The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)

THE REV. ALEXANDER TOPP, D.D

The life of the late Dr. Topp, like the lives of most members of his sacred calling, was comparatively uneventful. He was born at Sheriffmill, a farm-house near the historic old town of Elgin, in Morayshire, Scotland, in the year 1815. He was educated at the Elgin Academy, the present representative of the old Grammar School of the burgh, and an establishment of much local repute. Thence, in his fifteenth year, he passed to King's College, Aberdeen — an institution affiliated with the University — where he passed through a very creditable course, winning one of the highest scholarships, and retaining it for four years. In 1836, immediately upon attaining his majority, he received a license to preach, and was appointed assistant to the minister of one of the churches in Elgin. This minister soon afterwards died, leaving the pastorate vacant. The abilities and zeal of his young assistant had made themselves recognized, and it was thought desirable that the latter should succeed to the vacant charge. The appointment was hedged in with certain restrictions, and was at the disposal of Government. A petition from the congregation and from the Town Council was successful, and Mr. Topp was inducted into the charge. Upon the disruption in 1843 he seceded from the Establishment, and carried over with him nearly the entire congregation, which erected a new church and manse for him. He continued in this charge until 1852, when he removed to Edinburgh, having accepted a pressing call from the Roxburgh Church there. Here he continued to minister for about six years, during which period his congregation increased to such an extent as to render the accommodation insufficient. A project for erecting a new and larger church was set on foot, but before it had been fully matured Mr. Topp had accepted a call from the congregation of Knox Church, Toronto. This was in 1858. Two years before that date he had received a pressing call from the same quarter, which he had then thought proper to decline. At the time of entering upon his charge in Toronto the membership of Knox Church was only about three hundred. Under his ministry there was a steadily perceptible increase, and at the time of his death the membership was in the neighbourhood of seven hundred. His abilities commanded recognition beyond the limits of his own congregation, and he steadily won his way to position and influence in the community. In 1868 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Canada Presbyterian Church, and thus afforded the first instance of a unanimous nomination by the various Presbyteries to that office. He took a prominent part in the movement to bring about the Union between the Canada Presbyterian Church and the Church of Scotland, and the successful realization of that project was in no small degree due to his exertions. In 1876 he was elected Moderator to the General Assembly of the United Church. His doctor's degree was conferred upon him in 1870 by the University of Aberdeen, where he had been so successful a student forty years previously.

For several years prior to his death Dr. Topp's constitution had given unmistakable symptoms of having become seriously impaired. In the autumn of 1877 his physicians acquainted him with the fact that he was suffering from a mortal disease — organic disease of the heart — but it was not supposed that the malady had made such progress as to endanger his life for some years to come. In the early summer of 1879 he paid a visit to his native land, and of course spent some time in Elgin, renewing the pleasant associations of his youth. He received many pressing overtures to preach, but the state of his health formed a sufficient excuse for his declining. One Sunday, however, contrary to the advice of a local medical practitioner, he consented to occupy the pulpit, and preached a long and vigorous sermon to his old congregation. His audience was very large, and his nervous system was naturally wrought up to a high pitch. It is believed that his efforts on that occasion materially shortened his life. Immediately after his return to his home in Toronto he sent in his resignation as pastor of Knox Church, but it had not been accepted ere the shades of death closed around him.

The end came more suddenly than had been anticipated. He passed away on the 6th of October, 1879, while reclining on a sofa in the house of one of his parishioners. His death was very calm, and apparently free from all pain. He left behind him a name which will long be borne in affectionate remembrance by the members of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He was kind and gentle in his demeanour, and was loved the most by them who knew him best. At the time of his death he had been pastor of Knox Church for more than twenty-one years, during the greater part of which he had laboured assiduously in all the various fields connected with his sacred calling. He was open-handed in his charities, and was an invaluable consoler in the sick-room. He literally died in harness, for death came upon him while he was paying a pastoral visit to a member of his congregation.

