Hall, Robert Newton, B.A., LL.D., Q.C., Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke, P.Q., was born at Laprairie, 26th July, 1836. He is the son of Rev. R. V. Hall, English church clergyman. He received the principal part of his scholastic training in the University of Burlington, Vt., from which he has his degree of B.A., graduating in 1857. On returning home he entered upon the study of law, and in 1861 was called to the bar of Lower Canada. A year later he married Lena, daughter of the late A. W. Kendrick, of Compton, Quebec. In his practice of the law, he has all his life been exceedingly successful, and has long been recognized as a leading member of his profession. He held the honorable office of bâtonnier of St. Francis section of the bar from 1877 to 1881, and in 1878 became bâtonnier of the bar of the whole province. He has long been dean of the faculty of law in Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, from which college also he holds his doctor’s degree. All his life, Mr. Hall has been a leader of the public enterprises of his native province, his name being regarded as a tower of strength to any organization with which he becomes identified. He not only has the character of a man of spotless honor, but his public spirit, his great business ability, and his capacity for hard work, are guarantees of the success of anything to which he puts his hand. He was one of the chief promoters of the Eastern Townships Agricultural Association, and became the first president of that society when it entered upon active work. The railway development of his own section of the country has occupied a great deal of his attention. He is a director of the Quebec Central Railway a most important road; and president of the Massawippi Railway, a local line of great advantage to the district. When the first scheme for building the Canadian Pacific Railway was arranged, he was appointed one of the government directors on the general board, this appointment being a flattering recognition of the prominent part he had taken in railway affairs. When Judge Brooks, who for a long time represented Sherbrooke in the House of Commons, was appointed to his present position, the nomination of the Conservative party for the seat was offered to Mr. Hall, and when he accepted it, so complete was the confidence of all classes in his judgment and honor, that he was elected by acclamation. In the general election of 1887 Mr. Hall was opposed for the reason that the policy of both parties was to allow no elections by acclamation. But there was no serious expectation of defeating him, and his second return was received without surprise. In the house, Mr. Hall has the reputation of a careful and painstaking representative. He makes remarkably few speeches, considering the ability he displays when he does address the house, and the attention and respect with which he is listened to by both sides. Outside of the cabinet, he is by all odds the most prominent and influential representative of the Eastern Townships’ constituencies.
Raymond, Rev. Joseph Sabin, Vicar-General of the Diocese of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec province, was born at St. Hyacinthe, on the 13th March, 1810. He received his classical education in St. Hyacinthe College, and belonged to the first class that graduated from this institution. At the early age of seventeen, he began teaching, and continued as a teacher in the same college to the last day of his life. He was ordained priest in 1832. In 1847 he was elected president of St. Hyacinthe College, and occupied this position, except during an interval of six years, till 1883. Rev. Mr. Raymond, named vicar-general in 1852, was twice administrator of the diocese, during the absence of the bishop in Rome, and attended the five first Provincial Councils of Quebec, in the capacity of theologian to the bishop of St. Hyacinthe. He contributed largely to the foundation of the Order of Contemplative Religious of the Precious Blood in St. Hyacinthe. In 1874 he was named domestic prelate to his Holiness Pope Pius IX., and terminated a long and useful life in St. Hyacinthe, on Sunday, 3rd July, 1887, whilst robing to say mass. He was considered as one of the foremost men in the literary field of Quebec; he was a prolific and brilliant writer, and devoted his varied acquirements to the education of youth and devotional works. He was extensively read, especially in history and literature. His works, if collected, would form quite an important collection.
Montagu, Walter H., M.D., M.P. for Haldimand, Dunnville, Ontario, was born in Adelaide township, county of Middlesex, Ontario, on the 21st day of November, 1858, and is therefore, as we write, under thirty years of age, and one of the youngest members of the House of Commons. He is the youngest of the six sons of Joseph Montagu, an intelligent farmer, who was one of the most highly-respected residents of the county of Middlesex. His mother was a daughter of John Humphries, who came to Canada in 1832, and settled in Adelaide. Dr. Montagu was only five years old when his father died, when on a visit to friends in the United States, and has had, in great measure, to carve out his own career. He has, like many who have risen to eminence, had to educate himself, and this he began while engaged as an errand boy in a country store. He qualified for a teacher’s certificate in August, 1874. As a teacher he was employed successfully at various points, after which he entered Woodstock College, to devote himself to university studies. In 1882 he graduated in medicine in Ontario, and, desiring to pursue this profession, he then proceeded to Edinburgh. Here, later in the same year, he passed the examinations of the Royal College of Physicians, and received the diploma of the college. He then returned to Canada, and began the practice of his profession at Dunnville, county of Monck, where he now resides. A few months after settling at Dunnville he reluctantly accepted the nomination of the Liberal-Conservative Convention of Monck, to contest the riding in an election then pending for the Local Legislature. Though only a few days in the field he polled an immense vote, his own village giving him the largest Conservative majority it had ever given to its parliamentary representative. In 1886 he was again asked to run, but refused. In February of the following year he was placed in nomination for the House of Commons, as the representative of the county of Monck, but this he also declined, though a unanimous nomination by the party was offered him. At this time no candidate could be found to come out against Mr. Colter, the Reform member for Haldimand, who three months previously had been returned for the county by 126 of a majority over his opponent, Mr. W. Hamilton Merritt, a large property owner in the constituency, who had had the hearty support of the leading men of the Conservative party in the district. A new election was now to be held, and