 
 expression of a belief that Manitoba as a constitutional 
 province would " obey the dictates of the highest Court of 
 the Empire as to what its constitution was." 
 
 Mr. McCarthy on the succeeding day replied to this 
 defence, and soundly denounced the Government for its 
 delay in settling this much vexed question. The decision, 
 one way or the other, was vital. " It was whether the 
 Province of Manitoba, with a population of 150,000, of 
 whom not more than 20,000 were Roman Catholics, was 
 to have imposed upon it against its will, a Separate 
 School system." He declared that three-quarters of the 
 people in Ontario were altogether opposed to that method 
 of education, and thought "nothing more dangerous, 
 nothing more subversive of the principles of our constitu- 
 tion, could be tolerated than that the Cabinet of the 
 Dominion should assume to act in this or any other ques- 
 tion, as a judicial body. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 271 
 
 Mr. Laurier made an interesting assertion in connection 
 with a new claim from the Manitoban minority to the 
 effect that the limited religious teaching allowed in the 
 public schools of that Province made them, in fact and 
 reality, Protestant, and not national, schools. " If," said he, 
 " this be indeed true ; if, under the guise of public schools, 
 the Protestant schools are being continued and Roman 
 Catholic children are being forced to attend these Protes- 
 tant schools, I say, and let my words.be heard by friends 
 and foes over the length and breadth of the land, the 
 strongest case has been made out for interference, and 
 though my life as a public man depended upon it, I would 
 undertake to say on every platform in Ontario and in 
 Manitoba that the Roman Catholics of Manitoba had been 
 put to the most infamous treatment." But the force of 
 this utterance is somewhat modified by the fact that the 
 genial Liberal leader afterwards visited the Prairie Province 
 but refused to make any definite pronouncement upon the 
 question of whether the schools were in any degree Protes- 
 tant or were not. After three days' debate, the division 
 was taken and Mr. Tarte's resolution was defeated by 120 
 to 71. 
 
 There can be little doubt in an unbiassed mind as to 
 what were Sir John Thompson's private views upon this 
 question. It would naturally be one of sympathy with his 
 co-religionists in the hardships they claimed to have 
 suffered and in the injustice alleged to have been meted 
 out to them, and which had been so vigourously pourtrayed 
 by the hierarchy of his own Church. To the sincere 
 Roman Catholic, religious schools appear to be as vital and 
 important as is free speech to the agitator, liberty of wor- 
 ship to the Protestant, or British connection to the loyalist. 
 Publicly, his policy in this matter indicated the fullest 
 intention to do his duty by the State whichever way the 
 
272 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 verdict of the Courts might eventually go, but it also 
 pointed very distinctly to the expectation, if not hope, that 
 some measure of remedial legislation would be ultimately 
 found necessary, and thus harmonize duty and inclination. 
 And who can blame an honest Canadian, be he Protestant 
 or Roman Catholic, for desiring such an end to any vexed 
 question ? So long as a public man and a statesman puts 
 duty first and personal wishes second, he cannot be fairly 
 criticised for hoping that the two may be eventually com- 
 bined. Nor can Sir John Thompson be blamed by any 
 honourable man for giving a Canadian religious minority 
 every possible opportunity for obtaining consideration of 
 alleged wrongs and the use of every available judicial priv- 
 ilege. 
 
 Looking at the question, therefore, from his stand- 
 point as a public man, it was essentially a legal and consti- 
 tutional issue ; one which ought to be kept from the heated 
 arena of party politics ; and one which might well be 
 decided upon a non-partisan basis of toleration and liber- 
 ality. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 273 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Canada and the United States. 
 
 Upon no question was the stand taken by Sir John 
 Thompson more clear and distinct, more honourable and 
 popular, than his position regarding Canadian relation. 5 
 with the United States. He was known to hold strong 
 opinions as to American treatment of the Dominion, and 
 concerning the policy for Canada to adopt in return. He 
 despised any attitude of weakness or timidity ; he disliked 
 all bluster or attempts at intimidation ; he was honestly 
 anxious to be upon the friendliest terms with the great Re- 
 public which might be compatible with the protection and 
 development of Canadian interests. But he was firm as a 
 rock in the refusal to discuss any reciprocity which might 
 endanger national industries or give the slightest hostile 
 treatment to British interests. 
 
 For many years past the American government has 
 been apparently willing to come to some commercial 
 arrangement with Canada which might give the manufac- 
 turers of the United States control of the markets of the 
 Dominion, and at the same time weaken British connection 
 by the congenial process of cutting away the ground from 
 under British trade and diminishing the Imperial sentiment 
 in both Canada and England through a commercial system of 
 discrimination against the products of the Mother-Country. 
 To this end the Commercial Union movement was aided by 
 American influence and, according to party statements, by 
 American money. For this thinly disguised purpose, the 
 fulminations of Mr. Goldwin Smith against Canadian pro- 
 
 18 
 
274 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 tectioD were joyfully welcomed by the enthusiastic support- 
 ers of American protection. With this in view, resolutions 
 favourable to commercial relations of the closest kind were 
 passed by Congress, while limited reciprocity was abso- 
 lutely refused by the Government. Now and then, when 
 the success of other methods was recognised for the 
 moment as impossible, threats were freely used against the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway, attacks were made upon the 
 Bonding system, or fiscal coercion was tried such as that 
 embodied in the agricultural schedule of the McKinley bill. 
 
 Yet it can be safely said that Canada has more than 
 done its duty towards the United States. It has never 
 abrogated a treaty, never broken an arrangement, never 
 obtained American territory by playing upon the natural 
 weakness of friendly negotiators. It has given much and 
 received little. Many unavailing attempts have been made 
 to obtain a fair measure of reciprocity. Friendly manifes- 
 tations have been constant from the days when 40,000 
 Canadians served in the armies of the North, to the time 
 when all Canada joined the Republic in mourning for the 
 murdered Garfield. The partial abrogation of the Wash- 
 ington Treaty, the Behring Sea seizures, the Atlantic Fish- 
 eries' dispute, and the Washington negotiations of 1892, 
 occupy the other side of the shield. 
 
 And not the least of the services which Sir John 
 Thompson rendered the Dominion was his share in the 
 attempt made in 1892 to obtain a reciprocal trade arrange- 
 ment with the United States. That last prolonged effort 
 indicated in its results as clearly as language could express, 
 the impossibility of obtaining a treaty such as Canadians 
 could honourably accept. It proved to a demonstration that 
 the American Government would consider no arrangement 
 which did not discriminate against British goods, place a 
 uniform tariff around the continent, and establish some 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 275 
 
 system of international receipts and excise, controlled by a 
 Joint Commission. This statement, of course, applies only 
 to a Republican policy. The Democratic party will make 
 no reciprocity treaties with any country, believing that 
 they do more harm than good, though no doubt it would 
 negotiate upon the basis of annexation. 
 
 On the 31st of March, 1891, and some three weeks 
 after the general elections, Sir Charles Tupper proceeded to 
 Washington in order to confer with the British ambassador, 
 Sir Julian Pauncefote, concerning the proposed reciprocity 
 negotiations. On April 2nd he visited Mr. Blaine, the Sec- 
 retary of State, and explained the desire of the Canadian 
 Government to obtain some immediate basis for discussion. 
 Mr. Blaine apparently received the proposition with favour, 
 and Sir Charles, returning to Ottawa, obtained the co- 
 operation of the Hon. Mr. Foster, Minister of Finance, and 
 Sir John Thompson, Minister of Justice, who were appointed 
 to act with him at the informal interview which had been 
 arranged, and during the farther negotiations which were 
 expected. 
 
 The three delegates arrived in Washington on the 
 morning of the 6th inst. only to find that they had missed 
 a telegram from Mr. Blaine, asking for the postponement of 
 the meeting on the ground that the President desired to be 
 present during the discussion — which his engagements just 
 then did not permit. However, accompanied by the British 
 Ambassador, they waited upon the Secretary of State and 
 were cordially received. The conference was, of course, 
 very brief and the visitors left for home the same day. 
 The New York Herald very pleasantly announced that 
 their return was " neither desired nor expected," and that 
 "apart from his own reasons for not letting down the Mc- 
 Kinley barriers raised against the introduction of Canadian 
 live stock, and farm and dairy produce, the President had 
 
276 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 excellent grounds for believing that the Senate would not 
 ratify any reciprocity made with Canada." On April 9th 
 following it was stated that the negotiations would be 
 renewed on October 12th. At that date another postpone- 
 ment took place on account of Mr. Blaine's ill-health, but 
 finally the conference was held early in 1892, commencing 
 on the 10th of February. 
 
 The discussion which then took place between Sir 
 John Thompson, the Hon. Mackenzie Bowell and the Hon. 
 G. E. Foster, representing Canada ; Sir Julian Pauncefote 
 representing Great Britain ; and the Hon. James G. Blaine 
 and General J. W. Foster representing the United States ; 
 was exceedingly important. An understanding was come 
 to regarding the Alaskan boundary, the adoption of joint 
 regulations for the protection of the fisheries, for recipro- 
 city in wrecking, salvage, and towing in conterminous 
 waters, and for the marking of the boundary-line on Passa- 
 maquaddy Bay. But it was upon the question of trade 
 relations that the hitch occurred and it was in the same 
 connection that the results were so vital. The official min- 
 utes of the meetings, from which a few extracts must be 
 given, are signed by the three Canadian Ministers, and 
 then in addition there is each day appended the statement 
 " 1 concur in the above minute of proceedings," signed by 
 Sir Julian Pauncefote. Strong partisans might possibly 
 dispute a statement supported only by the signatures of 
 members of the Canadian Government, but no one with 
 any knowledge of the honourable traditions and practices 
 of* British diplomacy, and of the high rank and reputation 
 held in it by the British Ambassador at Washington, can 
 for a moment doubt the accuracy of minutes endorsed by 
 him as correct. 
 
 During the conference which took place on the first 
 day, Mr. Blaine pointed out that no treaty or arrangement 
 
I 
 
 £yiA^^scAn~ 
 
 j 
 
 Hon. John Christian Schultz, 
 
 Lieut. -Governor of Manitoba. ■ 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 279 
 
 could be made which did not involve the admission of 
 American manufactures into Canada. Mr. Foster asked in 
 return " whether the United States would insist on differ- 
 ential treatment." Mr. Blaine replied " that the treaty 
 would be of no benefit to the United States if the like 
 treatment were given to other countries, especially as Great 
 Britain was in active competition with the United States 
 in almost every line of manufacture." On the following 
 day " Mr. Foster frankly and fully explained the difficulties 
 which prevented Canada from giving any discrimination 
 to America over British goods or of arranging for the 
 admission of all products free from one country to the 
 other. Revenue considerations, national sentiment, and 
 trade reasons all intervened. Mr. Blaine was equally frank 
 in his reply and declared that " he could easily understand 
 why Canada was reluctant to enter into a treaty of un- 
 limited reciprocity, but that it was clear to his mind that 
 no other arrangement would suit the United States, and 
 that it must be accompanied by discrimination in favor of 
 the United States, especially against Great Britain, who 
 was their great competitor, and that it must likewise be 
 accompanied by the adoption of a uniform tariff for the 
 United States and Canada equal to that of the United 
 States." 
 
 Such was the announcement which might have been 
 expected to set at rest all question concerning reciprocal 
 trade relations between Canada and the United States. 
 But it was very far from doing so. The Budget debate in 
 Parliament during the succeeding Session bore ample 
 evidence of the fact that the Opposition proposed to adopt 
 in this connection, and in its fullest meaning, the words 
 " No surrender." After a number of speeches, protesting, 
 urging, explaining and denying, Sir John Thompson took 
 the floor on March 29th, and gave a very complete history 
 
280 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 of the origin, procedure, and results of the negotiations. 
 Their commencement had been very simple. In connection 
 with Newfoundland's attempt to make a separate treaty in 
 1890 : " We requested Her Majesty's Government to ask 
 that we should be included in any negotiation that took 
 place between the United States and Her Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment in regard to the relations of Newfoundland with 
 the United States, and the answer of Mr. Blaine was that, 
 while he was not willing that Canada should be included 
 in negotiations in regard to the Treaty with Newfoundland, 
 he expressed a strong desire to conclude a wide reciprocity 
 treaty with Canada." 
 
 Then followed the basis for negotiations cabled to 
 London, which also furnished the reason for the dissolution 
 of Parliament in February, 1891. Meantime Lord Knuts- 
 ford, Colonial Secretary, had wired the Governor-General 
 to the following effect on January 2nd of that year: 
 
 " Mr. Blaine replied that to endeavour to obtain the 
 appointment of the formal commission to arrive at the 
 reciprocity treaty would be useless, but that the United 
 States Government was willing to discuss the question in 
 private with Sir Julian Pauncefote, and one or more 
 delegates from Canada, and to consider every subject as to 
 which there was hope of agreement, on the ground of 
 mutual interests; if not, and to run so grave a step until 
 by private discussion he has satisfied himself that good 
 ground existed for expecting an agreement by means of a 
 commission. He added that he would be prepared to enter 
 into private negotiations at any time after 4th March." 
 
 In this despatch, Sir John Thompson pointed out, there 
 was no request, as there had been none in any of the pre- 
 vious or following correspondence, for secrecy as to the 
 fact of the negotiations taking place. The discussions 
 were to be private, as a matter of course in all diplomatic 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 281 
 
 negotiations, but there was apparently nothing to prevent 
 the Government from making a public announcement in 
 the matter. Hence his great surprise when Mr. Blaine, on 
 April 1st, and after the elections were over, complained to 
 Sir Julian Pauncefote that a breach of faith had been com- 
 mitted. It now transpired, said Sir John, that a serious 
 blunder had occurred in the sending of the above despatch 
 from London to Ottawa, and that in the place where it 
 will be noticed a hitch in the composition occurs, a sentence 
 was originally included asking that " all public reference to 
 the subject should be avoided." This explanation was 
 received with satisfaction, and if proof were required that 
 the American authorities had long since understood the 
 mistake it had been offered in the sitting of the Conference 
 itself. 
 
 During this year the Canal Tolls' question came up 
 for international consideration. It was another illustration 
 of the unreasonable demands made by the United States 
 in circumstances where Canada was, in a very moderate 
 way, following the example of the Republic and guarding 
 its own interests. By the Washington Treaty of 1871, the 
 American Government had engaged in return for the use 
 of the Canadian canals on terms of equality with the 
 citizens of the Dominion, " to urge upon the State Govern - 
 ments to secure to the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty 
 the use of the several canals connected with the navigation 
 of the lakes or rivers traversed by, or contiguous to, the 
 boundary line." This was never done, although in all the 
 years that followed, the Americans freely used the canals 
 upon which Canada and its people had spent over $50,- 
 000,000 in improvement and enlargement. 
 
 In every way the Americans and Canadians were 
 placed in Dominion waters upon an equal footing. But of 
 late, the Canadian Government had passed regulations 
 
282 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 which granted a rebate of 18 cents per ton to any vessel 
 of either country which, coming through the Welland 
 Canal and without going to ail American port for tranship- 
 ment, should send her cargo via Canadian ports or canals 
 to Montreal. Yet this little measure of legitimate protec- 
 tion to Canadian interests raised such a stir as to finally 
 result in a Retaliation Message from the President, and in 
 all kinds of threatened complications. And this from a 
 country which by some miserable quibble had got out of 
 the privileges granted in American canals under the sacred 
 form of treaty obligations ! President Haivison's proclama- 
 tion of August 21st, compelled Canadian vessels to pay 20 
 cents a ton in passing through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, 
 and the same toll was to be levied on American vessels 
 bound for Canadian ports. 
 
 Naturally this measure interfered considerably with 
 the Canadian vessels, which in 1891 used the Sault Canal, 
 and carried freight to the extent of 314,000 tons, and 
 passengers to the number of 10,000. The Government did 
 not at first feel like yielding a point in which they had 
 both right and justice upon their side. Speaking at 
 Petrolia on September 7th, Sir John Thompson declared 
 that Canada had never adopted a hostile attitude towards 
 the States, or that the Government in this matter had 
 acted unfairly or contrary to treaty obligations. He 
 pointed out that the enormous sums which had been 
 expended by Canada upon her canals had " resulted as 
 much for the benefit of the people of the Western States 
 as for the people of Canada. Every foot which Canada 
 had deepened her canals or widened them, and every 
 additional lock or canal which Canada had built, helped 
 the western farmer of the United States to reach his 
 market, and enhanced the value of his products." 
 
 He announced, however, that the Dominion would not 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 283 
 
 meet the irritating enactments of the United States in a 
 beligerent mood, although the Americans had so long 
 used these canals " upon the same terms as our own people, 
 bearing not one dollar of the burden which it had cost to 
 build them." What the Government had done in this con- 
 nection was entirely within its rights, and consisted in the 
 grant of "a bonus to our lake marine and shipping to 
 cause them to seek our own ports." They had been urged 
 to retaliate, as they well could do, but they were anxious 
 to avoid quarrels even though, as he believed in this case, 
 the spirit of the Canadian people would fully sustain them 
 throughout. Hence the Government had said that " while 
 the rebate system was not a violation of any treaty, they 
 were willing to discontinue it after the present year, not 
 because of any wrong involved, but simply for the sake of 
 peace and good neighborhood." There was, of course, some 
 criticism regarding this apparent surrender, but it is toler- 
 ably obvious in view of the rapid work then being done 
 on the Canadian canal at the Sault — which would soon 
 render the country entirely independent in the matter — 
 that the issue was hardly worth a prolonged dispute with 
 unreasonable neighbors. 
 
 Another subject of serious controversy in which the 
 relations of Canada and the United States were more or 
 less involved at this time, was the Bond-Blaine treaty. 
 Mr. Robert Bond was a member of the Whiteway Govern- 
 ment in Newfoundland, and like so many of the politicians 
 in that unhappy island seemed to possess a narrowness of 
 view, and an inability to appreciate imperial considerations 
 which it is difficult to understand, when united with the 
 possession of admitted ability. He was exceedingly 
 anxious to negotiate a reciprocity treaty with the United 
 States, and does not appear to have cared very much as to 
 the methods he might adopt in attaining the result, or as 
 
284 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 to the way in which the desired end might affect other 
 countries with which Newfoundland was connected by the 
 mutual tie of allegiance. 
 
 Early in October, 1890, Mr. Bond arrived in Washing- 
 ton with permission from the Imperial Government to enter 
 upon negotiations, subject to the assistance of the British 
 Ambassador, and, of course, to the final approval of the 
 arrangements when completed. Hitherto, in 1854, in 1871, 
 and in 1888, any negotiations concerning the fisheries, in 
 which the Maritime Provinces of Canada were almost as 
 much interested as the people of the Island, had proceeded 
 concurrently. Necessarily, therefore, the Dominion Govern- 
 ment was aroused to action, and Sir John A. Macdonald at 
 once cabled to the High Commissioner in London : " Can 
 scarcely believe Newfoundland has received authority from 
 Imperial Government to make separate arrangement 
 regarding- fisheries. The relations of all the North Ameri- 
 can provinces to the United States and the Empire would 
 be affected. Please represent strongly how the fishing and 
 commercial interests of Canada will be injured by such an 
 arrangement as Bond is currently reported to be making. 
 . . . Our difficulties under the new American tariff are 
 sufficiently great now." 
 
 An elaborate report was also submitted to the Gov- 
 ernor-General-in-Council, signed by Sir John Thompson, 
 Minister of Justice, and by the Hon. C. H. Tupper, Minister 
 of Marine and Fisheries. It dealt with the history of 
 previous negotiations and with the general condition of 
 the fishing interests which would be affected by the Bond- 
 Blaine proposals. Then, in reference to the McKinley bill ; 
 the infringement of the Treaty of 1818 ; and the obvious 
 fact that an arrangement such as that exhibited in the 
 draft which had just been published ; would permit New- 
 foundland to discriminate against Canada in favour of a 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 285 
 
 foreign country, Sir John and his colleague entered the 
 following vigourous, effective, and now historic, protest : 
 
 " The protection afforded by the Treaty of 1818 for 
 upwards of seventy years would thus be taken away from 
 Canadian fishermen and Newfoundland fishermen alike, 
 but there would be special compensation to the fishermen 
 of Newfoundland in the shape of removal of duties, while 
 the Canadian fishermen would be made to pay enhanced 
 duties under the new American tariff. While this would, 
 perhaps, be the most effectual method of impressing on the 
 minds of the Canadian people the lesson that they cannot 
 be British subjects and enjoy American markets, Her 
 Majesty's Government can hardly, on reflection, feel sur- 
 prised that Your Excellency's Government have not for a 
 moment believed that Her Majesty's ministers would co- 
 operate with the authorities of the United States in incul- 
 cating such a lesson at the present time." 
 
 The report was accepted by the Cabinet and sent to 
 England, x^l though previously favourable to some arrange- 
 ment, no British Government of the present day would act 
 in the teeth of such a protest from Canada, and the treaty 
 was promptly " hung up." Then followed the effort by the 
 Dominion to obtain a joint treaty of reciprocity, and its 
 failure after prolonged negotiations. Meantime the indig- 
 nation of the Islanders was very great, and the correspon- 
 dence between their Government and those of Canada and 
 England became peppery in the extreme. Newfoundland 
 tried to retaliate by refusing to sell bait to Canadian 
 fishermen, while giving Americans all they desired, and 
 the Dominion returned the compliment by putting a moder- 
 ate duty on fish coming from the Island. Eventually a 
 Conference was agreed upon and in November, 1892, Sir 
 John Thompson, the Hon. Mackenzie Bowell and the Hon. 
 J. A. Chapleau, representing Canada ; Sir William White- 
 
286 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 way, the Hon. Robert Bond, and Mr. A. W. Harvey, 
 
 representing Newfoundland ; met at Halifax to discuss a 
 mutual arrangement, and incidentally, on the part of the 
 Canadian Ministers, to see if the troubles could be settled 
 upon a basis of confederation. 
 
 The Canadian Minister of Justice in opening the dis- 
 cussion, reviewed the history of previous negotiations ; 
 pointed out that the Bond-Blaine Treaty would have 
 resulted in a distinct discrimination against Canada ; and 
 would have greatly restricted the rights and privileges of 
 her fishermen. He suggested that the following principles 
 should be assented to : 
 
 I. That Canada as well as Newfoundland should have 
 the right to take part in such treaties or any negotiations 
 which would affect the interests of both countries. 
 
 II. That at the very least, no convention should be 
 concluded which both countries should not have the right 
 to avail themselves of. 
 
 He went on to say that " the efforts to obtain a fair 
 arrangement with the United States were only relaxed 
 (by Canada) when it was found that the conditions imposed 
 would sow the seeds of Imperial disintegration," and he 
 thought that "any separate arrangement such as the Bond- 
 Blaine Convention would divide the hitherto united 
 interests of the British American dependencies." Mr. Bond 
 claimed that his Treaty did not involve any discrimination 
 against Canada, but Mr. Bowell promptly pointed out that 
 in Hour and other articles it provided for admission into 
 the States under lower duties than were granted similar 
 Canadian products. Then followed a discussion of an 
 informal kind upon Confederation. Mr. Bowell in an 
 earnest speech urged it as the best and, in fact, the inevit- 
 able, settlement of all their material difficulties, and as a 
 means of strengthening British power upon this continent. 
 
Very Rev. G. M. Gram-, D.D., 
 
 Principal of Queen's University, Kingston 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 289 
 
 Sir William White way expressed himself as favourable to 
 the principle, but thought the time had not yet come. 
 
 Sir John Thompson thought it ought to be carefully 
 considered by the Conference, and might constitute " a 
 solution of all pending difficulties." Mr. Harvey opposed 
 its being dealt with at this time, while Mr. Chapleau dis- 
 cussed the French Shore question. Eventually, an under- 
 standing was arrived at with regard to many of the minor 
 causes of friction, and a little later the Dominion and the 
 Island substantially resumed their old relations. But the 
 Canadian Government positively refused, speaking through 
 Sir John Thompson, to withdraw its protest against the 
 Bond-Blaine Treaty. Thus ended, for the time, another 
 incident in the external relations of Canada. 
 
 TO 
 
290 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVT. 
 
 Connection with the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 Sir John Thompson was not a man who wore his reli- 
 gion upon his coat-sleeve. In that respect, as in all other 
 matters of daily life, daily routine, and daily action, he was 
 unobtrusive and undemonstrative. But none the less was 
 he firm and earnest in his belief, and strong in a life which 
 practically embodied his deep sincerity. To him, as it is 
 to many others, religion was a matter of the most vital 
 personal importance, but it was One with which the public, 
 or even his own friends, so far as he was concerned, had 
 nothing to do. It was in his estimation and as far as can 
 be judged, the guide to conduct in his private life ; an aid 
 to right living and to right dying. 
 
 But no man's religion ought to be a subject of political 
 discussion or consideration. There can be little doubt that 
 he even thought the topic one too sacred for ordinary con- 
 versation, and that the denunciations which rang from 
 more than one Protestant pulpit and permeated the utter- 
 ances of sundry fervent and hot-headed divines during recent 
 years, were exceedingly painful to him. The miserable 
 insinuations which were current in certain circles ever 
 since the line of action which he considered it a duty and 
 necessity to tak'e in French- Canadian and Separate School 
 matters were shafts which pierced far deeper than could 
 have been thought possible by those who viewed the states- 
 man only by his generally impassive demeanour, and his 
 stoical composure under attack. 
 
 This particular mode of hostile action was indeed one 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 291 
 
 which he found it impossible to deal with. Religion would 
 in his opinion have been deeply degraded by a transfer 
 from the pulpit to the political platform. No defence was 
 possible or necessary for an honest man's change of creed, 
 and if he were dishonest in such a case there could be no 
 sincerity or honour about him. Reply therefore was out of 
 the question, and Sir John was obliged to endure in silence 
 the unfortunate attacks of sincere but misguided bigotry. 
 His life meanwhile was so clear, his reputation so high and 
 untarnished, that it is difficult to understand how honest 
 men could have persisted in the circulation of slanders 
 respecting his change of faith. 
 
 Though Sir John Thompson believed in religion as a 
 personal factor in daily life, there is everything to show 
 that he never intruded it upon the sphere of politics. Upon 
 this latter ground Christianity was a word wide enough in 
 application and meaning to cover all sects and creeds, and 
 the relations of a statesman to all national organizations. 
 He might have strong convictions upon certain points and 
 a strong sympathy with a certain church in private life 
 and private thought, but he was not in office because of 
 those beliefs or on account of that sympathy, and therefore 
 in administering the affairs of a complex nationality they 
 had no public place. This was apparently the way in 
 which Sir John looked at these sectarian issues and this 
 standpoint made the unprovoked attacks of the Rev. Dr. 
 Douglas, of the Protestant Protective Association and of 
 other men and organizations, all the more difficult to bear. 
 
 And he was absolutely right in this view of a subject, 
 the great importance of which in his peculiar environment 
 is the only excuse for its consideration. But in all coun- 
 tries, religious conflict and struggle has been more or less a 
 curse. In some few cases it has made " the bounds of free- 
 dom broader yet," and has indirectly done much good 
 
292 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 through the promotion of liberty in discussion and govern- 
 ment. On the other hand, however, nearly all the historic 
 battle-fields of Christendom show the principles of bigotry 
 to have filled a far larger place than did ever the true spirit 
 of Christianity. Liberty would have come to the nations 
 in time had the feuds of sects and creeds never disgraced 
 the name of religion. When therefore the old-time senti- 
 ment of intolerance was revived in a new country of mixed 
 races and creeds, it was as much to be condemned as was ever 
 the inquisition of Spain or the execution of Roman 
 Catholics at the dictation of Titus Oates. 
 
 And when this feeling was promoted in order to 
 further personal prejudice, pander to individual ignorance, 
 or aid political ends, it became still more deplorable and 
 dangerous. Looking back over the period now passed 
 away forever, it is hard indeed to understand why such 
 fierce personal attacks were made upon Sir John Thompson, 
 or how some of the men who led in the campaign could 
 have been so blind. It was perfectly legitimate to criticise 
 the policy of the Minister and of his party, as well as that 
 of the Opposition, in connection with the Jesuits' Estates 
 Act. It was within the right of every public man, and of 
 every individual, to denounce that policy from a political 
 or national standpoint. But why should the Minister of 
 Justice have been picked out to be the victim of so many 
 charges of undue religious influence ? Mr. Laurier never en- 
 countered them, though a sincere Roman Catholic in faith 
 and practice. The real reason seems to have been his leaving 
 one Church to join another. Yet under the circumstances 
 of the time the change involved serious danger to his 
 prospects in life. His friends were in the main Protestants, 
 and strict Methodists ; he had then never seen Bishop 
 Cameron and could have had no idea of the services he 
 was afterwards to render ; he had no desire for public life 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 293 
 
 and certainly knew very little about Antigonish, which 
 happens to be one of the very few Catholic constituencies in 
 the Maritime Provinces ; his future success in law depended 
 c efly upon Protestant support ; his wife had no means of 
 her own and therefore could not have proffered him any 
 lure of wealth, even had he been so despicable in character 
 as to have considered such a matter. Yet all these things 
 were alleged against him, by men of undoubted sincerity. 
 
 No one now questions his honour and the earnest 
 honesty of his convictions. Archbishop O'Brien, of Hali- 
 fax, has stated in a communication written shortly after 
 the Premier's death, that* " It has always been well known 
 that conscientious convictions were the sole cause of his 
 submission to the Catholic Church. Such conversions are 
 not at all uncommon here. There was no earthly hope of 
 gain by the change ; rather the prospect of temporal loss. 
 Yet, so convinced were all Protestants of his sincerity, that 
 not one of his former friends deserted him." Bishop Cam- 
 eron writes in a similar strain, and uses language which 
 shows how great was the friendship existing between the 
 two men : " Neither then (the first election in Antigonish), 
 nor before, nor since, till the hour of his death, was the 
 subject of his religion discussed in anyway between us. 
 With an habitual realization of the Divine presence, he was 
 in every relation of life an exceptionally good man in the 
 best meaning of the word. I never expect to see in the 
 public life of Canada, another such man, take him all in 
 all." 
 
 What the exact process of reasoning was by which he 
 gradually, but surely, changed from Methodism to Roman 
 Catholicism, is shrouded in uncertainty. Possibly the 
 friendship in early days of a brilliant young Catholic 
 litterateur and controversialist, long since deceased — James 
 
 ♦Letter to the author, Dec. 19th, 1894. 
 
294 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Foley — may have first turned his thoughts in that direc- 
 tion ; undoubtedly the eloquent sermons, some years later, 
 of Archbishop Connolly, had something to do with the 
 final consummation. Probably also his own lack of im- 
 agination, his dislike of the merely emotional in religion and 
 life, his preference for precedence and power, over appeals to 
 passion or prejudice, had an influence upon the result. And 
 there is much in temperament. John Wesley, warm and 
 impulsive by nature ; liking publicity and excitement, could 
 not endure the cold religion of the Church of England, and 
 the dull formalism, which in his time, obscured its worth 
 and hampered its work. He sought some brighter and more 
 popular form of religion and found it in Methodism. Sir 
 John Thompson, on the other hand, with his cold disposi- 
 tion, his dislike of familiarity in the individual or on the 
 part of the public, his fondness for retirement, and rever- 
 ence for authority, must have naturally found the Metho- 
 dist Church uncongenial. One can hardly conceive such a 
 man as he in the post of class-leader, or mixing in the 
 pleasures of a congregational tea-meeting. 
 
 Hence there is no great difficulty in perceiving the 
 tendency of the man. And in his search after something 
 upon which to rest his mind, and in which to obtain com- 
 fort and release from perplexity, he seems to have been 
 deeply impressed by the spectacle of the Church of Rome, 
 based upon centuries of tradition, and building itself up 
 in power and prestige from the mists of antiquity. It had 
 already impressed and won over the great minds of New- 
 man and Manning, and no strong reason exists why the 
 same influences should not have modified, and finally 
 controlled, the faith of Sir John Thompson. The sense of 
 spiritual exaltation as experienced by many Protestants 
 does not appear to have had great force with him, and 
 strong as was his belief in a Divine Being, and in the prac- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 295 
 
 ical support derivable from prayer, lie was probably 
 greatly helped in the earlier stages of his religious experi- 
 ience by the external aid of authority as voiced by the 
 Church, with all its impressive forms and its many cere- 
 monies. 
 
 It took Cardinal Newman six years of mental difficulty 
 and gradual development to become a Roman Catholic. 
 Yet during the four years which preceded the period of 
 doubt, he tells us that he " honestly wished to benefit the 
 Church of England at the expense of the Church of Rome." 
 To Newman eventually, all the world outside of his Church 
 appeared drifting into atheism ; Catholic inquiry had in the 
 course of centuries been transmuted through the power of 
 great minds into a sort of science ; revealed dogma as ori- 
 ginally committed to the Church, and as declared by the 
 Church to the world, had assumed all the charm and cer- 
 tainty of infallibility. It was this that eased his mind of 
 doubt, and enabled him without the spiritual sense required 
 from a sincere Protestant, to throw himself into the arms of 
 Rome, and to say some time after his change of faith : " I have 
 had no anxiety of heart whatever. I have been in perfect 
 peace and contentment." So it may have been with Sir John 
 in his gradual change from Methodism. And it is interest- 
 ing to note in this connection upon the authority of an 
 intimate friend, who also served under him in a high posi- 
 tion, that the Minister of Justice before finally deciding 
 any important case — especially if it affected the life or the 
 property of an individual — would spend a few moments in 
 silent prayer. 
 
 Observers of sectarian agitation and its baneful results 
 may well ask how many of Sir John Thompson's critics 
 along these lines could be said to have thus brought their 
 religion into their daily life. There is much also to reflect 
 upon in Archbishop Walsh's statement regarding the 
 
296 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Premier who had then just died: "In his search after 
 truth, he but followed the Protestant principle of private 
 judgment, and yet for daring to do that which Manning 
 and Newman, and other brilliant, learned, and good men 
 had done before him, he was abused, vilified, and de- 
 nounced." There is equally a sad degree of truth in the 
 assertion of the Hon. G. W. Ross upon an important 
 political occasion at a later date, in the City of Toronto* 
 that the late Premier of Canada, the greatest and ablest 
 man in the Conservative party of the last few years, could 
 not have personally carried in an election some of the 
 wards in that Conservative centre It is at least suffici- 
 ently near the truth to point a serious moral in support of 
 civil and religious liberty. 
 
 Sir John Thompson could not for a long time under- 
 stand the motives or reasons behind the attacks of the Rev. 
 Dr. Douglas. They were so fierce and unreasonable and 
 grossly untrue, and yet emanated from a man so highly 
 respected, so eloquent and admittedly sincere, that it is 
 little wonder he was puzzled. The Methodist orator 
 declared the Premier to be " a clerical creation " ; pictured 
 him as " enthroned in order to manipulate with Jesuit art 
 the affairs of this country" ; described him as "a lay Jesuit 
 in the Government " ; spoke of " the contrast between the 
 great Chieftain of the past and the man who now sits in 
 his seat and wears the brand of pervert on his brow " ; 
 gravely accused him of having " transformed Mercier into 
 a political brigand," and seemingly endeavoured to make 
 his hearers and readers and followers believe that Sir John 
 Thompson accepted Roman Catholicism in order to promote 
 his political chances, and used his political power in order 
 to advance the interests of his Church. Such allegations 
 concerning a man who notoriously lacked political ambition 
 in the ordinary sense, and who possessed a sincerity and 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 297 
 
 strength of personal honour all too rare amongst public 
 men, should have borne their own answer with them. 
 
 But it appeared probable that Dr. Douglas must have 
 received inspiration from some special direction in making 
 these attacks. Sir John Thompson believed they were 
 instigated by outside influence at a time when the brilliant 
 intellect, or judgment, of the old man was somewhat 
 weakening. Though a Liberal in his politics, it was never 
 thought that the denunciation was dictated by personal par- 
 tisanship. It is understood, however, that Sir John had 
 ultimately every reason to believe that the information, or 
 mis-information, supplied to the eminent divine came from 
 a Methodist minister in Nova-Scotia who united with his 
 sacred profession a very violent dislike of the Conservative 
 party and its leaders. As illustrating the nature of other 
 religious attacks, it may be said that after a certain series 
 of bitter letters and miserable insinuations had appeared in 
 the Montreal Witness, Bishop Cameron wrote from Anti- 
 gonish saying that if one of the anonymous detractors 
 would come out from his concealment, he (the Bishop) 
 would prove his statements to be a mass of untruths. 
 His Lordship's challenge was, of course, never accepted. 
 
 Yet this was the treatment accorded in certain circles 
 to the man who took his political life in his hand, and on 
 behalf of the law, the whole law and nr thing but the law, 
 defied in 1886 the prejudices of his co-religionists in Quebec, 
 and saved the Government by a speech which embodied 
 the truest doctrines of equal rights for all, under the con- 
 stitution of the country. As he well said at London, Ont., on 
 Sept. 16th of that eventful year : " An attempt has been 
 made, as you know, to deceive the people of the Catholic 
 faith in the Province of Quebec and in the Lower Provinces 
 by the assertion that the law was carried out in Louis 
 Riel's execution at the demand of the Orange Association 
 
298 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 of Ontario. That statement we do not hear so much of in 
 the Province of Ontario, but the slander that I was desert- 
 ing my principles and evading my faith was made because 
 T denied then, and solemnly deny now, that there was a 
 particle of truth in that statement. The people of this 
 country, whether they are Orange or Catholic, French or 
 English, have the right to entertain or to express any 
 opinions they feel regarding the administration of public 
 affairs." 
 
