Campbell, Sir Alexander, K.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, residence Toronto. Like several of Canada’s leading statesmen, Sir Alexander Campbell was not born in this country, but he was only two years old when his father, an English physician, came to Canada in the year 1823, and took up his residence at Lachine, in the province of Quebec. Sir Alexander’s birthplace was the village of Hedon, near Kingston-upon-Hull, in Yorkshire, England; and he has ever retained the warmest sentiments of loyalty and attachment to the British empire. Sir Alexander’s parents gave him the best educational advantages the country afforded. They placed him first under the tuition of a Presbyterian clergyman, and afterwards sent him to St. Hyacinthe College, Quebec, and still later to the Royal Grammar School at Kingston, Ontario. He was of a studious turn of mind; and, although he left school at what would now be considered a comparatively early age, he had imbibed all the essential elements of a liberal education. At St. Hyacinthe College he acquired a considerable knowledge of the French language, and a consequent interest in French literature which has accompanied him through life. On occasion he could make a French speech in the Senate; though he rarely exercised the gift, and only perhaps to meet some playful challenge of the French members. He studied the classics also up to a certain point; but above all he acquired a knowledge and command of his own language, and a habit of using words with a peculiar force and directness. The phrase may not always be the smoothest, but it has a quality that tells—something a trifle Cæsarean in its brevity and point. However this is a good opportunity for reminding ourselves of Buffon’s dictum that “le style c’est l’homme.” Mere school education does not give this. A man may learn at school to avoid technical errors of speech; but the style he eventually acquires will be more or less the reflex of his own personality. Mr. Campbell was only seventeen years of age when he entered on the study of the law at Kingston, whither his family had some years previously removed. No stories have reached us of his student days, but he seems to have applied himself earnestly to his work, seeing that he was able, on completing his course and being called to the bar, to form a partnership immediately with John A. (now Sir John) Macdonald, whose reputation even then was rapidly growing. The partnership subsisted for many years under the name of Macdonald and Campbell; and the business, in the hands of these two exceptionally able men, was a lucrative one. Politics, however, soon began to absorb the attention of the senior partner, and the burden of the office work fell upon Mr. Campbell. The experience which the latter thus acquired, aided by his studies, made him one of the soundest lawyers at the bar of Upper Canada; and had he not, while still a comparatively young man, diverged into politics, there is little doubt that he might long since have occupied a distinguished position on the bench. It was in the year 1858 that Mr. Campbell made his début in politics by carrying an election for the Cataraqui division, and taking his seat in the Legislative Council of Old Canada. He very quickly familiarised himself with his new surroundings, and became an efficient and highly esteemed member of the Upper House. No new member probably ever had less crudeness or inexperience to rub off; and no one seemed at all surprised when, in three or four years after his first election, the member for Cataraqui division was placed in the Speaker’s chair. The position was, indeed, one for which, by temperament and character, he was pre-eminently fitted, but not one in which his practical energies could find much scope; and a wider sphere of usefulness was opened up to him, while the administrative strength of the government of 1864 received a great reinforcement when the Speaker of the Council was assigned to the position of Commissioner of Crown Lands. Here his knowledge of law and prompt business methods found ample exercise, and it was admitted on all hands that he filled the office in an admirable manner. From this time forward Mr. Campbell was looked upon as one of the strong men of his party, though one whose strength was shown rather in council than in fight. His was the balanced judgment and sound knowledge of affairs, and one can only regret that the influence he was so fitted to exert, and must at many critical moments have exerted, in favor of sound, safe and honorable methods of party management, could not have asserted itself at all times. A very ugly chapter of Canadian political history might then never have been written. In 1867 the first government of the Dominion was constituted under the leadership of the then newly knighted Sir John A. Macdonald, and Mr. Campbell was sworn in as Postmaster-General. The new position did not call, to the same extent as the previous one, for the exercise of legal acumen, but it involved dealing with large public interests and a very extended patronage. During the period that Mr. Campbell remained at the head of the post office much solid progress was made, in all of which he took a lively interest, and exerted a judicious control. As regards the patronage of the department, it was administered by the Postmaster-General with a constant eye to the good of the service, and