Girouard, Theophile, Quebec, is one of the most prominent, enterprising and successful of the French Canadian businessmen of the ancient capital, and its subsidiary districts. Born at Gentilly, Nicolet county, on the 1st December, 1826, of the marriage of Joseph Girouard and a French lady named de Cormier, he is essentially a self-educated and a self-made man, and an admirable specimen of the class of his fellow-countrymen who have done so much of late years to develop the resources of their native province. As a lad, he laboured hard to instruct himself, and thus succeeded in acquiring a good French and English education. As a man, he has, with similar energy and perseverance, striven to make his way in the world, and his efforts have been crowned with equal success. His experience has been varied. In 1849, he was impelled by the gold fever to California, like many other young and enthusiastic spirits of the time, but unlike not a few of them he was fairly successful during his stay of four years there. Returning to Canada, he engaged in the lumber business, in the province of Quebec, and has been connected with it ever since. For a number of years the principal seat of his operations was in the eastern townships, where he also resided; but in 1872 he extended them to the region along the north shore of the St. Lawrence below the Saguenay, where he founded the outpost of Betsiamits for the purpose of manufacturing and shipping lumber, and where he erected extensive saw mills at a cost of $152,000. These mills are supplied with the raw material from 750 square miles of limits, and the establishment employs from two to three hundred men. Mr. Girouard has also been the promoter of some of the largest manufactures in the province. Nor has he been without honours marking the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. He has been a captain of militia and a justice of the peace, and the important municipality of Stanfold, in the eastern townships, elected him its mayor during seven years. In politics, he was a Conservative down to the time of the Riel affair, when he seceded, joined the Liberal ranks, and became a Nationalist. His travels have been extensive. Including his voyages to and from California, he has crossed the ocean over thirty times, has visited most of Europe, and by a singular coincidence which has happened in the lives of few men, was carried by a gale of wind to latitude 62½° south below Cape Horn, while he went on another occasion as far in the opposite direction as 62½° north during his travels in Sweden and the Gulf of Bothnia. In religion, he has always been a Roman Catholic. On the 9th October, 1861, he married Alexneia Pacand, daughter of Charles Pacand, of Arthabasca, by whom he has had issue five children. His eldest son, Raoul, has distinguished himself as an electrician at Ottawa.
Pacaud, Gaspard, M.P.P., Windsor, Ontario, editor of Le Progress, and M.P.P. for North Essex, was born at St. Norbert d’Arthabaska, province of Quebec, on the 24th June, 1859. He was educated at St. Joseph Grand Seminary, Three Rivers, P.Q., and graduated therefrom in 1880. He then entered the law office of his brother, Ernest Pacaud, well known in Quebec city as a man of ability and learning, but the spirit of activity within him was such as to induce him to forsake the law for the equally honorable and more exciting profession of journalism, and accordingly, in 1881, he became editor of Le Patriote, published in Bay City, Michigan, by another brother, H. A. Pacaud. In 1884 he returned to Canada, and took the editorial chair of Le Progress, published in Windsor by still another brother, Aurèle Pacaud, and has edited this paper ever since. Le Progress is the only French paper published in Western Ontario, and has a high standing among the reform papers of the province. At the last general election Mr. Pacaud was returned by the Reformers of North Essex as their representative in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and there is no member of that body who tries more to advance the interests of his constituents than he does. A fact which may be taken as strong evidence of the magnetism and personal popularity of Mr. Pacaud is this, that although such a young man—young in years as well as in political life—and although resident but a short time in a county which never before elected a Liberal, yet he defeated Mr. Sol. White, who was so well known as the leader of the Opposition’s first lieutenant. The attention which Mr. Pacaud has given to his parliamentary duties, and the fluency of his speech when he has addressed the house, are evidences to his friends that, although the youngest member of the house, Mr. Pacaud is destined to make his mark, and possibly to rise to a yet higher position in the future. Mr. Pacaud is the son of Philippe Napoléon Pacaud, who so powerfully seconded Papineau, in 1837 and 1838, by putting his life and his immense wealth at the service of the great cause of his fellow countrymen, and is one of five brothers, three of whom are journalists, and two lawyers. Every reader of Canadian history knows the name of Pacaud, the bearers of this name having distinguished themselves in many ways. The Pacaud family, indeed, is well known as one of the oldest and most distinguished in the province of Quebec.
