In December, 1876, the Hon. L. Letellier de St. Just resigned the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture in the Dominion Government, and was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec. Mr. Pelletier succeeded him in the Department of Agriculture, and was sworn of the Privy Council in January, 1877, being appointed at the same time Senator for the Grandville Division. As Minister of Agriculture Mr. Pelletier was appointed President of the Canadian Commission at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878, but was prevented on account of pressing public business, from attending personally in Paris. He, however, devoted his energies while in Ottawa towards making the Canadian exhibit a success. For his services the British Government created him a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, President of the Royal Commission, also acknowledged his services in a very complimentary letter, which was accompanied by His Royal Highness's portrait.
In October, 1878, Mr. Mackenzie placed the resignation of himself and Cabinet in the hands of Lord Dufferin. Mr. Pelletier in consequence ceased to preside over the Department of Agriculture. In 1879 he was created a Queen's Counsel, and since his retirement from the Mackenzie Government he has devoted his time to his profession at the Quebec Bar.
Mr. Pelletier is a gentleman of great tact and urbanity of manner, and his fine social qualities and unassuming demeanour have endeared him to a wide circle of friends. His popular manners, and his constant readiness to preach peace and good fellowship well qualify him as leader of the French Canadian Liberals in the Senate. He has in no small degree been the means of smoothing away that bitterness which for many years marked political contests in Quebec and Kamouraska. An indefatigable worker, Mr. Pelletier is recognized as one of the best election organizers in the Province, and the proof of it lies in the fact that in no county where he persistently worked did victory desert his banner in 1878. He is known as a fast and firm friend, and though he has been mixed up in most of the political contests of the District of Quebec for the past fifteen years, it is believed that he has not a single enemy in the ranks of his opponents.
THE HON. WILLIAM PROUDFOOT.
Vice-Chancellor Proudfoot was born near Errol, a small village of Perthshire, Scotland, situated about midway between Perth and Dundee, on the 9th of November, 1823. He is the third son of the late Rev. William Proudfoot, who was for many years Superintendent of the Theological Institute of the United Presbyterian Church, at London, Ontario. The late Mr. Proudfoot was one of the earliest missionaries sent out to this country by the United Secession Church, as it was called. He came out from Scotland with his family in 1832, and after a few months spent at Little York, removed to London, where he organized a church in which he officiated until his death, in January, 1851, when he was succeeded by his second son, the present incumbent. His life was a busy and useful one, and his services in the cause of theological education have left a decided impress behind them. He was a man of strong political opinions, and had before his emigration from Scotland been identified with the Whig Party. In Canada his sympathies were entirely with the Reformers throughout their long struggle to obtain Responsible Government and equal rights for all. During the troubled times of the rebellion he was subjected to a certain amount of persecution by the Tory Party, but as he of course had no share in the rebellion, and was a loyal subject to British connection, he escaped without serious annoyance. Early in 1838 he was informed by some officious friend that he was an object of suspicion to the ruling powers, and that the Sheriff of the District had been instructed to watch his movements carefully. With characteristic intrepidity he at once repaired to the Sheriff's office, and entered into conversation on the subject with that functionary. He professed his perfect readiness to be taken into custody. The Sheriff, who held Mr. Proudfoot's character in high respect, and who well knew that the Government had nothing to fear from him, begged him to go quietly home and think no more of the matter. He subsequently aided in establishing a church in the neighbouring township of Westminster. Not long afterwards the Theological Institute already referred to was projected. The Presbyterian Body in this country had no regular seat of advanced learning at that time, and candidates for the ministry were subjected to serious drawbacks. Mr. Proudfoot and another clerical gentleman—the Rev. Alexander Mackenzie—were entrusted with the training of students, and out of this arrangement the Theological Institute was finally developed. Many of the leading Presbyterian theologians of Canada received their training at this establishment, and the name of Mr. Proudfoot is a grateful remembrance to them at the present day.
The third son, the subject of this sketch, like his elder brothers, was educated at home by his father, and did not attend any of the public educational institutions. He chose the law for his profession in life, and his studies were prosecuted with that end in view. In 1844 he passed his preliminary examination before the Law Society of Upper Canada, and immediately afterwards entered the office of Messrs. Blake & Morrison, barristers, of Toronto, where he spent the five years prescribed as the period of study for an articled clerk. After his call to the Bar, in Michaelmas Term, 1849, he entered into partnership with the late Mr. Charles Jones, and began practice in Toronto. This partnership lasted about two years, when he was appointed Master and Deputy-Registrar of the Court of Chancery at Hamilton. He had paid special attention to the principles of Equity Jurisprudence, and had received much of his training in those principles from Mr. Blake himself, under whose supervision the Court of Chancery in this Province had been remodelled, and who was at this time Chancellor of Upper Canada. He accordingly removed to Hamilton, and conducted the local business of the Court for three years, when he resigned his position and devoted himself exclusively to practice. He formed a partnership with the late Mr. Samuel Black Freeman and Mr. William Craigie, one of the leading law firms in Hamilton, under the style of Messrs. Freeman, Craigie & Proudfoot. Mr. Proudfoot had exclusive charge of the Equity business of the firm, which attained large dimensions, and became one of the most profitable in Western Canada. The partnership, which was formed in 1854, lasted for eight years, and terminated in 1862, when Mr. Proudfoot withdrew from the firm. He subsequently formed several other partnerships, he himself continuing to devote himself entirely to Equity. During the whole of his professional career he was an adherent of the Reform Party, and used all his influence for the advancement of Liberal principles. In 1872 he was appointed a Queen's Counsel by the Ontario Government, but afterwards declined to have the appointment confirmed by the Government of the Dominion.
His attainments as an Equity lawyer marked him as a fit recipient of judicial honours, and on the 30th of May, 1874, he was appointed to a seat on the Chancery Bench, as successor to Mr. Strong, who had been transferred to the Court of Appeal. His judicial career has thoroughly justified the wisdom of his appointment. He has presided over many important cases, and has rendered some very elaborate and profound judgments on matters connected with ecclesiastical law.