occasionally with a wholesome indifference to mere party demands. One of the chief characteristics of Mr. Campbell during his administrative career was that he was never willing to descend to the level of the mere party politician. Some have said that this was due to the fact that his position exempted him from dependence on the popular vote; but we have seen other senators whose high position did not seem to exercise any very elevating effect on their political methods. After a six years’ tenure, exactly, of the Post Office department, Mr. Campbell accepted the portfolio of the newly constituted department of the Interior. Here everything was to create, order had to be called out of a most discouraging chaos; but the new minister was proceeding bravely with his task, when the government of which he was a member met an inglorious defeat over the “Pacific Scandal.” The operations which led to this result had been carried on wholly without Mr. Campbell’s knowledge: he was not indeed the kind of a man to whom the schemes formed at that time for creating an election fund were likely to be confided. He did not, however, like Sir Richard Cartwright, see in the occurrences to which we are referring sufficient reason for separating himself from his party. He probably judged that he could render better service to the country in the ranks of the Conservative party than anywhere else; and he looked forward, doubtless, to the time when that party, rendered wiser by experience, would again be called to control the destinies of the country. From 1873 to 1878 Mr. Campbell acted as leader of the opposition in the Senate, and discharged the duties of the position with the same ability as well as with the same fairness and moderation as when he had represented the government. To act a really factious part was, we may say, almost wholly out of his power: certainly, it would have been foreign to his nature. When the Conservative party returned to office in November, 1878, Mr. Campbell first accepted the position of Receiver-General, but in the spring of 1879 he returned to his old office of Postmaster-General. Thence he passed in the month of January, 1880, to the department of Militia and Defence, which, during a brief term of office, he did not a little to invigorate. The end of the year saw him back in the Post Office department, which he again left in the month of May of the year following (1881), to assume the portfolio of Justice. Meantime (24th May, 1879) he had been created by her Majesty a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, an honor which his eminent public services had very fully merited. Sir Alexander remained at the head of the department of Justice until the latter part of the year 1885, when he once more returned to the Post Office department, which he finally left in the spring of 1887 to accept the Lieutenant-Governorship of Ontario. His appointment to the latter office was viewed with pleasure and approval, even by his political opponents. On all hands it was felt that in Sir Alexander Campbell her Majesty would have one of the most constitutional of representatives, such a man as she probably would herself have delighted to choose for the position. Before proceeding to Toronto, however, Sir Alexander went to England at the request of the government, to represent Canada at the Colonial conference. That conference was not empowered to enact any measures, or even to concert any scheme, for the modification of the relations existing between Great Britain and the colonies; but it gave an opportunity for a confidential exchange of views between members of the British government and leading representatives of the colonies; and there is little doubt that it has smoothed the way for the future discussion of questions of the greatest moment. As a departmental chief, Sir Alexander Campbell was deservedly popular. He was not, perhaps, the most accessible of men, and his general manner may have been a trifle distant and brief; but it was soon discovered that he had a kind heart and a strong sense of justice. He was not a man to be trifled with; he believed in holding men to their duty; but on the other hand, he was always glad of an opportunity of rewarding faithful service. He had a keen insight into character, and had, consequently, little difficulty in dealing with men on their merits. His confidence was seldom given where it was not deserved, or withheld where it was deserved. He was always ready to form his own independent opinion on any matter properly submitted to him, and having formed his opinion, he knew how to stand by it. No department of the government came amiss to him, for the simple reason that his sound business methods were applicable everywhere. How useful such a man must have been to the cabinet as a whole, and particularly to its leader, may be imagined, but the full details are not likely ever to become known. It will be remembered that while Minister of Justice it became the duty of Sir Alexander to draw up a memorandum explaining and defending the policy of the government in executing Riel. This he did in a manner that for force, conciseness, and logic left nothing to be desired. Perhaps, however, the chief merit of the statement was the strong accent of conviction that pervaded it. It was not a partisan manifesto; it was the fitting utterance of the highest organ of executive justice in the country.