 And the man who could thus defend true liberty of 
 speech and the right of Orangemen as well as of Catholics 
 to be heard npon important questions ; the man who, as a 
 result of his stand upqn the Riel issue, almost lost that 
 alleged pocket borough of clericalism — Antigonish — in the 
 elections of 1887 ; was the object of these unjust denuncia- 
 tions by Dr. Douglas and Dr. Carman, and of private insinu- 
 ations which afterwards formed the basis of many a P.P.A. 
 organization. This Association sprang into sudden promin- 
 ence during Sir John Thompson's Premiership. It was the 
 product of religious prejudice united with ignorant sincerity. 
 It was formed out of the more violent and uncontrollable 
 spirits of the Equal Rights movement, and had been easily 
 moulded into shape by American agitators upon the lines 
 of the American Protestant Association. The organization 
 obtained a marked success in the municipal elections of 
 1894, and carried two or three seats in the subsequent 
 Ontario election. 
 
 Its chief, the Rev. J. C Madill, won a brief period of 
 prominence by sacrificing the true principles of Christianity 
 upon the altar of ambition or bigotry. Speaking at Strat- 
 ford on August 16th following the Provincial contest, he 
 declared that Sir John Thompson " was not Premier by the 
 voice of the people. It was Sir John A. Macdonald who 
 carried the country, and Sir John Thompson was merely 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 299 
 
 filling in his time. He could not be elected as a Papist or 
 a Jesuit, and no Papist or Jesuit would be allowed to rule 
 at Ottawa. Before they would submit to that they would 
 fight Derry over again and give them a taste of the Boyne." 
 
 Such talk was to all sensible people simply demagogic 
 and disgusting. Even the Huntingdon Gleaner, the 
 staunch Protestant and Liberal organ of the Eastern 
 Townships of Quebec, denounced it as inclining all fair- 
 minded men to support the Premier in order to prevent 
 him being " hounded down " in such a cowardly fashion. 
 
 Organizations of this nature, however, do not last long. 
 The P. P. A. served its apparent purpose, in causing diffi- 
 culty to an honourable man in the pursuit of duty, and now 
 that he has passed to the bourne whence no man returneth, 
 it may rest in peace. In this connection it is interesting to 
 note how often the word " Jesuit," was hurled at Sir John 
 Thompson. Though intended to be offensive, it is question- 
 able whether the epithet really was so to him, aside from 
 the obvious motive. As a devout Catholic, he would 
 naturally disbelieve most of the allegations made against the 
 Society of Jesus. Indeed his admiration for controversial 
 history was never very profound. Speaking in the House 
 upon one occasion, and in reply to some inquiry (25th April, 
 1890), he said, with a simplicity which is worthy of com- 
 ment : " I do not know. There are many facts in the history 
 of this country, of which I am not a ware, and a great many 
 statements of facts in regard to history, I find controverted 
 so often, that I am not able to state a positive opinion in 
 regard to them." 
 
 It was a couple of years after this that Cardinal Moran, 
 of Sydney, Australia, in dealing at length with the ques- 
 tion of the Jesuits' Estates Act, defended the Canadian 
 order with an earnestness far in advance of that shown by 
 Sir John Thompson, during the famous debate in Parlia- 
 
300 LIFE AND WORK OP 
 
 ment. And they both agreed in expressing admiration for 
 the services of the Jesuits in the early history of Canada. 
 The Cardinal, in the course of his address, also made a most 
 interesting defence of his Church as a friend of liberty, 
 of science and of true progress. 
 
 If, therefore, the political and judicial career of Sir 
 John Thompson has been a great service to the State, as 
 everyone believes, his change of faith in early days, before 
 the future of power or success was dreamed of, has turned 
 out an equal benefit. It has proved that despite limited 
 but always noisy sectarianism, an honourable man can 
 win his way to position and popularity in Canada. It has 
 proved to the ignorant or indifferent or prejudiced that a 
 Roman Catholic can do his duty in governing this mixed 
 community as well as a Protestant. It has, through one 
 man bearing successfully the brunt of vigorous and sus- 
 tained attacks, done much to bring both divisions of the 
 people together in the bonds of true brotherhood and real 
 Christianity. And if a message of warning is still required 
 for the future, it can be found in the absolutely accurate 
 statement made by the Minister of Justice, as he stood at 
 the threshold of the Premiership, on Sept. 7th, 1892: 
 " The one calamity above all others which stands before 
 this country is that political divisions should follow the 
 division of race or the division of religion. The one 
 danger which menaces the future of this country and the 
 union of this country, now so happily being accomplished, 
 is that men should stand arrayed against each other on the 
 question of government, because they differ with regard to 
 religion, because they differ with regard to race." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 301 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Fiscal Matters and Political Parties. 
 
 The administration of Sir John Thompson assumed 
 office with the intention of carrying on the historic policy 
 of the Conservative party. The principles of that party 
 under Sir John Macdonald, under Sir John Abbott, and 
 now under the leadership of another statesman were an- 
 nounced as being one and the same. They involved a con- 
 tinuation of protection as applied to Canadian interests 
 and industries. The " National Policy " was to be preserved 
 and strengthened, and free trade opposed as impracticable 
 in arrangement, and injurious in operation. 
 
 But none the less was the air full of rumours, There 
 was an undercurrent of serious agitation going on, caused 
 in part by the success of the Democrats in the United 
 States and in part by the first touch of the wave of de- 
 pression. It was assumed by the Liberal party in all 
 sections of the country that a free trade tide was sweeping 
 over the Continent and that the success of Mr. Cleveland 
 indicated pronounced American legislation along those 
 lines, together with some sort of an opportunity for Cana- 
 dian reciprocity. And it was argued that as hard times 
 had so greatly helped the Democracy in the States, the 
 same cause must also help the Liberals in Canada. 
 
 The indications indeed seemed rather unfavourable to 
 protectionists generally, and Liberal speakers and papers 
 everywhere compared the National Policy to the McKinley 
 Tariff, and prophesied a free trade revolution in Canada 
 similar to that which had just stirred the Republic. Mean- 
 
302 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 while the farmers began to organize in somewhat more 
 serious fashion than had hitherto been the case. The Far- 
 mers' Institutes which had for a long time been under the 
 friendly patronage of the Ontario Government, were formed 
 in go Patrons of Industry lodges and an order was estab- 
 lished which its friends and members expected to see sweep 
 the Province at the first ensuing Dominion elections. And 
 its success in the Provincial elections of 1894 greatly en- 
 couraged this hope. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy constituted another disturbing element 
 in the political outlook of the new Ministry. To his other 
 differences wit 1 ! them he had now added a tariff issue, and 
 had come out squarely for lower duties upon English goods, 
 and reciprocal terms with the United States as soon as that 
 country might be willing to consider an arrangement which 
 would include manufactures as well as agricultural pro- 
 ducts and raw materials. But upon the question of discri- 
 mination against the Mother- Country he was as firmly 
 opposed to the Liberal policy as he was upon other issues 
 to the Conservative platform. At Stayner on January 
 25th, 1893, he emphasized two points of opposition to the 
 existing tariff. The first was the alleged existence of 
 numerous combinations which enhanced the prices of 
 necessaries to the public, and the second was the sugges- 
 tion that as the Americans were about to adjust and lower 
 their duties, Canada should do the same. Accompanying 
 this reduction however, was a proposal for the establish- 
 ment of a maximum and minimum tariff by which the 
 Dominion should discriminate to the extent of ten per cent, 
 in favor of Great Britain. 
 
 Tariff reform of some kind was therefore in the air, 
 and when it was announced that Sir John Thompson would 
 deliver an address at the important annual banquet of tht, 
 Toronto Board of Trade on the 5th of January, much 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 303 
 
 curiosity and interest was felt in the coming deliverance 
 of the new Premier. It was a great occasion Always 
 successful in these efforts, the Board of Trade seemed to 
 have this time excelled itself in the providing of distin- 
 guished speakers and guests. The Governor-General, Lord 
 Stanley of Preston ; Sir John S. D. Thompson, the Premier 
 of Canada ; the Lieut.-Governor of Ontario ; Sir Oliver 
 Mowat, the veteran Premier of the same Province ; the Hon. 
 George E. Foster, Minister of Finance ; and Mr. W. 0. Van- 
 Horne, President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, were 
 amongst those who graced the occasion, where were found 
 
 " Again the feast, the speech, the glee, 
 The shade of passing thought, the wealth 
 Of words and wit, the double health, 
 The crowning cup, the three-times three." 
 
 It is needless to refer at length to the speeches. All 
 were good, but that of the new Prime Minister was the 
 most important and eertainly the one which had been 
 most looked forward to. Sir John Thompson commenced 
 his speech by a jest which created much amusement. He 
 referred to the fact that his Government consisted of 
 sixteen gentlemen, thirteen of whom averaged 47 years of 
 age. "Their youth and their robustness excited the 
 imagination of a Toronto poet, who indited some verses to 
 me and put into my mouth words which were put into 
 Caesar's when he said : ' Let me have fat men about me, 
 sleek-headed men who sleep at nights ' — and I could, ladies 
 and gentlemen, make you to-night a little boast about the 
 girth and weight of my colleagues, if it were not that 
 my friend Cassius here — the Finance Minister — -breaks the 
 record and utterly destroys the average." 
 
 The Premier then handled in a more serious vein the 
 national problems of the moment, and the first of these in 
 his opinion was the Manitoba schools' question. He pointed 
 
304 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 out that moral and religious problems which come home to 
 the convictions of the people are dangerous to the welfare 
 of the State if approached in any partisan or political 
 spirit. The only safe guide to any safe result which he 
 could see in such a connection, was the exercise of tolera 
 tion and of concession, so far as it did not infringe upon 
 principle. The Government proposed to be guided by the 
 constitutional law of the country, and to obey its dictates. 
 As to his personal position, he said in words which have 
 the ring of true and manly sincerity : 
 
 " I have no plea for toleration to make for myself. I 
 want no sympathy through toleration in that regard. I 
 am not occupying the responsible position which it is my 
 honour to hold to-night through any effort of my own or 
 any struggle of mine for political distinction. I occupy 
 that position simply because those who were qualified to 
 decide, and who were bound to decide, thought that I could 
 serve the state occupying that position. I am nothing 
 more than a public servant, and if I should succeed in 
 serving the state well I shall have achieved the only ambi- 
 tion which I have in public life." 
 
 Amid the loud and constant cheering which inter- 
 rupted and closed these sentences. Sir John Thompson 
 turned to consider the trade question, and first referred to 
 the desire of Canada to be on the most amicable terms 
 with the United States. In order to aid this object, the 
 Dominion had practically given way upon the Canal Tolls' 
 question, and had arranged the sugar duties, which had 
 been a cause of uneasiness and complaint to the Republic : 
 " We think that we have shown to them what the policy 
 of this country is, and shall be for the future, in so far as 
 I have the right to speak for it — a policy that will make 
 us to the United States the best of neighbors, although, 
 please God, we shall never be anything but neighbors." 
 
Right Rev. John Cameron, D.D., 
 
 R.C. Bishop of Antigonish, N.S. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 307 
 
 But he spoke with doubt regarding the attitude of the 
 President, and indicated the possibility of his attempting 
 some further evidence of hostility before making way for 
 Mr. Cleveland. One month later President Harrison sent 
 his message to Congress, asking for the abrogation of the 
 bonding system, which, however, he was fated not to get 
 
 The Premier went on to express grave doubts regard- 
 ing the extent of the free trade legislation which the 
 Democrats were likely to introduce, but announced the 
 intention of his Government to take advantage of the 
 experience of the United States ; to watch its tariff changes; 
 and to " adopt the policy for this country which will be 
 found best for Canada first, and best for the Empire next." 
 Replying to some one who had asked him if he considered 
 the National Policy perfect, and assuming for the moment 
 that only the fiscal part of that policy was meant, he replied 
 in words which were afterwards widely discussed : 
 
 " I do not know of any tariff which has been perfec- 
 tion, and I know of defects both in the framing and admin- 
 istration of the present tariff which require a remedy. 
 And therefore, sir, we do propose to take your good advice 
 which this motto gives us, and 'lop the mouldering branches 
 away.' " 
 
 The speech was a decided success, but the occasion had 
 its limitations, and the one which followed on January 14-th, 
 in the Toronto Auditorium, was of a kind more calculated 
 to attract popular attention. The former was important 
 as affording hints concerning the policy of the new Govern- 
 ment ; the latter was of intense political interest, as being 
 the first address delivered by the new Premier to his party 
 and the country at large. And the affect of the demonstra- 
 tion was increased by the presence of ten other ministers. 
 A feature of the meeting was the spontaneous and enthus- 
 iastic reception accorded to the Hon. Mr. Angers, as a tribute 
 
308 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 to his manly administration in Quebec. And the aggressive 
 oratory of the Hon. C. H. Tupper was of a nature calcu- 
 lated to stir up any Canadian audience. 
 
 Sir John Thompson's speech must be read to be 
 appreciated. Most of the great audience had never seen 
 or heard the Premier and seemed to be somewhat surprised 
 when the full, deep, satisfying voice which seems to come 
 only from down by the sea, as it breaks upon the shores 
 of the Maritime Provinces, sounded through the building. 
 As he went on in grave, serious, but sincere, style, the 
 interest deepened and there were few present when the 
 speaker concluded, who did not realise that he was a man 
 who would do what seemed his duty in any emergency 
 and in face of any difficulties. And there was no doubt 
 about the Conservatism of that speech. It meant to the 
 assembled throng and to the myriad readers of the succeed- 
 ing day, that the third Sir John was worthy to carry the 
 flag planted by Sir John Macdonald, and supported by Sir 
 John Abbott. It meant that he was going to stand by the 
 principle of Canada for the Canadians, and the British 
 Empire for all. 
 
 Some portions were especially vigourous, as for 
 instance, when he declared that a little while ago "we were 
 taunted with waving the old flag ; and a lot of traitors, a 
 lot of cowards who have not the courage to be traitors, 
 although they have the will, would sneer at the old flag : 
 sneer at the loyalty we inherited from our fathers : sneer 
 at the institutions which our fathers were so proud to leave 
 us." This was sufficiently energetic language, and it cer- 
 tainly pleased the audience immensely. But the memorable 
 demonstration had its pathetic side, as did so many other 
 events in the last crowded years of the Premier's life. 
 When President Armstrong of the Young Men's Conserva- 
 tive Association introduced Sir John to the audience as one 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 
 
 309 
 
 who would provide " a great future for the Conservative 
 party, and would not only legislate for the demands of the 
 hour, but for the demands of the future," it seemed as if 
 the new leader presented the very picture of health, vigour 
 and manliness. What a commentary upon assertions anc! 
 appearances that future was destined to be! 
 
 Parliament met on the 26th of January. The chief 
 topic of political conversation was the tariff and the 
 proposed changes. Several Conservative members had 
 declared in favour of some amendment. Mr. Cockburn of 
 Centre Toronto, Mr. Davin, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Calvin and Mr. 
 Mclnerney of New Brunswick, all desired some altera- 
 tions, though their proposals were not very radical. Mr. 
 McCarthy, however, and his faithful colleague, Colonel 
 O'Brien, were pronounced in their advocacy of lower duties. 
 The Session commenced with an eloquent speech from 
 the new Maritime orator, Mr. Mclnerney, who moved the 
 Address and wound up his peroration by quoting lines 
 eminently appropriate, not only in a general sense, but in a 
 particular application to the statesman who was then at 
 the head of the Government : 
 
 " Build that these walls to coming generations, 
 
 Your skill, your strength, your faithfulness shall tell ; 
 That all may say as storms and centuries test them, 
 The men of old built well." 
 
 And, so far as Sir John Thompson was given the time, 
 he did build well. Incidentally, Mr. Laurier in addressing 
 the House four days later, referred in generous terms to 
 the successful career of the new Premier. "There has been 
 no public man in Canada at any time," he declared, "whose 
 advancement has been so rapid. He came into this House 
 at a comparatively recent date, preceded by a high reputa- 
 tion for ability, which he had earned in his own Province, 
 which led everybody, friends and opponents alike, to expect 
 
310 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 a great deal from him, and that expectation has been 
 realized since he entered this House." On the 14th of 
 February following, Mr. Foster delivered his Budget 
 Speech and announced the proposed alterations in the taiiff. 
 They were not numerous, and consisted merely in a reduc- 
 tion of the duty on binder *wine from 25 to 12k per cent., 
 and the abolition of certain restrictions on coal oil. But it 
 was stated that at the close of the Session a thorough 
 inquiry into the tariff would be carried out by himself, the 
 Minister of Trade and Commerce an! the Comptrollers of 
 Customs and Inland Revenue. Personal interviews would 
 be had with the merchants, manufacturers and farmers, 
 and a measure of Tariff Reform was promised for 1894 as 
 the result of this investigation. 
 
 As Sir John Thompson was required in Paris within 
 a couple of months to fill the distinguished position of a 
 British arbitrator on the Behring Sea Commission, an 
 effort was made to have a brief session. Mr. McCarthy, 
 however, came forward in March with a long tariff amend- 
 ment and a long speech, each of which embodied very 
 fully his views on the ever burning fiscal issue. He con- 
 tended that the protective tariff had answered its purpose, 
 and was now merely useful for the development of trusts 
 and combines ; that it was becoming burdensome to the 
 consuming classes and the farmers ; that it ought to be 
 amended by the substantial reduction of cutoms duties in 
 favour of the United Kingdom ; and that a light reduction 
 might well be made in favour of the United States and of 
 different portions of the Empire, where they were willing 
 to reciprocate. Upon one point he spoke with no uncer- 
 tain sound. He was " absolutely and unequivocally opposed 
 to any kind of so-called free trade, no matter whether it 
 gave us a continental market or not, which discriminated 
 against the Mother- Land." Dr. Montague replied with 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 311 
 
 characteristic eloquence and ability, and the discussion 
 eventually closed with a Government majority of 54. 
 
 Another incident in which Provincial rights were 
 involved took place during this Session. Early in the 
 year certain important coal mines in Nova- Scotia had been 
 handed over by the Local Government to an American 
 syndicate under terms which were declared to be extremely 
 advantageous to the Province. But many Conservatives 
 opposed the arrangement, and a deputation of members of 
 Parliament waited upon the Governor General, and asked 
 him to disallow the measure on the ground chiefly that 
 foreigners in control of the mines might fire or flood them 
 in time of war, thus cutting off the coal supply of the 
 navy, and proving of Imperial as well as Provincial 
 injury. Constitutional questions of some interest were 
 raised as to the propriety of individual members trying to 
 usurp the power of the House as a Legislative body, and 
 of the Government as an advisory and executive body. 
 Mr. Mills brought the matter up on February 17th, and 
 after some slight discussion Sir John Thompson stated that 
 the whole affair was a mere conversation and entirely 
 informal ; that the Governor General had asked to have 
 the matter put into such a shape that he could lay it before 
 his constitutional advisers ; and that no opinion could be 
 expressed as yet because the statute in question had 
 not reached the Department of Justice. Eventually, Sir 
 John took the ground that the mines belonged to the 
 Province and that the Federal authorities were not entitled 
 to interfere with them. The bargain might be bad, but it 
 was for the people of Nova-Scotia to deal with the matter, 
 and not the Dominion Government. 
 
 Towards the close of the session, which, as expected, 
 was a very short one, the Premier left for Paris and Mr. 
 Foster acted as leader of the House. A couple of months 
 
312 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 after the adjournment on April 1st, a new departmental 
 scandal developed itself and one which was promptly dealt 
 with. Summarized, it showed an expenditure of $450,000 
 upon the reconstruction of the bridges over the Lachine 
 Canal at Montreal, in place of the estimated cost of $175,000. 
 A Royal Commission was at once appointed and Mr. Hag- 
 gart as head of the Department of Railways and Canals 
 had the enquiry pushed in every possible direction. It 
 was soon found that the contracts had been fraudulently 
 handled and that large sums had been wasted without the 
 knowledge of the Minister. Of course the question imme- 
 diately became a party one, the Opposition contending that 
 the head of the Department should have known something 
 of what was going on and prevented it : the Minister and 
 his friends declaring that the usual care was exercised in 
 making the payments, but that the frauds had occurred 
 through forged pay lists and gross misrepresentation on 
 the part of the contractors. The Engineer in charge of the 
 works was suspended and later on the Minister of Justice 
 had a suit instituted against the contractor for $143,000. 
 
 There is no doubt that Sir John Thompson felt keenly 
 such occurrences as this. They showed a tendency to 
 carelessness or dishonesty in the connection of officials 
 with the public business to a degree which would not be 
 endured for a moment in the conduct of any large private 
 concern. Of course, a Minister cannot as a rule, go behind 
 the properly certified pay sheets and documents of his de- 
 partment, but a very clearly defined impression existed 
 in the minds of the public at this time and had been 
 growing since the scandals of 1891, that members of 
 the Government should individually exercise more control 
 over the choice and qualities of their subordinates, as well 
 as over the antecedents and characters of the men who 
 were given contracts, and permitted to aid in the great and 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 313 
 
 necessary work of carrying on, or completing, the country's 
 public undertakings. And it is safe to say that Sir John 
 Thompson sympathized strongly with this view. 
 
 Meantime tariff questions and politics had been com- 
 ing more and more to the front throughout the country. 
 The Ministers recently selected for the purpose started 
 their inquiries ; the Patrons of Industry formulated their 
 platform ; Mr. McCarthy announced his policy through the 
 medium of a League and the employment of an organizer ; 
 the Liberal party met in convention and passed resolutions 
 both varied and voluminous. The Patrons declared them- 
 selves in favor of British connection ; the abolition of the 
 Senate; the election of county officials, with the exception 
 of County Judges ; a tariff for revenue adjusted so as to 
 tax luxuries ; reciprocal trade with any countries which 
 were willing to negotiate ; prohibition of railway grants ; 
 and the preparation of the Dominion and Provincial voter's 
 lists by municipal officers. The McCarthy policy has already 
 been pretty well outlined, but the new organization had 
 some very distinct planks regarding the absolute right of 
 the provinces to control education, the necessity of having 
 no interference with the Manitoba Schools' law, and the de- 
 sirability of any future redistribution of seats being based 
 upon an equality of population and upon county and city 
 boundary lines. 
 
 The Liberal Convention at Ottawa early in July was 
 a great success, and the delegates certainly could not com- 
 plain of the warmth of their reception. But though the 
 weather was tropical, the work done in platform making 
 and speaking was very considerable. The polic} T finally 
 evolved by a gathering which boasted the presence of 
 nearly every prominent Liberal in the Canadian commu- 
 nity, and which was representative in ability as well as in 
 numbers, may he summed up as follows : 
 
314 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 1. Denunciation of the protective tariff. 
 
 2. The necessity of low revenue duties. 
 
 3. Reciprocity with the United States in natural 
 products and in a selected list of manufactured articles. 
 
 4. Arraignment of the Government as corrupt. 
 
 5. The necessity for great economy 
 
 6. The repeal of the Franchise Act. 
 
 7. A Dominion plebiscite on Prohibition. 
 
 8. Reform of the Senate. 
 
 About this time also the Protestant Protective Asso- 
 ciation rose out of the ruins of the Equal Rights organiza- 
 tion, and prepared to forward a mission of error and 
 misunderstanding. So far as can be authoritatively 
 gathered, its platform declared bitter opposition to Roman 
 Catholicism as an element of political power ; denounced 
 all religio-political organizations (except itself) as enemies 
 to civil and religious liberty ; favoured one general unsec- 
 tarian school organization and the taxing of all church 
 property ; repudiated the use of public funds for any 
 sectarian purpose ; and proclaimed it " unwise and unsafe 
 to elect to civil, political or military office in this Dominion 
 men who owe supreme allegiance to any foreign potentate 
 or ecclesiastical power." 
 
 Such, in brief, were the various political divisions and 
 party policies which the Conservative Premier had to face 
 upon his return from Paris late in August. A tour of the 
 Province of Ontario followed with very favourable results 
 to Sir John Thompson personally through an increased 
 acquaintance with the people, and with useful results to 
 the party through the promotion of public familiarity with 
 its policy and with the new leaders who were so rapidly 
 replacing those of a previous period. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 315 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Behfjng Sea Question. 
 
 In 1886, the year following Sir John Thompson's 
 entry into Dominion politics, news of a somewhat serious 
 character had come from the far north of the American 
 continent. While engaged in seal- hunting, out of sight of 
 land, and in what is generally understood to be the open 
 sea, three Canadian schooners were seized by the United 
 States revenue cutter Gorwin and taken to an Alaskan 
 port. There the officers were tried in the American Court 
 for the District of Alaska, and condemned to fines and 
 imprisonment, while their vessels were confiscated — on the 
 general charge of contravention of the United States laws. 
 
 This high-handed proceeding attracted immediate and 
 wide-spread attention. Throughout Canada the feeling 
 was one of indignation, though not altogether of surprise, 
 as the people had some knowledge of the American tendency 
 to claim everything in sight where international relation- 
 ships were concerned. But aside from any injury done to 
 Canadian citizens and British subjects, these seizures — 
 which were continued from time to time during ensuing 
 years — opened up wide and important questions of Mari- 
 time jurisdiction. It has been generally assumed that the 
 law of nations gives complete territorial rights to the 
 extent of one marine league (three miles) from the shore. 
 In specific cases, by custom or treaty, the right of a nation 
 to control a greater distance may have been admitted, but 
 these were the exceptions which are usually taken to prove 
 the rule. On the Atlantic coast of Canada, the United 
 
316 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 States for years, both before and after setting up this claim 
 on the Pacific, had tried to break down the Canadian right 
 to control even three miles from the shore. But whatever 
 the local circumstances might be, this claim to jurisdiction, 
 sixty miles from the coast, was practically an arbitrary 
 assertion of a complete right to the ownership of part of 
 Behring Sea, and if sustained or allowed would have placed 
 that great body of water, eleven hundred miles long by 
 eight hundred miles broad, largely under the control of 
 Russia and the United States. 
 
 The charge laid against these vessels, their officers and 
 owners, was that of being found " engaged in killing fur- 
 seal within the limits of Alaska territory and in the waters 
 thereof, in violation of section 1956 of the Revised Statutes 
 of the United States." Obviously, therefore, to make these 
 and subsequent seizures legal, a great part of Behring Sea, 
 or what was really a portion of the North Pacific Ocean, 
 had to be included within the limits of American jurisdic- 
 tion. And as the claim to this authority was as extensive 
 as might be the wandering instincts or fancies of the 
 Alaskan seal in the vast waters of the Pacific, it will be 
 appreciated as a pretty large one. Several reasons were 
 given by the United States for its action. One was nominal 
 and reasonable in appearance. It was evidenced in an 
 invitation extended to Great Britain, France, Germany, 
 Sweden and Norway, Russia, and Japan, in 1 887, asking 
 them to "enter into such an arrangement with the Govern- 
 ment of the United States as will prevent the citizens of 
 either country from killing seal in Behring Sea at such 
 times and places, and by such methods, as are at present 
 pursued, and which threaten the speedy extermination of 
 these animals and consequent serious loss to mankind." 
 
 This philanthropic cloak was exceedingly pretty in 
 appearance, but, as so often happens in diplomatic matters, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 317 
 
 it covered a very sordid reality. For many years the 
 Alaska Commercial Company had enjoyed a practical 
 monopoly of sealing in the Aleutian Islands and on the 
 Alaskan coast, the value of which to them and to the 
 American Government may be estimated by the report of 
 a Congressional Committee in 1889, which declared that 
 the Company had under the terms of their contract paid 
 the Government $5,597,000 up to June 30th, 1888. And 
 the total amount received from customs duties on Alaska 
 dressed seal skins imported from England was, during the 
 same period, $3,426,000. As the total amount paid by the 
 United States to Russia for the purchase of Alaska in 1867 
 was only $7,200,000, and the expenses of Government 
 from then to June, 1888, had not exceeded $400,000, the 
 advantage of a continuance and extension of this monopoly 
 is apparent. 
 
 It was further claimed that the Russian Government 
 had exercised exclusive control over these fisheries and 
 over the seals in the disputed waters, until the cession of 
 Alaska, when its rights passed naturally to the United 
 States. The British Government, on the other hand, 
 expressed every desire to regulate sealing so as to preserve 
 the species, but altogether denied the American claims of 
 wide Maritime jurisdiction, and pointed out that the 
 United States had more than once protested against the 
 Russian attempts at exercising similar powers. Lord 
 Salisbury, in voluminous despatches, apparently proved by 
 extracts from the diplomatic correspondence of many years 
 before, that England had always refused to admit any 
 Russian claims in this matter of jurisdiction ; that a Con- 
 vention between the countries in 1825 had been regarded 
 on both sides as a renunciation on the part of Russia ; and 
 that Behring Sea had always been considered a portion of 
 the Pacific Ocean, and not in any sense a closed sea, as was 
 
318 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 at first claimed by Mr. Blaine on behalf of the United 
 States. 
 
 Despite the most conciliatory correspondence on the 
 part of Great Britain, and every effort on the side of 
 Canada, to bring matters to some satisfactory conclusion, 
 the element in the United States which is always delighted 
 when some trouble arises between the Republic and the 
 Empire, continued to urge active aggressive measures, and 
 to praise the seizures of Canadian vessels which were still 
 taking place. Canadian fishermen pursuing an honourable 
 and legal occupation were stigmatised as " poachers," and 
 every effort was made to hamper and injure them in their 
 work. Finally, when it was announced in the American 
 press early in 1890 that the same system would be con- 
 tinued during the ensuing season, Lord Salisbury appar- 
 ently concluded that the time had passed for conciliation, 
 and that bluster should be met by a firm announcement of 
 the inevitable result of maintaining such a policy. Accord- 
 ingly, on June 13th Sir Julian Pauncefote, British minister 
 at Washington, was finally instructed to make the follow- 
 ing declaration : 
 
 " Her Britannic Majesty's Government are unable to pass over with- 
 out noticing, the public announcement of intention on the part of the 
 Government of the United States to renew the acts of interference with 
 British vessels navigating outside the territorial waters of the United 
 States, of which they have previously had to complain. The undersigned 
 is in consequence instructed formally to protest against such interference 
 and to declare that Her Britannic Majesty's Government must hold the 
 Government of the United States responsible for the consequences that 
 may ensue from acts which were contrary to the established principle of 
 international law." 
 
 This last sentence is practically the diplomatic way of 
 stating that if a certain course is pursued, force will be 
 employed, or in other words that war will follow. It not 
 only supplied ample food for thought to those who asserted 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 319 
 
 that the Mother-Country would never fight for Canadian 
 interests against the United States, but, as is always the 
 case when honest boldness encounters unmeaning bluster 
 and brag, it brought the whole question down from the 
 clouds of controversy to a reasonable basis for settlement. 
 And no more seizures were made. Early in 1891, negotia- 
 tions for arbitration were commenced, and each country 
 appointed Commissioners to investigate the real habits and 
 environment of the seal. Sir George Baden- Powell, M.P., 
 a strong friend of Imperial unity, and Professor George M. 
 Dawson, of Canada, were the British Commissioners ; and 
 Professors Mendenhall and Merriam those appointed by 
 the United States. A year later an arrangement was 
 consummated pending the submission of the questions to 
 Arbitration, and the Treaty to that end was finally ratified 
 on May 7th. 
 
 The Tribunal as appointed in June following, was 
 composed of some very eminent men. Under the terms of 
 the treaty, Great Britain selected two arbitrators, the 
 United States two, France, Italy, and Norway and Sweden, 
 one each. The British arbitrators were the Rt. Hon. Lord 
 Hannen, and the Prime Minister of Canada. The former 
 had been for many years a distinguished English judge, 
 and was a man of much intellectual force, and of strong 
 character. Sir John Thompson afterwards said of him 
 that from first to last he " exhibited the strongest determin- 
 ation that Canada should attain justice, both as to legal 
 questions and as to the regulations, and was not in the 
 slightest degree moved by the persistent effort which was 
 made from beginning to end to divide the British from 
 Canadian interests in the matter." 
 
 The American arbitrators were men of ability and 
 standing, though thoroughly imbued with the idea that the 
 Republic was always right, and that in no case could the 
 
320 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 ends of justice be served unless the American contention 
 was maintained up to the hilt. Mr. Justice Harlan had 
 been a Republican in politics, and Senator Morgan was a 
 Southerner, and a somewhat fiery Democrat. Baron de 
 Courcel, who represented France, was a distinguished 
 jurist and diplomatist, and was ultimately selected to 
 preside over the Tribunal, which he did with a grace and 
 dignity worthy of the highest commendation. Italy sent 
 the Marquis Venosta, a jurist, an ex-Minister of State, and 
 a Senator. Sir John at a later period described his written 
 opinions at the private meetings of the arbitrators as 
 having shown great learning in legal precedents ; skill in 
 the analysis of evidence ; and wide comprehension of Eng- 
 lish law. Mr. Gregors Gram, the arbitrator appointed by 
 Sweden and Norway, was Minister of Foreign Affairs in 
 his own country and had obtained much varied experience 
 from twelve years' spent on the Mixed Tribunal of Egypt. 
 Meantime, Canada had been further honoured by the 
 selection of the Hon. Charles H. Tupper, to act as British 
 Agent, in the preparation of the case. Sir Richard 
 Webster, Q. C, Sir Charles Russell, Q. C, Christopher Rob- 
 inson, Q.C., of Toronto, and the Hon. W. H. Cross, M.P., were 
 the British Counsel. The American Agent was General J. 
 W. Foster, and the Counsel were the Hon. E. J. Phelps, 
 formerly Minister to Great Britain, Judge Blodgett, and 
 Mr. J. S. Carter. The points submitted for decision were 
 as follows : 
 
 I. What exclusive jurisdiction in the sea known as 
 the Behring Sea, and what exclusive rights in the seal fish- 
 eries therein did Russia assert and exercise prior and up to 
 the time of the cession of Alaska to the United States ? 
 
 II. How far were these claims of jurisdiction as to 
 the seal fisheries recognized and conceded by Great Britain ? 
 
 III. Was the body of water now known as the Behr- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 321 
 
 ing Sea included in the phrase, " Pacific Ocean," as used in 
 the treaty of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia, and 
 what rights, if any, in the Behring Sea were held and ex- 
 clusively exercised by Russia after said treaty ? 
 
 IV. Did not all the rights of Russia as to jurisdiction 
 and as to the seal fisheries in Behring Sea east of the water 
 boundary, in the treaty between the United States and 
 Russia of the 30th March, 1867, pass unimpaired to the 
 United States under that treaty 7 
 
 V. Has the United States any right, and, if so, what 
 right, of protection or property in the fur seals frequenting 
 the islands of the United States in Behring Sea when such 
 seals are found outside the ordinary three-mile limit. 
 
 Besides these questions it was stipulated that in the 
 event of the United States being declared to have no ex- 
 clusive rights outside of the three mile limit, a decision 
 should be made as to the necessary concurrent regulations 
 for the preservation of the fur seal, and that the arbitrators 
 should say whether damages were to be awarded Canada 
 in the event of the decision upon questions of right going 
 against the United States. 
 
 Sir John Thompson's appointment as an Arbitrator 
 was hailed with general satisfaction. Even his strongest 
 opponents conceded the fact that in judicial qualifications 
 and breadth of intellect no better selection could be made. 
 It was felt that his known firmness of character, his know- 
 ledge of maritime law, and previous experience in minor 
 diplomatic missions, peculiarly fitted him for the mainte- 
 nance of Canadian rights at this important juncture. Con- 
 fidence was also entertained in his justness of view and 
 ability to discriminate between blustering claims and those 
 founded upon at least a measure of right. The Speech from 
 the Throne in proroguing Parliament on April 1st, 1893, 
 practically embodied this sentiment of fairness in words no 
 
 21 
 
322 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 doubt approved, if not prepared, by Sir John Thompson 
 himself ; " the nomination of the Prime Minister of Canada 
 ha one of the Arbitrators affords a guarantee that the in- 
 terests of our sealers will be properly, though not unduiy 
 safeguarded." Only those who have been able to closely 
 follow American diplomacy as displayed in the various 
 Washington Treaty negotiations, and in the Alabama and 
 other questions, can f ully appreciate the distinction between 
 the calm dignity of that simple sentence and the assertive 
 and aggressive nature of American claims in general inter- 
 national differences. 
 
 Every possible environment of luxury and hospitality 
 awaited the Arbitrators when they met in Paris on April 
 4th. Spacious rooms in the Foreign Office were placed at 
 their disposal, and entertainments without number and 
 without price were given them by the kindly leaders, social 
 and political, of the French Republic. But it was a period 
 of very hard work as well as one of enjoyment in the form 
 of banquets and receptions. There were specialists present 
 in every branch covered by the arguments of the counsel 
 — the British staff included more than fifteen — and besides 
 the necessity of mastering all the voluminous special re- 
 ports thus presented numberless drafts of each argument 
 had to be studied, and modified or elaborated by the arbi- 
 trators to suit the circumstances and their convictions in 
 the premises. The position of Sir John Thompson was 
 peculiarly difficult. As the Canadian Premier he was re- 
 sponsible to the Canadian Parliament for whatever decision 
 he accepted. As a British arbitrator he was responsible to 
 the Imperial Government in this attempt to settle a ques- 
 tion which could now only be disposed of by arbitration or 
 war. 
 
 He had to find or accept some plan by which the ulti- 
 mately admitted right of Canadians to seal in Behring Sea 
 
' ! 
 