Mowat, Hon. Oliver, Q.C., LL.D., Premier of the province of Ontario, is descended of a stock that has given Canada many of its foremost men in almost every public department in the land, namely, the Canadian-Scotch. His father, John Mowat, was from Canisbay, Caithness-shire, Scotland. He was a soldier who had seen stern service during the Peninsular wars. His wife, Helen Levack, was also a native of Caithness-shire. They came to Canada in 1816, and settled in Kingston, where their son Oliver was born, on July 22, 1820. His education was as good as the schools of that city afforded at that date. At about the age of seventeen he entered the law office of Mr. (now Sir) John A. Macdonald, who, a young man but five years his senior, had just been admitted to the bar, and had settled down to practise his profession. At the outset of his student life young Mowat was called on to serve as a volunteer in the rebellion of 1837. It may well be supposed that the state of parties and affairs in Canada to which his attention was thus early and practically called must have afforded him food for thought, and had much effect in shaping his after course. It is certainly noteworthy, as indicating both mental independence and moral earnestness of no common order, that, born as he was of Conservative parents, surrounded with Conservative influences, and trained in the study of a profession which is more closely related to politics than any other, in the office and under the direct influence of a man whose brilliant talents and personal magnetism have long been and still are the strongest forces on the side of Conservatism in Canada, Oliver Mowat should have chosen that broad-minded, moderate Liberalism, of whose principles he has ever since been so able an exponent, and so steadfast a promoter. He was called to the bar in 1842, and commenced his practice in Kingston, but very soon afterwards came to Toronto, where he has ever since resided. At a time when the line of demarcation between common law and equity was much more clearly drawn than at present, Mr. Mowat chose the latter branch. He rose quickly to eminence at the Chancery bar. In 1856 he was appointed by the government of which Hon. John A. Macdonald was a member, as commissioner for consolidating the Statutes of Canada and of Upper Canada respectively, a position which he held until 1859. In 1857 he was elected to parliament as member for South Oxford, and continued to represent that constituency until 1864. Upon the fall of the Macdonald-Cartier government, in 1867, he was selected, though he had been but one year in the house, to fill the office of provincial secretary in the Brown-Dorion administration. He held the portfolio of postmaster-general in the Coalition government formed by Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, in 1861, a position which he retained until the defeat of that government, in 1864. He was also a member of the memorable Union Conference which met at Quebec in 1864, and framed the confederation scheme; but his acceptance, a few months later, of the vice-chancellorship of Upper Canada deprived the framers of the Confederation Act of his services in the subsequent deliberations. When the Dual Representation Act compelled the retirement of Messrs. Blake and Mackenzie from the leadership of the Ontario legislature, in 1872, he was called on by the lieutenant-governor, acting no doubt on the advice of the retiring premier, to form an administration. His descent from the bench and re-entrance into political life gave occasion for a good deal of discussion at the time, on the part of those who thought, or affected to think, that the purity of the judicial ermine must be in some way contaminated by the change. The answer, if any is needed, to those who think that the position of head of the Provincial government is one requiring either mental or moral qualifications of a lower order than those of even the chancellor’s bench, is to be found in the record of sixteen years of able, upright, and progressive government of the affairs of Ontario. Those must be wilfully purblind who cannot now see that the judicial temperament and habit, with all of mental training and capacity, and of moral integrity they imply, furnish the very best of qualifications for the responsible and honorable position of virtual ruler of a great province. Sound discretion, marked ability, and sterling integrity have characterised Hon. Mr. Mowat’s career in each division of his professional and official life. As a lawyer, his talents quickly gained recognition, and, reinforced by his clear judgment and scrupulous conscientiousness, soon won for him a high place in the confidence of the profession and of the court in which he practised. Though not fluent, he was energetic, forcible, and convincing as a pleader. His patience was admirable, his industry untiring, his fertility in resources great. He was said to be endowed in large measure with the power of “thinking out” a subject, and was believed to be stronger in