The Canada Presbyterian, which may be presumed to reflect the opinions of Canadian Presbyterians generally, concluded an obituary notice written immediately after his death in the following words: "The name of Dr. Topp will never be forgotten in this country. While we regret that he has so suddenly been called away, we rejoice that in his case there are left to us so many happy remembrances of a useful and honourable career, and that he has bequeathed to the youthful ministry of the Church the example of a brave and faithful servant of Christ."

THE HON. HENRI GUSTAVE JOLY

Since Confederation the Hon. Mr. Joly has occupied a prominent position in the politics of the Province of Quebec. His high morality, integrity of character, and fine social qualities, have created for him a reputation which it is the lot of few public men to enjoy. He is conspicuous in the history of Quebec as the instrument through whose exertions the Liberal Party were restored to power for the first time since the Union. He is also noteworthy as being the Minister on whom devolved the office of selecting a Government to succeed the De Boucherville Administration, upon its dismissal by Mr. Letellier in the month of March, 1878.

He was born in France on the 5th of December, 1829, and is the son of the late Gaspard Pierre Gustave Joly, Seigneur of Lotbinière, and Julie Christine, daughter of the late Hon. M. E. G. A. Chartier de Lotbinière, who was Speaker of the Quebec Assembly from 1794 until May, 1797, and was afterwards a prominent member of the Legislative Council. Mr. Joly received a liberal education at Paris, and while yet very young removed with his parents to Canada, settling in Lotbinière. Having chosen the law for a profession, he devoted five years to legal studies, and in the month of March, 1855, he was called to the Bar of Lower Canada. He first entered political life in 1861, when he was returned to the Canadian House of Assembly for the county of Lotbinière. This seat he continued to hold until the Union of the Provinces, when at the general elections which followed the formation of the Dominion he was elected by acclamation to both the Commons of Canada and the Assembly of Quebec. He sat in both Houses until 1874, when, on dual representation being abolished, he resigned his seat in the Commons, and directed all his energies to the furtherance of Liberal principles in the Quebec House of Assembly. The same year he was offered a seat in the Senate, but declined to accept that dignity, preferring to fight the battles of Liberalism in the more popular Assembly, in which he had already achieved a high reputation as a statesman and debater, as well as much personal popularity. In January, 1877, he again declined elevation to the Upper House, and refused the portfolio of Dominion Minister of Agriculture which had been tendered him by the Mackenzie Administration. The constituency of Lotbinière has never proved fickle to her trust, but has regularly returned Mr. Joly as her representative to the popular branch of the Legislature. From the Union, he has been the acknowledged head of the Liberal Party in Lower Canada, and the chosen leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly. In March, 1878, the Hon. Luc Letellier de St. Just, Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, dismissed his Ministry under circumstances which have already been detailed at length in these pages; and on the then Premier — Mr. De Boucherville — refusing to nominate a successor, Mr. Joly was sent for and invited to form a Cabinet. He promptly accepted the responsibility, selected his colleagues, and, on being defeated in the Chamber, appealed to the people for a ratification of the principles of his Party. The contest was fought with great vigour and pertinacity on both sides, and the result was a victory, though a slight one, for the Liberal Party. Mr. Joly was opposed in Lotbinière by Mr. Guillaume E. Amyot, an advocate and journalist of Quebec. He was elected by a majority of more than three hundred votes. He became Premier and Minister of Public Works — an office which requires the utmost tact and delicacy in its administration. He set on foot a policy of retrenchment and purity, and contemplated several much-needed reforms which he did not retain office long enough to see brought into operation. Mr. Joly's Administration was based on principles of the closest economy, and every effort was made to check all unnecessary outlay of the public expenditure. The salaries of the Ministers were reduced, an effort was made to abolish the Legislative Council, and the railway policy of the country was developed with caution. Wherever the pruning knife could be advantageously employed, the Premier applied it, and if he was not always successful, the fault was certainly not his own. His personal popularity was sufficiently attested by the fact that although he is a Protestant, with fixed opinions on theological matters, he was Premier of a Province where a large majority of the population are adherents of the Roman Catholic faith. He carried on the affairs of the country with combined spirit and moderation until October, 1879, when, on being defeated in the House, he and his Government resigned their seats in the Executive, and Mr. Chapleau was sent for. Mr. Chapleau succeeded in forming an Administration, which at the time of the present writing still holds the reins of power in the Province of Quebec.