 » 1 
 
 Hon. Clifford Stfton, Q.C., M.P.P., 
 
 Attorney-General of Manitoba 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 325 
 
 might be reconciled with the equally proper desire, as 
 expressed by the Americans, for the preservation of the 
 species from final destruction. He had to face the 
 contention of the United States that Canada was the 
 cause of the whole trouble ; that it was aggressive and 
 hostile to the Republic ; that its influence was so great in 
 the Imperial Government as to make it a constant source 
 of annoyance to the United States and the cause of 
 unfriendly relations between that country and the Empire. 
 Fortunately for a satisfactory solution, Lord Hannen 
 became greatly impressed with the knowledge and force- 
 fulness of character displayed by Sir John, and sup- 
 ported him strongly in the various discussions which took 
 place. And it was natural that such should have been the 
 case. A weak Canadian representative would have in- 
 volved a lack of backbone in the British arbitrator, no 
 matter how well intentioned the latter might have been. 
 A strong Canadian meant two British Commissioners work- 
 ing for the interests of both Canada and Britain, instead of 
 one who might have aimed chiefly at the making of a 
 Treaty which would relieve England of a serious diplomatic 
 trouble, even if it sacrificed some unappreciated Canadian 
 interest. 
 
 The arguments of counsel on both sides were long and 
 able ; although the Americans, as usual, were away ahead 
 in the amount of talking done and in the length of speeches. 
 One unfortunate occurrence, was the use by the American 
 counsel of certain documents which appeared to prove the 
 Russian claim to exclusive jurisdiction in Behring Sea, 
 but which, after submission to the Tribunal, were found to 
 the astonishment of all concerned, to have been very clever 
 forgeries, perpetrated by an employe" of the United States 
 Department of State. They were promptly withdrawn, but 
 with them went a part of the American claims. Finally, 
 
326 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 judgment was given on August 15th, and on every claim 
 advanced by the United States regarding maritime juris- 
 diction and exclusive rights, decision was given against the 
 Republic, and in favour of the contentions so long and skil- 
 fully maintained by Canada and Britain. But the Tribunal 
 decided to prescribe regulations, and by a majority vote — 
 Judge Harlan and Senator Morgan dissenting because they 
 were not sufficiently vigourous, and Sir John Thompson 
 for the opposite reason — it was settled that no seals were 
 to be taken within a zone of sixty miles of the Pribyloff 
 Islands; that the close season was to be from May 1st, to 
 July 31st ; that only sealing vessels with a special license, 
 and a distinguishing flag should be allowed to seal ; and 
 that the use of nets and firearms should be forbidden. It 
 was also decided that an indemnity — the amount to be 
 afterwards settled — must be paid Canadian sealers by the 
 United States Government, for the vessels and cargoes 
 which had been unlawfully captured. 
 
 The result was really a great victory for British 
 interests in both the Imperial and the purely Canadian sense. 
 In the former connection it secured an invaluable prin- 
 ciple regarding maritime jurisdiction which it would have 
 been madness for the Empire to have allowed any infring- 
 ment of ; it settled a difficult and dangerous question ; it 
 restored friendly relations with the United States. In the 
 latter it proved Canada to have had justice and right 
 upon its side ; it vindicated the policy of Canadian states- 
 men ; it showed that the Mother Country was standing 
 behind the Dominion, and guarding local as well as Im- 
 perial interests ; it freed Canadian sealers from the charge 
 of poaching ; it promised to restore to them the property 
 bo unjustly taken away. The only objection was the fear 
 which Sir John felt as to the effects of the regulations upon 
 the Canadian sealing industry, which, however, were so 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 327 
 
 happily dissipated by experience, and by the unequalled 
 catch which followed during the season of 1894. 
 
 Rewards and honours were freely bestowed upon those 
 taking part in the British case. Sir Richard Webster and 
 Sir Charles Russell were each given the insignia of a 
 G.C.M.G. The latter also became, not long afterwards, Lord 
 ftussell of Killowen and Chief Justice of England. Mr. 
 Christopher Robinson, Q.C., of Toronto, was offered Knight- 
 hood, but for personal reasons declined the honour. The 
 able young Minister of Marine and Fisheries, who had 
 devoted so much time and labour to the preparation of the 
 case, was made a K.C.M.G., and last, but not least, the 
 Premier of Canada was called to the Imperial Privy Coun- 
 cil — and became entitled to the greatly valued prefix of 
 " Right Honourable." Membership in Her Majesty's Privy 
 Council is a rare distinction outside the United Kingdom, 
 and within its bounds is considered by many public men to 
 be ample reward for a lifetime of loyal service. For many 
 years Sir John A. Macdonald was the only Colonial states- 
 man who had attained the distinction ; then William Bede 
 Dalley, the eloquent Australian politician, who was instru- 
 mental in sending the famous contingent to the Soudan, 
 joined the ranks; and a few years later Sir Alfred Stephen, 
 the greatest of Australian jurists, and a man of the highest 
 character and most distinguished political reputation, was 
 appointed. All are now dead, including Sir John Thomp- 
 son himself : 
 
 " Like clouds that rake the mountain summits, 
 Or waves that own no curbing hand ! 
 How fast has brother followed brother 
 From sunshine to the sunless land." 
 
 Apart from the distinguished honour bestowed by his 
 Sovereign, the Premier's services upon this great Imperial 
 occasion were recognized in Canada with no grudging 
 
328 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 praise or half-hearted approval. Politics for the moment 
 were dropped, and although there was some slight attempt 
 afterwards to make capital out of the apparent danger of 
 the sealers from the new regulations, all agreed as to the 
 commanding ability shown by Sir John Thompson at 
 Paris. Speaking at Belleville on September 28th fol- 
 lowing their return, Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper referred 
 enthusiastically to the work done by his chief : 
 
 " I desire to say. and history will tell you that what I 
 say is true, that our own leader, a true Canadian, a 
 Canadian born, took first rank at that Tribunal. While I 
 don't say that your interests would have been unsafe in the 
 hands and under the management of English statesmen, I 
 know that the Britith Foreign Secretary will agree with 
 me when I tell you, in reference to this question and the 
 regulations in reference to the settling of the immediate 
 interests of the people on our Pacific coast, that we would 
 have come out very small indeed had we not had Sir John 
 Thompson forming one of the court which heard that case." 
 
 Senator Miller, speaking to an interviewer after his 
 return from a prolonged visit to Europe during the months 
 in which the Arbitration had been progressing, declared 
 with equal emphasis that two things had been conclusively 
 proved in this connection : first, the ample justice of the 
 British case, and second, the transcendant ability of Sir 
 John Thompson : " Although the deliberations of the 
 tribunal were private, it is an open secret that the Cana- 
 dian Premier was the master mind of the Arbitration, and 
 I am told that his concise and able replies to the theories 
 advanced by Senator Morgan and Judge Harlan, in their 
 lengthy addresses, created the most profound impression 
 on the minds of the neutral arbitrators." And somewhat 
 similar tributes have since been paid by Sir R. Webster 
 and Sir C. Russell. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 329 
 
 Upon his reaching Quebec on August 25th, accom- 
 panied by Sir Charles Tupper and by the Minister of 
 Marine and Fisheries, Sir John was received by a number 
 of prominent men and welcomed back to Canada. In an 
 interview with a Toronto Empire correspondent, the 
 Premier dealt at length with the issues which had been 
 involved. He pointed out that the British Government 
 had already compensated Canadian sealers to the extent of 
 $100,000 for abstaining from seal hunting in Behring Sea 
 during the operation of the modus vivendi, and that under 
 the terms of the Award the United States would be com- 
 pelled to pay damages for the vessels illegally seized during 
 many years' past. The claims for compensation had all 
 been filed in London, and carefully adjusted. It may be 
 said here that the amount ultimately agreed upon — 
 $125,000 — has not yet been paid by the American Gov- 
 ernment.* He went on to indicate the importance of the 
 decision. The contentions of the United States involved 
 nothing short of " absolute dominion over the Behring Sea 
 for all purposes," and the American claims were so aggres- 
 sively urged that "there could have been but one solution 
 of the difficult situation if arbitration had not been resorted 
 to, and that was war." 
 
 The next day Sir John Thompson arrived at Alexan- 
 dria on his way to Ottawa, and was welcomed by a crowd 
 of people, a band and a royal salute from some guns which 
 had been mounted for the purpose. An address was pre- 
 sented, and in his reply the Premier dwelt upon the 
 national import of the mission from which he had just 
 returned ; its removal of a cause of serious dispute ; and its 
 proof of the advantages accruing from British connection. 
 A little later in the day he reached Ottawa, and was met 
 by assembled citizens and presented with an address from 
 
 •February 12th, 1895. 
 
330 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the Civic Council. But the compliment he most keenly 
 appreciated in this connection was the banquet tendered 
 by the St. James' Club, Montreal, on November 21st. The 
 commercial metropolis had already on September 12th, 
 done something in the form of public addresses and a 
 public reception to welcome the Prime Minister home, but 
 it remained for the St. James' Club dinner to complete the 
 pleasant tribute. 
 
 A large number of prominent political opponents 
 shared in the demonstration, and it was this which so 
 greatly enhanced the pleasure with which Sir John is 
 known to have regarded this particular incident. Always 
 disliking partisanship, it was to him like a green and 
 beautiful oasis in a desert of political expediency and party 
 considerations. An interesting feature of the occasion was 
 a letter from Judge Davidson, of Montreal, regretting his 
 inability to attend, and stating of the Premier that, " In a 
 sense which is far away from and far above the strife of 
 parties, he deserves this tribute to his life and character as 
 a public raaR, for to all of us Canadians he stands out as an 
 example of the lesson taught by Demosthenes that ' man 
 is not born to his parents only, but to his country. " 
 
 Sir John Thompson appreciated these kind words so 
 greatly that he wrote privately on November 27th to Mr. 
 Justice Davidson in a style which indicates how much he 
 really felt political abuse and misrepresentation : 
 
 " My Dear Judge — 
 
 " Our friend, Judge Wurtele, showed me your very 
 kind letter to him on the occasion of the dinner of last 
 week at St. James' Club. 1 thank you most sincerely for 
 this and all the other indications of your kindness which 
 I have had. The banquet was a splendid affair, and the 
 cordiality of everybody was very charming. I owe more 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 331 
 
 thanks than I can ever give for such a splendid compli- 
 ment. We, who are in political life, have to endure many 
 insults and suspicions which we do not deserve, and must, 
 therefore, be permitted to take with equanimity kindnesses 
 like these which far exceed our merits. Friends like 
 Wurtele and yourself, and a few others, work out this law 
 of compensation in such a way as to relieve public life of 
 its cares and odium. 
 
 " I remain, dear Judge, yours sincerely, 
 
 " Jno. S. D. Thompson." 
 
 At the banquet itself, which was presided over by Sir 
 Donald Smith, M.P., the Premier spoke strongly concerning 
 the valuable results of the arbitration : 
 
 " Canada received everything she would be glad to 
 have accepted after a triumphant war, and she got them 
 without any of the losses which war would have entailed. 
 The lesson which bears on our future was to be derived 
 from the attitude of Great Britain. Her forbearance and 
 sagacity avoided war, and the treatment accorded Canada 
 was an achievement of which we might well be proud. 
 When we appear with Her Majesty's commission in our 
 hands, no foreign diplomat dares to question our creden- 
 tials." 
 
 A few months later, on March 16th, 1894, and during 
 the debate on the Address, Mr. Laurier attacked the Treaty 
 on account of the regulations, and accused Sir John 
 Thompson of having returned home and spoken of the 
 proceedings in a spirit of brag and bluster. Nothing could 
 be more incongruous with the known character of the 
 Premier than such a charge, and his speech in reply 
 brushed away the attack like cobwebs from a ceiling. He 
 showed his complete knowledge of the intricacies of the 
 whole question, and in a very short time demolished his 
 

 332 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 opponent's fine-spun theories, concluding with the state- 
 ment that : 
 
 " I have professed great satisfaction at the upholding, 
 in the most solemn way and before all the nations, of the 
 doctrine for which we in this House have contended, for 
 which we have contended in our correspondence with the 
 Imperial Government, and for which no people in this 
 country have so zealously contended as my hon. friend and 
 those who sit beside him, namely, for the right of Canada 
 to have a ruling voice in negotiations which affect her 
 interests." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 333 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Sir John Thompson and Mr. McCarthy. 
 
 During the comparatively brief, but important, period 
 of what may be termed his national career, Sir John Thomp- 
 son had no mean opponents to encounter and to overcome. 
 Mr. Blake was a f oeman worthy of any steel. From a purely 
 intellectual standpoint he was probably the equal of any 
 man in the House of Commons and the superior of 
 most. Oratorically, he was not unlike the Minister of Jus- 
 tice in the days when they were pitted against each other. 
 They both had the same faculty for amassing information 
 and conveying it to the listener in logical and well- sustained 
 periods. But Mr. Blake does not appear to have been as 
 read} 7 in his command of language, and the toil which he 
 used to bestow upon the preparation of an important speech 
 and the committing of it to memory, is a familiar matter to 
 those who knew him. As politicians all that can be said 
 in a few words is that one succeeded while the other failed. 
 Mr. Laurier was a delightful opponent, and no one appre- 
 ciated his courtesy, tact, and natural graces of manner and 
 oratory more than did Sir John Thompson. In many re- 
 spects they were as opposite as the poles. The Liberal 
 leader was apparently open in speech and style, excitable 
 at times as is characteristic of his race, impetuous, and 
 somewhat changeable. Sir John was always a reserved 
 man, and this tendency increased rather than diminished 
 with additional responsibilities. He never appeared to be 
 excited, or so rarely as to make it almost remarkable ; was 
 
334 LIFE AND WOHK OF 
 
 never rash or hasty ; and when once his mind was made up 
 it was seldom changed. With Sir Richard Cartwright 
 there was, of course, many a tilt, but on the whole Sir John 
 Thompson appears to have rather admired the uncompro- 
 mising political hostility of the Kingston knight. And 
 this may be said in spite of the scathing Parliamentary 
 attack of a certain memorable occasion. He is known 
 also to have appreciated the ability displayed in the 
 Budget criticisms, which during so many years, have helped 
 to fill up the bill-of-fare in the House of Commons with a 
 never failing raciness of invective and retort. In this 
 respect Sir Richard is probably the most powerful speaker 
 Canada has ever possessed. Without the ruggedness of 
 George Brown he has a sarcastic style which seems to 
 permeate not only his speech but himself, and which cer- 
 tainly makes his invective the bitterest of that of any man 
 in Canadian public life. 
 
 The Hon. David Mills was another opponent whose 
 knowledge of constitutional precedents and deep reading in 
 general history made him worthy of every respect and 
 attention. Mr. L. H. Davies, of Prince Edward Island, has 
 for a long time been one of the Liberal leaders whose place 
 is secure in the event of party success at the polls, and his 
 characteristic Maritime eloquence had been known to Sir 
 John Thompson since the period of the Halifax Fisheries' 
 Award, when they found themselves for the first time pro- 
 minently opposed to each other. And so with many more 
 — the eloquent Paterson of Brant ; Fraser, the forcible free- 
 trader from down by the sea ; Lister, the fighting Liberal ; 
 the fiery Tarte ; the irrepressible Devlin. But the one man 
 who stands distinctly out as the head and front of the op- 
 position to Sir John Thompson during recent years is Mr. 
 D'Alton McCarthy. Circumstances seemed to combine in 
 order that the two men should appear in sharp antagonism 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 335 
 
 to one another. Mr. McCarthy had refused to join the 
 Liberal Opposition. He had declined to any longer sup- 
 port the Conservative party. And his hostility to the 
 Conservative leader, whether personal or political, was 
 voiced in nearly every important issue which has come 
 before the House or the country since 1887. 
 
 The unquestioned ability and force which the member 
 for North Simcoe displayed in his speeches, furnishes, of 
 course, all the greater tribute to the success with which Sir 
 John Thompson surmounted the difficulties so greatly aug- 
 mented by Mr. McCarthy's attitude and advocacy. And in 
 the same way the high rank which so many of the Liberal 
 leaders took in debate, oratory, and upon the stump illus- 
 trated the qualities of courage, concentration and conviction 
 which were needed to place a comparatively new man firmly 
 in the saddle of political supremacy and to maintain him in 
 power. 
 
 It is safe to say in this connection that the public life 
 of Canada has never seen two men so diametrically opposed 
 in convictions and characteristics as were Sir John and 
 Mr. McCarthy, able to remain so long within the ranks 
 of the same party ; working together in the interests of 
 the same political leader. The one entered the national 
 arena in 1885 under the local auspices, and with the 
 warm co-operation of the hierarchy of his native Prov- 
 ince. Though his appointment in itself was a tribute to 
 personal ability and to judicial services, it is none the 
 less a fact that his environment was such as would have 
 imperceptibly influenced any man not possessed of strong 
 principles and a still stronger sense of duty. He reached 
 Ottawa entirely new to his surroundings, to the leaders with 
 whom he had to serve, and to the politicians whom he would 
 be expected to lead. He came also heralded as a lawyer 
 of high ability and a jurist of considerable reputation. 
 
336 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 There he found Mr. D' Alton McCarthy established as 
 a politician of long standing, of experience, and of cabinet 
 rank. A close friend and intimate advisor of Sir John 
 Macdonald, he was in addition the leader of the Ontario 
 bar, and it was currently and very correctly supposed that 
 he had been offered the particular portfolio which Mr. 
 Thompson had just assumed. Naturally too he had been 
 consulted for some years past upon constitutional issues as 
 being an eminent lawyer, and upon political questions as 
 being President of the Conservative Union of Ontario and 
 the recognized party leader in that important Province. 
 But when the new Minister of Justice forged to the front 
 as an authority upon legal matters, and as one upon whom 
 the Prime Minister in his growing physical weakness could 
 confidently throw much of the burden of what may be 
 called working government ; it was inevitable that the 
 position of an outside supporter and friend should become, 
 not necessarily less confidential, but certainly less influen- 
 tial. And this might occur without reflecting in any way 
 upon the ability and services of Mr. McCarthy. 
 
 It was simply the inevitable result of a strong man tak- 
 ing the place which the former might himself have filled with 
 eminent success. For a time the two men worked together 
 in apparent harmony, but it was not long before the diver- 
 gence began to commence and develop. The Riel platform 
 should have served as a mutual standing ground, but even 
 here the contrast came out sharply. Mr. Thompson (as be 
 was then) made a tour of the Province with the Premier 
 during the elections of 1887. Everywhere he preached 
 moderation ; justice and f airplay to all races and creeds ; 
 toleration and a united Dominion. Meantime, Mr. Mc- 
 Carthy — Barrie February 4th — was paving the way for a 
 very different policy : " Do you suppose," he declared, " that 
 the men of Ontario are willing to submit for a prolonged 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 
 
 837 
 
 period to a condition of subjection to one race — and I speak 
 not of Ontario alone but of every man outside of the 
 French nationality ? . . .Do they mix with us ; assim- 
 ilate with us ; intermarry with us ; do they read our liter- 
 ture or learn our laws ? No : everything with them is 
 conducted on a French model, and while we may admire 
 members of that race as individuals, yet as members of the 
 body politic, I say they are the great danger to our con- 
 federacy." 
 
 Then came the Jesuits' Estates Question, and the 
 differences along these lines became still more evident and 
 distinct. Sir John Thompson did what he conceived to be 
 his duty in a time of sectarian danger and sectional strife. 
 He even went slightly out of his way to defend a religious 
 body against which so many Protestants have been, and 
 are, hopelessly and sincerely prejudiced, and which Mr. 
 McCarthy attacked with much power. He endeavoured 
 to throw a wet blanket upon the agitation which Mr. Mc- 
 Carthy was stirring up and fanning into a flame. While 
 the one was counselling moderation and talking of the 
 rights of Provinces, the dangers of strife, and the necessity 
 of governing a mixed community upon principles of toler- 
 ation and kindliness to all, the other was telling the people 
 of Stayner, and incidentally of Canada — July 12th, 1889 — 
 that " now is the time when the ballot box will decide this 
 great question before the people, and if that does not 
 supply the remedy in this generation, bayonets will supply 
 it in the next." And with the coming of the French 
 language and Manitoba schools' questions, the divergence 
 between the two leaders became so marked that in looking 
 back it is difficult to see how they remained in even nominal 
 alliance as long as they did. 
 
 Necessarily, therefore, as Sir John Thompson grew 
 into leadership, and as his views continued to have more 
 
 22 
 
338 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 and more weight with the Conservative party, in opposi- 
 tion, at least, to those ennunciated by Mr. McCarthy, a 
 public political separation of some kind became inevitable. 
 And at the last moment the thread became so attenuated 
 that the friends of both leaders were simply awaiting the 
 movement which should make it snap. As it happened, the 
 initiative was taken by the Government party through the 
 medium of the Toronto Empire. On December 30th, 1892, 
 that paper in a brief, and not particularly impressive 
 editorial, announced that " for some time past the political 
 course of the member for North Simcoe has been a pro- 
 longed and entertaining series of ' wobbles '." It declared 
 that Mr. McCarthy had been holding quiet meetings in his 
 constituency and warning his friends confidentially that he 
 was about to leave the Conservative party. The article 
 was sarcastic in tone, and was eminently calculated to be 
 offensive to the politician who was the object of the attack. 
 A wide political discussion was the immediate result. 
 Mr. McCarthy seized the occasion to say that he had been 
 " read out of the party," and really did not seem to mind 
 the operation very mucn. The importance of the news- 
 paper deliverance turned, however, upon whether it was 
 inspired by, or known to, the leaders at Ottawa. Amongst 
 those who understood the close relations existing between 
 the Empire and the Government, there could only be one 
 opinion, though it might not have been a wise one to 
 announce at the moment. And now that this particular 
 page of journalistic history is closed forever, it can do no 
 harm to say that the political policy of the paper was 
 guided very largely by the opinions and wishes of Sir John 
 A. Macdonald, and of Sir John Thompson after the Chief- 
 tain's death. Not that either of the leaders would offer 
 suggestions unmasked, but Mr. Creighton, as the Managing 
 Director, was very frequently in Ottawa, and was always 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 339 
 
 there before any move of importance was made, either in 
 politics or in the policy of the Empire. Financially, it was 
 not aided by advertising and Government patronage to 
 even a fair proportionate extent, and certainly not by the 
 individual help of Ministers ; although outside opinion 
 seemed to think that a Government organ naturally lived 
 apon the Government. 
 
 However that may be, the denunciation of Mr. Mc- 
 Carthy, while not inspired in its exact wording by Sir John 
 Thompson, was without a shadow of doubt, approved by 
 him as a matter of party policy and party tactics. The 
 severance was coming anyway, and at the critical moment 
 the friends of the Premier might as well be allowed to take 
 the initiative. And aside from any other authority, a 
 comprehension of the close relations existing between The 
 Empire management and the Conservative leader would 
 show how impossible it was that such an important step 
 should have been taken without the latter's knowledge. No 
 doubt also this fact was fully appreciated and understood by 
 Mr. McCarthy himself. Whether it was a wise step to take, 
 or not, is a debateable question, but that the drifting apart 
 of the two men would come to some such result had long 
 been absolutely inevitable. 
 
 After this occurrence their public relations were 
 naturally not very friendly. That there was any personal 
 hostility felt by Sir John Thompson towards his opponent 
 and critic is altogether improbable. Neither by word or 
 deed, in speech 01 document, with perhaps one exception, 
 did he exhibit any anger or bitterness in this connection. 
 At Belleville, during the demonstration in honour of Mr. 
 Corby, the Premier made one significant reference, but it 
 stood alone in the many speeches of that autumn tour : 
 "The men who would divide the Conservative party, the 
 ? en who would divide the countrv — for their ambition 
 
340 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 goes far enough to divide Canada as well as the party — 
 thank God, have passed out of our ranks, and must pur- 
 sue their nefarious work outside of them." When Sir 
 John did allow himself scope he usually spoke strongly. 
 Mr. McCarthy's position in his own defence, and in reply 
 to The Empire was at first strong and dignified. In a letter 
 published on January 2nd, following the famous editorial, 
 he claimed as much right to belong to the party " if ser- 
 vices and devotion count for anything, as any man now in 
 public life." He then outlined the points upon which he 
 differed from the Conservative leader : 
 
 " 1. With reference to the Act respecting the Jesuits' 
 Estates, which I thought, and still think, ought to have 
 been disallowed under the veto power by His Excellency 
 the Governor General, and I spoke and voted accordingly. 
 
 " 2. With reference to the provisions regarding the 
 North- West Territories, whereby the French language had 
 been made official and put on the same basis as the English 
 tongue, which, I endeavored, with a measure of success, to 
 expunge from the statute book. 
 
 " 3. The enactments as to the separate schools in the 
 North-West, which I have sought, and at times aided by 
 some of those who are now Ministers of the Crown, to 
 repeal. 
 
 " 4. I did most strenuously object and protest against 
 the scheme of redistribution of seats which the Govern- 
 ment introduced last Session and which, shorn it is true of 
 some of its most objectionable features, passed into law." 
 
 But here came the statement which has made this 
 matter historical, and which lends the personal element to 
 what should have been merely a political incident. Mr. 
 McCarthy goes on to speak of the National Policy, and 
 points out that " Not having had any part, and not having 
 been consulted in either the formation of the Government 
 
, l.l ... , ... .,... 
 
 ~i 
 
 Wfc%*^'V 
 
 Most Rev. Alexander A. Taciik, O.M.I., D.D., 
 
 Archbishop of St. Boniface, Manitoba. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 243 
 
 or the framing of its policy," he is unable to reach a 
 satisfactory conclusion as to its tariff intentions. This 
 sentence seemed to indicate a certain amount of personal 
 feeling which under the circumstances, is not altogether 
 surprising. And at the same time it proved that he regret- 
 ted the causes which had so perceptibly and steadily driven 
 him along a road which seemed to most people capable of 
 only one termination. When, upon Sir John Macdonald's 
 death, he had approached the Minister of Justice, in con- 
 nection with the formation of a new Cabinet, it is obvious 
 that he then believed himself as fully a member and leader 
 of the party as was Sir John Thompson himself. 
 
 The statement thus made was widely commented 
 upon, and was practically repeated on the 25th of January 
 following at Stayner : " It is not so much a question of 
 policy that has driven me out of the ranks. It is the first 
 time since I have been in public life that I have been 
 ignored in the formation of a new Government. If I can- 
 not be taken into the confidence of the councils of my 
 party it is time to assert my independence." This asser- 
 tion was followed up by the claim that the Government 
 were responsible for the action of The Empire, and that 
 the latter incident was a principal reason for his now 
 formally withdrawing from the Conservative party for 
 which in days gone by he had fought so brilliantly and 
 well. 
 
 There are two points which ought to be considered in 
 coming to a conclusion upon this historical matter. One 
 is that an injustice has been done to Sir John Thompson 
 in supposing that Mr. McCarthy's opposition to a certain 
 line of Government policy was the secret reason for a break 
 between the leaders. It must appear from what has been 
 said that such a result was inevitable, apart altogether 
 from the one being a strict Roman Catholic and the other 
 
344 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 having an environment of stern Protestantism. The fact 
 is, that only Sir John Macdonald's leadership could have held 
 such divergent sympathies in any kind of union. When 
 Sir John Thompson became the practical leader in 1891, 
 there existed no earthly reason for his consulting and 
 working with Mr. D' Alton McCarthy. It might have been 
 better had he tried to do so, but only along the lines of 
 party expediency, and even the wisdom of that was doubt- 
 ful. The truth is, that Mr. McCarthy had so antagonized 
 his own party friends, that it would have been almost 
 impossible for a Prime Minister or leader to have asked his 
 co-operation in those days of sectarian and sectional 
 suspicion. 
 
 But justice must be done Mr. McCarthy, in a state- 
 ment which is made with all deference to his distinguished 
 abilities and public services. He was hardly to be blamed 
 for expecting consideration and attention from the leaders 
 who had succeeded his old chief. There can also be no 
 doubt of his consistency and independence of thought and 
 action in regard to French Canadian and Roman Catholic 
 questions. For years he had felt earnestly and strongly 
 that something must be done to check what he considered 
 dangerous aggression, and a man who had really sacrificed 
 the Premiership, or a very great chance of obtaining it, for 
 principle, deserved as much praise as he very often received 
 blame. As a matter of fact also the particular questions 
 which he brought to the front — the Jesuits' Estates Bill, 
 the French language, and the Manitoba schools — were 
 never made really party issues, and he was therefore 
 justified to a certain extent in believing himself still a 
 Conservative. And this despite the fact that the whole 
 tendency of these agitations was against the national unity 
 and good feeling for which both the political parties were 
 nominally struggling. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 345 
 
 He probably thought the issue a personal one between 
 himself and Sir John Thompson. For a long time indeed 
 they agreed upon the fiscal question, and while that was 
 the case, it is difficult to see how Mr. McCarthy could have 
 been " read out " of the party unless he wanted to go. 
 But finally that link went also, and the only thing which 
 continued to evidence a bond of fellowship was loyalty to 
 a common sentiment regarding British union, and objection 
 to any touch of Continentalism in trade or principle. 
 The personal element, however, showed itself more and 
 more strongly as time went on, and this must be pointed 
 out in order to illustrate the justice of Sir John's conclu- 
 sion that they could not longer work together within the 
 same party. During a speech at Toronto in April follow- 
 ing The Empire episode, Mr. McCarthy referred to what 
 he called " the maintenance of the dual language iniquity 
 and the separate school anomaly in the North- West," and 
 asked if they constituted Tory doctrine. If so, then, " 1 
 am not a Tory. If it is a Conservative plank, I want to 
 know when it was put in the platform. Was it when Sir 
 John Thompson took charge of affairs ? I think it was." 
 
 Speaking on May 1st at Orangeville, he was still more 
 explicit. He pointed out that he was " an older man than 
 Sir John, older in political experience, and older, too, than 
 most of the statesmen he had summoned." But the 
 Premier had formed his Cabinet. " They had all seen it 
 and perhaps they liked it. It was a wonderful organiza- 
 tion, so nicely balanced between the orange and the green. 
 The equipoise was so excellent that it could not move for- 
 ward — it had no volition." This is rather bitter, and shows 
 the tendency of the speaker. At Listowel, on October 12th 
 he observed : "I am perfectly indifferent, politically speak- 
 ing, as to what the future may have in store for me. I am 
 not going to allow any man to silence me ; I am not going 
 
346 LIFE VND WORK OF 
 
 to bend the knee to Sir John Thompson or Mr. Laurier, or 
 anyone else." Again, on Dec. 19th, at Millbrook, this 
 feeling came out even more distinctly. Referring to the 
 then recent Liberal victory in Winnipeg, he declared that 
 his friends there had done much towards Mr. Martin's 
 success, and concluded by denouncing Sir John Thompson 
 for his somewhat famous phrase used about this time in 
 describing the two Liberal champions of Roman Catholicism 
 and Protestantism respectively, as " the Black Tarte and 
 the Yellow Martin " : " Mr. Martin is the man who framed 
 the law which repealed Separate Schools in Manitoba. Is 
 he entitled to such an epithet for that act ? Martin will 
 be remembered long after the Premier is forgotten." 
 
 It is, therefore, evidently impossible, after a perusal of 
 Mr. McCarthy's speeches before and since the event, to 
 blame Sir John Thompson for his action in December, 
 1892, or to suppose that, so far as he was concerned, per- 
 sonal or religious feelings had anything to do with the 
 matter. Nor is it incompatible with sincere respect for the 
 late Premier's memory, and regard for his great life-work, 
 to feel that the Equal Rights champion was sincere and 
 consistent both in wishing to remain within the party and 
 in finally leaving it. 
 
 And aside from the later developments in connection 
 with trade and tariff matters, upon which opinions will differ, 
 both Sir John Thompson and Mr. McCarthy seem to have 
 been honestly consistent, and honestly antagonistic. The 
 one thought that in a country of mixed nationalities and 
 creeds, the only possible and permanent union was a system 
 of working by mutual sympathy, forbearance and tolera- 
 tion. The other considered it absolutely necessary to build 
 a nation as you would a house, upon a foundation of stone 
 unmixed with any other article — a basis of similarity in 
 sentiment, uniformity in language and approximation in 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 
 
 347 
 
 creed. The one was a man of iron will, with intellect and 
 passions under stern subjection to his sense of duty. The 
 other also possessed a strong will, but with a somewhat 
 impetuous and enthusiastic temperament. The one was 
 willing to work and mould existing material with the aid 
 of time and patience; the other was ready to overturn 
 existing institutions or policies on the chance of replacing 
 them with something better. Both had great ability. One 
 is gone from the land he tried so well to serve, the other 
 has still the opportunity for great and useful service to 
 his country and empire. 
 
348 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The New Governor General and a Political Tour. 
 
 Immediately following Sir John Thompson's return 
 from Paris he had the privilege of joining in the welcome 
 extended to the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen, who had 
 come to take up the reins of vice -regal authority, and 
 incidentally, to cement the warm friendship which had 
 already grown up between themselves and the Prime 
 Minister. Lady Aberdeen, in an article contributed to an 
 English journal shortly after his death, vividly pourtrays 
 the occasion of their first meeting Sir John. It was on the 
 Parisian during a trip to Canada in 1891. "'I want to 
 introduce to you the Minister of Justice,' said another 
 Canadian friend, himself a former Minister ; and but few 
 words were necessary to impress one with a sense of confi- 
 dence and trust in this quiet, strong, earnest-looking man, 
 in whose eye, however, there played a twinkle, and whose 
 smile lighted up a countenance full of sympathy and kind- 
 liness. It was not difficult to accept his friend's description 
 of him as ' the ablest man in Canada.' " 
 
 Her Excellency then speaks of the rare nature with 
 which he was endowed ; of his power for deep, true friend- 
 ship ; of his constant and beautiful thought for others ; of 
 the strong friendship which had gone on deepening between 
 them from that day until his sudden and mournful death. 
 Aud there was much in this case to create that bond of 
 sympathy and mutual respect without which real friend- 
 ship is impossible. Sir John Thompson's ideal in life was 
 the performance of duty, his chief motive the rendering of 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 
 
 349 
 
 service to his country and empire. The ideal of Lord and 
 Lady Aberdeen, as exhibited in their innumerable public, 
 political and philanthropical enterprises, was tb^ improve- 
 ment of the condition of the poor and the elevation of 
 surrounding humanity in comfort, in education, in thought* 
 and in that spirit of personal aspiration which contributes 
 so greatly to the uplifting and ennobling of those engaged 
 in the drudgery and routine of ordinary life. The Canadian 
 Premier had sacrificed much of his time for domestic 
 happiness, his chances of financial prosperity, and positions 
 of ease and dignity, upon the altar of national duty. The 
 Governor General and the Countess of Aberdeen, on the 
 other hand, had for many years surrendered the time 
 which might have been devoted to the enjoyment of bound- 
 less luxury, and the pleasures of high position, in giving 
 themselves to energetic and unceasing efforts for the pro- 
 motion of the people's welfare in the different countries 
 with which they had become connected. 
 
 It is not, therefore, a matter for surprise that this 
 warm feeling of friendship should have grown up and 
 strengthened, until the cord was snapped by death. Lord 
 Aberdeen's first public appearance as Governor General of 
 Canada was most successful from every point of view. 
 Upon arriving at Quebec on September 17th, Their Excel- 
 lencies were welcomed by a large gathering of Cabinet 
 Ministers and others, and on the following day Lord 
 Aberdeen was duly sworn in. His address upon this occa- 
 sion deserved and received the careful consideration and 
 sincere respect of the Canadian people. Especially note- 
 worthy was the definition of a Governor General's duties : 
 " Aloof though he be from actual executive responsibilities, 
 his attitude must be that of ceaseless and watchful readi- 
 ness to take part by whatever opportunity may be afforded 
 to him in the fostering of every influence that will sweeten 
 
350 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 and elevate public life ; to observe, study and join in 
 making known the resources and development of the 
 country ; to vindicate, if required, the rights of the people 
 and the ordinances of the constitution ; and lastly, to pro- 
 mote by all means in his power, without reference to class 
 or creed, every movement and every institution calculated 
 to forward the social, moral and religious welfare of the 
 Dominion." 
 
 There is a whole volume contained in this eloquent 
 sentence, and despite the difficulties surrounding the posi- 
 tion, and the occasional criticibms which are inevitable in 
 any free community, the vast majority of the Canadian 
 people feel with Sir John Thompson in some of his private 
 correspondence, that Lord Aberdeen has earnestly and suc- 
 cessfully lived up to the aspirations contained in that open- 
 ing speech, and that he has been nobly aided by Her 
 Excellency. And it is interesting to note in this connec- 
 tion that wherever the late Premier formed a personal 
 friendship, the respect and admiration of those with whom 
 he was thus intimate, became almost unbounded. Close 
 acquaintance with his character seems indeed to have 
 inspired feelings which show how true he was to piinciple, 
 how unassuming he appeared to be, and yet how impressive 
 he really was, in private as well as in public life. Famili- 
 arity, instead of breeding contempt or indifference or 
 modified respect, in his case enhanced every sentiment of 
 trust and esteem. 
 
 During the six crowded years following 1887, Sir 
 John Thompson could hardly be said to have kept in 
 personal touch with the important Province of Ontario. 
 At that time he had campaigned with Sir John A. 
 Macdonald, but it was as a new man, and in company with 
 one whom many people almost worshipped. It is true that 
 he then made a most favourable impression, and that his 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 351 
 
 treatment of the Riel case had ensured him popularity and 
 respect, but still the public memory is fickle, and the pass- 
 ing of a few years practically wiped that important tour 
 off the slate. In the meantime, however, he had grown 
 into the central figure of Canadian public life ; had 
 developed an Imperial reputation ; and had pursued in 
 regard to Provincial legislation, a certain line of policy 
 which had not conduced to popularity in portions of 
 Ontario. Yet he was unknown personally to the bulk of 
 the Canadian people. In a Democratic community he had 
 in fact climbed to the top without the aid of so-called 
 popular qualities, and without being in personal touch 
 with the all powerful electorate. 
 