ability to go to the bottom of the subject than any of his contemporaries. As a judge, he exhibited qualities of both head and heart which, while they won for him respect and admiration, gained also esteem and friendship in high degree. His great business and executive ability quickly showed itself in the improved conduct and quicker despatch of the business of the court. As the head of the government, his record has long been before the people of Ontario. The mere enumeration of the reforms that have been effected, and the beneficial acts passed during his régime, would occupy more space than we have at our disposal. The judicious settlement of the vexed question of the municipal loan fund; the liberal and salutary provisions of the local Railway Acts; the consolidation of the Provincial Statutes; the local option principle reduced to practice in the Liquor Acts; the General Incorporation Act, by which so much economy of time has been secured in the Legislative Assembly; the well-considered and systematic aid to public charities; the changes by which the education department has been relieved of irresponsible and bureaucratic character, and put in charge of a responsible minister; the progressive legislation in connection with higher education and the University of Toronto; the introduction of the ballot in political and municipal elections; the liberalising of the franchise up to the verge of universal suffrage; all these, and many other legislative reforms wrought under this régime, will be lasting monuments of his statesmanship. Mr. Mowat’s legislation, though uniformly Liberal and progressive, has never been sensational. His opponents have sometimes charged him with timidity. That wise caution that refuses to move blindly under irresponsible pressure, that waits to look on all sides of a question, and goes forward only when the way is made clear, is certainly his. But that cowardly fear of censure which shrinks and hesitates on the brink of what is seen to be right and just, for fear of consequences, cannot be laid to his charge. No really urgent legislation in the interests of Liberalism and progress has been unduly delayed through his fault. The manner in which he has met and vanquished, not only in the local political arena, but in the highest court of the realm, Sir John A. Macdonald, with all the power and prestige of his own high reputation and the Dominion premiership at his back, sufficiently attests his courage in doing what he deems the right. The vindication of provincial rights in the matters of the Boundary, the Rivers and Streams Bills, and the license question, are services rendered by Oliver Mowat which will long be remembered by a grateful province. As leader of the Ontario government, in the house and out, Mr. Mowat’s address and tactics are admirable. Clear-headed and logical in debate; cautious in committing himself, yet, when occasion demands, prompt in decision and firm in action; uniformly courteous and affable, yet ready and keen in retort, and often turning the tables on an opponent most effectively; keeping himself thoroughly informed on all important questions; exhibiting on all occasions a sound judgment, combined with a ready wit, he inspires his colleagues and followers with confidence, and generally holds at bay or discomfits his most eager assailants. In some of these respects, notably in the extent and fulness of his knowledge of the subjects under debate, and in the soundness and acumen of his opinions on juridical and jurisdictional questions, his record compares most favorably with that of his great antagonist, the veteran leader of the Dominion government. To say that he may have sometimes made mistakes in judgment and policy, and that he has not uniformly steered clear of the dangerous reefs which abound in the streams of patronage, is but to admit that he is human and consequently fallible. Hon. Mr. Mowat has always taken a deep interest in social and religious questions. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and was for many years president of the Evangelical Alliance. Like most men who have wrought earnestly and conscientiously for the public good in any sphere, his philanthropy and integrity are, no doubt, deep-based upon the firm foundation of religious principle. It has been sneeringly insinuated that he has claimed for himself the high honor of being a “Christian politician;” but it is unnecessary to say that the charge is without foundation. It seems to have originated in a perversion of a hypothetical allusion in one of his speeches to what might be considered the duty of a Christian politician, in some specified case. To arrogate to himself the distinctive title was farthest from his thought, and a boast would be as repugnant to his good sense and taste as to the modesty for which he is distinguished. That he is a faithful and devout member of an influential Christian church is a crime which will be readily forgiven him in view of the great services he has rendered to society and the state.