Mr. Joly is a good departmental officer, a graceful speaker, a man of much force of character, and one who has always the courage of his convictions. Whether in power or in Opposition his language and demeanour are marked by conciliation and courtesy. He is a man of many friends, and has few personal enemies, even among those to whom he has been a life-long political opponent. He has devoted a good deal of attention to the study of forestry, and is the author of several important and valuable treatises on that subject. Among other offices which he holds may be mentioned the Presidency of the Society for the rewooding of the Province of Quebec, the first Presidency of the Reform Association, of the Parti Nationale of Quebec, of the Lotbinière Agricultural Society No. 2, and of the Society for the Promotion of Canadian Industry. He is also Vice-President of the Humane Society of British North America, and one of the Council of the Geographical Society of Quebec, of which latter association he was once Vice-President.

Some years ago Mr. Joly married Miss Gowan, a daughter of Mr. Hammond Gowan, of Quebec.

THE HON. MACKENZIE BOWELL,

MINISTER OF CUSTOMS

Mr. Bowell is English by birth, but has resided in this country ever since his tenth year. He was born at Rickinghall Superior, a pleasant little village situated in the northern part of the county of Suffolk, on the 27th of December, 1823. His father, the late Mr. John Bowell, emigrated from Suffolk to Canada in the spring of 1833, and settled in what is now the city of Belleville. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Marshall. He has been compelled to make his own way in the world, and has risen from obscure beginnings to the elevated position which he now occupies by dint rather of natural ability than of any adventitious aids. In his boyhood he enjoyed few educational advantages. He had been only a few months in Canada when he entered a printing office in Belleville, where he remained until he had completed his apprenticeship. He then became foreman of the establishment. He began to take an interest in politics at the very outset of his career, and attached himself to the Conservative side. He was very industrious, and during the term of his indentures did much to repair his defective education. He availed himself of every opportunity which came in his way for increasing his stock of knowledge, and erelong attained a position and influence far more than commensurate with his years. In 1853 he became sole proprietor of the Belleville Intelligencer, with which he continued to be identified for a period of twenty-two years. Under his management the Intelligencer became one of the leading exponents of public opinion in the county of Hastings, and his own local influence was thereby greatly promoted. Other causes contributed to enhance his position and influence. When only eighteen years old he allied himself with the Orange Body, in which he rose to the highest dignities in the gift of that Order. For eight years he was Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Ontario East. At the annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of the Loyal Orange Institution of British North America, held at Kingston in 1870, a change was made in the Grand Mastership, which had been held for many years by the Hon. John Hillyard Cameron. Mr. Bowell was unanimously elected to the office, and continued to occupy it until 1878, when he declined reëlection. For thirteen years he was Chairman of the Common School Board of Belleville, and was for some time Chairman of the Grammar School, always taking a lively interest in the promotion of education among the masses. For many years he was an active promoter of the Volunteer Militia force, as well as an active member. At the time of the St. Alban's raid he went with his company to Amherstburgh, where, at considerable sacrifice to his business, he remained four months. He was also at Prescott during the Fenian raid in 1866. At present he holds the rank of a Lieutenant-Colonel of Volunteer Rifles. He was one of the founders of the Press Association, and during one year occupied the position of President. He was also Vice-President of the Dominion Editors' and Reporters' Association.

Mr. Bowell was an active politician long before he emerged from his apprenticeship, but did not enter Parliament until after Confederation. In 1863 he contested the North Riding of Hastings, but was unsuccessful, and did not repeat the experiment until 1867, when he was returned to the House of Commons for that Riding, and he has ever since represented it. He signalized his entrance into Parliament by moving a series of resolutions against Sir George Cartier's Militia Bill, and though he failed to carry them all, he succeeded in defeating the Minister of Militia on some important points by which a considerable reduction was made in the expenditure. Several years later he took a prominent part in the expulsion of Louis Riel from the House of Commons. It was by Mr. Bowell that the investigation was instituted into Riel's complicity in the murder of Thomas Scott before the walls of Fort Garry. In 1876 he made a powerful attack upon Mr. Mackenzie's Government for having awarded a contract to Mr. T. W. Anglin, the Speaker of the House. The result of Mr. Bowell's attack was the unseating of several Members of Parliament, including Mr. Anglin; and a stringent Act respecting the Independence of Parliament was shortly afterwards passed.

