The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)
TekstTHE HON. SIR RICHARD JOHN CARTWRIGHT
Readers of this work have already made the acquaintance of the Cartwright family in the sketch of the life of the late Bishop Strachan. The Hon. Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a United Empire Loyalist of English descent, who, soon after the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, emigrated, with his family, from the Province of New York to the wilderness of what soon afterwards became Upper Canada. He acted for some time as secretary to Colonel Butler, of the Queen's Rangers, and after the close of the war settled at Kingston, where he became a man of mark and influence. He was possessed of considerable acquirements and mental capacity. Soon after the division of the Provinces, in 1791, he was appointed to the important office of a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the duties of which position he discharged, without any remuneration, for some years, and in a manner alike honourable to himself and beneficial to the public. Upon the arrival of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in the Province he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council, and was thenceforward most assiduous in his attendance to his Parliamentary duties. He was also a Colonel of militia, and took an active part in the promotion of all matters for the advancement of the public interests. His services to the cause of education have already been touched upon in the sketch of the life of Bishop Strachan. He died in 1815. His son, the father of Sir Richard, was the Rev. R. D. Cartwright, who was at one time Chaplain to the Forces at Kingston. The latter married Miss Harriett Dobbs, by whom he had four children, the eldest of which is the immediate subject of this sketch.
Richard John Cartwright was born at Kingston, Upper Canada, on the 4th of December, 1835. He was educated, first at Kingston, and afterwards at Trinity College, Dublin. He was brought up to business habits, and has been connected with various important financial enterprises. He was a Director, and afterwards President, of the Commercial Bank of Canada; and was also a Director of the Canada Life Assurance Company. He displayed great aptitude in dealing with financial matters, on which he was, and is, regarded as one of the highest authorities in this country. He also interested himself in matters connected with the militia, and in 1864 published at Kingston, a pamphlet of 46 pages, entitled "Remarks on the Militia of Canada." In the month of August, 1859, he married Miss Frances Alexander, eldest daughter of Colonel Alexander Lawe, of Cheltenham, England, by whom he has a numerous family.
From his earliest youth he took a keen interest in the political questions before the country, and was a man of great influence on the Conservative side, to which he was attached by training and early association. His entry into Parliamentary life dates from the year 1863, when he was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly for the united counties of Lennox and Addington. He took his seat as an Independent Conservative, and for some years rendered a loyal support to his leader, the present Sir John A. Macdonald. Throughout the various coalitions formed for the purpose of carrying out the scheme of Confederation, no grave differences of opinion seem to have arisen between Mr. Cartwright and those with whom he acted. Upon the accomplishment of Confederation Lennox and Addington became separate constituencies, and at the first general election held under the new order of things, in 1867, Mr. Cartwright was returned to the House of Commons as the representative of the county of Lennox. It soon afterwards began to be whispered that he was not thoroughly in accord with the Party with which he had always acted, with reference to some important public questions. Soon after the opening of the session of 1870 the whispers received confirmation from Mr. Cartwright's own lips, as he formally notified the leader of the Government that while he had no intention of offering a factious opposition, his support could no longer be counted upon. On the introduction by Sir Francis Hincks, who had recently accepted the office of Minister of Finance, of his banking scheme, Mr. Cartwright gave it his most determined opposition, as tending in his opinion to undermine the security of the banking institutions of the country. During the same session he supported Mr. Dorion's motion deprecating the increase of the public expenditure, and in 1871 he seconded Sir A. T. Galt's more emphatic declaration to the same effect. His vote was also recorded in successive divisions against the terms of union with British Columbia, and in 1872 he supported the Opposition leaders in their efforts to amend the objectionable provisions of the Bill providing for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The rupture between him and the Government Party was by this time complete; and it is no slight tribute to the estimation in which he was held by his constituents that he was able to carry them with him in his secession. At the general election of 1872 he was opposed by the Hon. J. Stevenson, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario under the Sandfield Macdonald regime, but defeated that gentleman by a majority of 711. During the following session Mr. Cartwright acted uniformly with the Opposition, and towards its close he delivered a powerful speech on the assumption by the Dominion of the debt of Ontario and Quebec, in the course of which he reviewed the whole financial policy of the Government, and criticized it in severe language.
