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of his faculties up to the night preceding his death. As a medical man, few men have been more ardently devoted to the profession he adorned. His general affability and friendly disposition secured for him the sincere regard of the younger members of the profession; whilst his long tried skill secured him the highest position in the estimation of all classes of the community.

HON. MR. CHIEF-JUSTICE REID.

THE HONORABLE JAMES REID filled the judicial office of one of the judges of the Court of Queen's Bench, Lower Canada, for a period of thirty-three years; fifteen of which, he presided as chief-justice, and his administration of its functions during that long period shed a lusire alike upon the tribunal and the judge.

Mr. Reid was admitted to the bar in the year 1794, after a professional career marked by untiring industry and honorable conduct; he was, in May, 1807, raised to the bench, as one of the puisné judges, the duties of which he performed with unsullied dignity, as an upright, impartial, and laborious judge.

In the year, 1823, he was elevated to the office of chief-justice, and presided as such on the bench, until the year 1838, when the weight of declining years warned him to seek that repose which befitted his advanced age, and to enjoy the leisure to which by a long and laborious life, he had become honorably entitled, and he resigned his office. In the discharge of his judicial labors, he was admired for his integrity, firmness, and unconquerable industry. After relinquishing office, Mr. Reid and his family visited Europe, and while in England, the honor of knighthood was offered to him as a mark of the royal approbation of his long and valuable services; but a long life of public service, and a conscientious and faithful discharge of public duty, had secured to him the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and conferred upon him a rank beyond the records of the Herald's office, or the fugitive honors of a title, and he declined accepting it.

As a judge, no man ever possessed more general respect and public confidence during his judicial career, and well did he deserve it; for no man ever devoted himself more conscientiously, with more scrupulous fidelity and zeal to the discharge of public duties. His judgments were admirable for perspicuity of state

ment, conciseness and clearness without being eloquent, in manner they had the full effect of the best eloquence. He possessed a patience which no prolixity could exhaust, an equanimity which nothing could distract. He had much moderation, united with great firmness. His integrity was inflexible; his principles uncompromising.

His professional learning was extensive. It was the judicial accumulation of fifty years steady devotion to the science, as well as practice of jurisprudence. Mr. Reid always entertained the loftiest notions of the dignity and utility of the profession, and (while sitting on the bench) endeavored on all occasions, to diffuse among the members of the bar, a deep sense of its importance and responsibility.

His public life was marked by a most consistent and uniform course. Amidst the frenzy of party spirit and political controversies, which unhappily often agitated the public mind during his official life, he always stood with a steady inflexibility. To no court did he ever truckle; to no party did he ever bend. In private life he was benevolent, charitable, kind, and hospitable. His virtue was stern and inflexible, adjusted, indeed, rather to the vigorous standard of ancient morality, than the less elevated maxims of the modern code. Full of years and honors, he left behind him an example which many of his profession may endeavor to imitate, but very few can hope to excel.

LIEUT.-COLONEL BY, R.E.

SOME notice of this celebrated officer, with whose name is connected, some of the greatest engineering works in the province, and the founding of what is now known as the flourishing city of Ottawa, soon to be the capital of Canada, may prove interesting to a majority of our readers.

From the meagre materials at our disposal, we learn that Colonel By was born about the year 1780. His father held a subordinate capacity in the household of George III.; and it was through his influence, that his son was appointed to the honorable corps, in which he afterwards so distinguished himself. He first came to Canada in the year 1800, when a lieutenant, under the command of Captain, subsequently General Nicoll, R.E.; and shortly after

*See the case of Joseph Fisher, in the American Jurist, p. 297.

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his arrival, was entrusted with the construction of the boat canal, at the Cascades above Montreal, which he successfully accomplished. On his completing this undertaking, he returned to Quebec, and superintended the building of the four martello towers outside the walls of Quebec; and at this time he also got up the celebrated model of that city, which was conveyed to England, and submitted to the Duke of Wellington for inspection.

In 1811, Colonel By proceeded to England, soon after the departure of the governor, Sir James Craig; and again returned in 1826, for the express purpose of constructing the Rideau canal; a work, which the imperial government was resolved to carry out, so that in the event of another war with the Americans, there might be another route, besides the St. Lawrence, for the conveyance of stores and troops to Kingston, as this enterprise in 1812 was a work of no little difficulty and danger. From the "Records of the Royal Engineers," London, we find that, excepting a partial survey made of the line of operations, by Captain Jebb, in 1815, the whole work entirely owes its origination and completion to the ingenuity and skill of By, who, overcoming all obstacles and difficulties, at last fairly accomplished what had been entrusted to him; and had the satisfaction of seeing one of the greatest works in the province fully carried out and set in operation. It was during the time that the Rideau was building, that the first huts were raised by him on the present site of what is now Ottawa city, which even unto this day is known as Bytown.