At the last general election for the House of Commons, held on the 17th of September, 1878, Mr. Bowell was opposed in North Hastings by Mr. E. D. O'Flynn, of Madoc, whom he defeated by a majority of 241 — the vote standing 1,249 for Bowell and 1,008 for O'Flynn. After the resignation of Mr. Mackenzie's Government in the following month, Mr. Bowell accepted the portfolio of Minister of Customs in the Ministry of Sir John A. Macdonald. This position he still retains. Upon returning to his constituents after accepting office he was returned by acclamation. He is not a frequent speaker, but he has always taken an active and intelligent part in the business of the House, and is highly esteemed by his colleagues.

Mr. Bowell married, in December, 1847, Miss Harriett Louisa Moore, of Belleville. He is a Director in numerous railway and general commercial enterprises. In 1875 he disposed of the Intelligencer, with which he had been identified for so many years, but he still takes a warm interest in its prosperity, and is indebted to it for a very firm and consistent support.

THE REV. JAMES RICHARDSON, D.D.,

LATE BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CANADA

The late Bishop Richardson was born in the same year which witnessed the death of the great founder of Methodism, John Wesley; the same year also which witnessed the passing of the Constitutional Act whereby Upper Canada was ushered into existence as a separate Province. He came of English stock on both sides. His father, James Richardson, after whom he was called, was a brave seaman; one of that old-world band of gallant tars who fought under Lord Rodney against the French, when

"Rochambeau their armies commanded,

Their ships they were led by De Grasse."

He was present at the famous sea-fight off Dominica, in the West Indies, on the 12th of April, 1782, when the naval forces of France and Spain were almost entirely destroyed. He was soon afterwards taken prisoner, and sent to France, where he was detained until the cessation of hostilities. Having been set at liberty in 1785, he repaired to Quebec, and was subsequently appointed to an office in connection with the Canadian Marine. His duties lay chiefly on the upper lakes and rivers, and he took up his abode at Kingston, on Lake Ontario. He married a lady whose maiden name was Sarah Asmore, but who, at the time of her marriage with him had been for some years a widow. The subject of this sketch was one of the fruits of that union. He was born at Kingston, on the 29th of January, 1791.

