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Cornell Aniversity Library

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME
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“AMT
THE HONORABLE JUDGE WILMOT.
 

Hon. L. A. WiLMot, D.C.L.
THE

HON. JUDGE WILMOT:

A Biographical Sketch.

x

BY

REV. J. LATHERN.

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH BY REV. D. D. CURRIE.

REVISED EDITION.

 

TORONTO:
MeEtTHopIsT Book AND PUBLISHING Housk.
HALIFAX:
MeETHODIST Book-Room.

1881.
8

 

—_
vi INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.

have been within his reach.* These he has carefully
and successfully utilized in the volume before us.
From my earliest years, until the removal of Judge
Wilmot from the scenes of earth, it was my privilege
to look upon him under various circumstances and
from different standpoints. When, in the town in
which he lived, my boyhood years were gliding away,
he was rapidly attaining prominence and popularity.
He early acquired extensive fame as a barrister and as
an eloquent pleader in the courts. He was then a cen-
tral figure in the Legislature of New Brunswick. The
memories of old electioneering campaigns, when the
polls were open for sixteen days in succession, and at
a later period for eight days, linger yet. Often, during
these times, the wild fires of intense excitement
burned fiercely enough. Though, on several occasions,
violently and maliciously opposed, he was never de-
feated in an election. In the militia trainings, which
in the present day are almost unknown, he was a
prominent actor. And in most of the moral and social
enterprises of the town he was an enthusiastic leader.
During the earlier part of Judge Wilmot’s political

* Probably no other person has had facilities equal to those of Mr.
Lathern for forming an accurate estimate of Judge Wilmot’s inner-life
and of his earnest purposes. For more than a score of years a very
close intimacy existed between them.

2
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. vii

career these Provinces passed through an important
crisis. For a half century the Province of New
Brunswick had been under the sway of an intolerant
and irresponsible family-compact Government. The
statute-book was stained with enactments involving
invidious distinctions, adverse to the rights and liber-
ties of so-called “ dissenters,” and “ dissenting” minis-
ters. During the first fifty years of the history of
New Brunswick no “dissenter” was honoured with a
commission as a Justice of the Peace—except under
very ordinary circumstances. In the earlier part of
his political career a change was working in the public
mind in these Provinces. He was the mouth-piece of
his time in New Brunswick. His period furnished
him with materials. There were social and political
forces at work, and he was borne on by them. Behind
him was a mighty impulse; he was the man of the
hour; and he was true to the call of right, and of duty,
and of God. Bravely he battled for larger liberty and
for “responsible government.” Fiercely he was as-
sailed by foul slanders of various kinds. But the
principles for which he contended were triumphant ;
and, for himself, he won a permanent place on the roll
of his country’s greatest men.

Judge Wilmot possessed almost all the qualities
which are indispensable to oratory of the highest merit.
vill INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.

His greatest defect, perhaps, was that he did not use
his pen enough. He had a commanding presence. He
had a rich, ringing, orotund voice, possessing great
volume and strength. His memory enabled him to
recall facts and incidents with great facility. His
imagination was equal to any emergency. He was
earnest, impulsive, enthusiastic. He was a master of
fiery and brilliant invective; and, when an extraordin-
ary occasion demanded, could with tremendous vigour
wield against an assailant the fiercest weapons of sar-
casm or ridicule. He did not confine his reading and
his studies to one profession or to one department of
life. He rather preferred a wider range of investiga-
tion and research. He had broad views of great
questions. While, sometimes, there was an impulsive-
ness and rashness in him, still mature deliberation led
to his recognition and acknowledgement of the truth
on all sides. He would listen to novel propositions,
weigh them candidly, dispassionately, and purely upon
their merits. He would never contend for dogmas
because they were old, nor for political parties because
they were respectable. For the truth he sought. The
truth he never would abandon. And, probably, if
need had been at any time, he would for the truth
have laid down his life.

As a barrister he was accustomed to rest his argu-
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. ix

ments on a few leading general principles of right, and
truth, and justice, giving but little attention to what
he regarded as the smaller points of his case. In
political life he disliked manceuvyres, side issues and
flank movements; and preferred direct assaults, and
an open battle, on a fair field. Although these quali-
ties were sometimes not the most successful, and in-
volved delay if not defeat, yet in the end with think-
ing men they gave him popularity and power. And
they brought victory to the cause for which he con-
tended.

