One of the members from St. John County was William J. Ritchie, a lawyer who had risen by his own efforts to a commanding position at the bar, and who became chief-justice of Canada. Mr. Ritchie had been a member of the House of Assembly for several years, and always a useful one. He possessed what few members at that time had,—a clear knowledge of the true principles of responsible government. He had an eminently practical mind; he was a forcible and impressive speaker, and he was bold in the enunciation of the Liberal principles to which he held. It was a serious misfortune to the province that at a comparatively early age he was transferred to the bench, so that his great abilities were lost at a critical period when they might have been useful to New Brunswick in many ways.
John H. Gray, a new member, also sat in this House for the county of St. John. Mr. Gray was a man of fine presence, handsome appearance, and had a style of oratory that was very captivating and impressive. His fluency, however, was greater than his ability, and he injured himself by deserting the Liberal party, which he had been elected to uphold. Gray never quite recovered from the unpopularity connected with this action, and he never became in any sense a real leader. The party he had deserted soon obtained the control of the province, and his final appearance in the legislature was as a supporter of Mr. Tilley, content to play a secondary part during the great confederation conflict.
Robert Duncan Wilmot, another of the St. John County members, a first cousin of L. A. Wilmot, was not new to the legislature, and his mind being naturally conservative, it is in connection with the Conservative party that he is best known in the history of the province. He was elected as a Liberal, however, in 1850, but seems to have forgotten that fact as soon as he reached the House of Assembly. This was not the only occasion on which Wilmot contrived to change his principles, for he performed a similar feat during the confederation contest, and left the anti-confederate government of 1865 in the lurch at a moment when its existence almost depended on his fidelity. Wilmot never was an eloquent man, and he entertained some highly visionary views in regard to an irredeemable paper currency, but he was a useful public servant, and he afterwards became a member of the government of Canada and eventually lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick.
JOHN R. PARTELOW
The Hon. John R. Partelow, who was defeated in St. John but elected for Victoria, was a man who might have acquired a great political reputation had the stage on which he appeared been a larger one. Partelow's qualifications for high public position did not depend upon his oratory, which was not of a high order, but upon his moderation and good sense. Partelow's origin was humble, and his early days were spent as a clerk in a store on the North Wharf, St. John. In that subordinate position he made himself so useful and displayed so much ability that he was marked for promotion. The idea of bringing him forward as a candidate for the city of St. John seems to have originated with his employers, but when he gained a seat in the legislature he speedily made his influence felt. Partelow spoke but seldom, but when he did address the legislature it was generally with good effect, and after the subject had been to a large extent exhausted by previous speakers. He then had a faculty of drafting a resolution which seemed to express the general sense of all, and which was usually accepted as a solution of the matter. He was a good business man, understood accounts thoroughly and, therefore, had a great advantage in legislative work over those who were not so well equipped in this respect. New Brunswick may have produced greater men than he in public life, but none whose talents were more useful to the province, or better fitted to serve its interests at a critical period in its constitutional history.
CHAPTER II
ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE
Shortly after the general election, Chief-Justice Chipman, who had been in infirm health, resigned his office, and a vacancy was thus left on the bench of the supreme court of the province. In the natural course, this office ought to have gone to the attorney-general, Mr. L. A. Wilmot, but this appointment was not made. The council were unable to unite in any recommendation to the governor, who consequently laid all the facts before the home government and in reply received instructions to give the chief-justiceship to Judge Carter and to offer the puisne judgeship to Mr. Wilmot, or, if he should refuse it, to Mr. Kinnear, the solicitor-general. The executive council complained that the appointment of Mr. Wilmot to a seat on the bench by the authority of the secretary of state without the advice or recommendation of the responsible executive within the province, was at variance with the principles of responsible government which were understood to be in force. They, however, had only themselves to thank for this, for they were continually appealing to Downing Street. As a majority of the House had been elected as opponents of the government, it was supposed there would be no difficulty in bringing about a change of administration. Mr. Simonds, of St. John, who was reputed to be a Liberal, was elected speaker without opposition, and at an early day in the session Mr. Ritchie, of St. John, moved, as an amendment to the address, a want-of-confidence resolution. This resolution, instead of being carried by a large majority as was expected, was lost by a vote of fifteen to twenty-two, Messrs. Alexander Rankine and John T. Williston, of Northumberland, Messrs. Robert Gordon and Joseph Reed, of Gloucester, Mr. A. Barbarie, of Restigouche, and Mr. Francis McPhelim, of Kent, having deserted their Liberal allies. Had they proved faithful, the government would have been defeated, and the province would have been spared another three years of an incompetent administration.
In this division, Tilley and Needham, who represented the city of St. John, and Messrs. R. D. Wilmot and Gray, two of the county members, voted for Ritchie's amendment. As Wilmot and Gray showed by their votes that they had no confidence in the government in February, 1851, it was with much surprise that the people of St. John, in the August following, learned that they had become members of the administration which they had so warmly condemned a few months before. Their secession from the Liberal party destroyed whatever chance had before existed of ousting the government. Mr. Fisher had seceded from the government in consequence of their action in reference to the judicial appointments, and John Ambrose Street, who was a member for Northumberland, became attorney-general in place of Robert Parker, appointed a judge. Mr. Street was a ready debater and a strong Conservative, and his entrance into the government at that time showed that a Conservative policy was to be maintained.