His parents were members of the Church of England, and he was brought up in the faith as taught and professed by that Body. He attended various schools in Kingston until he was about thirteen years of age, when he began his career as a sailor on board a vessel commanded by his father. During his five years' apprenticeship he acquired a thorough familiarity with the topography and navigation of the lakes and rivers of Upper Canada. In 1809, when he was eighteen years old, he entered the Provincial Marine. Upon the breaking out of the war of 1812 he received a Lieutenant's commission, and was forthwith employed in active service. He became sailing master of the Moira, under Captain Sampson, and afterwards of the Montreal, under Captain Popham. Upon the arrival of Sir James Yeo in Upper Canada, in May, 1813, the naval armament on the lakes entered upon a new phase of existence. The local marine ceased to exist as such, and became a part of the Royal Navy. The Provincial commissions previously granted were no longer of any effect, and that of Lieutenant Richardson shared the same fate as the rest. The Provincial officers resented this mode of dealing with their commissions, and all but two of them retired from the marine and took service in the militia, where, in the language of Colonel Coffin, they were permitted to risk their lives without offence to their feelings. The two exceptions were Lieutenant George Smith and the subject of this sketch. The latter shared the sentiments of his brother officers, but he recognized the importance to the country of working harmoniously with his superiors at such a juncture, and cast every personal consideration aside. He informed the Commodore that he was willing to give his country the benefit of his local knowledge and services, but declined to take any rank below that which had previously been conferred upon him. The Commodore availed himself of the young man's services as a master and pilot, and in those capacities he did good service until the close of the war. He shared the gun-room with the regular commissioned officers, with whom he was very popular. He was with the fleet during the unsuccessful attempt on Sackett's Harbour, towards the close of May, 1813. A year later, at the taking of Oswego, he was pilot of the Montreal, under Captain Popham, already mentioned; and he took his vessel so close in to the fort that the Commodore feared lest he should run aground. Soon after bringing the Montreal to anchor a shot from the fort carried off his left arm just below the shoulder. He sank down upon the deck of the vessel, and was carried below. The remnant of his shattered arm was secured so as to prevent him from bleeding to death, "and there," says his biographer,⁷ "he lay suffering while the battle raged, his ears filled with its horrid din, and his mind oppressed with anxiety as to its result, till the cheers of the victors informed him that his gallant comrades had triumphed. He had been wounded in the morning, and it was nearly evening before the surgeon could attend to him, when it was found necessary to remove the shattered stump from the socket at the shoulder joint. During the severe operation the young lieutenant evinced the utmost fortitude. In the evening he was exceedingly weak from loss of blood, the pain of his wound, and the severity of the operation. Next day the fever was high, and for some days his life apparently hung in the balance; but at length he commenced to rally, and by the blessing of God upon the skilful attention and great care that he received, he was finally fully restored." During the following October he joined the St. Lawrence— said to have been the largest sailing vessel that ever navigated the waters of Lake Ontario — and in this service he remained until the close of the war.

Soon after the proclamation of peace he retired from the naval service, and settled at Presque Isle Harbour, near the present site of the village of Brighton, in the county of Northumberland. He was appointed Collector of Customs of the port, and soon afterwards became a Justice of the Peace. The Loyal and Patriotic Society requested his acceptance of £100, and a yearly pension of a like amount was awarded to him by Government in recognition of his services during the late war. This well-earned pension he continued to receive during the remainder of his life, embracing a period of more than fifty years.

In the year 1813, while the war was still in progress, he had married; the lady of his choice being Miss Rebecca Dennis, daughter of Mr. John Dennis, who was for many years a master-builder in the royal dock-yard at Kingston. This lady shared his joys and sorrows for forty-five years. During the last decade of her life she suffered great bodily affliction, which she endured with Christian resignation and serenity. She died at her home, Clover Hill, Toronto, on the 29th of March, 1858.

During the early months of their residence at Presque Isle Harbour, both Mr. Richardson and his wife became impressed by serious thoughts on the subject of religion. In August, 1818, they united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. That Church was then in its infancy in this country, and was struggling hard to obtain a permanent foothold. With its subsequent history Mr. Richardson was closely identified. He was very much in earnest, and felt it to be his duty to do his utmost for the salvation of souls. His piety was not spasmodic or fitful, but steady and enduring. His education at that time, though it was necessarily imperfect, and far from being up to the standard of the present day, was better than was that of most of his fellow-labourers. He at once became a man of mark in the denomination, and was appointed to the offices of steward and local preacher on the Smith's Creek circuit. His labours were crowned with much success. His pulpit oratory is described as being "full of vitality — adapted to bring souls to Christ, and build up in holiness."⁸ In 1824 he was called to active work, and placed on the Yonge Street circuit, which included the town of York, and extended through eight of the neighbouring townships. This rendered necessary his removal from Presque Isle, and his resignation of his office as Collector of Customs. His field of labour extended from York northwardly to Lake Simcoe — a distance of forty-five miles — with lateral excursions to right and left for indeterminate distances. The state of the roads was such that wheeled vehicles were frequently unavailable, and the greater part of the travelling had to be done on horseback, the preacher carrying his books, clothing, writing materials, and other accessories in his saddle-bags. His life was necessarily a toilsome one, and his financial remuneration was little more than nominal. During his second year on circuit he had for a colleague the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, with whom he worked in the utmost harmony, and with very gratifying pastoral results. Dr. Richardson has left on record his appreciation of his colleague's services at this time. He says: "A more agreeable and useful colleague I could not have desired. We laboured together with one heart and mind, and God was graciously pleased to crown our united efforts with success — we doubled the members in society, both in town and country, and all was harmony and love. Political questions were not rife — indeed were scarcely known among us. The church was an asylum for any who feared God and wrought righteousness, irrespective of any party whatever. We so planned our work as to be able to devote one week out of four exclusively to pastoral labour in the town, and to preach there twice every Sabbath, besides meeting all the former appointments in the townships east and west bordering on Yonge Street for forty-five or fifty miles northward to Roach's Point, Lake Simcoe. This prosperous and agreeable state of things served to reconcile both my dear wife and myself to the itinerant life, with all the attendant privations and hardships incident to those times."