To have been associated with Judge Wilmot as a
member of his Society class, as a teacher of his Sab-
bath-school, and in later life as a pastor for three
years of the Church in Fredericton, in which he held
several important positions, is regarded by me as one
of the highest privileges both of my early and mature
days. During those three years he was the Lieut.-
Governor of the Province. He was one of the most
considerate, kindly, and sympathising church members
with whom at any time it has been my privilege to be
associated. No man could more easily recognize de-
fects in pulpit efforts; none could more quickly per-
ceive the chief purpose of a preacher's heart ; and none
would more generously make proper allowances for
the difficulties with which an earnest teacher had to
x INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.

grapple than he. As the Superintendent of the Sab-
bath-school, as a class-leader, as the leader of the choir,
and in other positions as a church-member, his fidelity,
his consistency, and his gentleness, were a perpetual
example and an inspiration. ‘

According to inspired Isaiah, the Lord, sometimes in
judgment, gives to a wayward or a rebellious people
weak men for rulers ; and, at other times, in his loving
kindness, he gives “the mighty man, and the man of
war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and
the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the elo-
quent orator.” Judge Wilmot was an agent raised up
by the Supreme Ruler to perform an important work.
The genius, the fair-mindedness, the fervour, the
pathos, the Christian simplicity, and the splendour of
his long and useful life, in the State and in the Church,
are not memories merely, but influences,—permanent
lights and forces which have helped to mould the life
of many who have passed away, and which are still
shaping the destinies of many now living. This book
will, it is hoped, help to perpetuate not only the
memory, but also the influence of that pure and noble
life.
 

CONTENTS.

CHapP. PaGE
TPB RSO NAL ooo nc.ac cea ihaeamler Silee het ee Ree boaeamuens 1
II. PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL ................... 21

Ill. JUDGE AND GOVERNOR.......... eee 67

IV. CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK...................... 99
“Only I think it well, in lives from which we wish to learn, to look
out for the strong points; being confident that weak ones will reveal
themselves.”—Rev. F. D. Maurice’s Lecture on Edmund Burke, quoted
from memory.
 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

OF THE

HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

 

Tee
PERSONAL.

‘To such a name
Preserve a broad approach of fame.”
— Tennyson.

NS HREE thousand years ago the tower of David
C. was built for an armoury wherein were hung,
in thousands, the shields of his mighty men.
Like the battle-flags in Westminster Abbey, consecrated
‘by proud historical recollections and associations, they
were preserved as memorials of inspiring heroic deeds,
Athenians and Spartans, after the battles of Marathon
and Thermopyle, felt that they had a nobler character
to sustain and a grander destiny to work out. Ancient
Romans were accustomed, in their halls and homes, in
statuary, to preserve the forms and features of illus-
A
2 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

trious ancestors ; and to them the sculptured marble was
an eloquent incentive to patient endurance and reso-
lute achievement. Mysterious and moulding influences,
and the potent energy of example and sentiment, were
not limited to sacred and classic lands and races.
They are common to every age, and run along the
whole line of our being.

“It is a homage due to departed worth, whenever
it rises to such a height as to render its possessor an
object of attention, to endeavour to rescue it from
oblivion ; so that when it is removed from the obser-
vation of men, it may still live in their memory, and
transmit through the shades of the sepulchre, however
faint, some reflection of its living lustre.”*

Amongst the most distinguished of our colonists,
by common consent, was the Honourable Judge Wilmot
—the subject of this sketch. “He possesses,” accord-
ing to contemporary and competent estimate, “ brilliant
powers; and as a public speaker ranks with the most
eloquent in British America.” +

There have been two groups of men—the Puritan
settlers of New England and the United Empire Loy-
alists—in whom we recognize the stamp of the very
highest qualities of mind and manhood, and of unself-
ish heroism ; and the best blood of both these classes
was in his veins. By one line of lineage he was of
direct descent from the men who first touched Ply-
mouth Rock: “I traced my ancestry,” he said, “to
those who landed on the shores of New England in

* Robert Hall. +N. A, Review.
PERSONAL. 3

the Mayrower.” He was also a descendant of the
United Empire Loyalists—these heroic men and
women, exiles of the Revolution, who, feeling that
they could net sever themselves from the traditions
and flag of their own proud nationality, from the un-
broken forests of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Ontario, undauntedly hewed homes for themselves
and their children; and again, as with the Pilgrim
Fathers,
‘<The sounding aisles of the dim wocds rang
To the anthem of the free.”

“Our United Empire Loyalists kept their loyalty
during seven long years of contlict and sutiering; and
that lovalty. with courage and enterprise, and under
toils and privations unsurpassed in human history,
sought a refuge and a home in the wilderness of
Canada, felled the forests cf our country. and laid the
foundations of its freedom and prosperity.” *

The vital principle of attachment to the laws and
institutions of the land in which we live. veneration
for a constitution and government that guarantee the
fullest measure and perpetuity of civil and religious
freedom, the healthy glow of race and nationality, and
of proud ancestral achievement, with deeply cherished
traditions and convictions, became the most potent
mouldinz force in many a lovalists colonial home.

