tendency to assail personal character. This was particularly so after he had been elected for Lambton, in the summer of 1854. The charges which he made were investigated by committees of both branches of the legislature, and although the evidence which he brought forward was far from complete, there is no doubt but that their effect upon the elections of 1854 was considerable, and that they thus indirectly tended to bring about, if they did not actually effect, a change of administration.

In December, 1857, Mr. Brown achieved a great triumph by being returned for the city of Toronto, and the north riding of Oxford at the same time; and in the following July, on the resignation of Mr. Macdonald's administration, on the seat of government question, he was entrusted by the then governor-general with the formation of a new administration. He succeeded in bringing together into his government a dozen gentlemen, who had previously been opposed to one another on almost every leading question in the country, but his ministry, as our readers will remember, only lasted two days. He was again returned for the "Queen City," after a keen contest, having been opposed by the Hon. J. H. Cameron, Q. C., the present member for Peel, and a leading conservative. This constituency he continued to represent until the general election of 1861, when he was defeated, and has now retired into private life. Previous to the last session of Parliament he was seized with a dangerous illness which confined him to his bed, and prevented him from taking part in public affairs and occupying his seat in Parliament; this, together with the unpopularity of his party, and the reaction which has taken place in the public mind in favor of the present administration, no doubt contributed in a great measure to his defeat, and to that of the leading members of his party.

As a journalist, Mr. Brown has at one time and another attacked with great severity, and with an equal amount of ability, almost every public man in the country. He has not, perhaps, been subject to an unusual number of actions for libel. In April, 1854, he was sued by Mr. John White, M.P.P. for Halton, who had been charged in the Globe with having "sold his vote for money." Mr. Brown defended himself with great ability. The jury failed to agree, and there the matter was allowed to drop. In 1849, in an action for libel brought by Colonel Prince for some remarks upon the alleged mismanagement by the latter, as counsel for the defence, in a case of no great importance, damages were recovered, but only to the amount of thirty pounds. In April, 1857, Dr. Workman, superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum in Upper Canada, brought an action against Mr. Brown for having published some remarks reflecting upon his management of that institution. Here, as in the action brought by Mr. White, the jury failed to agree. The steward of the same institution also sued him for libel at the same

time, on account of the same publication; but he was unable to obtain a verdict.

Mr. Brown belongs to the class of men to whom journalism has been a means of personal political advancement. Mr. Hincks, as editor, first of the Examiner, in Toronto, and afterwards of the Pilot, in Montreal, had set the example, and in this respect both can quote as their models Guizot, Thiers, and several of the most eminent statesmen of France, who had similarly profited by their connection with the political press of Paris during the reign of Louis Philippe. Mr. Brown undoubtedly weakened his position as opposition leader for the Upper Canada section by taking office in 1858. The incongruous opinions of his ministers and their wide difference laid them peculiarly open to attack.

As a speaker, Mr. Brown possesses a robust, although not highly refined eloquence. He possesses unflagging energy, industry and perseverance, qualities which have frequently called forth the praise not only of his admirers, but also of his political opponents; as well as a specics of uncontrolled enthusiasm, which sometimes, though not often, unconsciously betrays him into rudeness. His manner, when speaking, is chiefly remarkable for daring courage. He always seems as if he were throwing defiance on all around him. He is fully six feet in height, and he bears, in his outward demeanour and appearance, many of the characteristics which tend to make a prominent as well as an eminent man in Canada.

HON. J. H. CAMERON, Q.C., D.C.L., M.P.P.

THE HON. JOHN HILLYARD CAMERON was born at Beaucaire, Languedoc, France, April 14, 1817-his father, the late Angus Cameron, Esq., paymaster of the Royal Canadian Rifles, being at that time in the 79th Highlanders. Mr. Cameron served with his regiment at Waterloo, and throughout the Peninsular campaign; and in 1825 he came to Canada: he continued to serve with that gallant corps, and afterwards in the R C. Rifles, when they were raised, until his death, in 1845. When the 79th was stationed in Toronto, in 1831, the subject of this sketch, being then in his thirteenth year, was placed at the Upper Canada college. Upper Canada college was then, and for many years, the sole collegiate institution in Western Canada, (for it was not until 1843 that King's college, now the university of Toronto, was opened to the youth of this

province); and the majority of the public men of the present day have at some period of their lives pursued their studies within its time-honored walls. At college, Mr. Cameron carried off some of the highest honors; and thus early gave promise of that brilliant career which has ranked him among his most distinguished alumni. After passing through college, Mr. Cameron entered upon the study of the law under the Hon. Henry John Boulton, and subsequently he served under the present Vice-Chancellor Spragge. While yet a student, he was called upon to bear arms, and during the troubles of 1837 and 1838 he served with the Queen's Rangers. He held the rank of captain in that corps, and for six months he was on the Niagara frontier, and at Navy Island.

On 7th August, 1838, Mr. Cameron was enrolled as an attorney, and in Michaelmas Term of the same year he was called to the bar. In 1838 he formed a partnership with J. Godfrey Spragge, Esq., (now vice-chancellor), and together they commanded a very large and lucrative business. Mr. Cameron's great abilities attracted attention, and he soon took a foremost place among the most distinguished Nisi Prius counsel. Nor was this an easily won position, when it is borne in mind that he had for his compeers Sullivan, Sherwood, H. J. Boulton, Hagerman, Draper, Blake, Hagarty, and other eminent advocates. In 1843 he was appointed reporter to the Court of Queen's Bench, and in 1844, he gave to the legal profession a digest (known as " Cameron's Digest") of all the decided cases of the Court in Banc. In 1845 he published a valuable work of Practice under the title of "Cameron's Rules." Mr. Cameron retained the reportership until 1846, and it may be noted that from his time is dated the first regular record of the decisions of the judges. In 1846 he commenced the publication of the Reports which have since been taken up by Messrs. Lukin and Christopher Robinson, E. C. Jones, and Alexander Grant, respectively, reporters of the courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, and Chancery. In 1846 Mr. Cameron was appointed a Queen's counsel and solicitor-general in Upper Canada, and was then elected a bencher of the Law Society. In 1860, on the death of Sir James Buchanan Macaulay, ex chief-justice of the Common Pleas, Mr. Cameron was elected treasurer of the Law Society.