In 1826 Mr. Richardson was sent to labour at Fort George and Queenston. Next year he was admitted into full connection, and ordained a deacon, along with the late Dr. Anson Green and Egerton Ryerson. Mr. Richardson was transferred to the River Credit, where he laboured for a year as a missionary among the Indians. An important crisis in the history of the Methodist Church in Canada was then at hand. The memorable Conference of 1828 was held at Ernesttown, in the Bay of Quinté district. It was presided over by Bishop Hedding, and Mr. Richardson was chosen secretary. It was at this Conference that the decisive step of separation from the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States was taken. Thenceforward the Church in Canada became an independent Body, with a Bishop and Conference of its own. "This step," says Mr. Richardson, "was fraught with results, for good or ill, according as it is viewed by different parties, from their several standpoints. It was deemed necessary then, by the majority, because of the political relations of the two countries, and the difficulty attendant on obtaining our legal right to hold church property, and solemnize matrimony. Others, viewing the church as catholic, or universal in her design and character, judged it wrong to limit her jurisdiction by national or municipal boundaries." Mr. Richardson subsequently regretted that the scheme of separation had been carried out. Meanwhile he was appointed, along with the Rev. Joseph Gatchell, to the Niagara Circuit, a very extensive field of labour, and took up his abode at what was then the insignificant village of St. Catharines. There he remained two years, and in 1830 was ordained as an elder by Bishop Hedding, of the United States — no Bishop having as yet been selected for the Canadian Church, which, since its separation, had been presided over by a General Superintendent in the person of the Rev. William Case. It is unnecessary that we should follow him in his labours from circuit to circuit. His life was spent in the service of his Church, and wherever he went he left behind him the impress of a sincere and zealous man. At the Conference held at York in 1831 he was appointed presiding elder of the Niagara District. In September, 1832, he became editor of the Christian Guardian, and while holding that position he opposed the reception of Government support to the churches with great vigour and determination. He continued to direct the policy of the Guardian until the Conference of 1833. During this Conference, which marks another important epoch in the history of Canadian Methodism, the Articles of Union between the English and Canadian Connexions were adopted. To this union Mr. Richardson was a consenting party, believing that the step would be productive of good, though he subsequently had reason to modify his views on the subject. In 1836 he severed his connection with the Wesleyans, owing to the reception by that Body of State grants. He soon afterwards removed to Auburn, in the State of New York, where he won the respect of his congregation; but he was not adapted to such a circle as that in which he found himself, and did not feel himself at home there. "His quiet, unpretentious manners," says Mr. Carroll, "were not of the kind to carry much sway with our impressible American cousins; and the constant exhibition of an empty sleeve, ever reminding them of an arm lost in resisting their immaculate Republic, was likely to be an eye-sore to a people so hostile to Britain as the citizens of the United States." He was moreover an uncompromising abolitionist, and was fearless in his denunciations of the national curse of slavery. The prevailing sentiment in the State of New York in those days was not such as to conduce to the popularity of any man who took the side of humanity. He remained at Auburn only a year, when he returned to his native land, and took up his residence at Toronto. Immediately upon his arrival he encountered his old friend and fellow-labourer the Rev. Philander Smith. A long and serious conversation followed, during which they both decided to reunite themselves with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Conference of that Body was then in session a short distance from Toronto, and their resolution was at once carried out. They were received with open arms, and continued in the ministry of the Church during the remainder of their respective lives.