Upon the formation of Mr. Mackenzie's Reform Government in November, 1873, after the Pacific Scandal disclosures, and the consequent downfall of Sir John Macdonald's Government, Mr. Cartwright accepted office as Minister of Finance, and was sworn of the Privy Council. His acceptance of office of course compelled him to return to his constituents for reëlection. He had to encounter a very bitter opposition, but succeeded in carrying his election by a larger majority than he had ever had before. At the general election held in the following year he was returned by acclamation.
At the time of his accession to office as Finance Minister the condition of the exchequer was such as to require a readjustment of the tariff, with a view to additional customs duties. Such a task is not a grateful one for a Minister to undertake, and Mr. Cartwright necessarily came in for a due share of hostile criticism from the supporters of the recently deposed Government. In 1874, 1875 and 1876 he visited England on business connected with the Finances of the Dominion. During the session of 1878 he introduced and successfully carried through the House an important measure respecting the auditing of the Public Accounts. This measure, which was modelled on an English Act, provides for the appointment of an Auditor-General, removable, not at pleasure, but on an address by both Houses of Parliament. Its object was to make the Auditor-General thoroughly independent, and thereby to inspire the public with entire confidence in the public accounts. The Bill also provides for the appointment of a Deputy Minister of Finance.
Mr. Cartwright's abilities as a Finance Minister will of course be viewed differently according to the political bias of the reviewer. It may be said, however, that in the opinion of his own political adherents he is one of the ablest financiers that Canada has ever produced, and that he successfully tided the country over a period of great political depression without imposing any unnecessary burdens upon the people. As a Parliamentary speaker and debater he is deservedly entitled to the high rank which he enjoys. Finance is not a subject provocative of any very lofty flights of oratory, but Mr. Cartwright's Budget speeches were marked by a thorough mastery of his subject, and by clear and impressive diction. He took a prominent part in the political campaign of 1878, and some of his speeches at that time are among the ablest of his public utterances. He of course opposed with all his might the protective policy of the Party now in power. The electors of Lennox, like those of many other constituencies, were desirous of testing the promises of the advocates of the "National Policy," and at the general elections held on the 17th of September Mr. Cartwright was defeated by Mr. Hooper, the present representative, by a majority of 59 votes. Mr. Horace Horton, the member-elect for Centre Huron, having accepted an office in the department of the Auditor-General, resigned his seat, and Mr. Cartwright, on the 2nd of November, was elected by a majority of 401 votes for that constituency, which he still continues to represent in the House of Commons.
On the 24th of May, 1879, Mr. Cartwright was created a Knight of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, at an investiture held in Montreal by the present Governor-General, acting on behalf of Her Majesty.
THE HON. THEODORE ROBITAILLE,
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC
The Hon. Theodore Robitaille is by profession a physician and surgeon, and, prior to his elevation to the position of Lieutenant-Governor, was commonly known throughout the Province of Quebec as "Doctor" Robitaille. He is descended from an old French family which has long been settled in the Lower Province, and several members whereof have seen service in the cause of the British Crown. One of his grand-uncles acted as a chaplain to the Lower Canadian Militia Forces during the War of 1812, '13 and '14, and several other members of the family fought on the loyal side during that struggle. Another grand-uncle, Jean Robitaille, occupied a seat in the old Canadian Legislature from 1809 to 1829.
The father of the Lieutenant-Governor was the late Mr. Louis Adolphe Robitaille, N.P., of Varennes, in the Province of Quebec, where the subject of this sketch was born on the 29th of January, 1834. He received his education at the Model School of Varennes, at the Seminary of Ste. Thérèse, at the Laval University, Quebec, and finally at McGill College, Montreal, where he graduated as M.D. in May, 1858. He settled down to the practice of his profession at New Carlisle, the county seat of the county of Bonaventure. Three years later — at the general election of 1861 — he was returned in the Conservative interest to the Canadian House of Assembly as representative for that county. He continued to sit in the Assembly for Bonaventure until Confederation. At the general election of 1867 he was returned by the same constituency to the House of Commons, and was reëlected at the general election of 1872. Early in the following year he was offered the portfolio of Receiver-General, which he accepted, and was sworn into office on the 30th of January. His acceptance of office was fully endorsed by his constituents in Bonaventure, who reëlected him by acclamation. He held the Receiver-Generalship until the fall of the Macdonald Ministry in the following November. His tenure of office was not marked by any feature of special importance. At the general elections of 1874 and 1878 he was again returned for Bonaventure, so that at the time of his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor he had represented that constituency in Parliament for a continuous period of about eighteen years. He also represented Bonaventure in the Local Legislature of Quebec from 1871 to 1874, when he retired, in order to confine himself to the House of Commons. His long Parliamentary career was not distinguished by any remarkable brilliancy or statesmanship, but he acquired much Legislative experience, and was a useful member of the House. He was known for the moderation of his views, and was personally popular with the representatives of both political parties.