Mr. Cameron's career as a politician must now be briefly noted. In July, 1846, he was invited to take part in Mr. Draper's administration, and was appointed a Queen's counsel and solicitor-general for Upper Canada, and soon after, on the resignation of Rolland Macdonald, Esquire, he was elected member for Cornwall by a large majority over his opponent, Mr. Mattice. In 1847, on the appointment of Mr. Draper, the then attorney-general for Upper Canada, to a seat on the bench, Mr. Cameron was offered the attorney-generalship, but declined to accept it, as he was desirous that the late Hon. Henry Sherwood should be appointed, believing

that his appointment would heal the division then existing in the conservative ranks. On Mr. Sherwood's acceptance, Mr. Cameron was offered a seat at the council-board, by Lord Elgin, personally, as a mark of special consideration. This was the first instance of a solicitor-general being thus honored. At the general election, in 1848, Mr. Cameron was again elected for Cornwall, and soon after, on the Sherwood administration being beaten on a vote of want of confidence, he resigned the solicitor-generalship. Mr. Cameron continued to represent Cornwall until the end of that Parliament, and did not offer himself for re-election in the new Parliament of 1851. In 1854, he was returned with John G. Bowes, Esquire, for the city of Toronto, which he represented until the end of 1857. On Parliament being dissolved, he did not offer for re-election, although solicited to do so; but in 1858, on the formation of the celebrated two day's Brown-Dorion ministry, he opposed the reelection of the Hon. George Brown for Toronto, and was defeated by a majority of something over 100 votes, out of upwards of 5,000 polled. He again offered himself at the general election of 1861, and is now the representative of the county of Peel,

During the time he has been in Parliament, Mr. Cameron has originated numerous important measures, and there have been few members in our legislature who have left so enduring a memorial on the statute book. He introduced and carried through the legislature the address to the Queen to exempt from the English income tax colonial securities payable in England, the property of colonists, and was successful, while in England, in having the address approved of by the Imperial Government, and such securities have always since been exempted. Mr. Cameron first suggested the invitation to the Queen to visit Canada, and the feasibility of a postal arrangement between England and the United States, for the carriage of the American mails by Canadian packets.

As a strong conservative he opposed the introduction of the elective principle into the Legislative Council, and was one of a small minority who opposed that measure in all its stages. He was the chairman of the committee on the municipal corporation act, and suggested most of the various alterations and amendments which have since been adopted by the commissioners for revising the statutes. Mr. Cameron was one of the commissioners originally appointed for their revision, but he resigned, as his legislative duties interfered with the work; his appointment was, no doubt, made in consequence of his having been a commissioner in 1840, for revising the Statutes of Upper Canada, an honor conferred upon him when he had been only two years at the bar, and the appreciation of his labors by his brother commissioners is shewn in the preface to the revision, and by the executive of the day in the remuneration given to him for his work.

In 1856, Mr. Cameron brought forward the celebrated resolu tions for the production of Mr. Justice Duval's charge in the Corrigan case, and the bold stand taken by him on that occasion called forth the sympathies of the entire Protestant population of the province.

As a firm adherent of the Church of England, Mr. Cameron has always been conspicuous in the advocacy of her rights. He opposed the secularization of the clergy reserves, and when that step was determined on, he was mainly instrumental in securing for her clergy the rights which were reserved to them. The zeal and ability which he then displayed in advocating their interests, and subsequently in the gratuitous management and investment of their commutation moneys, have claimed the lasting gratitude of the clergy. Though repeatedly tendered some substantial recognition of his services, he has declined to receive aught at their hands, save the expression of their heartfelt thanks; but on the contrary he has acted the part of a true churchman by founding a scholarship in Trinity college, for the benefit of the sons of the clergy seeking an university education. Mr. Cameron carried through Parliament the address to the Queen for the removal of the disabilities which prevented synodical action in the Church of England. He prepared and carried through its early stages, the Church Synod Bill, having introduced the petition to the lower house at the head of a procession of the bishop, clergy, and laity of the diocese of Toronto; and when the bill was reserved for the royal assent, he remained several months in England to obtain the Queen's sanction, He had the measure submitted to the opinion of the judicial committee of the Privy Council, and under their advice it was approved by her Majesty. Mr. Cameron rendered valuable aid in the establishment of Trinity college, and subsequently, in connection with J. H. Hagarty, Esquire (now Mr. Justice Hagarty), and the Hon. P M. Vankoughnet, he was appointed to a professorship in the Faculty of Law in that institution. In 1854, he received the honorary degree of D.C.L.

For a period of eight years Mr. Cameron held a seat as alderman in the civic councils of Toronto, and endeavored to the best of his ability, to promote the interests of the city with which his prosperity was so closely identified. In 1845, he was first returned for St. Andrew's ward.

In 1859, he was chosen grand-master of the Orangemen of British North America, and he still retains the important position of head of the order. In 1860, during the visit of the Prince of Wales, Mr. Cameron bore a prominent part in the difficulties between the Duke of Newcastle and the Orange body, and by his influence and exertions contributed largely towards allaying the excitement which at one time threatened to bring the royal visit to an unhappy close.