 But it was now felt that a series of speeches was 
 desirable, and that the Premier should be made acquainted, 
 so far as was possible, with the local leaders and the 
 people of Ontario. Especially was this the case in view of 
 the trade and tariff conditions prevalent in the United 
 States, and voiced in Canada by the various organizations 
 and proposed policies which made 1893 a period of such 
 widespread fiscal discussion. He had, of course, outlined 
 the party policy during the first weeks of the year in 
 Toronto, but six or eight months is a long time in politics, 
 and much had happened since then, notably the financial 
 crash in the States. Hence the interest taken in a tour 
 which was immediately preceded by a great demonstra- 
 tion and reception in Montreal on the 12th of September. 
 It was an occasion of considerable importance, and the 
 address presented by the united Conservative clubs of the 
 commercial metropolis was so full and complimentary, and 
 embodied so clearly the policy of the Premier and hia 
 party, that it deserves to be given here, just as it was 
 presented to Sir John Thompson in the crowded City drill 
 hall with its dense mass of cheering people : 
 
352 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Honourable Sir, — 
 
 On this, your first public visit to Montreal since the representative 
 of our Most Gracious Sovereign entrusted you with the formation of the 
 Government, we desire, on behalf of the several Conservative organiza- 
 tions of Montreal, to extend to you a most cordial and hearty welcome. 
 
 We are proud to have the privilege of greeting you as a leader of the 
 Conservative party, and in that capacity as the exponent of the principles 
 to which we are cordially attached, through whose application in the 
 administration of public affairs Canada has now, for many years, enjoyed 
 a progressive prosperity in material concerns, contributing to the promo- 
 tion of her status among the nations of the world, while strengthening 
 and still more firmly cementing her attachment to the great Empire to 
 which we are proud to owe allegiance. 
 
 We are especially gratified at the opportunity of congratulating you 
 upon the successful completion of the important duty which you have just 
 discharged as a member of the Court of Arbitration for the settlement of 
 the dispute arising out of the control of the Behring Sea fisheries. We 
 recognize in your appointment as one of the British arbitrators on the 
 joint high tribunal not only the selection of one of the most able, astute 
 and learned subjects of our Queen, but what is equally gratifying, an 
 admission by the Government of the Mother Country of the right of 
 Canada to a full and equal voice in the decision of all matters that nearly 
 concern our peculiar interest, and we may be permitted to add from the 
 result of the deliberations of the court, of which you were so distinguished 
 a member, that in common with Canadians we deeply appreciate the 
 splendid services rendered by you to Canada in that capacity. 
 
 In the conviction that the best interests of every class in our beloved 
 country are wrapped up in the perpetuation of the cardinal principles of 
 the policy upon which the administration of public affairs for the past 
 fifteen years has been based, we beg to tender you the assurance of our 
 continued devotion to the cause of the Conservative party whose honoured 
 leader you are. Its policy, we are well aware, has been assailed by foes 
 within and foes without ; but we believe that the practical results flowing 
 from the application of that policy have afforded so striking an object 
 lesson to the electorate of this country, that when the time of trial comes, 
 the principles we espouse will be once more triumphant. And that object 
 lesson has been peculiarly emphasized during recent months by the happy 
 condition of trade in Canada compared with other countries. 
 
 We are persuaded, moreover, that the Government of which you are 
 an honoured and trusted leader will continue as in the past to vindicate 
 its claim to the confidence of the people of Canada by shaping its policy 
 to meet the varying conditions of trade, and by harmonizing every interest, 
 whether labouring, manufacturing, agricultural, mining, fishing or other- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 353 
 
 wise, and shaping all in unison to a common end — the advancement of the 
 welfare of all classes in our beloved Dominion. 
 
 In conclusion, permit us to renew the assurance of pleasure it affords 
 us to welcome you to Montreal, and to wish yourself and Lady Thompson 
 the richest blessings of health, long life and every prosperity. 
 
 Signed on behalf of the clubs, 
 
 Fred. C. Henshaw, 
 
 President Junior Conservative Glvb. 
 
 P. B. MlGNAULT, 
 
 President Club Gartier. 
 
 C. A. McDonnell, 
 
 President Sir John A. Macdonald Club. 
 
 J. Adelard Ouimet, 
 
 President Club Conservateur. 
 
 Joseph H. Jacobs ; Beaumont Joubert, 
 
 Hon. Sees. United Conservative Clubs. 
 
 The Premier received this tribute, accompanied by Sir 
 Axlolphe Caron, the Hon. Mr. Angers, the Hon. Mr. Foster, 
 the Hon. Mr. Ouimet and Mayor Desjardins. He spoke 
 in reply first in French and then in English, the latter 
 being of course the speech of the evening. In this connec- 
 tion it is worthy of note that when Sir John first came to 
 Ottawa in 1886 he could hardly speak a word of French. 
 But recognizing the desirability of being acquainted with 
 the language of nearly two millions of the Canadian people 
 he had devoted himself with characteristic energy, and amid 
 all the innumerable demands upon his time, to its acquisi- 
 tion. The address was delivered in his usual calm, delib- 
 erate and judicial style; every word being well weighed 
 and every sentence well rounded. It was not, however, a 
 stump speech, and from current comments it is question- 
 able whether the effect was as great as the ability and 
 honesty of the effort deserved. 
 
 But it was the utterance of a statesman ; the matured 
 thought and expression of an earnest and sincere mind. In 
 his opening remarks Sir John Thompson spoke of what his 
 
 23 
 
354 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 predecessors had accomplished, and added : " I venture to 
 express the hope, as the highest ambition I can have, that 
 I should be worthy, at least in effort, at least in disinter- 
 estedness, and at least in earnestness and zeal and purpose, 
 of those great men." He then referred to the late Liberal 
 Convention in a somewhat sarcastic way, and pointed out 
 that the Conservative party did not require one because its 
 policy and principles were known to all men, and had been 
 over and over again approved by the people of Canada. 
 But it was different with the Opposition : " They had great 
 need of a convention because they were a party about to 
 change their platform. They had done it very often before. 
 We had seen them going to the country with even greater 
 confidence than they expressed in Ottawa in convention, on 
 other platforms altogether. They had declared for conti- 
 nental free trade. They then had a platform of commercial 
 union, and only nine or ten months ago their leader de- 
 clared that on Unrestricted Reciprocity they would live or 
 die." 
 
 He went on to say that the protective policy was not 
 a fixture in application, though regarding its general prin- 
 ciples it was always the same. It was a fiscal method 
 which permitted modifications and in fact made changes 
 absolutely essential, in accordance with the constantly 
 changing circumstances of the time. Hence the recent ap- 
 pointment of Ministers to investigate the condition of dif- 
 ferent industries and interests ; hence also the promise of 
 moderate tariff reform during the next session of Parlia- 
 ment. And then the Premier, amid great applause, eulo- 
 gised the National Policy as a whole : " We think, while 
 we admit that our policy in the past has not done all we 
 hoped for, that it ias achieved very great results for Can- 
 ada. We think it has increased immensely the volume of 
 Canadian trade both as regards our exports and imports. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 355 
 
 We think it has succeeded in a marvellous degree in deve- 
 loping the interests of every class of the working commu- 
 nity. We think it has been marvellously successful in 
 establishing public works all over this country, of which 
 any country in the world might be proud, and which have 
 made Canada envied by other nations. We think, and we 
 know, that it has been the means of increasing inter-pro- 
 vincial trade — of giving the home market to our people, to 
 the industrial classes of different sections of the country, 
 and thereby creating a greater sentiment in favour of union 
 between the different provinces of this great Confederation." 
 
 Sir John then spoke of the idle and breadless working- 
 men who were being fed in the streets and public parks of the 
 oreat American cities ; of the failures of innumerable banks 
 in the United States ; of the great commercial, industrial 
 and financial crash which had taken place in that paradise 
 of the advocates of unrestricted reciprocity ; and pointed 
 out that the Canadian artisan and Canadian interests were 
 going along comparatively undisturbed by neighbouring 
 disasters : " Every one knows that the social and commer- 
 cial life of the people, the comfort of their homes, their 
 abstention from crime and outrage, their obedience to order 
 and to law, their respect for religion and authority, are a 
 hundred- fold better — in this beloved country of ours — than 
 in that boasted land from which these gentlemen sought to 
 take their policy." 
 
 He referred to the effect of free trade and the absence 
 of protection upon the unfortunate farmers of England ; 
 to the American depression in the prices of products and 
 lands ; to the condition of the English artisan and labourer. 
 He declared the policy of the Government to be the main- 
 tenance of a home market for the Canadian people and 
 announced it to be their intention to write upon the tariff 
 in broad distinct terms, that the industries of the Dominion 
 
 
356 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 should " never be at the dictation of a foreign country." 
 He claimed that under Mr. Mackenzie's Liberal adminis- 
 tration the national debt had increased $8,000,000 per 
 annum with little to show for it, while under Conservative 
 rule it had grown only $6,250,000 a year, with the C. P. R. 
 and many great public works as a result. He stated that 
 Canadian commerce had fallen off $20,000,000 annually 
 under a revenue tariff, but had increased $28,000,000 a 
 year under protection. 
 
 The Premier then turned to the Manitoba Schools' 
 question and discussed it freely, fully, and honestly. He 
 referred to the charges made by Mr. Tarte, regarding a 
 promise of remedial legislation said to have been given to 
 Archbishop Tache, and mentioned " the solemn denial in 
 writing by the venerable Archbishop himself." He added 
 his belief that the people of Canada would accept the word 
 of that " venerable and saintly man in preference to that 
 of ten thousand Tartes." In reference to his own position 
 he pointed out that " time and again I have been accused, 
 with respect to this question, of pandering to Catholic in- 
 terests. Time and again in another province I have been 
 accused of entering into a league with the Roman Catholic 
 hierarchy for the purpose of subverting the constitutional 
 rights of a province of this Dominion." 
 
 He went on to deal with the problem historically and 
 constitutionally ; handled Mr. Laurier without gloves for 
 his charges of cowardice ; and then made a somewhat sig- 
 nificant declaration regarding the Liberal leader's claim 
 that if the public schools of Manitoba were de facto Protes- 
 tant schools, then Federal interference might be necessary : 
 
 " Once for all we have to decide, if the public func- 
 tion is imposed upon us by the Courts, not what the schools 
 are, but what the citizens of the Province make them ; and, 
 therefore, if the statutes of Manitoba do not make the 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 
 
 357 
 
 schools of the Province Protestant schools and do not justify 
 the public schools of that Province being made Protestant 
 schools, the Federal Government would have no power to 
 interfere if any contravention of the law there, was mude 
 to the oppression of the minority." 
 
 The Dominion, therefore, if given the power to inter- 
 vene by the Courts, could only do so upon the legislation 
 itself and not in connection with any system which might 
 have developed in spite of, or through lax enforcement of, 
 the law upon the statute book. The speech concluded with 
 a vigourous denunciation of the Canadian independence 
 idea and a rousing expression of loyalty to British connec- 
 tion. 
 
 This address gave the keynote for the ensuing tour of 
 Ontario. At Belleville, a couple of weeks' later, perhaps 
 the most important of these series of meetings was held — 
 the occasion being a demonstration in honour of the popular 
 local member, Mr. Harry Corby. It was an out-of-doors 
 meeting and over eight thousand people gathered from 
 neighboring counties to welcome the Premier and his visit- 
 ing colleagues. Mr. Baldwin Falkiner, President of the 
 West Hastings Conservative Association, acted as chairman 
 and an address was presented from the Associations of six 
 ridings in the vicinity. Sir John Thompson was given a 
 great reception and stated that though many of his collea- 
 gues as well as himself, were new men and unknown to the 
 audience personally, they none the less stood for old princi- 
 ples. Amid great cheering he declared that " the ship of 
 state has not been a ship lying to in the storm, but it is a 
 ship which has made many prosperous voyages, a ship 
 which carries the British flag still aloft, and now carries 
 forward the hope of the young Canadian people, fuller of 
 ambition to-day than it ever has been since the Union was 
 formed." 
 
358 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Attention was drawn to the wonderful stability of 
 Canada during a time of international distress : " We have 
 seen the Australian Colonies swept by a whirlwind of 
 disaster. We have seen the markets of Great Britain para- 
 lyzed by financial depression, — and later still we have seen 
 the Western States swept by a cyclone of disaster, which the 
 President of that country officially declared was stopping 
 every wheel of industry and turning thousands of men into 
 the streets." He spoke of the McKinley bill having checked 
 exports to the Republic by $5,000,000, during a year which 
 had seen trade increase with the Mother Country to the 
 extent of $17,000,000. He stated that although reciprocity 
 in any fair and practicable degree had been declared im- 
 possible by Mr. Blaine as representing the Republican 
 party, yet his Government had informed the new Demo- 
 cratic administration — opposed as that party was on prin- 
 ciple to reciprocity with any country — that if it "was 
 disposed to make fair tariff concessions based upon legisla- 
 tion, such tariff concessions would be met by the Canadian 
 Government in a proper spirit." More could not be done and 
 even that much turned out to be useless. He denounced 
 the Liberal party for its general pessimism and its constant 
 changes. In this respect his words might well have 
 brought to the minds of the audience those expressive lines : 
 
 *' Drifting, drifting, ever drifting, 
 And never a harbour in sight. 
 A pathless sea, a moonless night, 
 And the clouds are never rifting." 
 
 Other addresses were delivered by Sir Adolphe Caron, 
 Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, Mr. Haggart and Mr. Angers. 
 In the evening a banquet was held at which the Premier 
 again spoke, together with Mr. Costigan, Mr. Daly, Mr. 
 Clarke Wallace, Mr. Curran and Mr. Wood. On the morn- 
 ing of September 25th, Sir John reached Berlin, accom- 
 
1 ■ . 
 
 > » 
 
 Hon. Henri Elzear Taschereau, 
 
 Puisne Judge Supreme Court of Canada. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 361 
 
 panied by other ministers, and visited many of its flourishing 
 industries. In the afternoon they arrived at Elmira, and 
 were enthusiastically welcomed at both the open meeting 
 and the great gathering in the evening. The next day 
 Clinton was reached and a large audience of farmers from 
 all over the county, was addressed in the afternoon. Sir 
 John concluded a brief speech by expressing the hope that 
 " the spirit of Canadian fellowship and enterprise, and of 
 attachment to the British Empire may continue to grow. 
 We are a determined, self-reliant people, determined to make 
 a name for our country — the best half of this Continent.'' 
 Extensive preparations had been made at Stratford to 
 welcome the Premier and his colleagues. The skating rink 
 in the evening was filled to the doors with probably nine 
 or ten thousand people, and the numerous addresses pre- 
 sented to Sir John were — it is to be hoped — as satisfactory 
 to him as were the speeches delivered in reply, to the people. 
 At Palmerston, a warm welcome was given on the afternoon 
 of the 27th inst., and in the evening the largest political 
 demonstration which is said to have ever been seen in 
 Bruce County, was held at Walkerton. The town was 
 literally packed with people, and after the public meeting 
 a banquet was tendered the Premier. On the following 
 day, flying visits were paid to Tara and Port Elgin, and a 
 banquet was received at Southampton in the evening. The 
 mass meeting in the Tara rink was especially interesting, 
 as evoking a declaration from Sir John in favour of woman 
 suffrage : " We look forward to it as one of the aims 
 which are to be accomplished in the public life of Canada, 
 because the Conservative party believe that the influence 
 of women in the politics of the country is always for good, 
 I think, therefore, that there is a probability of the fran- 
 chise being extended to the women on the same property 
 qualifications as men." 
 
362 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Lucan was next visited, and then Durham. At the 
 latter place Sir John asked, amid loud cheers and in refer- 
 ence to the situation in the States : " Where would Canada 
 have been to-day if the people of this country had accepted 
 the Liberal proposition for Unrestricted Reciprocity ? " 
 
 At Mount Forest, Kenilworth and Arthur, Sir John 
 Thompson and his colleagues were greeted with veritable 
 ovations. At the latter place, and on behalf of the North 
 Wellington Conservative Association, Mr. Wm. Kingston 
 presented an Address, part of which was unusually inter- 
 esting : 
 
 " We watched your course during the lifetime of our 
 late lamented leader with ever-increasing interest and 
 respect. We learned to value the loyal support and 
 energetic help you gave him while a member of his Minis- 
 try. We feel that you, better than any man living, under- 
 stood his views and policy, and are fitted to become the 
 depositary of his traditions. New circumstances require 
 to be met and dealt with, and we believe that you will 
 meet and deal with them in an independent and masterful 
 way as in the past. We belong to a party whose motto it 
 is to live in the present — abreast of the times — not forget- 
 ting our past, but connecting our policy smoothly with it." 
 
 North and South Perth seemed to meet at Mitel lell on 
 October 3rd to do honour to the Premier. Owen Sound 
 contributed a demonstration on the following day as great 
 as that which had welcomed the new Minister of Justice 
 and the old Chieftain in 1887. Markdale, Dunnville and 
 Glencoe followed suit, and on the evening of Saturday, 
 Oct. 7th, the tour closed at the last-named place. Sir John 
 took the train for Montreal, where he was to meet Lady 
 Thompson on her return from Europe, and the other 
 Ministers returned to the Capital. The two weeks thus 
 spent must have been most gratifying to the Premier. The 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 363 
 
 innumerable addresses which were presented indicated the 
 high respect and esteem in which he was held ; the 
 constant references to the Behring Sea Commission showed 
 how the results of the arbitration, and his connection with 
 it, were appreciated ; the receptions and banquets, the 
 waiting crowds at the stations, together with the great 
 processions in many places and the enthusiasm and interest 
 everywhere exhibited, conveyed a popular tribute which 
 could not fail to be satisfactory, even to a public man who 
 cared so little for mere partisan applause as did Sir John 
 Thompson. 
 
364 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 As Minister of Justice. 
 
 Sir John Thompson possessed in an eminent degree the 
 mind, the training, and the aptitude of a jurist. And he was 
 therefore especially well qualified to administer successfully 
 the Department which he controlled for some eight years. 
 However disparagingly opponents might speak of him as a 
 politician, a diplomatist, a leader, or a Prime Minister of his 
 country, they were compelled to respect the admirable 
 judicial attainments, natural and acquired, which he was 
 able at all times and under all circumstances to bring to 
 the consideration of great legal and judicial problems. 
 
 His career, in this sense, was curiously compact. 
 Each important success seemed to fit into some future 
 development and aid in furthering his interests, perhaps 
 years afterwards. His first important case at the Bar 
 was the defence of a negro accused of some petty crime, 
 whose acquittal he secured. His first appearance in the 
 Supreme Court of Nova- Scotia was in 1874, nearly nine 
 years after being called to the Bar, when he acted as 
 junior counsel with Mr. R. L. Weatherbe, now a Judge of 
 that Court. He may be said to have made his reputation 
 in pleading in the celebrated case of Woodworth vs. Troop 
 et at., during the same year. It was a case of Provincial 
 and constitutional importance. The plaintiff was a member 
 of the House of Assembly, and in a speech made during the 
 Session had charged the Provincial Secretary with having 
 altered and falsified certain public records and documents 
 of the Crown Lands Department, after the signature of the 
 Lieut.-Governor had been appended. A committee was 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 365 
 
 appointed to investigate the charge and reported that there 
 was no foundation whatever for it. The House then 
 passed a resolution demanding an apology in the most abject 
 terms from Woodworth — the plaintiff — which he declined 
 to make. Another resolution followed, ordering his ex- 
 pulsion from the House, and the Speaker instructed the 
 sergeant-at arms to eject him, which was done. Mr. Wood- 
 worth then brought action against the Speaker and the 
 members of the Committee. 
 
 The whole question turned upon whether the Courts 
 of the Province had power to review the action of the 
 Legislature. Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Macdonald, Q.C., 
 acted for the plaintiff and carried the matter through the 
 various Courts until it was finally argued before the 
 Supreme Court of Nova-Scotia, in 1876. In the meantime, 
 party feeling had been aroused and the whole Province 
 had taken sides for or against. Then it was that the 
 future Minister of Justice first displayed that remarkable 
 knowledge of the rights, duties, and prerogatives of Parlia- 
 ment, which afterwards so greatly distinguished him. 
 His argument won the case and settled the question of 
 the power of the Provincial Legislature to punish for con- 
 tempt. The force and ability thus shown is said to have 
 surprised his friends, while the natural result was an im- 
 mediate accession of public favour, and his subsequent 
 appearance in many important cases before the Supreme 
 Court of the Province. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Thompson became Attorney-General of his 
 Province and in the following year was gazetted a Queen's 
 Counsel. In 1882 he was appointed a judge of the Sup- 
 reme Court. He sat as a justice of the Supreme Court of 
 Nova Scotia untill 1886, when he resigned from the Bench 
 and re-entered political life, being called upon to pre- 
 side as Minister of Justice over the administration of 
 
366 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Canadian law and constitutional practice. His career in 
 this high office appears to divide itself naturally into four 
 distinct phases. The political control of great constitu- 
 tional issues such as the Jesuits' Estates act, the Riel 
 case, and the Manitoba schools forms one ; his attitude 
 upon moral and legal reforms and upon minor and technical 
 questions in the House is another; his policy regarding 
 general Provincial legislation is a third ; and his efforts con- 
 cerning important Parliamentary proposals and the initi- 
 ation of legislation, such as the Criminal Code or the 
 Copyright Law is a fourth. The first phase has been 
 considered with more or less fulness. 
 
 It is interesting to note in a general way how 
 thorough the Minister was in everything connected with 
 his work and the administration of his department. Not 
 satisfied with the reports of subordinates, he himself visited 
 most of the prisons and penitentiaries under his jurisdic- 
 tion. In 1887 he travelled through Manitoba, the North- 
 West, and British Columbia for this purpose alone ; making 
 no speeches, and devoting himself entirely to business. 
 
 In the House of Commons, the influence of the Minis- 
 ter of Justice was all for good. It was a reforming, 
 purifying, yet judicious power. He was incapable of legis- 
 lating in a hurry, or of putting upon the statute book to- 
 day reforms which would have to be modified or altered 
 to-morrow. And he could be very sarcastic in dealing 
 with those who made proposals which did not commend 
 themselves to his judgment. Upon one occasion — June 
 6th, 1888 — Dr. Sproule, a well-known member of the 
 House, moved that in view of the Jubilee celebration it 
 was expedient to pass an Address to the Governor General, 
 asking that clemency in different degrees be granted to all 
 convicts whose conduct had been meritorious during their 
 term of imprisonment. In his speech Sir John dealt both 
 hortly and sharply with the idea : 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 367 
 
 " The sentiments which actuate the hon. member who 
 has brought the motion forward are, I find from the experi- 
 ence which I have had in office, those which actuate three- 
 fourths of the members of this House ; who are under the 
 impression apparently that the unfortunate persons who 
 are confined in the penitentiaries are confined there either 
 through mistake or from some unforeseen misadventure 
 which it was impossible for them to provide against. . . . 
 I think if I may express the sentiment without offence to 
 the gentlemen who are supporting this motion, that the 
 most unsuitable way we could devise of celebrating Her 
 Majesty's Jubilee or attempting to confer any benefit upon 
 the public, would be to let loose upon the community a 
 class of people who have shown themselves able by long 
 experience to inflict the greatest injury upon the com- 
 munity." 
 
 This was not a very conciliatory way of discussing 
 the suggestion of a prominent supporter, but it illustrates 
 the principle of justice which permeated the speaker's 
 character. To him, divorce legislation was a peculiarly 
 difficult subject. As a Roman Catholic, all divorce was 
 objectionable ; as Minister of Justice he had to guide the 
 House in its decisions upon the divorce bills which came 
 down from the Senate. In one case — June 15th, 1887 — 
 he made an able speech in favour of the divorce asked for, 
 and one which Mr. Davies, who followed, described as 
 " a clear and lucid opinion." It certainly showed a very 
 complete knowledge of the law as voiced by decisions in 
 the English High Court of Justice and the House of Lords ; 
 in the different American States ; and in legislation during 
 centuries past and gone. He concluded with the significant 
 remark : " I only refrain from voting for this Bill for the 
 reasons that I should give for voting against any Bill for 
 the dissolution of the marriage tie." Upon another oeca- 
 
368 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 sion — April 21st, ] 890 — he vigourously opposed a certain 
 petition on grounds which were expressed as follows : 
 
 " The proposition, then, is that we shall dissolve the 
 marriage simply because she found that she was married 
 to a person not able to support her as well as she hoped he 
 would be. I cannot imagine a ground of divorce which 
 would be more stigmatised in those countries where laxity 
 of principles as regards divorce is prevalent ; I cannot 
 imagine an application for divorce, the granting of which 
 would do more dishonour to this Parliament than the 
 passage of this Bill. I shall, therefore, apart from my 
 objection to divorce on general principles, oppose this Bill 
 from every point of view." Needless to say the " relief " 
 asked for was not granted. 
 
 Early in 1888, it was announced that the Government 
 intended to take some steps to check gambling in stocks 
 and merchandize and to control or abolish the "bucket 
 shops," which were leading so many young men along the 
 slippery path of speculation to ultimate ruin. Speaking 
 upon the measure which was finally carried through the 
 House, the Minister of Justice declared that, 
 
 " There is a limit beyond which speculation becomes 
 merely a vice and profligacy and a temptation to everybody 
 to get riches quickly, even if they do not get them hoiestly. 
 . . . I know from experience that numbers of persons 
 belonging to respectable classes in the community are in 
 our different penitentiaries now, in consequence of bucket 
 shop transactions which led them on to embezzlement and 
 fraud of different kinds." 
 
 About the same time, the Minister moved an amend- 
 ment to the law relating to the fraudulent marks on 
 merchandize, which, as he said, was " an adaptation of the 
 English Act to Canadian conditions." By this measure 
 protection was given through criminal process to registered 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 360 
 
 trade marks ; the burden of proving the absence of fraud 
 was thrown largely upon the defendant ; all offenders 
 became subject to summary conviction ; the law was en- 
 larged so as to deal with false trade descriptions ; provision 
 was made regarding search warrants, and for the seizure 
 by the Customs authorities of goods which might infringe 
 the law. And it is not likely that these and other enact- 
 ments lacked severity in view of Sir John Thompson's well 
 known hatred of dishonesty in all its forms. 
 
 The records of Parliament contain a number of debates 
 turning upon more or less legal issues, in which the Minister 
 of Justice was, of course, the controlling figure. The Baird 
 election case was one of these. On April 28th, 1887, the 
 matter was brought up in the House, and it was stated that 
 G. G. King as the Liberal candidate in a Prince Edward 
 Island constituency had received 1191 votes, whilst his 
 opponent G. F. Baird, had received 1 1 30. The returning 
 officer, however, declared Mr. Baird elected on the ground 
 that his opponent's nomination papers were invalid because 
 of his deposit not having been made by a duly qualified 
 agent. In his reply to Mr. Skinner, of New Brunswick, 
 who had urged the House to take action, the Minister of 
 Justice stated that it was not a matter for Parliamentary 
 interference, but for the Courts to deal with. The prece- 
 dents quoted had occurred previous to election cases having 
 been transferred from Parliament to the Courts, both in 
 Great Britain and Canada. All details, he pointed out, 
 were now relegated to the Judiciary, the House only retain- 
 ing the right to pass upon the qualification of the person 
 returned as elected. In this connection he instanced the 
 case of O' Donovan Rossa, whose election had been voided in 
 1870, by the British House of Commons, because of his 
 being a convicted felon. But this particular question was 
 one for the Courts to pass upon, as it involved purely tech- 
 nical and legal considerations. 24 
 
370 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Later on, the matter came up again, though in a very 
 different form. Mr. Baird had voluntarily resigned his 
 seat and been re-elected. Prior to this the case had been 
 taken into the Courts and had resulted in Mr. J. W. Ellis, 
 M.P., proprietor of the St John Globe, being imprisoned 
 for abusive language contained in his paper, and directed 
 against one of the Judges. Meantime the returning-officer 
 was brought before Parliament, but was eventually dis- 
 charged. On June 6th, 1894, Mr Davies introduced a 
 motion of serious censure upon the returning-officer, who 
 had been dealt with by the House seven years before, and 
 upon the Judge who had tried the more recent case. In- 
 cidentally, he made a somewhat violent speech. Sir John 
 declared in the course of his reply that " Judges have been 
 censured for having left their business of judgment and 
 having gone into politics. We are being asked to leave our 
 business of politics and to go into the business of judgment." 
 
 As usual, he urged the House to look after its own 
 affairs, which were sufficiently onerous : 
 
 "Our business is confined to the politics of the country 
 — I use the word ' politics ' in its larger sense, as embracing 
 legislation — and when we step out of our sphere and under- 
 take to deliver judgment between subject and subject, 
 much more when we undertake to reverse or to sit in 
 review on the judgment of one of the highest Courts of the 
 country, we lay ourselves open to the very condemnation 
 that this resolution would pronounce against the Court 
 whose opinions it criticises." The Premier concluded by 
 declaring that all " the abominations of the Star Chamber " 
 were included in this one resolution. Needless to say it 
 did not pass. 
 
 Another case which came up — May 9th, 1888 — and 
 was widely discussed as involving the rights of the press. 
 was the imprisonment of J. T. Hawke, Editor of the 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 37i 
 
 Moncton Transcript, for contempt of Court in commenting 
 most violently and personally upon a judgment of the 
 Supreme Court of New Brunswick in the Westmoreland 
 election trial. Without going into details, it is sufficient to 
 say that Mr. Davies urged the commutation of the Editor's 
 sentence, and that the Minister of Justice stood firmly by 
 the dignity and impartiality of the Bench. Referring to 
 the attacks of the Moncton Transcript upon Judge Fraser 
 in particular, he declared that: "I have nothing to say now 
 in regard to the propriety of such language being used to 
 public men, but it is in the interests of the free adminis- 
 tration of justice that the men who sit on the Bench, apart 
 from the hurly-burly in which we live and struggle day 
 after day, should be free from such attacks." 
 
 A little later he moved an amendment to the Criminal 
 Procedure Act by which a newspaper proprietor, publisher 
 or editor charged with defamatory libel could be indicted* 
 tried and punished in his own Province, and not run the 
 risk of being taken, against his will, to another Province 
 under varying local laws and conditions. 
 
 A brilliant illustration of Sir John's knowledge 
 of legal precedents and constitutional principles occurred 
 on March 18th, 1890, when Lieut. -Colonel Amyot moved a 
 sudden amendment to the Committee of Supply resolution 
 in which he urged the exclusive right of the Provincial 
 Executives to appoint Queen's Counsel for all Provincial 
 Courts and to establish rules and rights of procedure 
 therein. The matter came as a surprise to the Minister of 
 Justice, but he was fully equal to the emergency. After 
 analyzing the case of Lenoir vs. Ritchie, which had been 
 largely depended upon for the Provincial argument, and 
 proving it to actually support the opposite contention, he 
 referred to many other cases and to various reports, and 
 went on to say : " I venture to differ from the hon. gentle- 
 
372 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 man that he has established that the Crown is an integral 
 
 part of the Legislatures of the Provinces In 
 
 reference to all the Provinces of Canada, I think I am 
 speaking within the lines of the decisions — which have all 
 run one way — proceeding from the Judicial Committee of 
 the Privy Council, when I say that all the Legislative 
 powers and constitutional functions which existed down to 
 that time (1867; in the various Provinces of British 
 America were for the instant taken back by the Imperial 
 Government and re -distributed under the terms of the 
 British North America Act " 
 
 An elaborate argument followed upon the degree in 
 which Her Majesty could be bound by Provincial legisla- 
 tion enacted in her name. The speaker claimed finally 
 that the Queen did not really form a part of the Provincial 
 Legislatures, and that as a consequence of certain decisions 
 the Provincial Government did not appear to have the 
 power to create a Q.C. or to bestow titles of honour. 
 
 During this Session Sir John had to deal with two 
 very technical and difficult subjects in the amendment of 
 the law relating to bills of exchange and promissory notes, 
 and in the discussions, negotiations, and arrangement of 
 the " Bill respecting Banks and Banking." Several depu- 
 tations, composed of Mr. B. E. Walker, Mr. D. R. Wilkie, 
 and other leading bankers of the Dominion, waited upon 
 the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice at 
 Ottawa, and the details of the present very satisfactory 
 law were gradually evolved. It is understood that Sir 
 John Thompson strongly impressed his visitors upon 
 this occasion by his broad views and intimate acquaintance 
 with those common sense principles, which after all, form 
 the only true solution of such intricate questions as those 
 relating to finance and banking. 
 
 A very onerous portion of the duties which Sir John 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 373 
 
 Thompson had to perform was connected with the 
 reviewing of Provincial legislation. The Acts passed by 
 each Province are referred after the prorogation of the 
 Assembly to the Minister of Justice, who in turn has to 
 advise the Governor General regarding their constitution- 
 ality and the desirability of allowing them to become law or 
 the reverse. He has a great many things to consider in 
 connection with these varied and numerous enactments. 
 One Province may pass legislation conflicting with another 
 or with the Dominion, and the rights of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment in taxation, in property, in legal matters, in its 
 general jurisdiction or in its control of the thousand and 
 one things which come under the authority of the Dominion 
 rather than of the Provinces, may be infringed. Sir John 
 generally took the ground in all matters involving national 
 and political issues that the provinces were themselves the 
 best judges of their legislation, and he, therefore, refused 
 to advise the veto of any such measures. Where there was 
 a constitutional doubt involved, he considered the Courts 
 the proper medium for deciding the result. 
 
 There were exceptions to this rule. According to 
 the contract made between the Dominion Government and 
 the Canadian Pacific Railway, dated Oct. 21st, 1880, it was 
 agreed that for twenty years following, no independent line 
 of railway should be constructed south from the C. P. R. in 
 Manitoba, so as to unite with the American lines and thus 
 introduce American competition. Subsequent Provincial 
 and Dominion legislation recognized and strengthened this 
 enactment. On July 4th, 1887, however, an Act for the 
 construction of the Red River Valley Railway came before 
 the Minister of Justice, and he promptly advised its disal- 
 lowance on the ground that it infringed the general 
 authority of the Dominion regarding railway legislation, 
 and that the provision for connecting the proposed line 
 
374 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 with others outside the Province was in excess of powers 
 held by the Legislature. The measure was accordingly 
 disallowed and the action resulted in raising a perfect storm 
 in the Province interested. 
 
 Vigourous protests, fresh legislation, an appeal to Her 
 Majesty the Queen, threats, and even personal encounters 
 between the officials representing the two Governments at 
 the scene of construction, followed. A sub-committee of 
 Council, composed of the Ministers of Justice and the 
 Interior, was appointed and in a most elaborate report 
 submitted on January 4th, 1888, went into the whole ques- 
 tion, and declared that " the manifest international charac- 
 ter of the enterprise, and the absence of all pretence of 
 reason for it as ' a local work or undertaking,' fully justifies 
 its being dealt with by the Government of Canada, and in 
 the interest of the whole Dominion." The sub-committee 
 referred to the great sacrifices which Canada had made in 
 order to construct the C. P. R. and was " unable to recom- 
 mend that there should be an abandonment of the policy 
 of preventing the trade of Manitoba and the North-West 
 from being diverted for the benefit of foreign railway 
 corporations." 
 
 In this particular case Sir John Thompson seems to 
 have considered the interests of Canada as a whole to be the 
 important consideration ; illegality being a secondary mat- 
 ter. In a special report some two months later he declared 
 that " it cannot be asserted that in pronouncing the veto 
 upon Acts which were deemed to have an injurious ten- 
 dency as regards the country at large, Your Excellency 
 has deprived the people of Manitoba of any of their 
 rights." Eventually the matter was settled by a com- 
 promise between the two Governments, and the measure 
 was allowed to go into operation. But it is interesting 
 as being an exception to Sir John Thompson's general 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 375 
 
 policy regarding disallowance. With Provincial legislation 
 he never stood upon technical or constitutional objections 
 where no apparent harm could result from allowance. 
 Occasionally, however, Acts were vetoed by the Minister's 
 advise, which glaringly infringed Dominion rights, or 
 perhaps injuriously affected special interests, but such 
 occurrences were rare. One of these was a Manitoba bill 
 for authorizing external companies to do business within 
 the Province. Another was "the District Magistrate's 
 Bill," passed by the Quebec Legislature on the 2nd of Octo- 
 ber, 1888. The Report of the Minister of Justice upon 
 this occasion was a most elaborate historical disquisition, 
 and it constitutes a valuable State paper. 
 
 A very different case, with a different result, was 
 the allowance of the Ordinance passed by the North- 
 West Territorial Assembly in 1892. It amended the 
 law respecting education and placed that subject under 
 the control of a Council of Public Instruction. As in Mani- 
 toba, the Roman Catholic minority appealed to the Domin- 
 ion authorities, and were strongly supported by Archbishop 
 Tache\ But acting on Sir John Thompson's advice, the 
 veto was refused and the law went into operation. In a 
 lengthy speech upon the subject on April 26th, 1894, the 
 Premier pointed out that disallowance would not have 
 redressed any of the grievances complained of ; that the 
 petitioners had not asked for an appeal to the Supreme 
 Court ; that they were mistaken as to the nature 
 of the regulations which had existed prior to 1892. 
 " I think," said he " that the House will be disposed to 
 agree that after all we came to the safer and wiser conclu- 
 sion, although it has created, I admit, considerable irritation 
 on the part of those who had formed expectations of a 
 more speedy, decisive, and heroic remedy being given to 
 the petitioners." 
 
876 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 With Sir Oliver Mowat the Minister of Justice was 
 upon the most friendly personal terms, and their political 
 or legal differences were conducted upon an unusually high 
 plane. The former, in fact, has not hesitated to express 
 his high appreciation of Sir John Thompson's business 
 aptitude, facility for settling up matters long in dispute, 
 and general legal attainments. Sir John was determined 
 to get all the old questions at issue between the Provinces 
 and the Dominion out of the way, and had initiated several 
 suits against Ontario in connection with Indian claims and 
 titles to land. 
 