Upon Mr. Letellier's dismissal from office, as related in previous sketches, Dr. Robitaille was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec. He was sworn into office by the Governor-General on the 26th of July, 1879, and has ever since discharged the functions incidental to that position. He was succeeded in the representation of Bonaventure County by Mr. Pierre Clovis Beauchesne, who now sits in the House of Commons for that constituency.
On the 30th of September, 1879, Lieutenant-Governor Robitaille paid a visit to the Seminary of Ste. Thérèse, where he had been a student more than twenty years previously. He was received with great enthusiasm, not only by the students of the Seminary, but by the people of the town itself; and he received very flattering addresses from the Mayor of the town, as well as from the President of the College. Both the town and the College expressed their sense of having a share in the high honours to which their former townsman and fellow-student had attained. About a month later he was presented with a highly congratulatory address from more than a thousand of his old constituents in Bonaventure. The address was signed by the local clergy of all denominations, and by adherents of all shades of political opinions.
In the month of November, 1867, Dr. Robitaille married Miss Marie Josephine Charlotte Emma Quesnel, daughter of Mr. P. A. Quesnel, and grand-daughter of the late Hon. F. A. Quesnel, who was for many years a member of the Legislative Council of Canada.
THE HON. SAMUEL HUME BLAKE
Mr. Blake, who for more than six years past has worthily filled the position of Senior Vice-Chancellor for Ontario, is the second son of the late William Hume Blake, and younger brother of West Durham's present representative in the House of Commons. Some account of the lives of both the father and eldest son has already appeared in this series, and the reader is referred to those accounts for various particulars more or less bearing upon the life of the subject of the present memoir. Samuel Hume Blake was born in the City of Toronto, on the 31st of August, 1835, soon after his father's removal thither from the Township of Adelaide. Like his elder brother, he received his earliest educational training at home, under the auspices of Mr. Courtenay, Mr. Wedd, and other private tutors. The account given in the first volume of this work of the sort of training bestowed by the father upon Edward Blake is equally applicable to the training of the younger son, whose proficiency in elocution was noticeable from his earliest childhood. From the hands of private tutors he passed, when he was about eight years old, to Upper Canada College, where he remained for five years. In those early days he was a more diligent student in the ordinary scholastic routine than his elder brother, and was specially conspicuous above most of his fellow-students for the quickness of his intellectual vision, and the almost amazing facility he displayed in mastering the daily tasks which fell to his share. His mind seems to have matured very early, and his intellectual precocity was such that when ten years old he could converse intelligently, even on subjects requiring careful thought and reflection, with persons of much more advanced years. The study and practice of elocution, in which he was encouraged and directed by his father, always had special charms for him, and the ease and grace of his public deliverances while at school procured for him a high repute both with his teachers and fellow-scholars. Mr. Barron, the Principal of the College, used to hold him up in this respect as an example to the other boys, and was wont to remark that Master Samuel Blake was the only boy in the institution who really knew how to read with taste and intelligence. He also received a high tribute to his elocutionary powers from a more exalted quarter. Soon after Lord Elgin's arrival in this country he attended a public examination at the College, at which young Samuel Blake was deputed to recite Campbell's "Pleasures of Hope." The selection was peculiarly appropriate, as the closing line of the poem contains, as every Canadian schoolboy knows, a glowing tribute to "the Bruce of Bannockburn." Lord Elgin's family name and lineage, doubtless, led to the selection of this poem for recitation on the occasion of his visit. His Lordship was fully sensible of the implied compliment, and not only availed himself of the opportunity to highly commend young Blake's elocution, but in the course of his address to the scholars paid a glowing tribute to the character and public services of William Hume Blake, to whose judicious training the son's success in declamation was largely attributable.