Desaulniers, Denis Benjamin William, Nicolet, Governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Quebec, was born on the 5th of December, 1839, at St. Anthony de la Rivière du Loup, near Maskinonge. His father, Antoine Lesieur Desaulniers, was an agriculturist of Rivière du Loup. His mother was Maria Emelie Beland. The Lesieur-Desaulniers were a numerous family, and inhabited a large portion of the parishes of Yamachiche and Rivière du Loup. Our present subject was brought up with his family until the age of thirteen, and in the month of September, 1853, he entered the seminary of Nicolet, where he made his classical course with great success. In the month of May, 1860, he obtained from the Board of Physicians his license for the study of medicine, and studied two years under the patronage of Dr. Alexis Milette. In 1862, in the month of September, he entered the Laval University at Quebec to complete his course, and was the most solid and substantial of all the students of his time. During his last two years he carried off the first “Morin,” this prize having been only twice offered to the pupils whilst pursuing his course. On the 10th October, 1865, he was admitted to the practice of medicine, after a severe examination before the Provincial Board of Physicians, and the same year he established himself in the parish of Rivière du Loup, now Louiseville. A year after, in October, 1866, being equally successful in the practice of his profession as well as literary pursuits, he was called to Nicolet to take charge of the seminary there, the pupils and all connected with this important institution, a post which he still fills. Later, upon the establishment of the convent of the Sœurs de l’Assomption at Nicolet, he was made physician to the institution. In 1886, when L’Hotel Dieu of Nicolet was inaugurated by the Sœurs Grises of St. Hyacinthe, he was again selected as first acting physician to the house. Dr. Desaulniers has been very fortunate in the practice of his profession, but his great specialty has been midwifery. He has closely followed the progress of medicine in its many branches, and therefore is one of the foremost physicians of the day. His unprecedented success in the past promises a brilliant future. On the 31st of August, in the year 1881, he was appointed coroner, in conjunction with Dr. S. Ed. Badeau, for the district of Three Rivers, and occupied this office for two years, when he was obliged to resign to fulfil the requirements of his profession. Seven years after Dr. Desaulniers arrival at Nicolet, the village was raised to a town, and it then became necessary to form a town council, of which he was chosen and elected by a large majority first mayor of Nicolet. Of course he had everything to do, and the greater part of the rules and regulations now in force were passed during his administration. At the completion of his term of office he retired, and gave himself up entirely to the practice of his profession, which had become very extensive. In 1877, he was elected governor of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the province of Quebec for the district of Three Rivers, and has held that position since that date. He was born in the Roman Catholic religion, and has ever remained faithful to his church principles. Dr. Desaulniers married on the 12th January, 1869, Marie Rose de Lima Proulx, second daughter of Hubert Proulx, of Nicolet, and in May, 1879, his wife died, leaving three infant daughters. He was married the second time, on July 13th, 1880, to Marie Célanire Gagnon, widow of late Louis Ludger Richard, and daughter of Antoine Gagnon, agent for the Crown lands at Arthabaskaville. In May, 1884, he again had the misfortune of losing his wife, who left an infant daughter.
King, James, Quebec. Few men engaged in the staple trade of the port of Quebec hold a more conspicuous position or enjoy a larger share of public confidence and respect than the subject of this sketch, not only for his business enterprise and success, but for his integrity in all the relations of life. Mr. King is the Quebec member of the great lumbering and lumber exporting firm of King Brothers and King Brothers & Co., which are among the largest operators in the province, their establishments being scattered all over, from the Eastern townships to Gaspé. In fact, few commercial houses have been or are more powerful contributors to Lower Canadian development. Their chantiers and saw mills at St. Jean Deschaillons, Lyster, Levis, River Ouelle, Cedar Hall, Grand Pabos, and Robertson Station, give employment and support to considerable communities, the products of whose industry, chiefly in the shape of pine and spruce deals, are annually exported to the United Kingdom and the continent of Europe. The firms, of which Mr. King is a leading member, are also largely interested in the important asbestos industry of the province of Quebec, being the proprietors of extensive areas of asbestos-bearing lands in the eastern townships, and notably of the “Hampden” and “Thetford Royal” mines in Thetford, Megantic county; and Mr. King himself is a director and manager of the Asbestos Mining and Manufacturing Company of Canada. He is further largely interested in rural real estate, being the seigneur of the seigniories of St. Jean Déschaillons and Lake Matapedia. He is the youngest son of the late Charles King, of Lyster, Megantic, and was born at St. Antoine de Tilly, in Lotbinière county, P.Q., on the 18th February, 1848. Educated at Lennoxville, he took his degrees of B.A. in 1867, and of M.A. in 1873, at the University of Bishop’s College, and during his university course was a member of the college volunteer corps. In religion he belongs to the Church of England, and has been a lay delegate to the Synod of the diocese of Quebec. In politics he is a Liberal-Conservative, and has frequently been pressed to offer himself for Parliamentary honors, but has hitherto refused to accept nomination at the hands of his party, feeling that his business engagements absorbed too much of his time and attention. Nevertheless he has always taken a strong interest in educational matters. His travels have extended to the United Kingdom and the continent of Europe. He is unmarried, and a member of the Garrison Club, Quebec.