To cheer sad hours; to soothe keen agony.
These are earth’s salt—they labor with a mind,
Distress relieving, lessening human woe;
In all their actions earnest, gentle, kind,
Leaving sweet impress whereso’er they go.
Theirs Heaven’s reward; a crown upon each brow,
Warm hearted Drysdale! such a man art thou!
Van Koughnet, S. J., Q.C., Toronto, Ontario.—The subject of this sketch, born in the year 1832, or 1833, was a younger, though now the oldest surviving, son of the late Hon. Colonel Van Koughnet, of Cornwall, for many years a member of both legislatures of old Canada, who had seen service in the war of 1812, and afterwards commanded a regiment at the battle of Prescott in 1837, as also at the Coteau, of which regiment, when put on an Imperial footing, he retained command until disbanded several years subsequently. The Van Koughnet family is probably one of the oldest in the country. Their native place was Colmar, Alsace, from which they emigrated in 1750, coming to the present United States of America, and settling in Massachusetts, on the site of the present city of Springfield—the Woolwich of that country, that city in fact being built upon their property. In the war of 1783 they maintained their allegiance to the British crown, and the grandfather of the subject of the present sketch was accordingly proscribed by the United States government, his property confiscated, and he obliged, with many others, to flee the country or take the consequences of a price having been set upon his head. He accordingly left with his wife and two infant children, taking an Indian for his guide, and crossed in the depth of winter to British territory, striking Cornwall, in the county of Stormount, then a wilderness, with the exception of a few Dutch settlers who had found their way thither. The original name was von Gochnat, which subsequently became corrupted into van Koughnet, the prefix of which, van, is Dutch, and the change was brought about by contact with the Dutch residents, who did not understand the German von, and was acquiesced in by the family, who seemed to have little anxiety for anything, in their straitened condition, than finding the ready means of subsistence for themselves. S. J. Van Koughnet was named after his uncle, the Rev. J. J. S. Mountain, brother of the late bishop of Quebec. Mr. Van Koughnet was in the first place educated in the same old school-house in Cornwall where the late Bishop Strachan had educated his father, the late Sir John Robinson, Sir James McCauley, Chief Justice McLean, Judge Hagerman, and many others of Canada’s noted men. Mr. Van Koughnet then matriculated at Trinity University, being one of its earliest students, having taken a scholarship as a result of his matriculation examination. There he was a very hard worker, taking, as shown by the university calendar, prize after prize, and graduating in first-class honors in classics in 1854, having been sent the Oxford degree examination papers for that year. He had also previously in that year taken the English essay prize which in England is the most coveted of all, and he was gold medallist as a result of his degree examination. Mr. Van Koughnet had been originally, like his late brother, the chancellor, intended for the church, and went through the usual divinity course with that view. He subsequently, however, like him changed his mind, chiefly it is said in consequence of a dread of the grave responsibility of the office. This it is also said he ever afterwards regretted, though some of his friends believed it was well he did, as his very advanced views were unsuited to this country, and his course in church politics it was thought, when party warfare ran high in the church in this diocese, fully justified this opinion. In these, at the time indicated, he might have said of himself, “Magna pars fui.” He was noted for his unswerving fidelity to his friends and loyalty to the church and her doctrines as he claimed to understand them. When those troublous times happily came to an end, on the election of the present bishop (Sweetman), whom he agreed loyally to support, though he humbly differed from him in his views on several cardinal points, Mr. Van Koughnet at once retired from church politics, and never afterwards appeared in the synod, where he had been for twenty years so well known, and where, though seldom taking a conspicuous part in debate, he was not the less attentively listened to when he did. On giving up the church Mr. Van Koughnet studied law, and was called to the bar in 1859, and entered into partnership with his late brother, M. R. Van Koughnet. On his first appearance in court he was congratulated by the late C. J. Draper on the eloquence of his address to the jury in opening a case for malicious prosecution, in which he obtained a verdict for his client. After a few years he dissolved his connection with his brother, and did a large business alone, then confining himself principally to equity, where he soon acquired a lucrative practice. He had not long been practising there before he was appointed by the late V. C. Esten guardian of infants in that court, and among the most perplexing cases of the kind he ever had to do with was that of the late Mrs. Ellis, daughter of the late highly respected Peter Paterson, whom, when only sixteen or seventeen years of age and then a ward of the court, the late Mr. Ellis, the well-known King street jeweller, married without the consent of the court. This had always been considered, and very properly, an offence, and contempt of court, and Mr. Van Koughnet, who was then acting for her, felt bound in the exercise of his official duty, however reluctantly, to bring the matter before the notice of the court and