From the ardent patriotism ty which L A. W. was
always distinguished, it might almost seem as if the

* Dr. E. Ryerson, vol. IL. pp. 449.
4 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

spirit of all the Loyalist race had come to him asa rich
ancestral dower.

Lemuel Allan Wilmot was born January 31st,
1809. His native place was Sunbury, on the St. John
River, the first home of many Loyalist families in the
Province of New Brunswick. He wasa son of William
Wilmot, Esq., member of the Legislative Assembly,
and grandson of Major Lemuel Wilmot,* formerly of
the Loyal American Regiment, who settled in the
Forest Province.

Colonel Murray, known to the older residents of
St. John, grandfather of Hon. R. L. Hazen, of whom a
fine oil painting, by Copley, is preserved in the Hazen
branch of the family, was the great-grandfather of
Hon. L. A. Wilmot. The gallant colonel was on the
Royalist side in the revolutionary war, which by all
Loyalists was regarded as rebellion. He had, on one
occasion, a narrow escape from capture by Colonial
troops. Foiled in their search, a bayonet was run
through his portrait—the gash of which can still be
seen.

* The first instalment of Loyalists reached St. John—then Parr’s
Town, chiefly covered with scraggy spruce and swamp—May, 1783.
About five thousand, and amongst them Major Lemuel Wilmot, landed
that summer at the same place. They mostly settled along the banks
of the St. John River, as far up as the mouth of the Nashwaak. The
opposite point, where Fredericton now stands, and which was scarcely
reached by the first wave of immigration, was known as St. Ann’s.
There still stood the forest primeval. The whole country was known
as Sunbury, county of Nova Scotia. In November, 1784, the Province

of New Brunswick was proclaimed, and the first Government organized,
by Colonel Thomas Carleton, brother of Sir Guy.
PERSONAL. 5

The mother of Mr. Wilmot, sister of the late Judge
Bliss, died when he was only eighteen months old.
She was a lady of very superior intelligence, cultured
mind and taste, and of pure and noble worth of charac-
ter. He often touchingly alluded to the fact that he
had never known, in his own life, the tenderness and
sweetness of a mother’s Jove; but, in her early depar-
ture from earth, felt that there had come to him arich
legacy of affectionate and prayerful solicitude. There
is good reason to believe that varied and brilliant quali-
ties were ina measure hereditary. Through several of
its gifted members the family with which maternally
he was connected claimed considerable distinction.
His father, of whom it has been said that from
memory he could recite the whole of Dr. Watts’ hymns,
was a hymnodist before the days of hymnology; and
in this fact may be found an explanation of the poetic
taste of his more gifted son.

The earliest fact of L. A. Wilmot’s boyhood
which has come under notice was attendance at Gov-
ernment House, for the purpose of receiving instruc-
tion in music and singing, with a view to service in the
choir of Christ Church. He was trained personally
by Lieutenant-Governor Smythe. The early advan-
tage thus afforded was doubtless an important contri-
bution to the cultivation of gifts that were afterwards
nobly consecrated to the service of the Church.

Before entering college, while habits of life were
in their first formative process, Lemuel was sent to
reside for a time in a purely French community.
6 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

The primitive simplicity, gentle and truthful manners
of the habitants had for him a special charm; and,
from natural temperament, he was peculiarly suscep-
tible to influences with which he was now in close and
constant contact. To the last there were vivacity of
speech and animation of gesture that may in part have
been due to the moulding force of life at Madawaska.
During that time he heard and spoke only one lan-
guage; and, if not for purity of style, for the excellence
attained: in its use, and for ease and flow of expression,
he may have been indebted to that early educational
advantage. It has been mentioned by a gentleman of
distinguished professional eminence, who accompanied
him on a visit to Laval University, that priest and
professor were charmed with their visitor ; and that,
conversing in French, there was all the ease, fluency
and vivacity of one “to the manner born.”