Vidal, Henry Beaufort, Major in the Infantry School Corps. He was born on the 16th of May, 1843, at the town of Chatham, in the county of Kent. He is the only surviving son of the late Alexander Thomas Emeric Vidal, a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy, and for some years a resident in the county of Lambton, and Marie Antoinette, his wife, daughter of the late Henry Veitch, for many years H.B.M’s Consul-General in Madeira. Vice-Admiral Vidal was the youngest, and Captain Vidal, R.N., of Sarnia, the eldest son of Emeric Vidal, who was for many years a flag officer’s secretary in the Royal Navy. He preferred to remain in the service of Britain at the time that the remainder of his family elected to return to France, from which country their forefathers had emigrated on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, being at that time settled at the town of Montauban, in the department of Tarn et Garonne. The subject of this sketch was educated by private tutors and at Trinity College School in Toronto. He was admitted as student-at-law in Easter term, 1860, and was called to the bar of Ontario, Michaelmas term, 1872. He entered the militia of Canada as ensign in the 24th battalion, Lambton, 3rd August, 1860. On the 23rd May, 1862, he joined the British army as ensign, became a lieutenant in the 4th regiment of foot on the 16th of August, 1804, and served with that regiment in the Mediterranean, India, Abyssinia, etc. He was present at the action of Arogie and capture of Magdala. Having retired from the British army, he at once re-entered the Canadian militia, as a captain of the 7th battalion “Fusiliers,” London. In 1882 he became a regimental major in the 12th battalion, from which corps he was transferred to the permanent infantry on its first formation. Major Vidal is a Freemason, a Royal Arch Mason, and is also in the A. & A. Rite. Since his return to Canada he identified himself with the Conservative party, and is in politics a Tory. In religion, he is a member of the Church of England. He has travelled in all the four great continents. He was married in January, 1869, to Kate Allen, who died in 1884, and by whom he had issue (surviving), an only son and daughter. Charles Emeric Kerr, the son, was born on the 6th of February, 1870; educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, and at the high schools of St. John and Halifax. He matriculated as student in medicine at Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, 1885; entered the militia of Canada at the age of fifteen years and ten months as 2nd lieutenant, 6th Fusiliers, and became lieutenant in June, 1887.
Rogers, Rev. Jabez A., Windsor, Nova Scotia, is the son of David and Rebecca Rogers, and was born at St. John’s, Newfoundland, on the first day of March, 1843. He received his early education at the Wesleyan Academy in St. John’s, and at the Grammar School in Harbour Grace. At the age of sixteen he was converted and united with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, an occasion of great joy in his father’s household—prayer being turned into praise on the happy night when he made his peace with God. The event was the more a subject of heart-felt joy inasmuch as his friends had expected that he was destined for the legal profession, a career in which a man of his brilliant parts and great eloquence would assuredly have attained no mean place. Shortly after his conversion Mr. Rogers felt that he was called to preach the gospel. He still attended the Grammar School at Harbour Grace, devoting his time to the study of the classics and the Greek Testament, under the direction of the scholarly and accomplished Principal, J. J. Roddick. When but seventeen years of age he preached his first sermon, and was appointed a local preacher of the Wesleyan Methodist church. He then entered upon theological studies, with the view of preparing to offer himself as a candidate for the ministry. In his twentieth year he was recommended by the Newfoundland District Meeting to the Methodist Conference of Eastern British America, and was received on probation. This is the first step in the Methodist ministry. In June, 1862, he was appointed as a probationer to Catalina, Trinity Bay, and in 1864 to Exploits Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. In June, 1866, he was received into full connection by the Methodist Conference of Eastern British America, and was ordained a minister in full standing in the Centenary Church in St. John, New Brunswick. His first appointment as minister was to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, for one year, as the assistant of that great light in the Methodist church, the Rev. Matthew Richey, D.D. In the next year, 1867, Rev. Mr. Rogers was appointed to the church in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where he remained the full itinerary term of three years, and gained a great