 An important case along these lines was that aris- 
 ing from the treaties made with the Indians at Sault 
 Ste. Marie on 3rd September, 1850, under which the Ojibe- 
 ways surrendered to the Crown all the land north of Lakes 
 Huron and Superior to the Height of Land, in considera- 
 tion of certain fixed annuities. The treaty contained a 
 provision that if the surrendered territory produced suffi- 
 cient revenue to enable the Crown to do so, without incur- 
 ring loss, the annuities in favor of the Indians would be 
 augmented. This had since proved to be the case, and 
 their claim had been pressed for consideration. 
 
 Under Section 111 of the British North America Act 
 the Dominion engaged to assume all the liabilities of the 
 late Provinces of Canada, so that primarily the Dominion 
 was admitted to be liable to the Indians in this connection. 
 Sir John Thompson, however, on behalf of the Government, 
 claimed that Ontario having obtained the benefit of the 
 land and the revenues received from it, should restore to 
 the Dominion the moneys already expended and pay the 
 whole of the annuities, past and future. Three arbitrators 
 were chosen to deal with the question : Hon. J. A. Boyd, 
 Chancellor of Ontario on behalf of the Province of Ontario; 
 Sir Napoleon Casault, Chief Justice of Quebec, od behalf 
 
i } 
 
 Hon. G. W. Ross, LL.D., M.P.P., 
 
 Minister of Education in Ontario. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 379 
 
 of the Province of Quebec ; and the Hon. Mr. Justice 
 Burbidge on behalf of the Dominion. As a large sum 
 of money was involved the result was awaited with much 
 interest. And as ultimately decided it was very largly in 
 favour of the Dominion ; partly in favor of the Provinces. 
 Under the terms of another treaty made with the Indians 
 before Confederation and dealing with certain territories 
 west of Lake Superior covering thousands of square miles 
 in c-i tent, sundry disputes regarding jurisdiction had occur- 
 red. Over two-thirds of the land in question was eventu- 
 ally decided by the Imperial Privy Council in the St. 
 Catharines Milling case, to belong to Ontario. Meantime, 
 however, the Dominion Government at great expense to 
 itself had extinguished the Indian title to these lands by 
 incurring heavy liabilities for large perpetual annuities 
 and by other payments during many years past, which 
 alone had reached $800,000. Sir John Thompson finally 
 brought the matter before the Courts and it is still pending, 
 but with every possibility that Ontario may eventually 
 find itself interested to the tune of some millions of dollars, 
 and Quebec in a smaller sum. 
 
 It seems to have been in connection with these cases 
 that Sir Oliver Mowat was able to speak so highly of the 
 late Premier at the time of his death : 
 
 " He was an earnest Canadian, a man of great ability 
 and industry, and possessed of a judicial mind and sound 
 judgment. From my official intercourse with him after his 
 appointment as Minister of Justice I formed a high opinion 
 of his great forwardness and business aptitude. I think 
 the Conservatives of Canada have never had a better Min- 
 ister, if they have had one as good." 
 
 Another legal matter in which Sir John Thompson 
 took great interest, but which he was fated to leave still 
 unsettled, was the question of an Insolvency Law. For a 
 
380 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 long time it had been felt that the existing system was in- 
 efficient and required reform. Finally the feeling amongst 
 Canadian merchants grew so strong that a conference was 
 held at Ottawa on January 16th, 1893, between delegates 
 from the Montreal, Toronto and London Boards of Trade , 
 and the Premier, the Hon. Mr. Foster and the Hon. Mr. 
 Angers ; with a view to the introduction of a measure at 
 an early session of Parliament which, while extending 
 reasonable means for relief to the debtor, would at the 
 same time protect the creditor in realizing upon the assets 
 of bankrupts. In accordance with the decision afterwards 
 arrived at, Mr. Bowell brought a Bill before the Senate 
 on April 4th, 1^9 i, dealing with the whole subject 
 in great elaboration. Unfortunately, many causes com- 
 bined to prevent it getting through the Commons beyond 
 the first reading. Promises were made however, by Sir 
 John that it would come up and be pushed at the ensuing 
 session. 
 
 It is interesting to note in connection with this parti- 
 cular portion of his career, how strongly he felt regarding 
 the powers of the Local Legislatures. As already pointed 
 out he seldom used the right of disallowance. But he went 
 even further than a tacit admission of the wisdom of 
 letting the Provinces govern themselves as a rule, and dur- 
 ing the debate upon the Jesuits' Estates bill, declared that 
 " a Provincial Legislature, legislating upon subjects which 
 are given to it by the British North America Act has the 
 power to repeal an Imperial Statute passed prior to the 
 B.N. A. Act affecting those subjects." And upon this point 
 he quoted several important precedents. In subsequent 
 discussions upon the Copyright Law the power of the 
 Dominion to repeal certain Imperial acts, so far as they 
 affected Canada, was urged with equal distinctness and 
 with far greater earnestness. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 381 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Criminal Code and the Copyright Law. 
 
 Multifarious as were the duties of the Minister of 
 Justice during the years in which he filled that onerous 
 office, he still managed to tind time for great reforms as 
 well as for the ordinary work of his department and for 
 the innumerable matters which require the attention of a 
 party leader. The review of Provincial enactments ; the 
 supervision of the national laws and of general legislation ; 
 the control of his department ; the preparation of an 
 immense number of reports ; the presentation of the 
 Government's views or defence upon nearly all important 
 Parliamentary subjects ; the preparation or supervision of 
 leading appeal cases before the Supreme Court or the 
 Privy Council ; the inspection and charge of the prisons 
 and penitentiaries of the Dominion ; the making of cam- 
 paign speeches ; the participation in diplomatic negotiations 
 regarding Behring Sea, the Fisheries, Reciprocity, or New- 
 foundland ; composed but a portion of the vast amount of 
 work which he had assumed. 
 
 In the midst of it all he managed to put into shape 
 and pass through the House of Commons a Codification of 
 the Criminal Laws of Canada, which in itself would consti- 
 tute a lasting monument to the ability, industry and know- 
 ledge of any average statesman. During the Session of 
 1891, the measure was first brought forward by the Minis- 
 ter, chiefly in order to obtain suggestions from all who 
 were competent to deal with the subject. In 1892, it was 
 again introduced and was found to be greatly modified and 
 
382 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 improved by the advice of Judges and of other leading 
 authorities in the legal world. The measure was probably 
 the most voluminous ever presented to the House of Com- 
 mons, and contained more than a thousand clauses, covering 
 fully 350 pages. It was referred early in the Session to a 
 Joint Committee, composed of the very ablest men in both 
 parties, who went over it clause by clause and dealt with 
 it in an honest, thorough manner. 
 
 Here it was that Sir John Thompson showed his 
 power. In Committee he was always at his best, and in 
 dealing with a non-partisan, legal question of this kind he 
 naturally held the very highest place and most strongly 
 impressed himself upon the legislation under discussion. 
 So skilfully, ably and persistently did he stamp his views 
 upon its every page that, in point of fact, the Canadian 
 Code of 1892 deserves to be called after its maker far more 
 than did ever the famous Code Napoleon. Under its terms 
 Canadians were enabled to boast that they had led the way 
 amongst English-speaking peoples in the enactment of a 
 comprehensive code of criminal law. In briefly introducing 
 his measure to the House on April 12th, the Minister of 
 Justice announced that " It will deal with offences against 
 public order, internal and external ; offences affecting the 
 administration of the law and of justice; offences against 
 religion, morals and public convenience ; offences against 
 the person and reputation ; offences against the rights of 
 property and rights arising out of contracts, and offences 
 connected with trade ; it will deal with procedure and pro- 
 ceedings after conviction and actions against persons 
 administering the criminal law." 
 
 The final report of the Joint Committee to which it 
 had been referred did not appear till nearly the end of the 
 Session, but it was accepted without serious objection, and 
 the new Code became the law of the land. Its important 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 383 
 
 features were numerous, and in fact may be said to have 
 almost effected a legal revolution. Up to 1869, when a 
 first effort was made at consolidation, English regulations 
 and proceedure had prevailed in all the provinces, and even 
 after that date the English law, when not inconsistent 
 with that of Canada, or when dealing with offences not 
 provided against in the Canadian law, still obtained. The 
 new Code covered all the ground hitherto untouched by 
 Dominion regulation, and declared the English criminal 
 law to be no longer applicable in Canada. No person, 
 therefore, could in the future be proceeded against for an 
 infraction of any Act of the Imperial Parliament, unless by 
 express terms such an Act was made effective within the 
 Dominion. 
 
 Important legislation was settled concerning insanity. 
 No person could be convicted because of an offence com- 
 mitted, or an act omitted, by him, when labouring under 
 natural imbecility or disease of mind. The condition 
 specified was one in which incapacity existed for appreciat- 
 ing the nature of the act, or omission, with which he was 
 charged, or of distinguishing between right and wrong. 
 All persons, however, who might be slightly affected, were 
 not excused, and if labouring under specific delusions, 
 though in other respects sane, could not be acquitted on 
 the ground of insanity. Various crimes were defined, 
 including murder, treason, sedition, corruption, libel and 
 theft. The following provision is especially interesting : 
 " Culpable homicide, which would otherwise be murder, 
 may be reduced to manslaughter, if the person who causes 
 death does so in the heat of passion caused by sudden 
 provocation. Any wrongful act or insult of such a nature 
 as to be sufficient to deprive an ordinary person of the 
 power of self-control may be provocation if the offender 
 acts upon it on the sudden, and before there has been time 
 for his passion to cool." 
 
384 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Treason was defined as an attempt to kill Her Majesty 
 or the Heir Apparent, or exhibiting a desire to do so ; as 
 an effort to depose the Sovereign or levying war in order 
 to compel a change in legislation ; as an endeavour to 
 overawe the Parliament of Canada. Sedition was described 
 as involving an attempt to bring the Sovereign into hatred 
 or contempt ; exciting disaffection against the Queen, the 
 Dominion Parliament or any Provincial Legislature; en- 
 deavouring to procure an alteration of any State enact- 
 ment or regulation, by unlawful means. And then came 
 an interesting provision : " Everyone is guilty of an indict- 
 able offence and liable to one year's imprisonment who 
 cites or publishes false news or tales whereby discord or 
 slander may grow between the Queen and her people, or 
 which may produce other public and private injury." 
 
 The libel law was modified and improved while stren- 
 uous regulations were made regarding corruption. Follow- 
 ing the lines of Mr. Abbott's measure in the preceding 
 year, any judge or justice accepting a bribe was made liable 
 to fourteen years' imprisonment ; the sale of contracts and 
 offices was made punishable with other indictable offences, 
 and the offender was to be disqualified for five years ; the 
 contribution of money to election funds by public con- 
 tractors was declared illegal ; and public officers were pro- 
 hibited from accepting commissions. 
 
 Another important provision was that by which either 
 husband or wife were allowed to give evidence in a case 
 where the other was concerned, only excepting any evidence 
 which might be based upon private conversation between 
 the two. Then there was the not less vital change in the 
 law, by which the accused could testify on his own behalf. 
 A distinguished Judge is authority for the private state- 
 ment that during the last two years, since this enactment 
 has been in force, he has found it most useful. Guilty 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 385 
 
 parties seemed very often disposed to perjure themselves 
 and to finally reveal their own guilt by attempts to flounder 
 out of difficulties. On the other hand it was found to be 
 a great help to really innocent persons. 
 
 Of course the measure had its critics. Mr. Justice 
 Taschereau, of the Supreme Court, a jurist of distinguished 
 reputation, published an elaborate denunciation of the 
 whole code. His position in the matter was, however, 
 much weakened by failure to make a single suggestion 
 during the prolonged period in which the bill was being 
 considered, and by omission to, in anyway, respond to the 
 requests for advice which were frequently made to him. 
 No one but a lawyer of wide research could deal with the 
 technical objections raised by His Lordship, but it must 
 seem to any impartial layman who looks at this completed 
 code, that its defects are like spots upon the sun — merely 
 incidental to a vast and varied surface of light. As the 
 poet has so well said : 
 
 "In every work regard the writer's end, 
 
 Since none can compass more than they intend, 
 And if the means be just, the conduct true, 
 Applause in spite of trivial faults, is due." 
 
 Sir John Thompson's work in this connection is indeed 
 a lasting memorial to his wonderfully luminous legal intel- 
 lect, and to his rank as a really great Minister. And there 
 is much to think of and remember in the eloquent tribute 
 paid to this particular achievement by Mr. J. T. Bulmer, of 
 Halifax : 
 
 "The completion and passage of the criminal code 
 marks a new era in criminal legislation and penal reform, 
 not only for Canada, but for the world as well. It is as 
 true as a proposition in Euclid, that the criminal law of 
 Canada is above that of any nation or State on the face of 
 the earth. It embodies most of the suggestions of Bentham, 
 
386 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Becarri, Livingston, Mackintosh and Romily, and hundreds 
 of others which never occurred to them, and is the first 
 attempt on a national scale to make criminal law synony- 
 mous with justice, and substitute civilization and Christian- 
 ity for barbarism." 
 
 It may safely be said also that the rank and place 
 thus taken by Sir John paved the way for the offer which 
 would inevitably have come in subsequent years, of mem- 
 bership in the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy 
 Council. Whether it would have been accepted by a man 
 who declined to take the vacant Chief Justiceship of Can- 
 ada, with all its environments of ease and dignity, because 
 he thought his duty lay in assuming the Premiership ; or 
 whether it would have had any effect upon the leader, 
 who practically let life slip away from him in the attempt 
 to do his duty, and his whole duty, by the State ; depends 
 upon circumstances which can now be only guessed at. 
 But when an authority like the late Sir James Fitzjames 
 Stephen, declares the English legal system to be merely " a 
 mass, of ill- arranged Acts of Parliament. . . . finally 
 consolidated into a small number of acts, faithfully pre- 
 serving the confusion and intricacy of the material from 
 which they were put together," it is not difficult to under- 
 stand the eventual appreciation which must have followed 
 the achievement of the Canadian Minister of Justice. 
 
 Upon another subject in which Sir John Thompson 
 was enthusiastically interested, and in the mastery of 
 whose technical and difficult details he had expended much 
 research and labour, success did not come during his life- 
 time. On the very verge of an arrangement regarding 
 the Canadian Copyright Law, which no one else under- 
 stood so thoroughly and could have handled with so many 
 probabilities of a satisfactory result, he was stricken down. 
 The points in this prolonged dispute are not, perhaps, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 387 
 
 appreciated at their true importance. The question 
 involves the discussion and, perhaps, re-arrangement, of 
 various international treaties; it affects the general question 
 of Colonial self-government ; it includes the complaints of 
 Canadian publishers and the fears of British authors ; it 
 dates back through fifty years of contention ; and requires 
 on the part of anyone who would deal with it in states- 
 manlike form, a mastery of the official communications and 
 voluminous arguments produced by half a century of 
 vigourous disputation. 
 
 The origin of the trouble was the Imperial Copyright 
 Act of 1842, which gave copyright throughout the British 
 dominions to any book published in the United Kingdom, 
 whether printed there or not. Though intended to give a 
 free circulation to British literature within British terri- 
 tories, it was soon found that English editions were too 
 expensive for Colonial requirements, and in order to meet 
 this difficulty an amendment was introduced in 1847 which 
 allowed the Canadian Government to impose a nominal 
 author's royalty of 12^ per cent., to be collected at the 
 Custom Houses, and to be handed over to the Imperial 
 Government. Under this new regulation, cheap American 
 reprints soon flooded the market to the advantage of 
 Canadian readers, but to the very evident injury of the 
 local book and publishing trade. 
 
 Then followed complications in connection with the 
 Berne Convention of 1886, and the ensuing International 
 Copyright Act, passed by the British Parliament, which 
 practically threw the Canadian market open to British and 
 American publications, without any control by the Dominion 
 Government on behalf of the Canadian publisher. In 1875 
 a local enactment had been passed, limited, however, to the 
 rights of Canadian publishers, in connection with local 
 works. But on the 20th of April, 1889, Sir John Thomp- 
 
388 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 son introduced a measure by which he proposed to end this 
 sort of thing ; to test the power of the Dominion Govern- 
 ment to protect the Canadian publisher ; and to take firm 
 ground upon the rights derivable from the Confederation 
 Act of 1867. The constitutional position he described very 
 clearly : 
 
 " I think we have the right to legislate in respect to 
 this subject irrespective of any Statute of the Imperial 
 Parliament passed before the British North America Act 
 was passed. The Imperial Copyright Act was passed in 
 1842. The Act which declared that Colonial Statutes were 
 invalid if they were repugnant to Imperial Statutes was 
 passed in 1865. Two years after that, we received the 
 ample gift of powers which the British North America Act 
 contains. In the exercise of those powers, we have 
 repealed, sometimes by implication, and sometimes directly, 
 scores of Imperial enactments, in addition to volumes of 
 the Common Law of the United Kingdom ; and, if the 
 objection were sustained in regard to the exercise of our 
 powers on the question of copyright, it would strike off at 
 least one-half of the Revised Statutes." 
 
 In dealing with the difficulties under which Canadian 
 publishers laboured, the Minister of Justice pointed out 
 that by the local laws an author can obtain copyright in 
 Canada only on condition of his printing and publishing, 
 or reprinting and republishing, in the Dominion. No such 
 condition, however, is attached to the copyright of English 
 works in Canada, and practically there is no restriction 
 upon the sale of American reprints. " While a Canadian 
 publishing house is not at liberty to republish an English 
 copyrighted work, a publishing house in the United States, 
 having obtained a transfer of the rights to Canada possessed 
 by an English author, can republish in the United States 
 and have complete command of the Canadian market, 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 389 
 
 while, on the other hand, it is impossible for a citizen of 
 Canada, under any circumstances, to obtain copyright 
 privileges in the United States." 
 
 Residence in a British country which was at first re- 
 quired, had become entirely nominal and a perfect farce, so 
 that, to sum up, the American author by obtaining copy- 
 right simultaneously in both the United Kingdom and the 
 United States was able to capture, without any considera- 
 tion in return, the absolute control of the Canadian market. 
 
 The Minister proposed in this measure that unless the 
 author who had obtained British copyright should at the 
 same time obtain a copyright in Canada, and republish his 
 book there within a week after, the Minister of Agricul- 
 ture should be at liberty to give a license to any Canadian 
 to publish the work. He added that this might be thought 
 " a strong step in the interests of all those connected 
 with the publishing industry in Canada, and it may be 
 supposed to be a strong step against the British author." 
 But, on the other hand, it was intended to enact that 
 there should be an excise duty on all the books published 
 under that license ; and, said the speaker, " Those who 
 have made a study of the subject assure me that the pro- 
 ceeds to be derived from that excise duty, will give the 
 British author far more compensation for the sale of his 
 w T orks in Canada than he could possibly derive by other 
 means." He concluded a vigourous and most effective 
 speech by a declaration of his belief that " we have these 
 powers ; if not, the sooner we get them the better." 
 
 Passing Parliament unanimously, the Act was sent to 
 the Imperial Government for approval, which had not been 
 given up to the day of its author's death. Protests 
 regarding the delay, and urgent State papers drawn up 
 by Sir John Thompson have been forwarded, while various 
 other efforts have been made to get the law into opera- 
 
n 
 
 90 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 tion. But the opposing influences have been too great. 
 It is claimed by the Imperial Government that such an 
 enactment involves the abandonment of the policy of inter- 
 national and Imperial copyright which was after difficulty, 
 asserted in 1888 to the considerable benefit of the British 
 author in various markets; that it is inconsistent with 
 the policy of* making copyright independent of the place 
 of printing — iu other words, that it does not harmonize 
 with the English free trade idea — that it would probably 
 modify, if not destroy, advantages gained in the United 
 States by the arrangement of 1891 ; and that it would be 
 injurious to the British authors by whom the Canadian 
 market (via United States publishers) is chiefly supplied. 
 
 In an elaborate memorandum addressed by the Minis- 
 ter of Justice to Lord Knutsford, as Colonial Secretary, 
 on July 14th, 1890, these and other contentions are 
 thoroughly handled, and the position of the Canadian 
 publisher is most vividly depicted. The results of the 
 present system were declared to be exceedingly disastrous : 
 
 " The American publisher, unrestrained by any inter- 
 national copyright law or treaty, is free to reprint any 
 British work and to supply it, not only to the reading pub- 
 lic of the United States, but to the reading public of Can- 
 ada, while the Canadian publisher is not free to reprint 
 any such work on any terms, unless he can obtain the per- 
 mission of the holder of the copyright in Great Britain. In 
 some noted instances, this has actually led to the transfer 
 of printing establishments from Canada to the United 
 States. In other cases English publishing houses have set 
 up branches in New York or other American cities with 
 the view of reprinting for the United States and Canada 
 the copyright works which they have issued in London." 
 
 He points out how impossible it is for a Canadian 
 publisher to compete in making arrangements for the right 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 391 
 
 to reprint any given English work, with American firms 
 which not only command and hold their own market of 
 60,000,000, but in addition have a practical monopoly of the 
 Canadian market : 
 
 " Inasmuch as the Imperial Copyright Acts forbid the 
 reprinting of copyrighted works, but permit the importa- 
 tion of the American reprints. In many modern instances, 
 the British copyright holder has preferred to sell his right 
 to an American publisher rather than to a Canadian, and 
 has even bound himself by the terms of sale to prosecute 
 any Canadian who may reprint his work for sale in Canada 
 — the operation which the American sets himself about at 
 once." 
 
 Sir John then gave at length, though as concisely as 
 was possible, the history of the whole question, together 
 with correspondence which had taken place from time to 
 time. The report constitutes in fact a most complete and 
 logical presentation of the case, and it is not difficult in 
 view of the compact, yet varied knowledge, displayed in 
 this and other documents,to realize the confidence which was 
 felt in his eventual settlement of the controversy. And it 
 is none the less interesting to note the strong expressions 
 of praise which in this connection have been since awarded 
 to the late Premier by political opponents of the most pro- 
 nounced kind. If Sir John Thompson could have received 
 these expressions of non-partisan approval during his life- 
 time, there is no doubt that it would have been the greatest 
 pleasure which he could possibly have been given. 
 
 But as so often happens, the public forget during a 
 leader's fighting career to express their appreciation in a 
 tangible manner or in one which a sensitive and sometimes 
 greatly abused statesman can enjoy ; while political oppo- 
 nents let slip many an opportunity to sweeten and render 
 pleasant, the surroundings of party stress and struggle. 
 
392 LIFE AND WOKK OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 An Imperial Statesman. 
 
 Sir John Thompson never appeared before the public 
 as an enthusiast. The unwillingness to express his own 
 strong feelings to others and intense dislike of those who 
 used patriotic phrases as a cloak for unpatriotic policies 
 were dominant forces in his character. No Canadian was 
 ever more earnest in believing that the maintenance of 
 British connection and the development of Imperial unity 
 were the greatest and wisest objects for Dominion policy. 
 But it was only by slow degrees that the people of Canada 
 generally, came to appreciate the strength of this sentiment 
 and then more by the practical results of his policy than by 
 any special public belief in his loyalty or Imperialism. 
 
 Where Sir John A. Macdonald, by phrase or precept, 
 would embody the national regard for Britain, in a way 
 calculated to arouse all the enthusiasm of the people, 
 and thus aid him in the carrying out of an Imperial 
 policy, Sir John Thompson would proceed first to plan, 
 and then to quietly put his schemes in practice before 
 inviting that public approval of which he was always 
 reasonably assured. Yet his utterances upon these lines 
 were by no means few, and as time went on the strength 
 of his views would have become more evident and more 
 widely known. Speaking, for instance, at the Ministerial 
 Banquet in the Mansion House, London, on Aug. 6th, 1890, 
 and in response to the toast of the "Army and Navy and 
 Reserve Forces," the Minister of Justice for Canada — as he 
 then was — referred to his pride as a colonist that " the day 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 393 
 
 had come when friends and foes alike, in considering the 
 strength of the Empire, had to take into account the 
 strength of the Colonies across the sea." 
 
 Upon all the questions which came up from time to 
 time in regard to Canada's duty to the Empire, he spoke 
 with no uncertain sound. The very idea of discrimination 
 against British products in favour of American goods was 
 abhorrent to him ; the advocacy cf Independence he consid- 
 ered dangerous to the Dominion, both in the present and 
 in the future ; and the best policy to pursue was, in his 
 opinion, one which would make the interests of Canada 
 and the Empire identical, and gradually bring the wealth 
 and power of the Mother Country into operation as sub- 
 stantial factors in the development of Canadian territory. 
 In resisting successfully the efforts of Newfoundland to 
 introduce the wretched precedent of discrimination into the 
 Colonial relationship, he did a great and perhaps not suffi- 
 ciently appreciated service to the Empire. His action 
 served as an ample protection against any discrimination 
 in favour of American goods in the treaty afterwards made 
 between the British West Indies and the United States. 
 It will also prove an efficient precedent, and a reason for 
 the use of the veto by the Imperial Government in the 
 event of any future Canadian administration being so lost 
 to a sense of national honour as to introduce the principle 
 into a reciprocity arrangement with the American Republic. 
 
 At the same time Sir John Thompson was too thorough 
 a Canadian to permit of his ever considering British inter- 
 ests first and those of the Dominion second. The way in 
 which he stood out for Canadian rights in regard to the 
 Atlantic fisheries, and the Pacific Coast sealing interests ; 
 the Copyright question, and the British treaties which limit 
 the freedom of Canadian fiscal action ; are proofs which 
 sufficiently illustrate the fact. He bolieved in Canada 
 
394 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 having the very fullest power compatible with its position 
 as a State of the Empire, and had its interests come in 
 conflict with those of England, he would have stood for 
 Canada first. But he considered the whole matter in a 
 very different spirit from that wh'ch must have actuated 
 those who were always looking forward to such a divergence 
 of destiny, and speaking of it as something inevitable, when 
 in reality it was barely possible. 
 
 National existence he considered compatible with 
 British connection, one, in fact, being dependent upon the 
 other. Speaking in Toronto on January 6th, 1893, the 
 new Premier declared that " every man who is a Canadian 
 at heart feels that this country ought to be a nation, will 
 be a nation, and, please God, we shall help to make it a 
 nation ; but, sir, we do not desire that it shall be a separate 
 nation, but that it will be a nation in itself, forming a 
 bulwark to the British Empire, whose traditions we admire, 
 whose protection we enjoy, and who has given to this 
 country in the fullest degree the right and the power of 
 self-government, and agreed to extend to the people of this 
 country every facility which a self -governed and indepen- 
 dent people could desire to have." 
 
 At the great meeting which followed a week later in 
 the Auditorium, he proclaimed amid ringing cheers that 
 "the very corner-stone of the policy which we have 
 endeavoured to carry forward, which we will build our 
 future upon, is British connection." He went on to say 
 that it was the bounden duty of both Liberals and Conser- 
 vatives to take care that the question of that future was 
 not trifled with ; to see that Canada was developed as " a 
 firm, strong British nationality " ; to base political action 
 upon confidence and not pessimism ; to spurn the annexa- 
 tionist emissary from the door of every true Canadian ; to 
 cease trifling with the idea of annexation " by paltering 
 
Sir John Thompson, 
 
 Speaking in the Canadian House of Commons. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 397 
 
 with independence." It was not, he thought, an unworthy 
 ambition to look forward to a distant possibility of inde- 
 pendence when Canada might contain a great and populous 
 nation, but "to talk of it as being practicable or reasonable 
 within the present generation, is to talk absurdity, if it is 
 not to talk treason." 
 
 At the present time, Canada was independent in the 
 truest sense of the word, with the greatest possible liberty 
 of self-government, and the protection of so powerful a 
 parent that no one could menace that independence or 
 hamper its free operation and development But in view 
 of the immense power and intense aggressiveness of the 
 United States " it required the fullest care and help of the 
 Empire in order to keep the independence of Canada and 
 to safeguard the rights of Canada." The man, therefore, 
 who advocated independence while the Dominion was in 
 this stage of national existence, advocated not only separa- 
 tion from Great Britain, but practically the absorption of 
 this country into the United States : " If the sentiments 
 which animated the people of the Dominion were destroyed 
 by British connection being severed, and the moral help 
 and the prestige of Great Britain were withdrawn from it, 
 the United States would have us at her disposal whenever 
 she pleased." 
 
 In an elaborate interview given the papers upon his 
 return from the Arbitration Tribunal at Paris, — August 
 26th — Sir John Thompson was even more plain and for- 
 cible : " The propagandism for Canadian independence is a 
 direct and plain agitation in favor of annexation. Nobody 
 in the country ought to be deceived about that. If anyone 
 wants to know what fate Canada would meet in dealing 
 with any international question standing outside of the 
 British Empire, he had better read the record in the 
 Behring Sea discussion. Great Britain stood by us nobly 
 
398 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 from first to last, and she guarded every interest, that she 
 was necessarily asked to guard, and she dealt with Canada 
 in all matters of arbitration as fairly and as zealously as if 
 Canada had been a part of the United Kingdom. Stand- 
 ing alone by herself Canada would not have received one 
 moment's consideration, and any discussion of rights would 
 have been disposed of in short order." 
 
 A few weeks later at the demonstration in Montreal, 
 on September 12th, he denounced " the wretched, feeble 
 voices of the miserable creatures," who raised the cry of 
 annexation, and declared that after closing their little office 
 in Toronto, some of them had gone to the other half of the 
 Continent " for which they have such a profound affection, 
 but in which they will find the people have a profound 
 contempt for renegade Canadians." It will not be surpris- 
 ing in this connection to those who appreciated the strong 
 though suppressed feelings which characterized Sir John, 
 to know that he entertained of late years sentiments of 
 intense dislike to Mr. Gold win Smith, as the champion of 
 views for which he felt the keenest aversion. He found 
 it difficult, indeed, to understand how a cultured English- 
 man and brilliant writer could hold such dishonouring and 
 ignoble opinions. 
 
 Turning to the Behring Sea matter, he pointed 
 out that it had been a struggle of five millions of 
 people against sixty millions, and that "it was not by 
 chattering annexation and independence that Canada had 
 her rights assured and maintained in the face of the 
 nations." It was because Great Britain had thrown the 
 majesty of her flag around the humblest craft which 
 ploughed the waters of the North Pacific ; it was because 
 the Mother Country gave Canada an equal voice in the 
 deliberations of the Tribunal ; it was because the Queen 
 of England declared that at the bar of international justice 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 399 
 
 the voice of able and eloquent Canadian counsel should be 
 heard upon an equal footing with that of the great legal 
 lights of Britain. And once more he pronounced the 
 moral : " The people who are attempting to deceive you 
 with the story of independence are just as renegade to 
 every interest in this country as is the annexationist him- 
 self." 
 
 Referring again to those who spoke of it merely as a 
 possibility in the distant future, the Premier continued : 
 " That is a worthy aspiration for those who may come 
 after us, many long years hence, to contemplate ; but those 
 who speak of independence in the present state of Canada, 
 or in any condition in which she is likely to be within the 
 time of you or your children, are not talking independence 
 from the heart, but they are talking it with the lips, and 
 with black treason in their hearts to every true Canadian 
 interest to which we should stand firm." 
 
 Yet, with all his strong feelings of loyalty and intense 
 aversion to anything savouring of annexation or conti- 
 nental ism, Sir John Thompson was extremely moderate 
 and fair in his views of the every-day policy which should 
 actuate Canada in its relations towards the United States. 
 As an instance of this,*and apart from his well known 
 attitude regarding reciprocity, the Alien Labour Bill pre- 
 sented to the House in 1890, and urged very frequently 
 afterwards, may be mentioned. For years the United 
 States had dealt in a harsh, almost brutal, manner with 
 Canadian workingmen who had crossed the border to seek 
 employment, who had perhaps obtained it, or who were 
 found to be Canadians after having held a position for 
 possibly many years. Under the terms of the U.S. Alien 
 Labour Law, and with the aid of inspectors, or of the lynx- 
 eyed representatives of some labour organization, these 
 men would be discovered and promptly put out of the 
 counter with little cons*" J ""~' L: — "'id less respect. 
 
400 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Naturally, strong feeling was aroused by these indica- 
 tions of international friendship and courtesy, and on 
 January 27th, Mr. George Taylor, a strong Conservative 
 and prominent supporter of the Government, introduced 
 what was really a retaliatory measure — a Canadian Alien 
 Labour Law. Sir John, in his speech during the debate, 
 urged moderation. He pointed out that the contract 
 labour regulations of the United States applied as much to 
 Italy as to Canada in principle, although naturally their 
 operation was more immediately felt in the Dominion. 
 Canadians could not be exempted from the terms of the 
 American law, even by special arrangement, without the 
 exemption of all British subjects. For the United States to 
 exempt the Dominion would be to make Canada the back 
 door by which English immigrants of an undesirable class 
 might gain admittance. For the Republic to exempt British 
 citizens generally would be to practically give up its control 
 over the incoming of the product of European slums, to be 
 added to the already ample population of American slums. 
 
 It was, he thought, a matter of internal policy, entirely 
 under the control of the United States, one which they 
 could not affect and in which they should not endea- 
 vour to intervene, even though American officials en- 
 forced the law with harshness and individual ignominy. 
 As to retaliation : " T do submit that it would be an insane 
 policy to adopt, simply because harsh and irritating legis- 
 lation has been used against Canada." Another point to 
 consider was the fact that it would interfere with immi- 
 gration, and unlike the United States, we needed more 
 people rather than less : " It would be unwise, situated as 
 this country is, to impose restrictions of this kind on any 
 immigration we can possibly get." The proposal was not 
 passed, but the incident shows, as did the modus vivendi 
 given during the Atlantic and Behring Sea fishery disputes; 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPS >N. 401 
 
 the Canal Tolls, and other questions ; how anxious Sir John 
 always was to be upon the best possible terms with the 
 United States. 
 
 Reference has been frequently made in these pages to 
 Sir John Thompson's dislike of any proposal to discrimi- 
 qate in favour of the United States against any part of the 
 British Empire. Speaking in the House of Commons on 
 April 25th, 1892, he declared that " we must recognize the 
 sovereignity of the Monarchy of which we are subjects, 
 and our relations to the Empire are utterly inconsistent 
 with the idea of giving a preference to foreign countries 
 in the markets of this country, over our fellow subjects in 
 other parts of the Empire, and in Great Britain itself." 
 For this reason indeed he had protested so energetically 
 and successfully against the Bond-Blaine treaty ; for this 
 reason he had watched so closely the American and West 
 Indian treaty ; for this reason he had denounced so vig- 
 ourously the Opposition appeals to pessimism, and repre- 
 sentation of the country as wrapped in misery and per- 
 meated with poverty for want of the great American 
 market — which could only be obtained by discrimination 
 against the Mother Country. 
 
 In this particular speech he expressed strong disappro- 
 bation of the previous utterances of Mr. Davies, on account 
 of this dismal and sombre hue : 
 
 " Outside of my darkening window 
 Is the great world's crash and din, 
 And slowly the autumn shadows 
 Come drifting, drifting in." 
 
 It was nearly all shadow and no sunshine; national despair 
 with but few gleams of hope or brightness. He then went 
 on, as if speaking to the Mother Country, to define the 
 Canadian position : " You, with our choice and by our wish, 
 have laid certain burdens upon us as part of this Empire 
 
 26 
 
402 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 we have to a certain extent to maintain our own defence, 
 we have to keep up the British institutions which we got 
 from you, and in bearing our own financial burdens, it is 
 absolutely necessary that we should be masters of our own 
 tariff, saving one thing only, and that is, that we shall not 
 forget the duties we owe to the Empire by agreeing that 
 any foreign country shall have a preference over you in 
 the tariffs which we make." 
 
 This is the declaration of a man and a statesman. It 
 defends Canadian rights without infringing British inter- 
 ests ; it seeks to make the two identical rather than to 
 discover some material or sentimental flaw in the bond of 
 union by which separation may be aided ; it proclaims that 
 each section of the Empire owes a duty to the other por- 
 tions, but should at the same time cultivate a spirit of 
 mutual independence in all matters of local import. And 
 it does not particularly appeal to sentiment. In all of Sir 
 John Thompson's speeches, as in his general policy, duty 
 seems to have been the first consideration. He sought to 
 express and explain the obligations Canada was under to 
 the Mother Country ; the obligations which Great Britain 
 bore to the Dominion. Each had a duty to perform — in 
 one case the bearing of true allegiance, in the other the 
 giving of true protection. And the mutual performance of 
 duty would result in benefit to all concerned. 
 
 From the standpoint of sentiment he said little in his 
 earlier national speeches, although his fierce denunciations of 
 annexation and the advocates of that idea, indicated clearly 
 enough that he felt deeply upon the subject. The future 
 was not a thing which his strong, practical mind, cared to 
 deal with very much, except in the way of warning. Imperial 
 Federation he did not publicly discuss, although his whole 
 policy was permeated with the principle upon which it must 
 ultimately be developed. Closer union with the Empire in 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 403 
 
 a sentimental sense, he did not specially urge. Yet, no man 
 expressed more strongly and sincerely the necessity of 
 conserving British unity in all practical political directions. 
 
 Upon the question of trade with Great Britain and 
 with the Colonies there could be no doubt whatever con- 
 cerning his views. Canada was to him the pivot upon 
 which the commercial and maritime destinies of the Empire 
 muet eventually turn. Hence the importance of the C. P. R; 
 the steamship connection with Australia and England ; the 
 problems of cable communication and preferential trade. 
 The latter he hoped for rather than expected. With the 
 other Colonies the policy was, of course practicable ; with 
 England the difficulties were very great. Speaking in the 
 House on February 29th, 1892, he declared in this connec- 
 tion that " with or without a preferential market, the 
 market of Great Britain is at present the grandest field for 
 the products of this country." There could, in his opinion, 
 be no comparison between the demand for Canadian pro- 
 ductions in the Mother Country and that furnished by the 
 United States. 
 