But some irregularities or mismanagement in the pecuniary affairs of the canal having arisen, and being attributed to him, in August 1832, he proceeded to England to vindicate his conduct; but there, instead of meeting with the reception which he merited, he received nothing but reproaches; and this treatment acting on a naturally weak constitution, finally caused his death. Many affirm that he really died of a broken heart, having looked forward to receiving some royal mark of favor or honor for his successful exertions in carrying out the great work which alone is a mighty evidence of his professional skill and assiduity.

He had married twice; his second wife was a lady of high connections, and one of his daughters married, we believe, Lord Ashburnham. All have now passed away, and the name of By is all that is left of one of whom it may be said, that he did his duty faithfully, and sacrificed himself to his zeal in the service of his sovereign.

HON. AND RIGHT REV. CHAS. J. STEWART.

THE name of this truly excellent and devoted servant of Christ in Canada, who succeeded the first Bishop Mountain in the see of Quebec, deserves the highest place that can be accorded to it in the annals of the Church of England, and in the hearts of the English people of this province.

Often as we witness the wonderful efforts made by the ministry of the Church in its behalf and in the behalf of its people, we rarely, if ever, heard of a character of such self-sacrificing, devout, pious and holy principles, as those held by the late lamented Bishop of Quebec.

Bred as the son of the Earl of Galloway, in all the wealth and luxury that appertain to a scion of a noble house, brought up amidst all the temptations and hazards which beset the path of the young and noble, in their progress through college and the university, (and he might have aspired to the highest places in the many worldly employments held forth to the sons of the aristocratic families of England), he passed through the two first ordeals unscathed; and pure and spotless in character, through no worldly motives except to do good to his fellow creatures, he entered the ministry as a meek servant and instrument of God. With such purposes in view he came to this country, and endured direst privations as a missionary, passing from one place to another in the depth of winter, without perhaps, (in those days, many years ago), a prospect of a shelter for his head, or a bed for his wearied body; and, even when raised to the high and important office as head of the church of this province, when age and sickness had crept upon him, he continued in the good work, going from one place to another, never wearied, never heedful of his own health, but all intent on the welfare of his flock and people; until finally, a not very strong constitution was undermined, and death closed his earthly labors. Beyond doubt he has met with his reward, for seldom did mortal ever strive, work, suffer and endure more to the service of his Divine Master than did the zealous and upright Bishop Stewart.

Bishop Stewart was the fifth son of the Earl of Galloway, and was born on the 13th of April, 1775. He was educated at Galloway House, in Wigtonshire, Scotland, by a private tutor, until he was old enough to enter Oxford, and here he graduated as M.A., in 1799, and was afterwards ordained to the holy ministry. His first charge was that of Orton Longueville and Botolph Bridge, near Peterborough, where he remained for eight years; and shortly

afterwards, having offered himself to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, he was appointed to the mission of St. Armand, in the Eastern Townships. Here there was not the semblance of a church; and the first service which he held, was performed in a room in the village inn. But he soon built a church at his own expense; and it might not be out of place here to mention that during the time he was in Canada, he spent the whole of his private fortune in the service of the church and in assisting the poor and distressed. He remained in the Eastern Townships until 1819, when he was appointed visiting missionary in the diocese of Quebec. During the time he remained in the Eastern Townships, he did much good to the cause he served; and promoted the erection of many churches in different parts of the country. In his new position, a wider field and a larger scope was opened for his exertions. The diocese then included the whole of Canada; and this extensive space of country had to be traversed by the valiant missionary in days when there did not exist any of the comforts and conveniences which characterize modern Canada. In 1817, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from Oxford.

He continued in his office of visiting missionary until the year 1825, when Bishop Mountain died, and Doctor Stewart was nominated to the vacant see. He accordingly proceeded to England; and, on 1st January, 1826, was consecrated Bishop of Quebec, in Lambeth Palace, by Archbishop Sutton, assisted by numerous high dignitaries of the church. In the following May, Bishop Stewart returned to Canada, and was installed in the Cathedral of Quebec. It were almost superfluous to proceed further in detailing his history; his course continued much the same all through his life. He was a most zealous servant and soldier of Christ, a noble disinterested being, endowed with rich qualities of heart and mind, and a mouth that spoke no guile. His death occurred on the 13th of July, 1837, at London, in England, whither he had proceeded through extreme ill-health; and he was buried in the family vault at Kensal Green. His decease occasioned deep and universal regret in Canada. We may say he spent the greater part of his lifetime in this country, and devoted it entirely to the service in which he was engaged. He made several visits to England, which were always destined for some good object in connexion with the church. To his indefatigable efforts in its behalf may be truly ascribed, to a considerable extent, its present high and important standing.

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