reputation as a fervid and eloquent preacher. On the Lyceum platform he also occasionally appeared with marked success. A very popular and able lecture of his was delivered in Halifax, Windsor and other places on the subject of “True Greatness.” In more recent years he has lectured on “Moral Warfare,” “The Old Lamp and the New Lights,” and “The Land of the Pharaohs.” In 1870 he was appointed to Brunswick Street Church, the largest of the eight Methodist churches in Halifax. Here he remained three years, or until 1873, when he removed to Wesley Church, Yarmouth. Three years later the exigencies of the itinerary system placed him in Truro. In 1879 he removed to the church in Amherst, and three years later he returned to Wesley Church, Yarmouth. In 1885 he was appointed to the Methodist Church in Windsor, a pulpit which has for many years been filled by the very best men in the ministry. His next field of labour will be Brunswick Street Church in Halifax again, he having received an invitation to that church in 1887. Rev. Mr. Rogers has always been a hard-working man in his chosen sphere, and has from time to time been honored with many of the most honorable offices in the church. From 1876 to 1878 he was Journal secretary, and from 1879 to 1884 secretary of the Nova Scotia Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada. He worthily filled the office of chairman of district from 1879 to 1852, and again from 1884 to 1887. He was a delegate to the General Conferences of 1878, 1882, 1883 and 1886. He was also appointed a member of the Union Committee which met in Toronto in November, 1882, and which formulated the basis for the union of the different branches of the Methodist church. This union, in the face of much opposition and controversy, was consummated in 1883. There were great financial difficulties to be overcome, and old time differences between the Methodist Episcopal church and the Wesleyans had to be smoothed over. In 1884 Rev. Mr. Rogers was elected the first president of the Nova Scotia Conference of the Methodist church. In 1870 he was united in marriage to Jane M., daughter of Rufus S. Black, M.D., of Halifax, N.S., grandson of the Rev. Wm. Black, the founder of Methodism in Nova Scotia. The Black family have, with few exceptions, continued staunch members of the church of their forefathers. Three years ago there was opened at Sackville, N.B., a handsome memorial hall in honor of the Rev. Wm. Black, on which occasion Rev. Mr. Rogers, by appointment, represented the Nova Scotia Conference. Rev. Mr. Rogers has a family of six children living.
Paquet, Hon. Anselme Homere, M.D., St. Cuthbert, province of Quebec, Senator for De la Valliere, was born at St. Cuthbert, on the 29th September, 1830. He is a son of the late Captain T. Paquet and Mary F. Robillard. He received his education at the College of L’Assomption. He is one of the numerous pupils of the “Ecole de Médicine et de Chirurgie de Montréal,” and was licensed as a physician by the provincial medical board on the 10th of May, 1853. In 1863, he entered politics, but was an unsuccessful candidate in March of that year for the Legislative Council. He was, however, elected to the Legislative Assembly in June, 1863, where he sat until Confederation. He was elected for the House of Commons in 1867, and again in 1872, after contests, and by acclamation in January, 1874. He was called to the Senate by Royal proclamation in February, 1875. He was president of the Permanent Building Society of Berthier, one of the originators and directors of La Banque Ville Marie, Montreal, and one of the governors of the Medical College of the Province of Quebec, from 1877 till 1880. He was appointed in 1879, as professor on hygiene in the Medical School, Montreal, affiliated with Victoria University, and is now one of the consulting physicians in Hotel Dieu Hospital, and professor of medical clinics in the same hospital. He was appointed in September, 1887, a member of the provincial commission on hygiene. In religion, Hon. Mr. Paquet is an adherent of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics a Liberal. He was married at L’Assomption, on the 24th September, 1854, to Marie Alp. Henriette Gariépy, fourth daughter of Captain P. Gariépy and Mary Roy.
Kelly, Samuel James, M.D., M.S., Joliette, Quebec province, was born on the 12th of August, 1856, at Joliette. His parents were Francis Kelly and Mary Collins. He received his classical education in his native parish, and prosecuted his medical studies in Quebec and Montreal. Having graduated, he returned to Joliette, where he began the practice of his profession, and has succeeded in building up a good business. In addition to his professional practice, he has an interest in the lumber business of Kelly & Brother, Joliette. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. He was married on the 29th of November, 1881, to Emmelie Mandehard.