 Imperial Federation, or the future of the Empire 
 in a constitutional sense, Sir John Thompson never dis- 
 cussed in public. It was too purely speculative, and while 
 such closer unity was desirable, and eventually necessary in 
 some form or other, was probably in his opinion best served 
 and hastened by building carefully the foundations of mutual 
 affection and respect, of trade interchange and personal 
 intercourse, of cable communication and general defence. 
 Appreciation of the greatness and power of the British 
 Empire, of the desirability of its remaining undivided, of 
 the weakness of Canada standing alone beside the United 
 States, of the good-will and substantial aid given in recent 
 years by the Mother Country to the Dominion ; all these 
 were apparently more potent forces to the mind of the late 
 
4?04 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Premier in the bringing about of complete Imperial union, 
 than were any number of proposed constitutions, theoretical 
 propositions, or appeals to abstract sentiment. Unlike 
 Lord Rosebery and Sir John Macdonald, he, therefore, 
 never identified himself directly with the Imperial Feder- 
 ation movement, although his British policy and principles 
 were, of course, in complete accordance with the work of 
 its promoters. 
 
 There can certainly be no doubt concerning Sir John 
 Thompson's rank and place as an Imperial statesman. 
 Apart from the Inter-Colonial Conference, which may be 
 thought to constitute the central event of his administra- 
 tion, he had shown himself in diplomacy and in arbitration 
 a man worthy to hold his own amongst the best and highest 
 of the Mother Land. In complications of long standing 
 with the United States he proved himself a careful 
 Minister and ashrewd opponent ; a protector of Canadian 
 interests, but averse to anything which might unduly 
 endanger British interests. In the Newfoundland matter 
 he indicated his ability of looking ahead in a practical 
 way, and his desire to stand up for future Imperial unity 
 even against present Imperial Ministers. But he was none 
 the less keen in his recognition of any sympathetic states- 
 manship in the Mother Country. Upon one occasion, he 
 asked Lord Aberdeen as Governor General, to convey to 
 Lord Ripon the warm appreciation of his colleagues and 
 himself, concerning the Colonial Secretary's general admin- 
 istration of affairs with which Canada had been connected. 
 In the Behring Sea arbitration, he showed the inheritance 
 of those judicial qualities of mind and intellect which 
 make British diplomacy and legal administration the 
 admiration of the world. His broad views thus gave him 
 an Imperial reputation and standing ; his conduct of 
 Imperial matters made him a British statesman in the 
 fullest sense of the word. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 405 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Inter- Colonial Conference. 
 
 The most striking event of Sir John Thompson's brief 
 Premiership was undoubtedly the gathering of representa- 
 tive men from various portions of the Empire, which met 
 at Ottawa with a view to the promotion of Imperial inter- 
 ests and unity. In the future it may loom larger than 
 even at present, and in history the Inter-Colonial Confer- 
 ence of 1894 will be recorded as a memorable incident in 
 the chain of circumstances which helped to produce a united 
 British Empire. It has been the great mission of Canada 
 to forge many of those links of union. 
 
 By the Confederation of its Provinces in 1867 an im- 
 petus was given to the federal principle which now perme- 
 ates the local politics and fills the aspirations of the people 
 of Australia and South Africa. By the construction of the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway it opened up vast territories to 
 British settlement and cultivation ; created cities and towns 
 which are now reaching out for trade with the distant 
 east ; provided an Imperial highway for the transport of 
 troops and munitions of war ; and completed commercially 
 that unity of Canada which in a national sense had been 
 commenced at Confederation. By the creation of a steam- 
 ship line from Vancouver to Sydney, and the voting of the 
 large subsidy which indicates the ultimate completion of a 
 fast line of steamers between Canada and England, the 
 Dominion has formed a substantial basis for the closer 
 commercial relations which should in the future exist be- 
 tween the different sections of the Empire. 
 
406 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 What the statesmanship of Sir Johu Macdonald initi- 
 ated, the brief ministry of Sir John Thompson continued. 
 The mantle of the great Imperialist had fallen upon one 
 who was well able to appreciate the importance of the in- 
 heritance and to aid in developing the practical side of the 
 far-reaching problem which is the noble birth-right of 
 every British citizen. Early in September, 1893, Mr. Mac- 
 kenzie Bowell, Minister of Trade and Commerce, had been 
 sent on an official mission to the Australian Colonies for 
 the purpose of seeing what could be done in the direction 
 of extending interchange and promoting a mutual know- 
 ledge of requirements and resources. His intimate acquaint- 
 ance with Canadian affairs made him in this connection an 
 ideal diplomatist, an advantage which was further en- 
 hanced by a personal enthusiasm in the mission. But — 
 fortunately as it turned out — he found it was impossible 
 to negotiate satisfactorily with so many distinct Colonies 
 in the short time at his disposal, and arrangements were 
 therefore made for the Conference which met at Ottawa 
 on the 28th of June, and to which South Africa and 
 the Imperial Government joined in sending representatives. 
 
 During his Belleville speech on the 21st of September, 
 Sir John Thompson had referred to this Imperial policy in 
 words which seemed to arouse the strongest sympathies of 
 his audience : " We have sent different lines of steamships 
 to every part of the world. We have subsidised them on 
 the Pacific to the Eastern countries. We have subsidised 
 them to Australia, and we are holding out inducements to 
 get upon the Atlantic the finest line of steamships, or as 
 fine a line, as crosses the ocean in any part of the world. 
 To-day one of those steamships on the Pacific is carry- 
 ing the Hon. Mackenzie Bowell to seek to extend the hand 
 of fellowship and friendship and intercourse of trade with 
 the Australian Colonies, in the most distant part of the 
 Empire." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 407 
 
 Referring to the matter in the House early in the 
 Session of 1894. the Premier pointed out in reply to some 
 criticisms from Mr. Laurier — March 16th — that the Gov- 
 ernments far away on the Pacific had received Mr. Bowel 1 
 " with the cordial hand of fellowship, as warm and gener- 
 ous as one colonist could extend to another," and had 
 intimated their intention of discussing the proposals in a 
 conference to be held in Canada. " I venture to say," con- 
 tinued the speaker, "that a proposition which is thus 
 warmly received, and is being acted on by four or five 
 Governments in Australia and New Zealand is not one to 
 be derided as unworthy of the ambition of a Government 
 representing this country, for we can see not only that 
 commercial interests may be developed and extended by 
 the promotion of trade between those countries and Canada, 
 but that we shall be doing honest yeoman service to the 
 interests of the Empire if we draw together in closer bonds 
 our fellow-colonists and ourselves." 
 
 The result, as shown by the meeting at the capital of 
 the Dominion in the following summer, was a gathering of 
 most notable men from various parts of the British realm. 
 From Great Britain came the Earl of Jersey, G.C.M.G., 
 who had been for some years a most popular Governor of 
 New South Wales. From South Australia came the Hon. 
 Thomas Playford, formerly Premier, and now Agent-Gen- 
 eral in London. New South Wales sent the Hon. F. B. 
 Suttor, M.L.A, Minister of Public Instruction ; Tasmania 
 had the Hon. N. Fitzgerald as its representative ; New 
 Zealand sent a prominent business man in the person of 
 Mr. Alfred Lee- Smith; Victoria sent Sir Henry J. Wrixon, 
 K.C.M.G., Q.C., and the Hon. Simon Fraser, a Canadian of 
 days gone by. Queensland was represented by the Hon. 
 A J. Thynne, M.L.C., a member of the Local Government, 
 and by the Hon. William Forrest. Cape Colony — now the 
 
408 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 centre of a new policy of Imperial expansion under the 
 inspiring influence of Mr. Cecil Rhodes — sent Chief Justice 
 Sir Henry de Villiers, Sir Charles Mills, Agent-General in 
 London; and that most striking personality, the Hon. Jan 
 Hendrick Hofmeyr, the loyal leader of the Dutch element 
 at the Cape. Canada was represented by the Hon. 
 Mackenzie Bowell, who was deservedly elected President 
 of the Conference ; Sir Adolphe Caron ; the Hon. G. E. 
 Foster; and by Mr. Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., whose 
 enthusiastic interest in the question of cable communica- 
 tion had made his name so familiar in what may be called 
 the politics of the Empire. 
 
 The opening of the Conference in the Dominion 
 Senate Chamber was a function of unusual brilliance. 
 The Earl of Aberdeen, Governor General of Canada, pre- 
 sided, and delivered one of his characteristic speeches in 
 welcoming the delegates. The Chamber, aside from the 
 many Colonial delegates and visitors, was crowded with 
 distinguished men from all parts of the Dominion, and 
 with hundreds of ladies. It really presented a most 
 splendid spectacle, in appearance as well as in the wide 
 interests which such an assemblage embodied to the 
 reflective on-looker. Lord Aberdeen's address was most 
 effective, and patriotic in the broadest sense of the word. 
 Sir John Thompson followed, and welcomed the delegates 
 in a speech of exceptional eloquence. Stirred up by the 
 occasion, he for once allowed his loyalty and Imperial 
 aspirations to find full vent in a brief but really delightful 
 effort. Friends and spectators say that the late Premier 
 never looked so well, so dignified, so impressive, as he did 
 on this historic day. In appearance and in speech, he 
 appeared more than worthy to represent Canada before 
 the delegates from so many parts of the British world. 
 
 After voicing the sentiments of welcome felt by all 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 409 
 
 Canadians, and speaking once more in their name, he said : 
 " I can assure the delegates who are assembled, that ou" 
 people, filled with zeal for the greatness and development 
 of their own country, and for the strengthening of the 
 Empire, are delighted to see the kindlings of the same 
 ambition in the sister colonies throughout the world." He 
 then expressed pleasure at the idea that the discussions of 
 the Conference would be more immediately and chiefly 
 connected with questions of prosperity, of commerce, and 
 of communication, within the Empire, and not with 
 disturbing problems of foreign relations, and of peace or 
 war. But, and here his characteristic caution came in, 
 " we realize that while there is ample field for the widest 
 patriotism and the warmest loyalty, there are matters of 
 pure business, needing the closest examination and scrutiny 
 — matters connected with trade, with steamships, and with 
 telegraphs." He went on to say that " the ocean which 
 divides the Colonies should become the highway for the 
 people, and for the products that the Colonies produce." 
 
 And then came an eloquent sentence which voiced his 
 own views amid the enthusiastic applause of his audience, 
 and will be remembered in all future records of the 
 gathering : " On this happy occasion, these delegates 
 assemble after long years of self-government in their 
 countries, years of greater progress and development than 
 the colonies of any Empire have ever seen in the past; not to 
 consider the prospects of separation from the Mother 
 Country, but to plight our faith anew to each other as 
 brethren, and to plight anew with the Mother Land that 
 faith which has never yet been broken or tarnished." He 
 concluded by expressing the hope that this Conference 
 would be but " the prelude of occasions on which we shall 
 not only meet in Canada the statesmen of the other 
 Colonies, but on which we shall be able to meet, with 
 
410 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 greater facilities than we now possess, the people whom 
 they represent." 
 
 Lord Jersey spoke earnestly, and to the point, concern- 
 ing the opportunities and possibilities of the Conference. 
 In the course of his speech he turned to the Premier and 
 said: "I should like also to express thanks to Sir John 
 Thompson for having had the boldness and the foresight 
 to call this Conference together in order to bring these 
 subjects within the range of practical consideration.' He 
 went on to say that the spirit which inspired him was one 
 of " absolute sympathy with the far-seeing policy which 
 has called us together"; and continued: "It is with wonder 
 that I think of what Canada has done to bring the 
 northern and southern parts of the Empire together. She 
 has linked the two great oceans after an exhibition of 
 courage and constancy and skill which has never been sur- 
 passed in the history of the world. She has made her 
 country the half-way house of the Empire." Facing the 
 Canadian Premier once more the speaker concluded : " Sir 
 John Thompson, in the name of the country which I repre- 
 sent, the Mother Country, I take up the pledge of faith 
 which you have so ably and eloquently tendered, in the 
 full belief that the result of this Conference will be the 
 strengthening of those bonds of affection and of interest 
 which should always bind each part of the Empire 
 together." 
 
 In the evening a great banquet was held. Sir John 
 Thompson was unusually witty and graceful, and in the 
 course of his speech made a reference which deserves to be 
 recorded as being both effective and charming : "We have all 
 been striving to express the heartiness of the welcome we 
 desire to accord the delegates. For my part, I cannot do 
 better than recall a greeting I observed was lately offered 
 to the Countess of Aberdeen, during her tour of bene- 
 volence in Ireland : ' You are as welcome as sunshine.' " 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 411 
 
 After a loyal address to Her Majesty the Queen, the 
 Conference settled down to business. Mr. Bowell delivered 
 a lengthy and able review of the questions which might 
 come up for consideration, and this address formed a useful 
 basis for the ensuing discussions. Without going into the 
 results in detail, the work of the gathering may be briefly 
 summarised as follows : 
 
 I. A Resolution in favour of establishing a Customs 
 Union between Great Britain and the other portions of the 
 Empire. 
 
 II. An earnest expression of opinion in favour of 
 preferential trade relations, between Canada, Australasia 
 and South Africa. 
 
 III. A motion urging Imperial action in the removal 
 of certain clauses contained in existing international trea- 
 ties, which hampered reciprocal trade agreements between 
 the Colonies. 
 
 IV. Approval of immediate steps for obtaining cable 
 communication between Canada and Australasia free from 
 foreign control. 
 
 V. A request to the Imperial Government to commence 
 the survey of the cable route at once — the expense to be 
 borne in equal proportions by the British and Colonial 
 Governments concerned. 
 
 VI. A suggestion to the Imperial authorities that 
 assistance be given to the proposed fast Atlantic line of 
 steamships, by diversion of the subsidies hitherto granted 
 to the American line from Liverpool to New York. 
 
 But the results which follow naturally from an in- 
 creased acquaintance with each other's interests and indus- 
 tries, requirements and resources, were perhaps as important 
 as the mere resolutions passed by the Conference. The 
 Australians and South Africans came to Canada, saw the 
 country, learned something of its vastness, its hidden and 
 
412 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 developed wealth, its institutions and productions. They 
 told the Canadian Ministers in conference, and the Cana- 
 dian people at the banquets tendered them in Ottawa and 
 Toronto, Montreal and Quebec, something of the prosperity 
 and possibilities, the loyalty and the aspirations after 
 federal unity, which characterized the Australasian and 
 other Colonies. The representatives of the countries con- 
 cerned, found that the United States had gradually devel- 
 oped a trade with Australasia which was well worth being 
 considered and diverted — a commerce which had increased 
 from $4,200,000 in 1860, to nearly $20,000,000 in 1892. 
 
 And the great bulk of this trade was seen to be in 
 products which Canada excels in manufacturing, or in 
 articles of a kind which she now obtains largely from the 
 United States instead of Australia. The Republic was 
 found to export to those Colonies considerable quantities 
 of agricultural implements, carriages, chemicals, fish, manu- 
 factures of iron, steel, leather and paper, petroleum, and 
 manufactured tobacco and wood. Yet, although the 
 Dominion can compete in nearly all of these products, it 
 only sent them from $300,000 to $500,000 worth a year. 
 Hence the very evident opening for a substantial inter- 
 change. Du ing an informal discussion at the Conference, 
 Mr. Suttor enumerated as the articles which Australia 
 could sell to Canada : wool, which is produced in immense 
 quantities, frozen beef and mutton, which can be got in 
 Sydney for two cents a pound and costs twelve cents in 
 British Columbia, canned meats, raw hides and skins, hard 
 woods for railway ties and street paving, fruits such as 
 lemons, oranges and mandarins, and sugar. 
 
 Amongst the things which could be taken from Can- 
 ada would be paper, which is not made in Australia, cotton 
 goods and frozen and canned salmon. Mr. Lee- Smith 
 stated that the Massey- Harris Co., of Toronto, had already 
 
J 
 
 
 • 
 
 I J 
 
 J 
 
 Douglas Stewart, 
 
 Private Secretary to Sir John S. D. TJiojiiftson. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. -*15 
 
 shipped 4,000 cultivators to New Zealand. That Colony 
 could send woolen goods, superior gum and flax, and rabbit 
 skins, and would purchase frozen salmon, hops and paper. 
 Other articles mentioned by delegates were rough timber, 
 matches, and petroleum, all of which could be obtained from 
 the Dominion. Sir Henry de Villiers said that the Cape 
 could offer wool, diamonds, wine and fruit, and would take 
 lumber in large quantities, together with agricultural im- 
 plements and paper. 
 
 The subsequent report of Lord Jersey to the Imperial 
 Government was favourable to the proposals of the Confer- 
 ence, with the exception of the resolution which expressed 
 a hope that England might be induced to herself enter 
 some system of Imperial Customs Union. He referred to 
 the greeting given by the Canadian Premier as having 
 " struck the chord which vibrated throughout the proceed- 
 ings," and went on to deal elaborately with all the questions 
 discussed. He concluded with the statement that although 
 commerce cannot be based upon sentiment, it is still 
 possible for the latter to aid in clearing away obstacles and 
 in diverting the stream of trade into new channels. The 
 leading men of the Colonies " appreciate the value of the 
 connection with Great Britain, and the bulk of their popu- 
 lation is loyal. It is within the power of Great Britain to 
 settle the direction of their trade and the current of their 
 sentiments for, it may be, generations. Such an oppor- 
 tunity may not soon recur, as the sands of time run down 
 quickly." 
 
 At a banquet given on July 8th by the Hon. Simon 
 Fraser, M.L.C., of Victoria, but a native of Nova Scotia 
 the Premier made a very pleasant after-dinner speech. 
 The majority of those present were Nova-Scotians, and 
 they could, therefore, appreciate the force of a portion of 
 his remarks. He commenced by expressing great interest 
 
416 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 in the statement made by Mr. Fraser to the effect that in 
 departing from Nova-Scotia, " the cradle of the earth." he 
 had been moved to some extent by the predatory instincts 
 of his race. " It was the Scotchman's characteristic to 
 reach out to the ends of the earth in order to secure what- 
 ever he could lay hands on, and to lie down alongside of it, 
 too." Then turning from the humourous to the serious, 
 Sir John expressed great pleasure at the praise of Canadian 
 development which their host and visitor had expressed. 
 " That record of progress/' he added, " will still continue, 
 no matter what party guides the destiny of this country. 
 On this part of the continent the future belongs to Cana- 
 dians, and the sentiment animating our people is that she 
 shall be great in the Councils of the Empire." 
 
 With these and other similar words echoing in their 
 minds, the representatives of many States of a vast Empire 
 finally dispersed. Their mission had been a noble one ; the 
 occasion, a unique and historic event; the visit to the 
 Dominion, a pleasant, and, it may truly be said, a profitable 
 trip. The end is not yet ; and as the Ottawa Conference 
 recedes into the dim distance and is succeeded by other and 
 seemingly greater gatherings, its importance may be some- 
 what overshadowed and its deliberations partly forgotten 
 by the great mass of an Imperial people. But it is safe to 
 say that history will do it justice : and that down through 
 all " the ringing grooves of change " its resolutions and 
 results will be carried as the first public political plank in 
 the re-construction of the British Empire. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 417 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Later Events in a Great Life. 
 
 In the middle of March, 1894, commenced Sir John 
 Thompson's last Parliamentary Session. But neither he 
 nor the public had any premonition of the fact, and the 
 mouths, as they rapidly passed away, were as usual, 
 crowded with work and busy achievement. Speaking in 
 the House during the debate on the Address the Premier 
 took occasion, with that courtesy which was so character- 
 istic, to thank the Opposition and its leaders for having 
 facilitated the despatch of public business at the previous 
 meeting of Parliament, and thus enabled him to get away 
 and perform the important duties to which he had been 
 called at Paris : " I venture to say that they showed a high 
 sense of patriotism and public duty in affording me that 
 opportunity, and they have conferred an obligation upon 
 me as a public man tbat I feel bound to recognize this 
 evening." 
 
 A little later on Mr. Foster introduced his Budget, 
 and explained the revision of the tariff which had been 
 promised in the preceding Session, and pledged again by 
 Sir John Thompson and other Ministers during the autumn 
 tour of Western Ontario. He stated that his object in the 
 changes made was the reasonable protection of Canadian 
 industries, combined with due care for the rights of con- 
 sumers. The speech was elaborate as well as eloquent, 
 and it is not difficult to understand that its preparation 
 and the tremendous work of revising a tariff composed of 
 some 900 items had affected in some degree the health of 
 
 2/ 
 
418 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the Finance Minister, and almost prevented him from 
 taking part in the Inter- Colonial Conference. The whole 
 tariff was changed ; many of the specific duties were altered 
 to ad-valorem ones; and a general lowering took place. 
 Mr. Foster estimated the total loss of revenue at one and 
 a half millions. The Toronto Mail, which would hardly be 
 considered as too friendly at that time, thought four 
 millions nearer the mark, and declared that the marked 
 reductions in the new tariff " from the public and business 
 point of view are to be commended." 
 
 While the Budget discussion was still going on, an 
 interesting event took place on the 9 th of April, when a com- 
 mittee from the Sir John Macdonald Club, of Montreal, pre- 
 sented to the Conservative members at Ottawa, a very 
 handsome portrait of Sir John Thompson, to be hung in 
 the party caucus room of the House of Commons. Sir 
 John's speech in acknowledgment was most felicitous. 
 He began by saying that " the genial and loyal spirit of 
 the Club, in making the presentation is admirable be- 
 yond description, and the shortcomings of the picture 
 are unhappily all my own." Then in a more serious vein 
 and with a significance which could only be realized 
 afterwards, he added : " That leads me to think that 
 bye-and-bye my shortcomings may be forgotten, as more 
 important questions arise on the political surface. Our 
 hope for the future is not that I shall for all time, or for a 
 very long time, continue in the leadership of the party, but 
 that the party shall continue to be led by the lieutenants 
 of Sir John Macdonald from time to time, the men who 
 believe in his principles and are prepared to fight for them.' 
 
 A few days later, on the 12th of the month, the 
 Premier indicated his interest in all questions of moral 
 reform, by attending a meeting of the National Council of 
 Women, which was then being organized in Ottawa under 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 419 
 
 tho inspiring influence and Presidency of the Countess of 
 Aberdeen. Representatives were present from Montreal, 
 Toronto, Quebec, Hamilton, Winnipeg, London and other 
 places, and an active part had been taken in the proceed- 
 ings by Lady Thompson, Madame Laurier, Mrs. Drummond, 
 of Montreal, Lady Ritchie, Mrs. Schultz, of Winnipeg, and 
 Mrs. Grant Macdonald, of Toronto. Sir John Thompson 
 left a crowded House and an important debate to be pre- 
 sent, and seconded a resolution expressing the belief that 
 the new organization would " conduce to the best welfare 
 of the country, by promoting greater unity of thought, 
 sympathy and purpose, amongst women workers of all 
 classes and sections of the people." 
 
 He commenced a brief but pointed speech, by calling 
 the assemblage a National Parliament of the women of 
 Canada, and then referring, amid laughter, to " the brother 
 Parliament on the Hill,"' which he had just left. " I hope," 
 he continued, " that it will further be said of Canada, as 
 the result of this movement, that we are not only the most 
 law-abiding people — the most generous in our charities — 
 but that we have the best organized s} r stem of charities in 
 the world." After a reference to the appreciation which 
 public men should feel in this matter, he expressed the 
 belief that it would " bind together in sympathy and closer 
 citizenship, all those who are interested in charitable 
 work." He spoke of his pleasure in reading the resolutions 
 regarding the consolidation of the Canadian people and the 
 necessity of inculcating patriotism in the young, and con- 
 cluded by declaring that " any movement which tends to 
 bring together the people of the various Provinces, of 
 different opinions, politics, and beliefs, will be patriotic in 
 its aim and in its work, and Divinely blessed in its results." 
 
 During this Session the ever present Franchise ques- 
 tion came up. It had already engaged the Premier's 
 
420 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 attention in the speeches made during the Fall, and he had 
 everywhere denounced the Liberal proposal to apply the 
 Provincial franchises in Dominion matters. At Arthur on 
 October 2nd, he had pointed out that the Act was 
 " founded on national principles and it is necessary for 
 the national security that we should have a national 
 franchise in this country, as every other self governed 
 country has, with the single exception of the United 
 States, whose example it is not always wise to follow." 
 
 It being necessary to have a revision of the lists, 
 after an interval of three years, Sir John Thompson 
 on June 14th, introduced an amendment to the existing 
 Act, which, without in any way vitiating its general prin- 
 ciples, improved it in detail and facilitated and cheapened 
 it in operation. After dealing with the subject at some 
 length; defending the position of the Government; and 
 pointing out that the only way in which the Dominion 
 franchise could be assimilated with the Provinces would 
 be by the latter legislating themselves first into uniformity, 
 he referred to the question of cost and observed that: 
 " Hereafter, when the list is once framed we shall have the 
 advantage of provincial lists to start from, that is to say, 
 the very recent lists. We shall have the advantage of the 
 more recent local revision, and to my mind these two cir- 
 cumstances together will make the construction of the lists 
 from year to year very rapid and very simple, and if I am 
 correct in this assumption we shall succeed in lessening the 
 expense very much indeed." 
 
 The debate upon the French Treaty a month after- 
 wards brought up incidentally the Prohibition issue and 
 the temperance question, which for a year or two past had 
 been creating wide discussion. Sir John Thompson's posi- 
 tion upon this matter seems to have been one of evolution. 
 As with every thing else, he believed in moderation. 
 
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SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 423 
 
 Speaking at Orangeville on November 29th, 1886, he de- 
 clared it to be a moral and not a political question. But 
 " the time is coming when it may be one of the great ques- 
 tions of the day." When the people had *' understanding^ 
 pronounced upon it ; it will be the duty of the Government 
 — considering the interests of our country and fair-play to 
 everybody whose interests may be affected — to obey the 
 voice of the people." Later on, this hint at a plebis- 
 cite was taken up by Sir Oliver Mowat. In May 1888 he 
 had strongly supported an amendment to the Railway Act 
 making any person selling spirituous or intoxicating liquors 
 to a railway employe" subject to severe punishment. In 
 reply to protests, the Minister of Justice declared it to be 
 "just the same as selling to minors. Persons who are en- 
 gaged in a business which we restrict must take the risk 
 of violating the law." 
 
 Speaking at Owen Sound regarding the issue on Octo- 
 ber 4th, 1893, he was very explicit in reply to a query as 
 to his views : " I am in sympathy with prohibition inso- 
 far as it is a move for the furthering of temperance in 
 this country, and in remedying the evils which the temper- 
 ance community are endeavouring to abate. If prohibition 
 can be adopted and enforced in this country, I am in sym- 
 pathy with that movement." In connection with subse- 
 quent questions concerning jurisdiction to deal with the 
 subject, his opinion, as a constitutional lawyer of high rank, 
 given in the same speech is most interesting: "My own 
 mind has no doult whatever. My own mind is that the 
 power of prohibition rests with the Dominion Parliament, 
 and I would not have thought that that could be contra- 
 dicted if it were not that so great an authority as the Pre- 
 mier of Ontario has challenged that position and asked me 
 to get the opinions of the courts of the country as to 
 whether his Government or ours has power of prohibition." 
 There is certainly no shirking of the issue here. 
 
424 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 As to the Prohibition Commission which the Govern- 
 ment had appointed in 1891, he stated at Durham on Sep- 
 tember 29th that " the object was to get information for 
 the people as to what was going on in Canada with regard 
 to the liquor traffic and the results of experience in other 
 countries in the way of suppressing it." On March 29th 
 following these speeches he received an important deputa- 
 tion of temperance people at Ottawa, but positively refused 
 to give them any official promise or pledge. He pointed 
 out that the Royal Commission had not yet reported, and 
 that the matter involved a displacement of revenue to the 
 extent of nine millions of dollars. Business considerations 
 for the moment were more important than sentiment, and 
 this he practically told the deputation ; refusing to play in 
 any way to the gallery of prohibition votes to which one 
 delegate called his attention. 
 
 The discussion of the French treaty in the House dur- 
 ing the early part of July was interesting apart from the 
 allegations regarding differences in the Cabinet over its 
 ratification. The temperance people did not at all like it, 
 and the vine-growers were afraid of it. Sir John Thomp- 
 son handled this part of the subject in his speech on July 
 10th : " I appreciate and endorse what has been said by 
 several members of this House, with regard to the advan- 
 tages which would accrue to this country from the increased 
 consumption of the lighter wines instead of the whiskey 
 and other spirits which are in general consumption to-day. 
 . . . The wines of this country, I am informed, are 
 sold more cheaply than the French wines of the same 
 class, and the duty which will still remain, one would 
 think would be a very considerable protection indeed to 
 the wine growing interest of this country." 
 
 He appealed strongly to the House to sanction the 
 Treaty, because it had been negotiated with and through 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 425 
 
 Imperial aid, invoked at the request of Canada. In any 
 event it could be abrogated at twelve months' notice, 
 should the arrangement not be finally satisfactory. Need- 
 less to say the Government was fully supported in its 
 policy. 
 
 A debate dealing with the character and conduct of 
 certain judges in the Province of Quebec took place in the 
 House about this time. Charges of a more or less vague 
 and inconsequential, but none the less unpleasant, nature 
 had been flung at the French-Canadian judiciary by Mr. J. 
 Israel Tarte. Sir John Thompson wrote a letter asking 
 for proofs which would warrant him in submitting the 
 allegations to a Committee, but these were refused. Mean- 
 time he obtained evidence that many, if not most, of the 
 statements were baseless, or subject to explanation, and 
 these particulars the Premier submitted to the House on 
 July 17th, in a logical speech delivered in his usual judicial 
 style. 
 
 But upon the whole he did not speak very frequently 
 during the Session. A strong utterance upon the Mani- 
 toba schools, and his settlement of the long wrangle in the 
 Public Accounts Committee as to the power of taking 
 evidence under oath, were about the only matters he took 
 part in, besides those already mentioned. He was in his 
 place, however, every day, working hard, chiefly in the 
 writing of letters. Always watchful of the proceedings, he 
 was as quick as ever in detecting anything which called 
 for a reply, and in directing attention to it through some 
 one else, if he did not care to speak himself. His last act 
 and practically his last words in the House of Commons, 
 where for eight years his influence had been so strongly 
 felt, and been so useful to his country and empire, was 
 in moving on July 21st, seconded by Mr. Laurier, that 
 " the House do concur in the address from the Senate to 
 
426 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, tendering cordial 
 congratulations upon the birth of a son to Their Royal 
 Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York." His first 
 speech in the House had been in defence of the execution 
 of a rebel against Her Majesty's authority ; his last words 
 in the House consisted in an offering of its congratulations 
 to the Queen ; his last act in life was the receiving of a 
 high honour from Her Majesty's hands. 
 
 On the 20th of August Sir John paid one of his some- 
 what rare visits to Toronto, in order to inspect the Island 
 construction works at the request of the City Council. 
 He came down from Musk oka, where he had been having 
 an all too brief holiday, and was, of course, presented with 
 a long address. Later in the day he was given a banquet 
 at the Pavilion on the Island, amongst the guests being 
 Sir John Gorst, Q.C., M.P.. the distinguished English Con- 
 servative statesman, who happened to be in the city ; Sir 
 Frank Smith and Mr. Clarke Wallace. The Premier's 
 speech was full of patriotic aspiration. He expressed the 
 belief that sectionalism was disappearing ; that the time 
 had come for the young men — born in the days of Confed- 
 eration — to take their place in the field of Canadian public 
 life, and to realize that " the first principle of national life, 
 national obligation and national hope, is that they are 
 Canadians above and before everything else." He con- 
 tinued with a reference to Sir John Gorst's presence ; to 
 the statesmen of England, who are " the statesmen of the 
 Colonies as well " ; and to the recent Inter- Colonial Con- 
 ference. He concluded with an utterance of unusual 
 warmth : 
 
 " We are not ashamed or afraid to speak of our loyalty. 
 It is not at all a mere boast. It is not a mere sentiment — 
 great a sentiment as it is — but it is the sense that under 
 the rule of our present Sovereign, this vast Empire is the 
 empire of the colonies as well as of Great Britain herself." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 427 
 
 The Toronto Industrial Exhibition was opened by Sir 
 John on the 4th of September following, amid the usual 
 ceremonies. Accompanied by the Hon. Mr. Bo well, he 
 rec 3ived an Address on behalf of the management from the 
 President, Mr. J. J. Withrow, and delivered a speech in 
 reply which indicated his steadily growing power of 
 making a popular, as well as a judicial or Parliamentary, 
 oration. His strong point was an appeal to the national 
 British sentiment of the people : 
 
 " As one of the public men of this country, I assert 
 that it is our duty to remove all possible causes of friction 
 between the Mother Land and Canada, in order that we 
 may, in these seven Provinces and in the fertile prairies of 
 this Dominion, truly establish British polity and British 
 institutions upon this continent. It is the interest of every 
 true Canadian, if the time shall come, that we shall make 
 all the sacrifices we can make to see that the flag which 
 floats over us shall float over our children as well as our- 
 selves. And it is the first duty, I say, of a public man to 
 help to sustain the greatness of the Empire as well as of 
 the Dominion, knowing that the greatest achievements 
 which the people of this Dominion can accomplish are to be 
 gained under British rule and in connection with the Empire 
 of which we are proud to-day to form a part." 
 
 The loud and frequent applause which greeted these 
 sentiments showed that he had touched the popular chord, 
 and was at last learning to let the people into the secret of 
 that strong inner loyalty, which his characteristic aversion 
 to buncombe or display had hitherto made him so largely 
 conceal from the public. 
 
 Hardly a week later the Premier performed his last 
 public function in his native Province. On the 11th of 
 September, in the presence of 5,000 people, and assisted by 
 Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, the Hon. J. W. Longley, and 
 
428 LIFE AND WORK OP 
 
 others, he unveiled a monument at Springhill, N.S., erected 
 to the memory of 125 men who had met death by an awful 
 explosion on February 21st, 1891. His words were few, 
 but he took occasion to point out that the Canadian people 
 were as fully prepared to face difficulties undauntedly as 
 were ever the brave miners of Springhill. In conclusion 
 Sir John read a poem in commemoration of the event 
 composed by Mr. W. E. Hefferman, as voicing his own feel- 
 ings and that of his audience. 
 
 Following this came the unveiling of the monument 
 to Sir John A. Macdonald, in Queen's Park, Toronto. It 
 is a notable fact, that within little more than a year of his 
 own death, Sir John Thompson performed the chief cere- 
 monies at three memorial functions. And the compara- 
 tively few statues which are raised in Canada to the 
 memory of departed greatness or present worth, adds to 
 the force of this coincidence. At Hamilton on the 1st of 
 November, 1893, he had unveiled the local monument to 
 Sir John Macdonald and delivered a speech worthy to 
 rank with the best ever produced by such an occasion. 
 With him at this event were a number of the other Domin- 
 ion Ministers ; Sir Oliver Mowat ; the Lieutenant-Governor 
 of Ontario, and Lieutenant-Governor Schultz, of Manitoba. 
 Senator Sanford, who had done so much as chairman of 
 the committee, in obtaining the necessary funds, presided 
 at the ceremonies and addresses were delivered by Sir 
 Adolphe Caron, Sir Oliver Mowat, Sir Charles Hibbert 
 Tupper and Mr. N. Clarke Wallace. But the Premier's 
 speech was, of course, the pivotal part of the programme. 
 It had evidently been prepared with great care, and per- 
 haps reads better than it sounded amid the disadvantages 
 of moving throngs and pouring rain. It was however, a 
 cultured, patriotic and really beautiful eulogy of the chief 
 founder of Canadian Confederation, and of Canadian Con- 
 servatism as understood in later days. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 429 
 
 He spoke of the Canada of years' long past ; of the 
 struggles and successes met with by Sir John Macdonald* 
 in the early days of the Dominion, and before the Domin- 
 ion was a fact ; of his work for the Empire ; of his labours 
 for the party. Sir John Macdonald had been " the 
 master builder among the many who did noble work in 
 the structure of the nation." His patriotism was the 
 mainspring of his every action ; his true and deep Cana- 
 dianism was " the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of 
 fire by night," to multitudes of his followers. " It used to 
 be a popular delusion," said the speaker, in referring to 
 the Chief tian's amiability, kindliness and forbearance, 
 " that when he took a new colleague he required from him 
 his resignation in advance. I soon found that when he 
 took a new colleague the new comer's relations to his Chief 
 were regulated by affection and not by command." He 
 was a great parliamentarian. He was "guided by the 
 inspiration of heaven which falls upon truly patriotic 
 men." He was ambitious in the best sense of the word. 
 " Ambitious to infuse into the minds of his countrymen 
 sentiments and ideas, that were wider than the issues of 
 party ; ambitious to make Canada great ; ambitious to 
 silence the voice of faction and the noise of discord ; am- 
 bitious to leave this country and empire better off for the 
 toils and sacrifices of his life." 
 
 The ceremonies in Toronto took place on the 1 3th of 
 October, 1894, and constituted the last public function 
 which Sir John Thompson was destined to perform in 
 Canada. Great preparations had been made for the occa- 
 sion ; the troops had turned out in force ; the school 
 children in thousands ; and the people in crowds, estimated 
 as high as thirty and forty thousand. Many Cabinet 
 Ministers from Ottawa and Toronto were present, together 
 with distinguished people from all parts of the Dominion. 
 