Like his elder brother he had been destined for the legal profession, but his own tastes, combined with the fact that his health was not very robust, induced him to turn his thoughts to commercial life. The firm of Ross, Mitchell & Co., was then at the height of its prosperity, and the establishment formed an excellent field for the acquisition of a thorough mercantile training. When just emerging from boyhood, Samuel Blake bade adieu to Upper Canada College, and entered the establishment as a clerk. There he remained four years, taking his full share of such work as came to his hand. He thereby not only obtained an insight into the doings of the commercial world which has stood him in good stead in the different sphere to which the subsequent years of his life have been devoted, but, more important still, the actual physical labours which he was compelled to perform were the means of building up his constitution and endowing him with much bodily vigour. His tastes, however, had meanwhile undergone a change, and he had resolved to follow in his brother's footsteps. His term of apprenticeship having expired, he passed his preliminary examination before the Law Society, and entered the office of his uncle, the late Dr. Skeffington Connor, as a student at law. He at the same time began to read for a University degree, and with unflagging industry contrived to carry on both his professional and scholastic studies contemporaneously. In the year 1858 he graduated as B.A., and in Michaelmas Term of the same year he was admitted as an attorney and solicitor. He at once entered into partnership with his brother Edward, the style of the firm being "E. & S. H. Blake." On the 2nd of February, 1859, he married Miss Rebecca Cronyn, third daughter of the late Right Rev. John Cronyn, Bishop of the Diocese of Huron. In Hilary Term, 1860, he was called to the Bar. Like his brother, he devoted himself almost exclusively to the Equity branch of the profession, in which he soon attained to an eminent position.
The splendid professional and financial successes achieved by the legal firm of which he was a member have been sufficiently indicated in the sketch of the life of Edward Blake. Of that firm, under its various phases, Mr. S. H. Blake continued a member until Mr. Mowat's resignation of the Vice-Chancellorship of Ontario, towards the close of 1872. The position thus rendered vacant was promptly offered by the Premier, Sir John A. Macdonald, to the subject of this memoir, who, after careful deliberation, resolved to accept it. Only a few months before he had been invested with the silk gown of a Queen's Counsel. During the progress of the year he had also for the first time taken part in political life. Frequent overtures had at various times been made to him to emulate his brother's example by accepting a seat in Parliament. These overtures he had persistently declined, but during the long and heated contest preceding the general election of 1872 he consented to supply the place of his brother — who was then absent in Europe for the benefit of his health — by going down to the country and addressing his constituents on the hustings and elsewhere. His political speeches afforded unmistakable evidence of his ability to adapt himself to novel circumstances. They showed an accurate knowledge of the country's past political history, and of the nature of the various issues then before the public. His views on all the questions of the day were of course fully in accord with those of his brother, and in expatiating upon them he displayed the same grasp and breadth which have always marked the public utterances of the present member for West Durham.
Sir John Macdonald's political opponents have alleged that his offer of so exalted a position as a Superior Court Judgeship to so young a man was prompted by political expediency, and a desire to mollify the powerful opposition of Edward Blake in the House of Commons. The allegation, unless supported by stronger evidence than has yet been produced, is not creditable to those who make it. Even Sir John's bitterest foes will not deny that he has on more than one occasion proved himself above party considerations, and in the matter of public appointments has set an example of disinterestedness which other Canadian statesmen would do well to emulate. Sir John, moreover, was shrewd enough to know that Edward Blake was much too high-principled a man to allow personal or family considerations to interfere with his honest discharge of his public duties. In the instance under consideration there is no need to search for any ulterior motive. The appointment of Samuel Hume Blake to the Vice-Chancellorship was one which commended itself to those who were most competent to pronounce upon it — the legal profession of Ontario. In certain branches of his profession he has had no superior in this country. In the early years of his practice he devoted himself specially to chamber matters; but later on, and more particularly after his brother had embarked in political life, he was called upon to conduct, in the capacity of first counsel, many of the heaviest cases before the court. As a counsel, his rapid perception, and his faculty of reviewing evidence, were perhaps his most noticeable characteristics. He was also, notwithstanding his youth, a well-read lawyer, of excellent judgment and discrimination, and his opinions were always regarded with the greatest respect, alike by Bench and Bar. His appointment was a just and proper tribute to his fine abilities, his unflagging industry, his great capacity for work, and his high personal character. When he first took his seat on the Bench he was the youngest judge who ever sat in any of the Superior Courts of his native Province, and his elevation was due to a Prime Minister with whose political views he has never been in accord. Instead of trying to find sinister motives in such an appointment it is surely more reasonable, as well as more becoming, to say that the appointment was creditable alike to the Premier and to Mr. Blake.