ask for direction as to the course to be pursued. The presiding judge on this occasion happened to be his own brother, the late chancellor, who heard the statement of facts and, with that kindness of heart so characteristic of him, having known both families for many years, came to the conclusion that the young lady would be properly cared for, and, her property being judiciously settled, that there was no occasion for rigidly enforcing the rule of the court, and so allowed the matter to drop. This appointment Mr. Van Koughnet held for some years, when he was deprived of it in some mysterious way he could never exactly discover, and the present guardian, J. Hoskin, succeeded him. He spoke to his brother the chancellor on this subject, but he from obvious motives, declined to interfere, though expressing himself strongly on the subject at the time. In 1864 Mr. Van Koughnet was appointed legal reporter to the Court of Common Pleas, and soon achieved a reputation for himself, not only for the ability with which he conducted his reports, but for the wonderful dispatch with which he issued them. Hitherto there had been great and it was thought inexcusable delay in the publication of the reports of this court, and Mr. Van Koughnet was determined that the reproach should be speedily removed, and so it was; and he has ever since been noted for the same characteristics in connection with the reports, both as reporter of that court and of the Court of Queen’s Bench, which he now holds, in succession to Christopher Robinson, Q.C., with whom as fellow reporter he worked for several years. Indeed, his present serious illness, which at the moment of writing we regret to learn is likely to become still more serious, is largely attributable, his medical attendants we understand state, to over-devotion to his work at Osgoode Hall, which it is said he should have abandoned long before he at last consented, when probably too late, so to do. It was thought by many of his friends that Mr. Van Koughnet was unwise to bury himself, as in their opinion he was doing, in the mere literary work of the profession, as that of a reporter is said to imply, and that he should have thrown himself more into the active work of the bar, for which his undoubted talents and his display of forensic ability on several occasions amply fitted him; but his inclinations were always of a literary tendency, and he has been heard to say that he could not condescend to many of the tricks and almost dishonesties which seemed inseparable from the successful career of a nisi prius counsel in particular. These considerations, and the demands of a rapidly increasing family upon his purse decided him upon accepting the more quiet but congenial position of reporter to the courts; besides, as he used to say, he got rid of the profanum vulgus in the shape of clients. In politics Mr. Van Koughnet was always a strong Conservative, but, though no family was ever better entitled to it, he neither sought, it is said, nor ever received government patronage of any kind, unless, indeed, having acted as secretary to the celebrated Royal commission in connection with the Pacific Railway investigation is to be looked upon as partaking of that character. For that position, however, he was designated by the late Hon. J. H. Cameron, and suddenly called to Ottawa by telegram, hardly knowing for what. The duties of the office in question he discharged with marked ability, though he had never before acted in a similar capacity, largely assisting in organising the whole work of the commission, advising on difficult questions of law as they arose, and drawing from the commissioners at the conclusion of his work a flattering testimonial, from which what is above written has been in fact taken. The report of that celebrated investigation was drawn by him, and was considered a highly able document, covering, as it did, many pages of an octavo pamphlet. Mr. Van Koughnet, we have heard, bitterly regretted having given up his original intention of taking orders; in fact it was said he considered many a disappointment in after life and many a sorrow but the consequence of his change of intention in that respect. Among the several distinctions he was honored with were those of M.A., D.C.L. (by examination), and Q.C., which he was created some five years ago. Most markedly belonging to the old school in social life, now fast dying out in Canada—shall we not say on many accounts to be regretted?—Mr. Van Koughnet for many years past has been little seen in society, which he seemed to avoid, though of a most genial nature and with a vein of humor not alien to the family. His bearing to all, whether high or low, was ever courteous and obliging; and at Osgoode Hall, where he was perhaps best known, he was a recognised favorite, particularly among the younger bar, with whom in his position as reporter he was necessarily much brought into contact, and to whom he always lent a ready and sympathetic ear. Mr. Van Koughnet married in early life, and whilst still a student, a daughter of the late Senator Seymour. Six children comprise his family, his eldest daughter being married to Albert Nordheimer, of Toronto, and two younger daughters to the only son of Sir John Macdonald and Rev. Canon Machray, of St. John’s College, Winnipeg, respectively. His fourth daughter is still unmarried, and two sons are engaged in banking business. It may be added that the learned gentleman’s children are noted for their almost phenomenal beauty.
[Note.—The above facts were with difficulty secured from Mr. Van Koughnet’s family, by whom access was given, after more than one application, to several old family documents, from which the particulars were obtained.]