430 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Mr. E. F. Clarke presided ; Mr. Mackenzie Bowell paid a 
 fitting tribute to the leader he had served with for so many 
 years ; Mr. G. W. Ross, the Ontario Minister of Education, 
 offered a most eloquent and generous tribute to the great 
 opponent of his party ; Sir Adolphe Caron delivered one 
 of his characteristic orations ; Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper 
 was brief and forcible; Mr. Hamilton McCarthy, the 
 sculptor, was deservedly called upon for a few words. 
 
 The Premier's speech was necessarily short in compari- 
 son with the one delivered at Hamilton. But it was none 
 the less inspiring and interesting. He spoke of the day 
 being the anniversary of that " field of glory," the battle of 
 Queenston Heights. Sir John Macdonald's was " the kind 
 of loyalty which believes that the true interests of Canada 
 lie in British connection and British institutions." He 
 referred to episodes in the Chieftian's career when he had 
 stood up for the Dominion; when he had dared great 
 things for his country ; when " the flood of patriotism had 
 streamed through his undaunted heart." And then, Sir 
 John Thompson concluded, in words, which two short 
 months afterwards might well have been applied to him- 
 self. 
 
 " May the statue speak of one who was great because 
 he loved Canada much, and loved and served his Empire 
 well, and of whom it was truly said, in recollection of what 
 he had accomplished for his country, and the example lie 
 had set his countrymen : 
 
 ' He nothing fears, 
 The long to-morrow of the coining years.'" 
 
KM 
 
 t 
 
 View from the Library Window, Windsor Castle. 
 

 ■ •--*$ t &&^f H &C$ 
 
 Gateway of Windsor Castle. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 433 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Last Days and Dramatic Death. 
 
 Late in October it was announced that the Prime 
 Minister of Canada intended to take a trip to Europe, 
 partly in order to be sworn in as a member of the Imperial 
 Privy Council ; partly, as his friends knew, in order to 
 place one of his daughters in an educational institution at 
 Paris ; partly for a rest after the arduous labours of a 
 somewhat prolonged Session. The brief visit to the lakes 
 of Muskoka in the course of the summer had been 
 pleasant and beneficial, but it was understood that a still 
 more complete rest and change of air was desirable. 
 
 No one, however, supposed that Sir John was in the 
 slightest danger, or that his ill-health was anything more 
 than the natural and temporary result of too much work, 
 and too little exercise and recreation. His most intimate 
 friends did not have the faintest conception that the end 
 of that active and distinguished career was at hand. 
 While the broad Dominion was looking forward with 
 pleasure to the honour about to be given by Her Majesty 
 the Queen to its leading and most representative states- 
 man ; while his personal friends were awaiting his return, 
 crowned with Royal approval and vigourous in the enjoy- 
 ment of renewed health and strength ; the angel of death 
 was in reality hovering above his head, and the shadow of 
 eternity was sweeping slowly athwart the dial of a life 
 which could ill be spared. 
 
 That Sir John Thompson was to a limited extent 
 aware of his own dangerous condition is now known, 
 
 23 
 
434 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 though in spite of premonitions, he could hardly have 
 expected such a sudden and startling termination. Before 
 going to Muskoka he had found himself suffering some- 
 what from ailments which seemed natural to his physical 
 condition — the stoutness which had been growing upon 
 him so steadily during recent years — but he supposed that 
 rest and change of air and scene would modify, if they did 
 not entirely remove, the trouble. And with the reticence 
 which was such a marked feature in his character, he did 
 not talk of the matter, even to his friends. 
 
 Finally, however, he accidently mentioned it, and was 
 at once urged to consult a physician. Later on this was 
 done, first in Toronto, then in Montreal, and ultimately by 
 a consultation in Ottawa. As a result of this, he received 
 the strong advice of three leading physicians — Dr. Roddick, 
 Sir James Grant, and Dr. Wright — to the effect that work 
 should be given up entirely, and the winter spent in some 
 warm country. The symptoms of kidney and heart disease 
 were declared to be marked, but serious danger might be 
 averted by taking the course outlined. Otherwise his life 
 was liable to be the forfeit. 
 
 But here was displayed the personal patriotism of the 
 man, and the devotion to duty which had always been 
 such a prominent trait in his character. He told the 
 doctors plainly, and no doubt with accuracy, that the 
 course they urged would cause him so much anxiety and 
 distress on account of the political complications it would 
 create, and the disturbance it might make in public affairs, 
 that the effect would probably be worse than if he remained 
 at his work. The medical men finally agreed with this 
 view, and consented to a compromise by which he promised 
 the cutting down of his daily work, and undertook the 
 trip to Europe which was shortly afterwards announced. 
 
 It is clear ti at he did not realize any special risk, and 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 435 
 
 had every hope of recovery. Otherwise he would never 
 have left home without Lady Thompson's company or that 
 of the invalid child whom he had always regarded with 
 such a wealth of affection. Still, it is evident that an 
 occasional premonition of the end did come, as it has so 
 often come to others. Writing to the Countess of Aber- 
 deen* two or three davs before he left Ottawa on that 
 last eventful journey of his life — October 27th — he made 
 a most pathetic reference, and one which even then could 
 not have been understood in its immediate application, to 
 say nothing of its full prophetic meaning. After thanking 
 Her Excellency for some papers which had been sent to him, 
 and speaking generally for a few sentences, he continued 
 as follows : 
 
 " It is as I said a year ago, you have all the hearts in 
 the country with you, but I cannot help reflecting when I 
 recall what was done by Your Excellencies in Ireland, in 
 the Maritime Provinces and in the West, that there is an 
 end to the burdens which the greatest energy and the 
 strongest constitution can bear. I did not think this a few 
 months ago, but (this should be in large letters) I found it out 
 before last Session was over and I see it now. Sometimes the 
 warning to stop and rest comes very suddenly and sternly." 
 
 On Nov. 7th, Sir John Thompson reached London, and 
 was examined by Sir Russell Reynolds, who corroborated 
 the views already expressed by the Canadian physicians, 
 and pronounced a hopeful opinion as to recovery if the 
 advice given was acted upon. He then left for the conti- 
 nent with a party composed of himself, his younger 
 daughter, Senator Sanford and Miss Muriel Sanford. 
 They went from London to Paris, and after spending a few 
 days at Nice and Monte Carlo, proceeded to Genoa, and 
 
 •Published by the kind permission of Her Excellency to the author. 
 
436 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 thence to Rome. From there they journeyed to Milan, and 
 afterwards visited Florence and Venice. During this trip 
 it is understood that Sir John did some not altogether 
 beneficial sight-seeing, upon one occasion climbing up the 
 steep stairs of the lofty tower of St. Peter's at Rome. After 
 three weeks spent in this way, he returned to London, reach- 
 ing the metropolis on Nov. 29th. Here, again, he had done 
 a rather unwise thing in hurrying from the Continent to 
 keep an appointment with Lord Ripon at the Colonial 
 Office, travelling all night and in some discomfort, in order 
 to reach his destination on time. Upon several occasions 
 during this brief tour he had suffered from shortness of 
 breath and shown symptoms which appear, however, to 
 have been hardly noticed at the time. 
 
 From the day he reached London until the night he 
 left for Windsor Castle, Sir John seems to have become 
 hopelessly involved in work. The Copyright question was 
 in itself a most complex and difficult matter, and frequent 
 interviews with the Colonial Secretary and others seem to 
 have brought it almost to the verge of settlement. A little 
 longer, and his clear head and great knowledge of the sub- 
 ject would have achieved the result so long desired and 
 aimed at by the Dominion Government. Perhaps the 
 appreciation of this fact drew him on imperceptibly into 
 labours which he would have otherwise avoided. Finally, 
 it was announced that on the 11th of December he would 
 be present at the meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute, 
 and would leave for Windsor Castle in the morning of the 
 next day, where he was to be sworn a Privy Councillor by 
 Her Majesty, and remain for dinner and the night. It was 
 understood also that he intended to sail for home on the 
 19th instant, so as to spend Christmas, or a part of the 
 Christmas season, with his family. 
 
 On the eve of the fateful day, and despite the advice 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 437 
 
 of Sir Charles Tupper, who was to preside at the meeting, 
 he went to the Royal Colonial Institute in order to hear 
 an address, which was to be delivered upon the Inter- 
 Colonial Conference by Sir Henry Wrixon, one of the 
 recent deleo-ates. So interested was Sir John in the 
 subject that he seems to have been unable to stay away, 
 although he had during preceding weeks refused the many 
 social engagements which were pressed upon him. Of 
 course, the audience would not dispense with a speech from 
 the Canadian Premier, even though, with characteristic 
 modesty, he had at first taken a seat in the background. 
 He made the effort, but it was plain to all that he was 
 decidedly unwell. 
 
 That last speech has a pathetic, as well as a practical, 
 value. It showed Sir John Thompson's great interest in 
 the subject, and breathed his strong Imperial aspirations. 
 At the same time it pointed out the steps which it was 
 necessary to take before sentiment could be chrystalized 
 into action, and it revealed the policy which he would 
 himself have pursued had Providence permitted. He began 
 with a general reference to his health and to the subject 
 under discussion : 
 
 "I wish the strength at my disposal this evening 
 would enable me to express all I feel in sympathy with 
 the Colonial Institute, and my appreciation of the paper 
 we have just heard. The Ottawa Conference had for its 
 primary and significant feature the appreciation of the 
 whole people of the Dominion. It was impossible to have 
 exceeded the enthusiasm felt with the objects of that Con- 
 ference even in the most remote parts of the country. A 
 good deal had been said about meetings of that kind being 
 characterized by a display of sentiment and sentimentality. 
 For my part, I look upon it as one of the great achieve- 
 ments of the Conference, one of the great justifications for 
 
4)38 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 the Conference, that the sentiment of the people of Canada 
 responded instinctively at the first mention of the prepara- 
 tions for the assembly." 
 
 He then mentioned the tenders which had been 
 received for the Pacific cable, and which indicated a cost 
 of one million pounds less than had been anticipated, and 
 went on to speak of the fast Atlantic service — in which he 
 took so great a personal interest, and to which the Cana- 
 dian Government had offered $750,000 — as having suc- 
 cess practically ensured. 
 
 Sir John concluded an earnest and greatly cheered 
 speech, which he had evidently made longer than he 
 intended at first, with the statement that "the possibilities 
 with regard to trade with all these colonies, at the Cape 
 of Good Hope and in Australia and New Zealand are very 
 great. I have not the opportunity or strength to deal 
 fully with them this evening, but in common with Lord 
 Brassey, I venture to hope that the influence of this meet- 
 ing and the influence of all who sympathize with our 
 projects, will be liberally extended to us, and that the 
 feeling may be increased here as it exists in the most 
 distant portions of the Empire, that the day may come not 
 only when the colonies will be united more closely 
 together, but when they will have a more practically 
 useful connection with the heart of the Empire itself." 
 
 It was indeed sadly appropriate that the last public 
 utterance of Sir John Thompson should have been words 
 of loyalty and the voicing of aspirations for closer Imperial 
 unity. 
 
 After the meeting he seems to have recovered himself 
 somewhat, and Sir Charles Tupper states, appeared in good 
 spirits when he left him at his hotel, about 11 o'clock. The 
 next morning he started for Windsor Castle, where, at half- 
 past one, he was sworn in by Her Majesty as a member of 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 439 
 
 the Privy Council. It was a romantic and significant scene 
 apart altogether from the tragic result. Here, in the 
 ancient home of the Sovereigns of England, where for cen- 
 turies loyalty and valour had been rewarded by the be- 
 stowal of similar honours ; where the great men of the 
 land had knelt in homage to a long line of other monarchs ; 
 where Privy Councillors had been made before America 
 was discovered, or the British Empire dreamed of ; the 
 greatest ruler of them all was calling to her Imperial 
 Council a leader from the distant Dominion which had de- 
 veloped since her own accession to the Throne. 
 
 But the act of homage was hardly over ; the well -won 
 honour had only just been received ; the ink was scarcely 
 dry in the new signature to that roll of illustrious names 
 which makes the history of England so proud a record ; 
 when the hand of death intervened, and closed a career of 
 loyal and devoted service. The Court Circular of that 
 night states, with the usual formal brevity, that 
 
 "The Queen held a Council at half- past one o'clock to-day, at which 
 were present the Marquess of Breadalbane, K.G., Lord Steward ; the Mar- 
 quess of Ripon, K.G., Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Right Hon. 
 Henry Fowler, M.P,, Secretary of State for India; and the Right Hon. 
 Arnold Morley, M.P., Postmaster-General. The Marquess of Ripon acted 
 for the Earl of Rosebery as President of the Council. The Hon. Sir John 
 Thompson, K.C.M.G., Q.C., Premier and Minister of Justice in Canada, 
 was introduced and sworn in a member of the Privy Council. Sir Charles 
 Lennox Peel was in attendance as Clerk of the Council. Lord Hawkes- 
 bury and Sir Fleetwood Edwards were in attendance as Lord and Grcom- 
 in- Waiting." 
 
 Then followed the equally brief statement that to Her 
 Majesty's great regret, Sir John Thompson had died sud- 
 denly of syncope a few minutes after leaving the Council 
 room. It was added that Sir John had felt unwell on his 
 arrival at the Castle, and had mentioned having been under 
 medical treatment. Those who witnessed the sad event 
 testify to its sudden and startling nature. 
 
440 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 Lord Breadalbane at the time gave a full account of 
 the memorable occurrence. " After Sir John had been 
 sworn, we retired to the luncheon room. While we were 
 sitting there he suddenly fainted. One of the servants 
 and I each took his arm, got him into the next room, and 
 placed him beside the window. I got some water and sent 
 a servant for some brandy. In a short time he recovered 
 somewhat, and seemed much distressed at having made 
 what he regarded as a scene, remarking, " It seems so weak 
 and foolish to faint like this." I replied, " One does not 
 faint on purpose ; pray do not distress yourself about the 
 matter." He begged me to return to luncheon. Of course 
 I would not hear of this. I remained with him till he 
 seemed completely recovered. He rose to accompany me 
 back to the luncheon room. I offered him my arm, but he 
 walked unaided. He cheerfully remarked, " I am all right, 
 thank you." Meantime Dr. Reid, the Queen's physician, 
 whom I had sent for, arrived. Within two or three minutes 
 after Sir John's return to the luncheon room, and I believe 
 before he tasted the cutlet or whatever was placed before 
 him, I saw him suddenly lurch over, and fall almost into 
 Dr. Reid's arms." The room was partially cleared and 
 everything possible was done, but without avail. The end 
 had come. 
 
 At a moment when Canadians were reading with plea- 
 sure the strong utterance of their Premier the night before ; 
 when his family and friends were looking forward to his 
 announced return ; when Miss Helena Thompson had just 
 arrived in Paris again after her visit to London ; there 
 came the tidings of that dramatic death almost at the feet 
 of his Sovereign and within the historic walls of Windsor. 
 To quote from the elegy written by Mr. Lewis Morris : 
 
 " Dead at the crest, the crown 
 And blossom of his fortunes, this strong son 
 
 Of our great realm sank down 
 Beneath the load of honours scarcely won." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 441 
 
 In what followed can be traced the sympathy 
 which has made the Queen so great a woman, and the tact 
 which has made her so able and remarkable a monarch. 
 Windsor's Imperial towers never, indeed, witnessed an event 
 which so typified the development of British power, and at 
 the same time so evidenced the real union of hearts existing 
 amongst a world-wide and scattered people. The body of 
 the deceased statesman was, late in the evening, placed in 
 a coffin and removed to a room in the Clarence Tower. 
 Meantime Sir Charles Tupper reached the Castle by com- 
 mand of the Queen ; and upon Her Majesty learning, in 
 the course of an audience granted him, that Sir John 
 Thompson had been a Roman Catholic, a requiem mass was 
 ordered to be celebrated, and was attended by the members 
 of the Royal household and by various Colonial officials who 
 had come down from London. The body was then taken 
 to the Marble Hall, where it lay in state. 
 
 Early next morning the Queen gave instructions that 
 the removal of the remains to the station should be accom- 
 panied with every possible ceremony and respect. Her 
 Majesty with her own hands placed a wreath of laurels and 
 lilies upon the coffin, bearing the words : " A mark of 
 sincere respect from Victoria R. I." As the coffin was 
 borne out of the Castle, placed in the plumed hearse, and 
 taken to the special train which waited at the station 
 draped in memorial black, the Queen stood at the window 
 above St. George's gateway and watched the sorrowful 
 function. At the last moment Her Majesty had placed 
 another large wreath of laurel upon the coffin — one which 
 was to lie on it throughout the voyage to Canada. Mean- 
 while, Sir Charles Tupper had been instructed to send a 
 message of sympathy to the Dominion, which he did in 
 the following cable to the Governor General : 
 
442 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 *' The Queen has personally comman^e 1 me to express to Your Excel- 
 lency her deep sympathy with the people of Canada in the sad blow which 
 the country has sustained by the sudden and untimely death of the 
 Premier. " 
 
 As soon as Miss Thompson could be re- called from 
 1 aris, she reached Windsor by the Queen's request, together 
 dth Senator and Mrs. Sanford, in whose charge she now 
 fas. She was received in the Council Chamber, where 
 ler father had so recently been sworn into the Privy Coun- 
 cil, and was treated by Her Majesty in a manner not only 
 sympathetic but affectionate. Drawing the orphaned girl 
 to her, the Queen kissed her on either cheek and proffered 
 the most deep and sincere condolence. On December 14th, 
 the body of the late Premier was placed in state in the 
 Chapel of Our Lady, in Spanish Place. The coffin, of 
 which the outer shell was mahogany, bore the Queen's 
 wreath and a heavy shield with the inscription : 
 
 The Right Hon. Sir John S. D. Thompson, 
 P.O., K.C.M.G., M.P., Q.C. 
 
 Premier and Minister of Justice of Canada. 
 
 Died at Windsor Castle, December 12th, 1894. 
 
 Aged 50 years. 
 
 R. 1. P. 
 
 It was placed on a catafalque, which stood upon a carpet 
 oF purple and gold velvet, and was draped with a pall of 
 rich black velvet surmounted by a large golden cross. Many 
 prominent people were present at the memorial service, 
 including the Marquess of Ripon, the Earl of Jersey, Lord 
 Tennyson, Lord Mount- Stephen, Sir Charles Tupper and 
 Mr. Cecil Rhodes. Miss Thompson was also present. The 
 mass was celebrated, at the command of the Queen, by the 
 Rev. Father Longinoto of the Town of Windsor. Here the 
 remains lay in state for some days. Meantime it was an- 
 nounced that the Imperial Government had offered the 
 almost unprecedented honour of having the body conveyed 
 
Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., G.C M.G., C.B., 
 
 High Commissioner for Canada in England. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 445 
 
 to Halifax — back to the Dominion which Sir John had 
 served and ruled — in a British man-of-war. Lady Thomp- 
 son accepted the proposal as presented through the Governor 
 General, and on December 22nd commenced the last of the 
 tributes of respect which the Queen and the Mother Land 
 had showered upon the remains of Canada's lamented 
 Premier. 
 
 The journey from London to Portsmouth was made a 
 State funeral by Her Majesty's command. Arrangements 
 were made that there should be no stoppage of the 
 special train, in the centre of which was a splendid funeral 
 car built of mahogany and teak, and containing a large 
 compartment which was in reality a mortuary chapel. 
 The ceiling was draped with Canadian flags; the walls 
 were hung with black cloth dotted with silver stars, and 
 caught up by silver cords. In the centre stood a magnifi- 
 cent catafalque, draped in black with silver borders ; a 
 large silver cross at the head, and a gold crucifix three feet 
 high in front. The engine attached to the train was also 
 draped, while immediately behind it was a car, full of the 
 wreaths sent by prominent persons. The railway station 
 platform was in black, and the officials on duty were all 
 dressed in mourning garments. In addition to this the 
 guards and other railroad men detailed to accompany the 
 body to Portsmouth, wore a special mourning uniform such 
 as would have been the case had the remains been those of 
 royalty. 
 
 All along the route taken by the train, crowds of 
 people waited in respectful silence and watched it pass by. 
 As soon as it was sighted outside of Portsmouth, the many 
 ships in the harbour half-masted their ensigns, the first of 
 the twenty minute-guns boomed a salute, and the flags 
 ashore were dipped. It was received by long lines of 
 naval and military officers representing all branches of the 
 
446 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 two services, and drawn up in front of large detachments 
 of marines and blue-jackets detailed as guards of honour. 
 
 The coffin was at once removed from the train, and 
 carried to the ship by blue-jackets. On either side were 
 the pal 1 -bearers ; in front walked the Roman Catholic 
 Bishop of Portsmouth in full purple robes ; together with 
 a number of clergymen and priests. Behind the coffin 
 came Lord Pelham Clinton and Major-General Sir John 
 McNeill representing the Queen ; then followed the mourn- 
 ers ; the naval and military officers in full uniform ; the 
 Mayor and Corporation of Portsmouth in their robes of 
 office ; and a mass of people. Senator Sanford had ac- 
 companied the remains from London by request of Sir 
 Charles Tupper, who was prevented through illness from 
 giving the personal attention which was necessary. He also 
 crossed in the Blenheim. As the procession commenced 
 to move, the general silence was broken by a crashing 
 discharge of guns from the Victory, Nelson's famed 
 war-ship. The massed bands played the dead march, 
 and all the sailors and marines reversed their arms. When 
 the coffin was carried upon the Blenheim there was another 
 crash of artillery and more funeral music, while the officers 
 on board saluted. 
 
 A mast impressive appearance was presented by the 
 great war-ship. Her sides were painted black ; her wide 
 gangway was draped with black cloth ; as was also the 
 way to the mortuary chamber. Everything, even to the 
 minutest detail, had been arranged in the most perfect an J 
 mournful harmony. A short and solemn service was held 
 in the captain's room, which had been fitted up for the 
 reception of the coffin. Here upon a handsome catafalque, 
 draped with crape-bound flags and black cloth ; surrounded 
 by sentries and covered with Her Majesty's wreath, the 
 remains of the Canadian statesman lay during the voyage 
 to Halifax. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 447 
 
 In this remarkable manner did Sir John Thompson, or 
 all that was left of the statesman, the jurist, and the true 
 Canadian, return to the land he had loved so well. But 
 it can be truly said that in dying he had yet lived into his 
 country's life. No event in history has done so much to 
 enhance the bond of sympathy between Canada and the 
 Mother Land as did the death of the Canadian Premier, 
 and the spontaneous, universal and remarkable sympathy 
 which it evoked, on the other side of the ocean which he had 
 tried to aid in making a great British lake. The sentiment 
 shown by the Queen, and the honours showered upon the 
 head of the Dominion through its representative, could in- 
 deed be appreciated by the loyal people of Canada. And so 
 also with the influence for good which Her Majesty's 
 treatment of the religious side of Sir John Thompson's life 
 and career would naturally have upon those who had once 
 been prejudiced against the statesman for something which 
 his Queen — and theirs — now marked out for special 
 compliment. 
 
 Thus the Blenheim started with its burden of sorrow 
 for the shores of the country which had still to confer the 
 last of national honours upon its departed statesman. In 
 the eloquent words of Mr. Nicholas Flood Davin, Sir John 
 Thompson, " after being rocked as a child in a fifty cent 
 cradle in a Haligonian cottage, had died in Windsor Castle 
 as the guest of the Queen. One of the mightiest ships in 
 the British Navy had become his bier, and the cannon of 
 the greatest Empire in the world boomed his requiem." 
 
448 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A Splendid and Historic Burial. 
 
 The great British war - ship steadily and surely 
 ploughed her way across the stormy Atlantic — timed to 
 arrive at Halifax on the morning of the first day of the 
 New Year. The deceased statesman was being borne from 
 the shores of England with honours greater than those 
 which have been accorded to many of the monarchs of the 
 past and the heroes of history. Few indeed of the sons of 
 men are privileged to have a war-ship for a hearse ; a great 
 sovereign as a mourner ; a mighty empire as the onlooker 
 at his funeral procession ; two great countries and a rolling 
 ocean as the scene of his burial. 
 
 As the British iron- clad steamed into Halifax harbour 
 at the hour and minute appointed, the cannon boomed out 
 the solemn news to the dense crowds who filled the streets 
 and lined the wharves of the Cronstadt of A merica ; and 
 the flags of the forts and public buildings dipped in sym- 
 pathy with those which were half-masted upon the Blen- 
 heim. Amid the firing of minute-guns and the strains of 
 the dead march played by the ship's band, the coffin, still 
 covered by the flag of Canada, was borne upon the shoul- 
 ders of stalwart blue-jackets, placed upon the transport 
 Lily, and received on board by the two sons of the late 
 Premier and a number of his former colleagues and friends. 
 As the sad music floated in over the waves, like the sobbing 
 of the sea, the transport steamed into shore, where upon the 
 landing stood a guard of honour, and the Governor General 
 and Lady Aberdeen. Here the coffin was transferred to a 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 449 
 
 gun-carriage drawn by four powerful black horses, and 
 conveyed to the Provincial Building — where the remains 
 were to lie in state — followed by a long procession through 
 streets lined with the men of the 63rd Halifax Rifles, and 
 packed with people who seemed to care nothing for the 
 pouring rain. The day added gloom to the feelings of 
 the spectators, while the mournful music harmonized with 
 the surroundings of sorrow. 
 
 When the destination had been reached, the casket 
 was lifted by twelve stalwart soldiers of the Imperial 
 army, carried through another guard of honour, and placed 
 upon the catafalque in the centre of the Legislative Coun- 
 cil room, where it lay in state during the succeeding day. 
 Here, for a few brief minutes, Lord and Lady Aberdeen 
 knelt in silent prayer beside the remains of their departed 
 friend and His Excellency's loyal adviser. The lofty and 
 beautiful chamber was almost entirely draped in black and 
 purple silk and cashmere, with silver trimmings ; upon 
 the walls hung historic portraits of Britain's monarchs 
 and of Nova Scotia's honoured sons, looking down 
 upon the remains of the Canadian Premier, who in death 
 had so linked his native Province with the memories of his 
 Sovereign's sympathy. The walls were draped in black 
 cashmere ; the windows were surmounted with an over- 
 drape of purple, trimmed with silver fringe ; the pictures 
 were framed in crape and silver fixings ; the ceiling was 
 covered so as to form a canopy of black cashmere, sur- 
 mounted over the catafalque by the Royal coat of arms, 
 fitted into a smaller canopy of purple and black silk. 
 
 Upon the coffin lay the handsome pall worked by 
 Lady Aberdeen with her own hands. It was a beautiful 
 piece of work, made of rich Irish white poplin, lined 
 with satin, with a large gold-thread cross running its 
 whole length. It was bordered by a plain gold fringe 
 
450 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 and cord. Behind the catafalque was a raised dais on 
 which rested the almost innumerable wreaths from all 
 parts of Britain and Canada. Just below the Queen's 
 memorial were the maple leaves and shamrocks from 
 Lord and Lady Aberdeen, while near by were flowers 
 in every conceivable form of beauty and abundance from 
 Sir John Thompson's late colleagues ; from the Governors 
 of the various Provinces ; from Conservative organizations 
 throughout Canada ; from the Marquess of Ripon ; from 
 the Royal Military College at Kingston ; from the British 
 Colonial Office. During the 2nd of January, thousands 
 and thousands of people passed through the Chamber 
 where lay the remains of the honored Canadian statesman. 
 Around the catafalque stood a guard of honour composed 
 of members of Parliament, who replaced each other in turn 
 during the day and the succeeding night. Inside, the 
 throng passed slowly, steadily and respectfully through 
 the Chamber. Outside of the heavily draped building, 
 other thousands patiently and solemnly waited their turn 
 All the arrangements of this memorable state funeral 
 were splendidly carried out. At six o'clock on the follow- 
 ing morning the coffin was quietly removed to St. Mary's 
 Cathedral where it was placed upon the lofty catafalque 
 prepared for the purpose. At an early hour the noble 
 cathedral was filled with such a gathering of representative 
 men and women as had never been seen in Canada — not 
 even at the famed burial of Sir John Macdonald. The in- 
 terior of the sacred building was in itself unique. It was 
 magnificently draped in all the possible emblems of a na- 
 tion's mourning. The walls were hung in black to within 
 four feet of the floor, where the base was of purple cash- 
 mere. Over the windows were silver crosses. Between 
 them were handsome banners, while above and surrounding 
 the altar was the simple text : 
 
 11 1 am the Res\u£&Gti9» an( l the Life." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 451 
 
 JThe massive Corinthian pillars of the church were draped 
 in black cashmere, trimmed in white and purple, gold and 
 silver. The ceiling formed an immense and sombre canopy, 
 while the Bishop's throne was in purple and go'.d ; the 
 altar cloths were of black with purple velvet trimmings ; 
 the floor and the aisles were covered with purple cashmere ; 
 and the pews were draped in purple and crape. Behind 
 the Episcopal throne, screened from, public view, sat Lady 
 Thompson ; inside the altar rail and in the front pews were 
 the Governor-General and Lady Aberdeen, the Lieut.-Gov- 
 ernors of Ontario, Quebec, New-Brunswick, Prince Edward 
 Island and British Columbia ; Lieut. General Montgomery 
 Moore ; Sir John's late colleagues in the Government ; and 
 representatives from very many of the leading legislative, 
 judicial, political, religious, legal, scientific, military and 
 national bodies of the Dominion of Canada. 
 
 Bishop Cameron of Antigonish, the warm and faithful 
 friend of the deceased Premier, celebrated the requiem 
 mass. The impressive ceremony was performed amid 
 surroundings of regal magnificence and solemnity. With 
 His Lordship were Archbishop O'Brien of Halifax ; Arch- 
 bishop Begin of Quebec ; Archbishop Duhamel of Ottawa ; 
 Bishop Howley of St. John's, Newfoundland ; the Bishops 
 of St. John, N.B., Alexandria, Rimouski, and Charlottetown, 
 together with a great number of minor ecclesiastical digni- 
 taries. The " Dies Irae " was exquisitely rendered by the 
 choir, and had been •specially translated by the Archbishop 
 of Halifax for the benefit of the mixed congregation. It 
 is impossible to do justice to the sympathetic, graceful and 
 effective funeral oration delivered by Archbishop O'Brien. 
 The career of Sir John Thompson was presented and 
 embodied by the earnest words of one who had known him 
 well and appreciated him thoroughly. His Grace dealt 
 with "the integrity of life and the conscientious fulfilment 
 
452 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 of onerous duties," which had made that career so impor- 
 tant, and so fitted to " adorn the annals of a nation and be 
 an example and instruction to future generations." The 
 late Premier had not succeeded by external influences ; by 
 pandering to passion or prejudice ; by cunning arts or 
 corrupt devices. It was rather by " a faithful observance 
 of the law of labour imposed by the Creator on the human 
 race, together with intellectual gifts of a high order, 
 strengthened and made perfect by a deep religious spirit." 
 The Archbishop referred at some length to the Chris- 
 tain life and character of Sir John. His religion had been 
 of a kind to develop and expand his intellectual attain- 
 ments ; give consistency to his actions ; strength and 
 vigour to his reasoning ; " The way he sought the Lord in 
 goodness and simplicity of heart is known to his friends. 
 He recognised it to be the first duty of a Christian to 
 follow the dictates of conscience and to make his life an 
 outward expression of his inward convictions." At the 
 conclusion of the mass and His Grace's memorial address, 
 there occurred a most significant incident. By suggestion 
 of Lord and Lady Aberdeen, in the midst of the highest 
 Roman Catholic ceremonial, and in honour of a most devout 
 son of the Church, a great congregation of mixed creeds 
 united within the walls of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in 
 singing that exquisite Protestant hymn commencing : 
 
 " Now the labourer's task is o'er ; 
 Now the battle day is past ; 
 Now upon the farther shore 
 Lands the voyager at last. 
 Father, in Thy gracious keeping 
 Leave we now Thy servant sleeping." 
 
 Then, as the vast audience stood in reverential silence, 
 the solemn music of the Dead March pealed from the organ 
 and the coffin was carried to the funeral car. Troops lined 
 
w 
 s 
 z 
 
 a 
 
 PQ 
 
Commander Kingsmill, 1 R.N., 
 
 of H. M.S. "Blenheim." 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 455 
 
 the streets from the Cathedral to the cemetery as the 
 immense procession slowly formed and marched behind to 
 the strains of mournful music and amid buildings draped 
 in sombre hue. Thousands of people wore mourning 
 badges, and many in the procession were clothed in 
 garments of black. Three hundred blue-jackets and 
 mariners ; two hundred of the late Premier's constituents 
 f rom Antigonish ; Lord Aberdeen and his staff; the Gover- 
 nors of Provinces ; officiating clergymen in their robes of 
 office ; senators, members of Parliament, judges, ecclesias- 
 tics and ministers of every creed ; marched in that great 
 procession. 
 
 The occasion served to illustrate that religious modera- 
 tion and toleration which the dead statesman had so often 
 and earnestly urged. Their was no precedence in the 
 procession save by length of service, and mingled together 
 in one common tribute to departed merit were men of such 
 diverse religious views as the Roman Catholic Archbishop 
 of Quebec and the Rev. Dr. Carman, Superintendent of the 
 Methodist Church in Canada ; the Episcopal Bishop of 
 Nova-Scotia and the Rev. Dr. Saunders, Moderator of the 
 Presbyterian General Assembly. Men of all political 
 shades were there. The Dominion Conservative leaders 
 and the Provincial Liberal leaders ; the officers of the 
 Canadian Pacific Railway and those of the Grand Trunk, 
 joined in honouring the late Premier. 
 
 It is utterly impossible to describe the procession. 
 Halifax was so full of people that not a tithe of them 
 could take part, and they had to remain packed along the 
 sides of the streets in serried masses. Fortunately the day 
 was fine and clear. The funeral car was a splendid struc- 
 ture of the kind, beautifully covered with black silk, and 
 draped with black velvet, trimmed with silver fringe. The 
 coffin was placed upon a catafalque, surmounted by a canopy 
 
456 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 which rested upon four Corinthian columns festooned with 
 flowers. It was adorned with handsome plumes and a 
 silver cross and crown. The car was drawn by six horses, 
 with coverings of black and silver, each guided by a man 
 in uniform. The pall-bearers, who walked upon either 
 side of the car, were the Hon. George E. Foster, Sir Charles 
 H. Tupper, Sir Frank Smith, Hon. John Costigan, Hon. 
 John Haggart, Hon. J. A. Ouimet, Hon. J. C. Patterson, 
 and Hon. W. B. Ives. The route to the Holy Cross 
 Cemetery, which stood in the centre of the city, had been 
 arranged, so as to pass certain points of historic interest, 
 and after an hour's march through lines of soldiers and 
 throngs of people, and accompanied by strains of music 
 and funeral airs from all the great composers, the cemetery 
 was finally reached. 
 
 At the draped entrance stood a guard of honour. 
 Within was a quaint, old-fashioned church surrounded by 
 a not very large burial ground, crowded with the graves of 
 those who had found a last resting place in the plot given 
 fifty years before by the Imperial authorities to the Roman 
 Catholics of Halifax. Hawthornes, and maples, and elms 
 had grown up thickly in this sequestered spot in the heart 
 of an important city. Another site for a cemetery had 
 been obtained and was now largely used, but here it had 
 been decided to lay the remains of Sir John Thompson, 
 and here, after a few final prayers by Archbishop O'Brien, 
 all that remained of the distinguished Canadian was 
 hidden from sight in the soil of his native province; in 
 the heart of his native city. 
 
 Sir John Thompson was now at rest. The active 
 brain, the patriotic mind, the sturdy character, which had 
 carved out so high a career, had gone from the country he 
 served so well. But his character and achievements 
 remained, written on the scroll of Canadian history. As 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 457 
 
 the Rev. Dr. Barclay, of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 
 Montreal, so eloquently phrased it : " The tragic ending of 
 his earthly career shed a mingled gloom and glory on his 
 life, on his family, and on his nation." But if it deprived 
 us of a great leader, it endowed us at the same time with 
 a noble memory. 
 
 In Canada and Great Britian the Press had done full 
 justice to the life and work of the late Premier. Partisan- 
 ship in the one case had been forgotten, distance in the 
 other had been over-looked. The London Daily Neivs had 
 rejoiced in his labours for Imperial Unity, as shown in the 
 Ottawa Conference, and declared that " his death will 
 still serve the great purpose to which he devoted his life." 
 The Standard said that " partly on account of his ability 
 and tact the recent history of Canada has been one of 
 uneventful prosperit}^" The Times declared that under 
 his guidance "the position of Canada had been confirmed and 
 strengthened." The Post joined with Canada in mourning 
 " the loss of so able a man." The Telegraph was uncertain 
 whether the loss was greater to Canada or to England. The 
 Chronicle thought him "a man of sterling qualities, of 
 whom the whole English-speaking race had good reason to 
 be proud." The Pall Mall Gazette believed him to have 
 been "the best type of a lawyer- statesman, cool headed, 
 profoundly informed, earnest and sincere, and with the 
 courage of his convictions." 
 
 In Canada the newspapers teemed with sorrowful 
 comments. Black borders, and every possible expression 
 of sincere regret followed his sudden death, and filled their 
 columns during that prolonged and Imperial funeral. The 
 remarks of the Liberal press were especially kind and gen- 
 erous — S uch indeed as would have given unspeakable 
 pleasure to the statesman, when alive. The Toronto Globe 
 referred to him as having given up "his plans and his 
 
458 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 preferences, and laid his remarkable talents at the service 
 of his country. For the dignity of the Bench and the 
 quiet of his study he exchanged the turmoil, the cares, the 
 misrepresentations and the ingratitude of public life, and 
 finally he gave his life." 
 
