Wilmot and Tilley

by James Hannay

Sir Leonard Tilley throughout his life gave great attention to his religious duties. He was a devoted member of the Church of England, and his attendance at its services was constant and regular. For several years before his death he was connected with St. Mark's congregation, and no cause, except severe bodily illness, was ever allowed to prevent him from going to church on Sunday morning. On many occasions, when his steps had grown feeble and his strength was failing, it was suggested to him that he should drive to church, but he always replied that he would walk to church as long as he had strength left to do so, and that he would not have people harnessing up horses on the Sabbath Day on his account. This resolution he maintained to the end of his life. Sometimes, when he met an old acquaintance, as he toiled up the street which led to his favourite church, he would cheerfully greet him by saying, "John, this hill has grown steeper than it used to be," but he climbed the hill to the end, and the last Sunday he was able to be out of his bed he walked to church as usual. He also took a deep interest in all humane and philanthropic objects as well as in the great work connected with the spread of the Gospel. He was a constant attendant at the annual meetings of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and was a life member of that admirable association.

HIS IMPERIAL HONOURS

The honours that Sir Leonard Tilley received from Her Majesty, in recognition of his great public services, were very gratifying to his friends as well as to himself, and when he was made a Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George, in 1879, his temperance friends embraced the first opportunity on his return to St. John to have a banquet in his honour, at which he wore, for the first time in public, the insignia of the knightly order of which he had become a member. There was probably no public event in the whole course of his life which gave him greater pleasure than this proof of the attachment of his old friends.

Sir Leonard's last visit to England was marked by an extremely gracious invitation to visit the queen at Osborne, in the Isle of Wight. While he and Lady Tilley were sojourning at Cowes a message was sent summoning them to Osborne House, where they were received by Her Majesty in the beautiful grounds that surround that palace. The Princess Louise and Princess Beatrice, with an equerry in waiting, were the only other persons present. After an interesting conversation they were permitted to visit the private apartments of Her Majesty, and the Prince Consort's farm.

Sir Leonard Tilley was first married in 1843 to Julia Ann, daughter of the late James T. Hanford, who died in 1862. By her he had seven children, two sons and five daughters. In 1867, he married Alice Starr, daughter of the late Z. Chipman, of St. Stephen. By this marriage he had two sons, Mr. Herbert C. Tilley, of the Imperial Trust Company, who resides in St. John, and Mr. L. P. DeWolfe Tilley, barrister, who is also a resident of St. John. These two sons, Herbert and Leonard, were the prop and comfort of his declining years and were devoted wholly to him to the end.

LADY TILLEY

Sir Leonard Tilley's second marriage was contracted at the time when he was exchanging the limited field of provincial politics for the wider sphere which confederation opened up to him in the parliament of Canada. It was a fortunate union, for it gave him a helpmeet and companion who was in full sympathy with him in all his hopes and feelings, and who was singularly well qualified to preside over his household, which, in his capacity of a minister of the Crown, had become, to a considerable extent, a factor in the public life of Canada. Lady Tilley had a high ideal of her duty as the wife of a cabinet minister and of the governor of New Brunswick, and was not content to lead a merely ornamental life or confine her energies within a narrow range. She saw many deficiencies in our appliances for relieving human misery, and with a zeal which could not be dampened, she sought to remedy them. The Victoria Hospital at Fredericton is her work; hers also is the Nurses' Home in connection with the Public Hospital in St. John, and the Reformatory for the care of bad or neglected boys, who are in danger of becoming criminals if they are not educated and disciplined when they are young. In every work of philanthropy Lady Tilley has always taken not only an active, but a leading part, and her position has enabled her to enlist in the cause of humanity the energies of many who, under other circumstances, might not have given their attention to philanthropic work.

Sir Leonard Tilley for many years had suffered from an incurable disease, which had been mitigated by rest and medical treatment, but not removed. It was the knowledge of the fact that his days would be shortened if he continued in active political life that compelled him to leave the government in 1885. For many years before his death the malady had been so far subdued that it gave him comparatively little trouble, but any unusual exertion on his part was almost certain to arouse it again to activity, so that he was prevented on many occasions from taking part in public functions which, under other circumstances, he would have been glad to attend. Still, he always contrived to take his daily walk, and few who saw him ever suspected that he was constantly menaced by death. For three or four years before his decease his strength had been failing, he stooped more as he walked, and it was evident that he was not destined to enjoy many more years of life. Yet during the spring of 1896 there was nothing whatever to indicate that the end was so near, for he went about as usual, and was able to preside at the annual meeting of the Loyalist Society which was held during the last week in May. On that evening he appeared very bright and cheerful, and he entered with much interest into the discussion of the details of an outing which it was proposed the society should hold during the summer. "Man proposes, God disposes." Sir Leonard had gone to Rothesay early in June to spend a few weeks in that pleasant spot, and he appeared to be in his usual health until the night of June 10th, when he began to suffer great pain from a slight cut which he had received in the foot. The symptoms became alarming and gave indications of blood poisoning, a condition due to the disease from which he had suffered so many years. On June 11th, he was taken to Carleton House, his town residence, and from that time the doctors gave no hope of his recovery. It was one of the sad features of his illness that his life-long friend and physician for many years, Dr. William Bayard, was unable to attend him, being himself confined to his bed by illness.

LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH

After Sir Leonard Tilley reached his home in St. John he never rallied, and he was well aware that his end was near. He was attended by Dr. Inches and Dr. Murray McLaren, but he was beyond medical aid, and therefore the people of St. John, for several days before the event took place, were aware that their foremost citizen was dying. The time was one of great excitement, for the general election was near, yet the eyes of thousands were turned from the moving panorama of active life which passed before them to the silent chamber where the dying statesman was breathing his last. The regret and sympathy that was expressed was universal, and in their kindly words those who had been his life-long political opponents were not behind those who had been his friends. Sir Leonard Tilley died at three o'clock on the morning of June 25th, the second day after the general election which brought about the defeat of the party with which he had been so long identified.