The University College at Fredericton afforded
valuable educational facilities. In his collegiate course
he earned the reputation of a diligent and successful
student. The Greek and Latin Epics, the Iliad of
Homer and the Mneid of Virgil, which he is said to’
have read with exact and pure accent and quantity and
smoothness of elocution, were a source of unmingled
mental gratification. He also achieved the then
scarcely less coveted and reputable distinction of being
“the best swimmer, skater, runner, wrestler, boatman,
drill-master, speaker and musician” of the time. From
his Alma Mater, on which his eminent career reflected
lustre, he subsequently received the honorary degree
PERSONAL. 7

of D.C.L. In 1834, having but recently been admitted
to the Bar, he was enthusiastically elected to the House
of Assembly, and was for many years the leader of
the Liberal party.* In 1844 he became a member of
the Executive Council ; and for three years, from 1848,
was Attorney-General and Premier of the Province.
He “attended, with Sir Edmund Head, a meeting of the
Canadian Government at Toronto on colonial ques-
tions ; and again, at Halifax, of the Governments of
Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, on the
subject of collegiate reform. In 1849 he consolidated
the criminal laws of the Province; and in 1850, the
laws relating to towns, counties and parishes.”+ In
1851 he was appointed one of the Judges of the
Supreme Court ; and under the Act for the Federation
of the Colonies into the Dominion of Canada, 1868, in
recognition of valuable public services, and of com-
manding and conspicuous qualities of intellect and
character, was made the first Lieutenant-Governor of
his native Province. He was also, in association with
Palmerston, Gladstone, and other eminent men, a Vice-

* Through courtesy of J. W. Lawrence, Esq., of St. John, as these
pages are passing through the press, several dates have been commu-
nicated : L. A. Wilmot ‘‘ was admitted attorney, 1830 ; barrister, 1832;
elected ‘for York County, on death of Wm. Taylor, June 16, 1834;
delegate to England shortly after ; Attorney-General, on death of Hon.
C.J. Peters, May 24, 1848; delegate to Portland R. R. Convention,
1850 ; candidate for last time, 1850 ; appointed Judge, on resignation
of Chief Justice Chipman, and elevation of Judge Carter, January 8,
1851.”

+ Vide ‘Parliamentary Companion.”
8 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

President of one of the leading British institutions ;
successor of the Rt. Hon. Mr. Childers, M.P., on the
Prince Edward Island Land Commission ; a member
of the University Senate, and gave much time and
thought to the promotion of educational interests.

Another department of public service, to which
great importance was attached, and in which brilliant
distinction was achieved, claims a fuller notice. He
was Lieutenant-Colonel of Militia, and always found
time for efficient drill. Considering the enthusiasm
carried into all military exercises, it would not have
been surprising had he adopted that profession. A
very natural remark of a Governor-General, on a visit
to Fredericton, received with military honours, was
that “he must have missed his calling, and should have
taken to the sword rather than the gown.” With the
bearing of a superb cavalry officer, and a voice which
on parade ground rang out like the blast of a bugle,
he had all the qualities needed for command.

Militia training days, of which we hear nothing
now, were then greatly in vogue in Fredericton. They
were the gala days of the capital and surrounding
country. The old spirit of the Loyalist was then fully
awake. The national banner was proudly unfurled.
A band of music poured forth martial and popular
strains. The carriages of official and aristocratic fami-
lies rolled grandly through the streets. For special
celebration an ox was roasted on the open square or
adjoining field, and it mended the cheer of the day. The
rank and file of militia carried their old-fashioned and
PERSONAL, 9

clumsy muskets. But the cavalry, in showy uniform
and immense helmets, as they dashed from point to
point, made a grand impression; and even their chargers,
some of which had recently been released from dray
or plough, showed to good advantage on that holiday
parade. For the admiration of spectators, the rifles in
green were rivals of the horsemen. But the artillery,
stationed on the bank of the river, excited the keenest
interest. Their operations looked like real war. The
boom of cannon sounded as the roar of battle. The
excitement culminated when, in mimic warfare, they
had to defend their guns from a sudden onslaught of
troopers. A sham fight on one occasion was arranged
between the militia and regular soldiers of the garri-
son. In memory of a great battle fought over again
on that day, the place of conflict, a little below the
Cathedral, has ever since been named “Salamanca.’*

In all militia movements L. A. Wilmot took
a prominent part. He was, in later years, Colonel of
the 1st York Battalion. He raised and commanded
‘a troop of volunteer dragoons, that performed dispatch
duty pending border difficulties, 1838-9. Communica-
tion was thus ensured between the capital and the
frontier; and, at the same time, precautions were taken
for the rapid blockade of any forest path through
which a hostile force might seek to advance. He also
organized and commanded a troop of dragoons for
escort duty to the Prince of Wales on his visit to this

* «Reminiscences of an Old Inhabitant,” in Reporter, Dec. 1st, 1880.
A*
10 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

country in 1860. The service was rendered in a style
that challenged general admiration; and the Lieu-
tenant-Colonel received, in the most cordial and grati-
fying form, the thanks of His Royal Highness. A
cavalry corps trained by him was for a long time the
pride of the city, and two men of that corps became
afterwards colonels of cavalry in the army of the
United States.