 The Toronto Mail, which had in other days so strongly 
 opposed him, declared that " He will pass into history as a 
 great Premier," and added that " no suspicion ever attached 
 to Sir John as a politician. Sir Richard Cartwright once 
 said of him that his hands were clean, and clean they cer- 
 tainly were. . . . The conduct of the late Premier with 
 reference to offenders was unquestionably unprecedented. 
 No other leader, Liberal or Conservative, has, in this coun- 
 try at least, been ready to act as Sir John Thompson did." 
 The Woodstock Sentinel-Review, whose record is one of 
 virile Liberalism, said that " as a statesman Sir John 
 Thompson's name is likely to hold a high place among 
 the men of Canada." 
 
 The Hamilton Herald declared that his career was an 
 object lesson for young Canadians : " His character all 
 through was above reproach. He was a thinker and a 
 student, and spared himself no trouble and no research 
 to master every detail of facts that he was called upon 
 to deal with, and to acquaint himself fully with every 
 phase of questions requiring his consideration. These 
 issues with him were never questions of politics but 
 questions of right and wrong. Men may not always have 
 agreed with him, but no one who knew the man and his 
 absolute honesty of conviction and sincerity of purpose, 
 could fail to yield him the unquestioning respect which 
 was his due." 
 
 And so with a long list from the old world and 
 the new ; from the Imperial country in which he died ; 
 from the home country in which he lies buried. 
 
John S. Thompson, Sr., 
 
 Editor of the Kova-Scotian ; Father of Sir John Thompson. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 461 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Characteristics and Home Life. 
 
 Sir John Thompson had inherited much of his ability, 
 much of his patriotism, and much of his retiring nature 
 from his father. The latter was not only " a writer of 
 taste and genius " to quote his celebrated friend and col- 
 league in the management of " The Nova-Scotian" but 
 was a patriot of the good old Liberal type represented 
 in Ontario by George Brown ; in Quebec by Luther 
 Hamilton Holton ; in Nova-Scotia itself by Joseph Howe. 
 When Howe left him in full control of what had been such 
 a powerful Liberal organ, John S. Thompson addressed his 
 readers in words which were embodied in the life and 
 policy of his son during many subsequent years: 
 
 " From early years I have been, I may say, instinc- 
 tively attached to those principles of civil and religious 
 liberty by which the mass of my fellow subjects would be 
 left untrammelled, except by wise laws, in the pursuit of 
 worldly honour and power, and in the service of their Great 
 Creator. These feelings have grown with time ; what un- 
 sophisticated youth adopted, riper years approved ; and I 
 feel wedded for life, through evil report and through good 
 report, to that dispensation of freedom which is consistent 
 with the British constitution, and which may be m most 
 beneficial harmony with proper subordination of rank and 
 the supremacy of the laws." 
 
 But unlike his son, Mr. Thompson never entered the 
 stormy arena of politics, never sacrificed his preference for 
 
462 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 retirement, and remained to the last cultivating and instil- 
 ling literary tastes in the quiet of his own fireside. The 
 same desire for home life and quiet pleasures permeated 
 the character of Sir John. Without a knowledge of 
 that fact it is impossible to appreciate fully the sacrifice 
 he made for his country in entering public life. The Hon. 
 David Mills, a strong political opponent, but a man pos- 
 sessed of qualities which naturally inspired respect and 
 esteem in a speech delivered some weeks after the Premier's 
 death, quoted words which fully express this feeling, and 
 which were spoken to him upon one occasion by Sir John 
 Thompson : 
 
 " Do you like this life ? I confess it has no charms 
 for me ; and I cannot help feeling that any man of ability 
 is a fool to come here. In private life you can be pecuni- 
 arily better off ; you have peace of mind, domestic enjoy- 
 ment and reputation about such as you merit ; but here, 
 what have you got 7 A blackened reputation, which bad 
 as it may be, some think is better than you deserve. My 
 advice to every man of ability and sense would be to keep 
 out of parliament." 
 
 If, however, love of retirement could be considered a 
 leading characteristic of the late statesman, love of country 
 was a still more marked one. For this he was willing to 
 give up the ease and luxury, the dignity and emoluments, 
 the comfort and domesticity, which came from a high posi- 
 tion on the Bench. For this he toiled at Ottawa ; for this 
 he laboured at Washington ; for this he devoted many a 
 weary hour to the Criminal Code or the Copyright Law ; 
 for this he went through the prolonged sittings of the 
 Commission at Paris, and listened to the monotonous argu- 
 ments of opposing counsel ; for this he made political 
 speeches which he detested and endured partisan abuse 
 and sectarian attacks; for this he declined to take the Chief 
 
SIK JOHN THOMPSON. 463 
 
 Justiceship of Canada ; for this he ultimately sacrificed his 
 life, through overwork. In the words of His Lordship the 
 Bishop of Algoma, at San Remo, on Jannary 3rd : " The 
 sense of responsibility for his gifts seems to have been a 
 distinguishing characteristic of Sir John Thompson. The 
 talents with which he had been so richly endowed, be- 
 longed to his country, not to himself. They were a sacred 
 trust committed to him for the public weal." It may truly 
 be said of him, in the words of the poet, that he 
 
 " With Canadian greatness linked his own, 
 
 And, steadfast in that part, 
 Held praise and blame but fitful sound, 
 And in the love of country found 
 
 Full solace for his heart." 
 
 Love of work and appreciation of its importance in 
 the struggle of life was another very prominent character- 
 istic in Sir John Thompson. He was a severe, conscientious 
 and thorough worker. To quote the Toronto Mail shortly 
 after his death : " It was hard study that made him a 
 lawyer. It was application that gave him eminence in his 
 profession,, whether on the Bench or at the Bar. It was 
 thought, deep and long, that produced the Parliamentary 
 speeches which made him famous. It was unremitting 
 labour that conferred upon him what we describe as talent, 
 and won for him the confidence necessary to his position 
 as leader." 
 
 In Parliament he was always at his post. If the 
 House sat till daylight, Sir John would keep his seat. 
 Upon one occasion a debate lasted through the night and 
 until 11 o'clock the next morning. When the members 
 who were lucky enough to be allowed to go away to sleep 
 "on call" returned next day they found the Premier sicting 
 there, half asleep, but still on duty. At another time he 
 remained at his post, although the little daughter in whom 
 
464 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 he was so wrapped up was known to be lying in a serious 
 eondition at home. 
 
 A stern sense of justice was one of the deepest traits 
 in his character. It was this known sentiment which gave 
 the House such confidence in the Minister, such respect for 
 the man. Justice must be done, whether it affected 
 wealthy contractors and Conservatives, such as Connolly, 
 Murphy, and McGreevy, or the humblest clerk in a minor 
 department of the Government. Many stories are told in 
 this connection. In Nova-Scotia he had the reputation of 
 being a very severe Judge, and especially when questions 
 of fraud were involved. In such cases it was a common 
 saying — " God help him if he gets into Thompson's hands." 
 Upon one occasion he was visiting the Penitentiary at 
 Dorchester, N.B, in his official capacity as Minister of 
 Justice, when a man was brought before him who com- 
 plained that his period of sentence had been too long; that 
 the punishment was far too great for the offence — which 
 he described. Sir John is said to have been greatly 
 impressed by the story and to have exclaimed, " That does 
 seem a long sentence for such an offence ; who tried the 
 case ? " " It was Judge Thompson, your Honour," came the 
 reply. He was inexorable in cases where cruelty to chil- 
 dren was concerned. At one time, a woman had been 
 convicted for some cruelty to a little child, and a great deal 
 of political influence was brought to bear on the 
 Minister to advise her release. On visiting the Peniten- 
 tiary where she was confined, she brought up a further 
 petition. Sir John said : " So you expect to be let out ? " 
 " I hope so, Sir John," was the reply. " Well, if in a hun- 
 dred years from now you were living and I was still 
 Minister of Justice, I would not let you out." 
 
 Love of religion and appreciation of the ordinances of 
 his Church was another deep-seated influence in his daily 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 465 
 
 life and public career. Reference has been made elsewhere 
 at some length to this subject, but a little more may be 
 said. Whole volumes were written and uttered concerning 
 it at the time of his death. A very striking remark in this 
 connection was made by the distinguished Presbyterian 
 divine, Rev. Dr. Barclay : 
 
 " Whatever differing views we may hold, it is surely 
 gratifying to know, that, alike in his private life and in the 
 discharge of his public duties, he was not ashamed to own 
 his Lord, and that when he went to Windsor to have an 
 audience with and receive a high honour from his earthly 
 Sovereign, he carried with him the symbols which could 
 not fail to remind him that there, as elsewhere, he was in 
 the audience chamber of the King of Heaven." 
 
 The symbols of his creed were thus with him in his 
 sudden death, and surrounded him in his Imperial funeral, 
 as they had been with him during his life. 
 
 The correspondent of a daily paper writing a few 
 months before his last journey to the old land,* describes a 
 talk with him amid the quiet of the Muskoka lakes, upon 
 religious matters. So rare was it for him to say anything 
 upon such a subject, that this little paragraph is doubly 
 interesting : 
 
 " Do you accept all of the Apostles' creed, sir ? " 
 
 " Yes," he said, and the little word was full of affirma- 
 tion. 
 
 " Even the resurrection of the body ? " — was it some 
 unconscious premonition that moved me, I wonder ? 
 
 " Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall 
 behold, and not another," he replied with gentle gravity; 
 and then he spoke about the difficulties of faith, and how 
 he had come to realize that all vital belief centres about 
 the solemn story of the Incarnation. 
 
 •Faith Fenton in the Toronto Empire. 
 
 30 
 
466 LIFE AND WORK OP 
 
 Understanding that aright, we shall know all else, he 
 said : " Christ did not come into the world merely to teach 
 morality, that can be taught in other ways." 
 
 The home life of a public man in British countries \m 
 sacred. But in the case of Sir John Thompson the per- 
 sonal interest of the people was so greatly aroused by his 
 tragic death ; the sympathy of the Queen was so kindly 
 and graciously tendered to the orphaned daughter ; the 
 sentiment of the country was so sincerely stirred by the 
 lack of provision left for his family ; that it is permissible 
 to say that no more affectionate husband and father ever 
 lived than the late Premier showed himself to be. His 
 family consisted of two grown up sons and three daughters. 
 The youngest of these was a beautiful and merry child, 
 who was crippled a few years sinee by some sadly pain- 
 ful accident. Her father poured out money like water in 
 the effort to have the trouble cured, but in vain, and 
 friends of the family describe his devotion to the child as 
 something touching. Some faint idea of the nature of the 
 late Premier's home life crept into the papers during his 
 summer stay in the charming Muskoka cottage lent him 
 by Senator Sanford. And a writer already referred to 
 may be quoted once more in this connection : 
 
 " Few are aware of the almost idyllic relations that 
 exist in the home life of Canada's Premier. It is rarely 
 given to see affection so strong, tenderness so great, sincer- 
 ity and reverence so evident as that which is woven into 
 the close bond that girds the family life of Sir John 
 Thompson. Between parents and children exist the closest 
 possible ties, and one feels instinctively that all that the 
 world could give of honours would weigh as nothing 
 against this strong family affection." 
 
 And in spite of the stern justice which he endeavoured 
 to mete out to criminals, and the apparent coldness of his 
 
8IR JOHN THOMPSON. 467 
 
 manner and disposition, the late Premier was essentially 
 warm-hearted and sympathetic. He gave freely to the 
 poor, but always quietly and without ostentation. He 
 contributed largely to religious objects, but in both these 
 respects his right hand knew not what his left was doing. 
 Lady Aberdeen, in a striking article contributed to the 
 Outlook of New York, tells a story which illustrates his 
 character better than many pages of eulogy : " It is under- 
 stood that upon one occasion a woman, whose savings he 
 had invested for her many years before, came to tell him 
 that she had lost her money, and he contrived, with great 
 inconvenience to himself, to give her back the money, con- 
 ceiving himself in a measure responsible for the loss." 
 
 Sir John Thompson was often urged to take more 
 exercise, but alleged that he had not the time. Of late 
 years, it is understood, he walked, as a rule, from his house 
 to his office in the Parliament buildings and back again. 
 The story is told in connection with a- well-known Ottawa 
 character, that upon one occasion the Premier was spoken 
 to in this matter, and replied, "Exercise! why the days are 
 not long enough for all the work I have to do. About all 
 the exercise I can get is the walk from my house up to the 
 Hill and back. I go up Elgin Street one morning," he 
 continued, with a twinkle in his eye, "and the next morn- 
 ing, in order to circumvent Henry Went worth Monk, I go 
 up Metcalfe Street." 
 
 It is sad to note that one of the pleasures to which he 
 looked forward in his last trip to England and the Conti- 
 nent was never realized. It is understood that Sir John 
 entertained a sincere admiration for Mr. Gladstone. Hear- 
 ing of this from Lord and Lady Aberdeen, the Grand Old 
 Man, despite his known desire to see only intimate friends 
 or relations, wrote Sir John Thompson inviting him to pay 
 a visit to Hawarden Castle. This the Canadian Premier 
 
468 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 had heartily consented to do, and proposed to go there after 
 his visit to Windsor. 
 
 Statesmen and leaders of the people seldom die rich. 
 Their emoluments are comparatively small. They are 
 excluded from many means of legitimate industry. They 
 cannot indulge in speculation or honestly take advantage 
 of many ways of making money which come to them. 
 They have numerous and great expenses in the shape of 
 public and private contributions, entertainments and sur- 
 roundings. Strict economy would be impossible, even if 
 their minds could be sufficiently detached from the respon- 
 sibilities of power and administration to look closely after 
 matters of personal expenditure. Hence it was not 
 unnatural that Sir John Thompson should have died poor. 
 A couple of thousand dollars was found to be left of the 
 money he had saved when on the Bench of Nova-Scotia, 
 but including life insurance — which it is probable he found 
 difficult to get in later years — the estate only totalled up 
 to $9,727. 
 
 The Government were, therefore, justified in asking 
 the people, for whom he had sacrificed so much, to con- 
 tribute to a national testimonial. To this Sir Donald Smith 
 wired $5,000 from London, and Senator Ogilvie, of Montreal, 
 added $2,500 ; the Ministers of the Crown each gave $500, 
 and the popular subscriptions very soon rolled the total up 
 to $25,000. It would have been much larger had the 
 public not been aware of the intention of Parliament to 
 make an additional grant. An interesting and somewhat 
 unusual feature of this spontaneous offering was a kindly 
 letter from the dead leader's old opponent, Sir Richard 
 Cartwright, enclosing a hundred dollar cheque 
 
 It is impossible, in conclusion, to do justice in a few 
 words to the life and work of Sir John Thompson. But the 
 leading features of his character — love of country and love 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 469 
 
 of home, regard for religion And love of justice, loyalty to 
 the Empire and devotion to duty — may be considered as 
 the basis of his success in life ; the root from which sprang 
 popular approval and regard ; the means by whicli his 
 reputation grew ; the source of the honours conferred by 
 his Queen and country ; the reason for the example which 
 his career affords to all young Canadians and to all loyal 
 citizens of this great Dominion. 
 
470 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 CANADA'S LATE PREMIER 
 
 An Article contributed by Her Excellency the Countess of Aberdeen, to the 
 "Outlook" of New York, and reprinted by permission. 
 
 What manner of man was this whose death has stirred the heart of 
 an Empire, whose memory was crowned with laurels by his Sovereign's 
 own hand, and whose remains were borne across the ocean by one of Bri- 
 tain's proudest war ships, and followed to the grave by the representatives 
 of army and navy, church and state, and of every party, class and creed, 
 amidst the mouring of a people ? 
 
 Some will attribute the feeling which has been evoked to the dramatic 
 character of his death — and truly all the circumstances surrounding it 
 were such as to leave an indelible impression. Here was a man, still in 
 the prime of life, who had risen by steady and successive steps, to the 
 highest post of honour in his own country, at the head of a powerful party, 
 and enjoying the respect of both friend and foe, called by his Queen to her 
 palace to receive from herself a signal mark of recognition of services 
 which he had rendered to the Empire. And scarcely had he left her pres- 
 ence when the startling news came that a higher summons had called him 
 to the presence of the King of kings, and his sorrowing family and country 
 were left to realize all the greatness of their loss. 
 
 All that queenly thoughtfulness and womanly sympathy could do to 
 soothe the grief of those who loved him and the country which trusted 
 him, was done by Queen Victoria, who, in, her respect for the religious 
 persuasion of the dead, in her motherly tenderness toward the young 
 daughter left fatherless far from her own home, and in her beautiful act of 
 royal recognition of faithful service, in herself laying the victor's wreath 
 of laurels on the coffin of the departed statesman, showed once more the 
 secret of the power by which she has strengthened her throne and the 
 British Constitution for well nigh sixty years. 
 
 Her government and her people caught up the note and honour after 
 honour was offered to the remains of the late premier, and not only his 
 own country, but every British colony throbbed responsively to this de- 
 monstration of the oneness of the British Empire and of the reality of the 
 ties which unite all its component parts. 
 
SIB JOHN THOMPSON. 47i 
 
 But when all this is said, and more than fully granted, can it be 
 asserted that it was merely the accident of Sir John Thompson's death at 
 Windsor Castle, and the consequences resulting therefrom, which occa- 
 sioned the deep feeling perceptible amongst the crowds who attended his 
 funeral, and which has left such a keen sense of bereavement from East to 
 West in the wide Dominion, even after the first outburst of sorrow has 
 spent itself ? 
 
 What is the secret which has made the clergy of all denominations 
 not only voice the sorrow of their people but hold up Sir John's life as a 
 message to those who are left ; and this, although in early manhood he 
 had left the church of his fathers to join the Roman Catholic Communion ? 
 
 What is it that makes his political foes speak as if they too have sus- 
 tained a personal loss ? 
 
 What is it that makes all patriotic citizens feel that they have been 
 suddenly deprived of a national bulwark on which they depended for many 
 years to come ? 
 
 Why do those who were privileged to call him friend feel that a bright 
 light has gone out and that a great darkness has overspread their lives ? 
 
 There is but one answer to these questionings. The heart of the peo- 
 ple is true to higher instincts when it gets a chance, and never has a man's 
 career more exemplified the power of character, strong, elevated, trained 
 character, than Sir John Thompson's. 
 
 He began life as a boy at Halifax, with but few advantages, saving 
 those which lie in a public school education and in the influences of a cult- 
 ured home, where all the proud traditions of mingled Irish and Scottish 
 descent were cherished and made a means of inducing love and loyalty to 
 the new country as well as to the old. His father, a literary man of no 
 mean capacity, and a co-editor with Joseph Howe, was the reverse of 
 wealthy, and the youth had to work his way upwards by his own personal 
 exertions. From the outset a distinguishing feature of his character was 
 a marvellous power of concentration and habit of industry, and it was the 
 cultivation of these qualities which enabled him by degrees to give proof 
 of his more brilliant intellectual qualities and which insured his rise from 
 the reporters' chair to the lawyer's office, and thence to be Alderman of 
 his city, Member of the Provincial Legislature, Premier of his Province, 
 Judge, Minister of Justice for the Dominion, Premier of Canada, repre- 
 sentative of Great Britain during the International Arbitration Conferen- 
 ces, and at last, Privy Councillor of Great Britain. 
 
 In each and all of these capacities he has left a record which any man 
 may well envy, and one founded not on mere brilliancy of eloquence, or 
 ability to evoke popular sympathies, or cleverness in manipulating party 
 politics. 
 
 Search through his life, ask those who knew him best, and there is 
 
V72 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 but one testimony. Thoroughness of work, intensity of purpose, single- 
 ness of aim, unflinching conscientiousness and a prevailing sense of the 
 presence of God marked all he did or said. The poorest clients might 
 depend on their case being gone into with the same thoroughness as was 
 given in after years to a great legislative measure, or to the adjustment of 
 an international question. Whether the matter was great or small which 
 he had in hand, he considered it worthy of his best and his whole atten. 
 tion, and thus it has come about that during his comparatively brief tenure 
 of office as Minister of Justice, he left the stamp of enduring work on the 
 laws of the country, as for example, in the splendid accomplishment of 
 the codifying of the criminal law, which he carried through with infinite 
 pains and which has placed Canada ahead, in this respect, of many older 
 countries. When listening to the details of a case, he would often sit 
 looking immovable and irresponsive, but when the moment came for 
 summing up, or charging the jury, it was found that not a point had 
 escaped him, and that the just proportion and weight of all the facts were 
 given with extraordinary precision and lucidity, and his arguments were 
 so forcible as to carry all before them. His public speaking was eloquent, 
 because of the matter which it contained and the strength of his reason- 
 ing, mingled with a quiet by-play of humour and kindliness. There was 
 never any of that straining after effect, or the saying of words for the sake 
 of saying them, which mark the utterances of weaker men. And in this, 
 his speaking was after all, only typical of the man, who showed his great- 
 ness in his simplicity, humility, and entire absence of egotism or self- 
 consciousness. 
 
 The success which he won in all that he undertook never spoilt him — 
 to the end he was as a child — willing to learn from all and never so full of 
 his own opinions as not to be able to listen to what others had to say But 
 when his turn came to speak, there was no hesitation, and he could hold 
 his own with the best of them. 
 
 The leading men who were engaged with him in the Behring Sea 
 arbitration, and on other public occasions, whether in Canada, London, 
 Paris or Washington, such as Lord Kipon, Lord Hannen, Lord Russell, 
 Sir Richard Webster, Baron de Courcel, and Mr. Bayard, have all given 
 their witness concerning the great influence exercised by Sir John's ability 
 and strength, and calm judicial powers, and it was impossible for anyone 
 to come into close contact with him without being impressed with his 
 exceptional qualities. 
 
 But not all knew that beneath the calm, almost impassive exterior 
 there raged a volcano, and that it was only by stern self-government that 
 he had obtained the mastery which stood him in such good stead. 
 
 Many who knew him only as the inflexible judge, whose severity in 
 cases where there was the slightest deviation from honesty and upright- 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 473 
 
 ness was proverbial, could scarcely credit the tenderness of his heart when 
 he had to deal with the erring, the poor and the afflicted, in a private 
 capacity, or know what he was as a husband, father and friend in the 
 midst of his own home circle. 
 
 Of his personal scrupulous honesty and incorruptibility many instances 
 could be given, but it is enough to point to the fact that he died a very 
 poor man, although he had been in a position where he could have grasped 
 at wealth, and that not his bitterest enemy can whisper a word against 
 his memory. But even to mention the fact seems to insult him. What 
 else could be expected from one of whom it is told that, when a woman 
 whose savings he had invested for her many years ago, in what was 
 considered a good investment, came to tell him that she had lost her 
 money, he actually contrived with great inconvenience to himself, to give 
 her back the money, conceiving himself in a measure responsible for the 
 loss. 
 
 And when his change of religion threatened to wreck his worldly 
 prospects, he faced the worst and was willing to endure poverty and toil 
 for himself and his family rather than not be true to his convictions. And 
 once again, only a few weeks before his death, he was warned that con- 
 tinuance in the public service might — nay, would probably mean death to 
 him, whereas rest and change of climate would probably restore him to 
 health. But to his mind his duty was clear. " It would be cowardly to 
 resign now," he said. And so he remained at his post, and at his post he 
 died, and to few has it been given to work so much good for their country 
 by their death. 
 
 Is it then matter for wonder that Canada and the British Empire 
 mourn, and that his country and his friends can only yield him to the 
 great beyond with resignation, when they meditate on the abiding influence 
 of his life and character and believe that it will surely inspire many young 
 lives in the future to devote themselves thus also gloriously to the service 
 of their country and their God ? 
 
474 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 SOME LETTERS AND DESPATCHES OF 
 
 IMPORTANCE. 
 
 HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN TO LADY THOMPSON. 
 
 Windsor Castle, London, England, 
 
 December 12th, 1894. 
 
 It is impossible for me to say how deeply grieved I am at the terrible 
 
 occurrence which took place here to-day, and how very truly I sympathize 
 
 with you in your deep affliction. 
 
 Victoria R.I. 
 
 THE EARL OF ROSEBERY TO LORD ABERDEEN. 
 
 Please express to your Government my deep regret at the grievou* 
 calamity which has deprived your Government of its eminent Premier. 
 
 (Signed), Rosebery. 
 
 THE MARQUESS OF RIPON TO LORD ABERDEEN. 
 
 Downing Street, 12th December, 1894. 
 My Lord, — It was with feelings of deep sorrow and regret that I 
 telegraphed to you yesterday, announcing the death, in circumstances so 
 tragic, of Sir John Thompson. The grief which you and his colleagues and 
 the whole of the Dominion of Canada must feel at the premature close of 
 Sir John Thompson's career, which has been not only active and brilliant 
 but marked by solid and useful statesmanship, is shared by Her Majesty's 
 Government and the people of this country, who feel that the loss is a 
 national one. The deceased statesman, while a strenuous supporter of the 
 rights, and a firm believer in the future of Canada, was at the same time a 
 loyal and eloquent advocate of everything that tended to the unity of the 
 Empire to which, in the recent arbitration at Paris and on other occasions, 
 he had rendered valuable service. With his personal character your lord- 
 ship is of course much more familiar than myself ; but even the brief 
 acquaintance which I enjoyed with him impressed me with his genial tem- 
 per and kindness of heart, his unassuming modesty, his candour and up- 
 rightness, and unflinching courage in maintaining his convictions. With 
 Lady Thompson and her family I feel the deepest sympathy in the irrepar- 
 able loss which has befallen them. 
 
 I have, etc., 
 
 (Signed), Ripon. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 475 
 
 FROM THE EARL OF DERBY, O.C.B. 
 Late Governor-General of Canada. 
 
 Prescot, Eng., Deo. 13th, 1894. 
 Lady Thompson, Ottawa : 
 
 Accept the deepest sympathy with your great sorrow from your sin- 
 cere friends, Derby, Constance, and all the other members of the family. 
 
 Derby. 
 
 FROM THE EARL OF JERSEY, G.C.M.G. 
 
 Blatchley, England, Dec. 13th, 1894 
 Lady Thompson, Ottawa : 
 
 I beg to offer you my deepest sympathy. The sorrow is universal. 
 
 Jersey. 
 
 FROM SIR OLIVER MOWAT, PREMIER OF ONTARIO. 
 
 Toronto, December 13th, 1894. 
 Lady Thompson, Ottawa : 
 
 I desire to express my deep sympathy with you and yours in your 
 great affliction I have not belonged to the same political party as your 
 lamented husband, but I saw and learned enough of him to create an hon- 
 est liking on my part towards him, as well as great esteem and respect. 
 Canada has in his death lost one of her truest sons and greatest public 
 
 men. 
 
 0. Mo WAT. 
 
 THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE TO SIR C. TUPPER. 
 
 Bowood, Calne, Wilts, Dec. 14th, 1894. 
 
 Dear Sir Charles. — Allow me to express to you the deep concern with 
 which I have heard of Sir John Thompson's death. He joined Sir John 
 Macdonald's Government while I was Governor-General, and I was much 
 thrown into contact with him during the latter years of my term of office. 
 It was impossible to know him without being impressed by his immense 
 ability and statesmanlike power. That he had other qualities which made 
 him a most agreeable and interesting colleague, no one is better aware than 
 yourself. His loss is a very deep one to the Dominion and to the Empire. 
 I cannot end these lines without saying something of the deep sympathy 
 which Lady Lansdowne and I feel with Lady Thompson in the calamity 
 which has so suddenly befallen her. 
 
 Believe me, dear S:r Charles, yours sincerely, 
 
 (Signed), Lansdownb. 
 
476 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 FROM THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF QUEBEC. 
 
 I can find no words to describe the shock I felt when the sad newa 
 came. Poor Thompson ! the cup of his life was filled with a mighty work 
 manfully done ; with universal admiration and respect from friend and 
 foe, with well-deserved Royal recognition of his services, when cruel des- 
 tiny dashed it broken into an untimely grave Canada mourns over the 
 
 loss of one of her most illustrious sons. 
 
 J. A. Chapleau. 
 
 THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR IN LONDON 
 TO SIR C. TUPPER. 
 
 My dear Sir Charles, — I was not in London when I received the most 
 painful news of the death of Sir John Thompson. I well knew his worth, 
 ability and patriotism, and mourn his loss, not alone for Canada, but for 
 the community and good government everywhere. I am glad to see Her 
 Majesty's Government is paying fitting honour to him by conveying his 
 remains in a national ship to the country he loved so well and served so 
 faithfully ; and had there been any way of testifying my personal respect 
 to his memory, I would promptly have availed myself of it. Will you not 
 do me the kindness, when it can be done without intrusion, to make ex- 
 pression of my sincere condolence and sympathy to the bereaved widow 
 
 and family. 
 
 Believe me, sincerely yours, 
 
 Thomas F. Bayard. 
 
 FROM SIR CHARLES MILLS, AGENT-GENERAL 
 FOR SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 London, S.W., 13th December, 1894. 
 Sir, — On behalf of the Government and people of the colony of the 
 Cape of Good Hope, I offer to you this expression of their sympathy in the 
 loss which the Government and people of the Canadian Dominion are now 
 called upon to suffer by the sudden and unlooked for death of the late 
 Right Hon. Sir John Thompson, the distinguished statesman and legist, 
 who was but yesterday Prime Minister of Canada. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed), Charles Mills. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 477 
 
 SOME RESOLUTIONS OF REGRET. 
 
 It is impossible to bring together within reasonable compass, the sym- 
 pathetic resolutions called forth in every part of Canada, by the sudden 
 death of Sir John Thompson. But a few are here given which may be 
 considered of special interest as coming from the more important non- 
 political bodies. It would be out of the question to give even a list of 
 those passed by Conservative Associations. 
 
 UNIVERSITY SENATE, TORONTO. 
 
 The Senate of the University of Toronto, on motion of Mr. Mulock, 
 M.P., seconded by Rev. Principal Caven, D D., passed the following 
 resolution : 
 
 That the Senate shares in the universal sorrow caused by the death 
 of the Premier of Canada, the Bight Honorable Sir John S. D. Thompson, 
 K.C.M.G., etc. 
 
 The Senate is deeply conscious of the great loss which the Dominion 
 has sustained in the removal of a statesman so eminent for his abilities and 
 whose devotion to the interests of his country is recognized by all. 
 
 Sir John Thompson's intellectual endowments were of a very high 
 order, and had been diligently cultivated in early life by assiduous study. 
 
 He seemed easily and naturally to reach the highest position, whether 
 in the profession of law or in the province of statesmanship. No sooner 
 had he entered the public service of the Dominion of Canada than his 
 great force of intellect and character began to be felt. His clear and com- 
 prehensive understanding, his mastery of facts and skill in arranging them, 
 together with his power of direct, simple, statement, made him most able 
 in debate. His capacity for work was great, and it may be feared that his 
 untiring application to onerous duty may have shortened his valuable life. 
 In his high position he had little more than time to show that in ability 
 and devotion to the service of the country, he was worthy to stand beside 
 his most eminent predecessors, when, in the inscrutable providence of God, 
 he was called away, just as his Sovereign had placed the laurel wreath 
 upon his brow 
 
 The Senate thankfully directs the attention of the young men of 
 Canada to his example of the consecretion of rare gifts to the service of 
 his country, and looks back with pride upon a career which accumulated 
 no wealth but the affection of his countrymen. It unites with the whole 
 people in thanking Her Gracious Majesty for so fully recognizing hu 
 
478 LIFE AND WORK OF 
 
 eminent talents and services, which will not be forgotten by Canada 
 nor the great empire to which our country is proud to belong. 
 
 The Senate prays that heavenly consolation may be imparted to Lady 
 Thompson and the members of her family in this the day of great sorrow, 
 first and deepest of all, theirs, but also that of the country and the empire. 
 
 THE ALBANY CLUB, TORONTO. 
 
 At a meeting of the directors of the Albany Club, a letter of condol- 
 ence was drafted and forwarded to Lady Thompson. The following is the 
 text of the letter : 
 
 To Lady Thompson, Ottawa, Ont. 
 
 We, the officers and members of the Albany Club, Toronto, of which 
 your deceased husband was honorary president, venture to intrude upon 
 your privacy, in this, the hour of your terrible bereavement, with heart- 
 felt sympathy. 
 
 To the members of this club, allied with him socially and politically, 
 the decease of Canada's Prime Minister, in the ripeness of his manhood 
 and the plenitude of power, is a matter for the profoundest regret. Out- 
 side and beyond us, the Conservative party at large, and the entire people 
 of the Dominion, from his ocean home in the east to the shores of the 
 Pacific, are mourning the death of one, trusted alike by friends and oppo- 
 nents. But to you and his grief-stricken family, the loss comes closer 
 home and is irreparable. Fresh from the throne of our gracious Sovereign, 
 where his life endeavours had just received recognition in the bestowal of 
 one of the highest honours in Her Majesty's gift, death came to him in the 
 very moment of fruition. The life full of promise was cut short, but time 
 had been given him to show those qualities of head and heart, that will 
 ever keep his name alive in the page of Canadian history, and in the 
 memory of those who knew him. He had accomplished much. An able 
 counsel, an upright judge, a wise representative in Parliament and a pow- 
 erful Minister, enjoying the full confidence of his country, he ever bore 
 himself bravely in the eyes of the public as a man without reproach. 
 
 In private life, with wife and family, a devoted husband and affec- 
 tionate father, he has left to them and you the glorious heritage of a 
 great and untarnished name. 
 
 And to them and you we respectfully tender this all too inadequate 
 
 expression of sincere condolence. 
 
 C. H. Ritchie, 
 
 Stair Dick-Lauder, President 
 
 Secretary- Treasurer. 
 
SIR JOHN THOMPSON. 479 
 
 THE MONTREAL BAR. 
 
 The following resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 That the members of the Montreal section of the Bar of the Province 
 of Quebec desire to give expression to the great grief with which they 
 have heard of the death of the late Sir John Thompson, K.C. M.G., Q.C., 
 Premier and Minister of Justice of the Dominion of Canada, and to place 
 on record their sincere appreciation of his eminent abilities as a statesman 
 and a lawyer, and of his probity and honour as a man. 
 
 That in the death of the late Sir John Thompson the Dominion o\ 
 Canada and our profession have sustained an irreparable loss. 
 
 That we desire to convey our respectful condolences to the family of 
 the deceased, and that the secretary be requested to transmit to Lady 
 Thompson a copy of the foregoing resolution. 
 
 TRURO, NOVA SCOTIA, BOARD OF TRADE. 
 
 The members of the Truro Board of Trade, as Nova Scotians, share 
 In the grief felt by our fellow-countrymen in the other Provinces of the 
 Dominion, at the sudden and tragic death of Sir John S. D. Thompson, 
 Premier of Canada. 
 
 His brilliant career in his chosen profession, and afterwards in the 
 
 wider field of National Politics commanded the admiration and respect of 
 
 all classes. When to rare intellectual gifts was united an evident and 
 
 conscientious devotion to the country's interests and service, we realize 
 
 more profoundly the loss that has been sustained. With gifts and 
 
 opportunities for acquiring wealth, his unselfish sacrifice to duty left him 
 
 a poor man, and he died rich only in the possession of the regard and 
 esteem of his fellow citizens. We join in extending to Lady Thompson 
 and her family our sympathy for their irreparable loss, and one which is 
 felt most keenly not only throughout Canada but the Empire as well. 
 
 A TRIBUTE FROM THE xMETHODIST CHURCH. 
 
 At a meeting of the official board of the Truro, N.S. , Methodist 
 church, held on the 18th of December, Rev. W. H. Heartz, D.D., in the 
 chair, after fitting remarks, it was moved by the recording steward, 
 seconded by the financial secretary, and unanimously 
 
 Resolved, — That this board cannot but deplore the inexpressibly sad and 
 immeasurably great loss the Dominion has sustained in the removal of one 
 who, at so early an age, was regarded as the foremost statesman and jurist 
 in Britain's colonial empire. 
 
 That the board take the opportunity afforded on behalf of the church 
 to extend heartfelt expressions of sympathy and condolence to the widow 
 and family of Canada's deceased Premier, with fervent prayers to the 
 Giver of all good that He will bless and support them under their heavy 
 affliction. 
 
The Author desires to express his gratitude to Their Excellencies the 
 Earl and Countess of Aberdeen, for kind assistance given. 
 
 He also wishes to sincerely thank His Grace Archbishop O'Brien, of 
 Halifax ; His Lordship Bishop Cameron, of Antigonish, N.S. ; Mr. Justice 
 Sedgewick, of the Supreme Court, Ottawa ; the Hon. Senator Sanford ; 
 Mr. Martin J. Griffin, Parliamentary Librarian at Ottawa ; Mr. W. T. R, 
 Preston, Legislative Librarian at Toronto ; Mr. F. Blake Crofton, Legis- 
 lative Librarian at Halifax; Mr. James Bain, jr., City Librarian, Toronto; 
 Mr. W. R. Young, M.A., Librarian of Canadian Institute, Toronto; 
 Mr. Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., LL.D., Ottawa; Mr. Douglas Stewart, 
 Private Secretary to the late Sir John Thompson ; Mr. David Creighton, 
 Mr. A. H. U. Colquhoun, Mr. Christoper Robinson, Q.C., Hon, T. W. 
 Anglin, ex-M.P., John A. Ewan, of the Globe, Mr. D. E Thomson, Q. ft, 
 Rev. H. J. Cody, Wycliffe College, Mr. B. E. Walker, General Manager of 
 the Canadian Bank of Commerce, Mr. J. P. Murray, Mr. W. D. McPher- 
 son, Mr. J. M. Clark, M.A., and Mr. Arthur Wallis, of Toronto; Mr. 
 Fred. Cook, Mr. W. J. Healy, Mr. George Johnson, of Ottawa ; Mr. F. B. 
 Bligh and Mr. Alderman Wallace, of Halifax ; Mr. Nicholas Flood Davin 
 M.P., of Regina, and many others in different parts of the country. 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 Nnv 24 1938 
 
 
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 may 2 1968 
 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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