Honourable as is the position of a Vice-Chancellor, there were, notwithstanding, good reasons why Mr. Blake should hesitate before accepting it. Ever since Edward Blake's entrance into political life the large and steadily-increasing business of the firm had imposed additional duties upon the younger brother. The additional duties were of course accompanied by additional emoluments, and for several years prior to 1872 his professional income had ranged from $12,000 to $15,000 per annum. As Vice-Chancellor his income would be only $5,000. This, to a young man with an increasing family, who had largely fought his own way in the battle of life, was in itself a serious consideration. On the other hand there was the fact that his labours would be materially lightened, and that he would have more time to bestow upon religious and philanthropical objects in which he has always taken a deep interest. His health, too, had begun to feel the effects of the ceaseless toil to which he had for years subjected himself, and rest would be equally grateful and beneficial. He finally concluded to accept the appointment, and on the 2nd of December, 1872, became junior Vice-Chancellor. On the elevation of his senior, Mr. S. H. Strong, to a seat on the Bench of the newly-constituted Supreme Court of the Dominion, in 1875, Mr. Blake succeeded to the position of senior Vice-Chancellor.
As an Equity Judge Mr. Blake has fully sustained the high reputation which previous to his elevation he had acquired at the Bar. His tenure of office has been marked by unwearied diligence, careful and patient investigation of authorities, rigid conscientiousness, and that high sense of the dignity of the judicial position for which the Ontario Bench has long been distinguished. His judgments display all the qualities of a profound and painstaking jurist. They are couched in a phraseology which is always clear, and which not unfrequently rises to eloquence. Some of them are regarded by persons who are entitled to speak on such matters with authority as models of forensic reasoning. A mere enumeration of the important cases which he has been called on to decide in the few years which have elapsed since his elevation to the Bench would alone occupy much space. The case of Campbell vs. Campbell, owing to its peculiar character, is perhaps the one best known to the general public. There have been many others, however, involving much more abstruse points, on which his great learning and industry have been exercised, and which are regarded as conclusive in logic as well as in law.
At the urgent solicitation of the Local Government of Ontario, Mr. Blake consented, early in 1876, to act as one of the Commissioners for carrying out the Tavern License Law in Toronto. The position was one calling for the exercise of great judgment and discrimination, but it was also one very distasteful to him. It was urged upon him as a matter of duty, however, and as such he regarded it. To say that he discharged the duties incidental to this position with efficiency, uprightness, and satisfaction to the authorities is merely to assert what every one in Toronto knows to be true. He brought to his task the same high qualities which have always distinguished him both in professional and private life, and the people of Toronto had abundant reason to feel thankful that he consented to act.
Mr. Blake is a prominent member of the Church of England, and has ever since his youth given much time and attention to ecclesiastical affairs. Anything connected with the Church possesses for him a living interest. His predilections in this way are so well known that he was long ago christened by one of his friends "the Archbishop," and by the members of his own family he is still sometimes jocularly so called. During the existence of the Church Association he was one of its most energetic officials. At the time of its dissolution, and for some years previously, he occupied the position of its Vice-President. He has been a Sunday-school teacher for nearly a quarter of a century, and is much esteemed and beloved by the members of his classes. Though not given to doing his alms before men, it is well known that his works of kindness and philanthropy are abundant, and that he has been the means of rescuing many of his fellow-creatures from a life of sin and degradation. He is, and has long been, President of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society, and is connected with various other Christian and charitable enterprises. He takes a conspicuous part in the proceedings of the Young Men's Christian Association of Toronto, and frequently presides at public meetings held for social and philanthropical objects.