still no one dared to come out against the opposition candidate until the day before nomination. At almost the twelfth hour Dr. Montagu, at the urgent solicitation of his friends, Senator McCallum and Colin G. Snider, president of the Haldimand Conservative Association, stepped into the breach, and after a spirited campaign carried the county, but only by a majority of one, on a recount of ballots before the county judge. Dr. Montagu took his seat in the House of Commons, and by his qualities of head and heart gained the respect of both parties in parliament. His first and only speech during the session was called forth by an attack made upon the manner of his election. Brief and comparatively unimportant as it was, the speaker commanded the closest attention of the house. A protest, however, was entered against his return; and after three days’ trial of the petition, Dr. Montagu agreed with his opponent to hold a new election. This came on in November, 1887, and was watched with the keenest interest by the whole country, for until the preceding February Haldimand had never before in her history returned a Conservative, and that return, it was alleged, was not a proper one. The contest was fought, on the Reform side, by Mr. Colter, assisted by M. Laurier, Sir Richard Cartwright, Messrs. Charlton and Patterson, Hon. Jacob Baxter, and a dozen other prominent Reformers. Dr. Montagu, representing the Conservatives, fought alone and almost single-handed; and though the most desperate means were employed to defeat him, he succeeded in carrying the county by seventeen of a majority. In the contest, Dr. Montagu’s public addresses attracted immense audiences, the people turning out everywhere in great numbers to hear him. Another recount was demanded, the result being that the majority was reduced to twelve. A protest was then entered against him, and tried in January before Justice Street. During five days’ trial the petitioners utterly failed in their charges, and not a single stain attached itself to the representative. In the present (1888) session, he had the honor paid him by the Dominion administration of being called to move the address to the throne. This he did with great credit to himself and with much gratification to his party. Dr. Montagu is a supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald, but at the same time he holds liberal views upon public questions, and brings a broad and comprehensive mind to their consideration and discussion. He is thoroughly Canadian in his aims and aspirations, and has an earnest and enthusiastic faith in the future of the country. His wife is Angie, daughter of Elias Furry, reeve of South Cayuga, Ontario.
Willets, Rev. Charles E., M.A., (Corpus Christi, Cantab.), D.C.L. (King’s, Windsor), Windsor, Nova Scotia, is a native of Northamptonshire, England, where he was born about forty years ago. He received his early education at Corpus Christi College, in the University of Cambridge, where he graduated in 1872. He took holy orders and was ordained in the same year by the Right Reverend George Augustus Selwyn, bishop of Lichfield. After his ordination, he accepted the position of curate of Gaily-cum-Hatherton, in Staffordshire, which office he held for one year. In 1873 he came to Canada, and was appointed to the position of sub-rector of Bishop’s Collegiate School, at Lennoxville, Quebec. Here he remained for three years, teaching and fulfilling his other duties with great success. The honorary degree of M.A. was conferred upon him by Bishop’s College in 1874. He next removed to the Collegiate School, Windsor, N.S., the position of headmaster of which happened to fall vacant in June, 1876. This school was the original seed of King’s College, which is the oldest degree-conferring university in British America. The school was started in 1788, a scheme for its establishment being warmly urged by the Right Rev. Dr. Charles Inglis of New York, first bishop of Nova Scotia, and also by his son, John Inglis, who solicited aid for it in England. A royal charter was obtained in 1802. A large number of the sons of the wealthiest class in the maritime provinces were educated in it during the first years of its history. Among distinguished men who received their early training in the school, or King’s College, may be mentioned Chief Justice Neville and Robert Parker, master of the rolls of New Brunswick; Judge W. B. Bliss; Judge Haliburton (“Sam Slick”); General Sir John Inglis, son of the second bishop of Nova Scotia, and a man who made his mark in the defence of Lucknow; the late Archdeacon McCawley; Archdeacon Gilpin of Halifax; administrator of the diocese of Nova Scotia; R. G. Haliburton; Rev. Dr. Hill, formerly rector of St. Paul’s, Halifax, and the late Rev. Dr. J. M. Hensley. Among head masters of the collegiate school were Rev. William Grey, Rev. Dr. Blackman, Dr. Salt, Rev. W. C. King, Rev. George B. Dodwell, M.A. (Cantab.), and Rev. John Butler. The original school building was of freestone, which was erected with great care under the supervision of Bishop Charles Inglis, but was unfortunately burnt down, 20th September, 1871. For two years the school was carried on at Martock House, near Windsor. A new handsome wooden building was erected on the original site in 1877, and Rev. Dr. Willets has continued in charge of the school ever since. The school has prospered under his management, and now accommodates upwards of forty boarders and a number of day scholars. There are two assistant masters, Mr. Richardson, formerly of King Edward VI. School, Retford, England, a distinguished linguist and chess-player, and Mr. Fullerton, B.A., of King’s College, also special instructors in drill and gymnastics and penmanship. Boys are prepared for matriculation in all of the provincial colleges and for the civil service examinations, Ottawa. The school possesses one of the handsomest sites in Nova Scotia, just below King’s College, and looking over the king’s meadow towards the south mountain. The honorary degree of D.C.L. was conferred upon Dr. Willets by King’s College in 1882. He was also elected a governor of King’s College in 1885.
Matheson, David, Superintendent of the Savings Bank Branch of the Post Office department, Ottawa, is a Scotchman by birth, he having been born in the parish of Canisbay, near John O’Groat’s, Caithness-shire, on the 25th October, 1840, and emigrated to Canada in 1861. Mr. Matheson joined the civil service in 1863, and was appointed private secretary to the postmaster-general. In 1868 he, with another officer, was appointed to organize the Post Office Savings Bank, and specially designed the plan of accounts which has made the Canadian system of savings banks a credit to our own country, and a model that other countries have been pleased to adopt. Mr. Matheson, in recognition of his services, was appointed, in 1881, assistant superintendent of the Savings Bank Branch of the Post Office department, and in February, 1888, he was made superintendent.