-«“The ex-Governor may be said to have been a
public man all his life, for he had scarcely left the
student’s desk in the law office of Mr. Putnam, before
the County of York elected him to a seat in the House
of Assembly, and he at once gave evidence of that
brilliancy of talent which made him conspicuous
throughout the course of a very eventful career. He
will ever be regarded as a most prominent figure in
the political history of his country, and posterity never
can thank him enough for the part he took in securing
civil rights and liberties. These days were days of
struggle that the present generation knows little about,
and the Judge was always in the front of the fight.
The seclusion of the Bench did not remove him from
the eyes of the public, as he continued prominent as a
lecturer and orator, and some of the best and finest
efforts of his life were made during the years he wore
the judicial ermine. Take him all in all, our country,
perhaps, has never produced his counterpart. Of
wonderful versatility, eloquent and mighty in speech,
scathing and withering in sarcasm, sparkling, humorous
and magnetic in conversation, the lamented ex-Gov-
PERSONAL. 11

ernor seemed to stand one by himself. Before and
since his death Royal honours have been heaped upon
Canadians not half as much entitled to them for what
they did for their country as he,andno provincialist ever
more deserved a public monument at the hands of his
countrymen. The illustrious part he took in the advo-
cacy and accomplishment of Responsible Government
alone entitles him to such a monumental recognition.
If Judge Wilmot had been an American citizen, such a
monument would long since have been erected to his
memory, side by side with Daniel Webster and Henry
Clay, either in Central Park, New York, or on Boston
Common.”*

It rarely falls to the lot of any distinguished
colonist to act the varied part, or to discharge the mul-
tifarious duties, which devolved upon Hon. L. A.
Wilmot. Yet, such was the splendour and versatility
of gifts and of genius, that in each appearance upon
the stage of public action, and through successive
scenes, the impression produced upon spectators was
generally that of signal and special qualification. But
the highest fame achieved, in which he can scarcely
be said to have had any successor, is mainly due to an
extraordinary gift and power of eloquence. He had
the advantage of a commanding personal presence—un-
failing resource of speech, adequate to the widest range
of political discussion—the instincts and intuitions of
genuine statesmanship—readiness in debate and apti-

* Fredericton Reporter.
12 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

tude of reply—ability at will to wield a polished
weapon of satire—a brilliant wit, which, like the harm-
less summer lightning, for mere amusement, played
around the subject, or, in moments of intensity, gleamed
forth with sudden and scathing stroke—a magnificent
voice, in lightest whisper audible to any assembly, and
in impassioned declamation rolling into thunder-peal.
These were amongst the important qualifications which,
in any arena of statesmen and parliamentary orators,
ordinarily command proud distinction and ensure ac-
knowledged success. By gentlemen who listened to his
great speeches in the Provincial Assembly—in conten-
tion for constitutional liberty and the overthrow of
monopoly—familiar with debates in the English House
of Commons, it has been asserted that never, accord-
ing to their judgment, had his greater efforts been sur-
passed.

Where upon the bright roll of fame shall the
name of L. A. Wilmot find permanent record? Can
we challenge for him high and honourable rank
amongst the great and most gifted men of his country
and time? The reply may be found in answer to
other questions germane to the subject. By what
acknowledged standard must the value of life and life-
work be determined? What is the correct criterion
of greatness or of genius? Is it mental power? moral
worth? commanding influence? In what fineness or
purity of mold must the cast of such mind have been
taken? Is it essential to our ideal of greatness that
elements of inventive and constructive genius should
combine in given measure and equal proportion ?
PERSONAL. 13

Ought affinities of mind and character to be of a nature
sufficiently powerful to control and crystallize the
active and moving forces and influences with which
they may be brought into contact? Is it an indis-
pensable condition, that thrown to the front, when
mediocrity sinks back to obscurity, he shall prove
equal to the occasion? Should not the mission of such
a life be signalized in deepening the chanuels of human
thought and broadening the boundaries of freedom ?
Must not a prominent actor in a social and political
revolution put the permanent stamp and impress of
his mind upon the place and period in which he lives ?
There have been few public men who, on the whole,
had less reason to fear the application of searching,
stringent test than had the leader of political reform
in the Province of New Brunswick. In the old days
of brilliant political debate, while the glamour of elo-
quenee was still over the vision of admirers, few would
have doubted the validity of his claim to an enduring
distinction. The great work of his public life, however,
and that by which its special value and permanent
status must be tested and determined, has yet to be
indicated. Were chiselled column or niche in trophied
temple needed for national commemoration, it might
be appropriately inscribed: Executive Responsibility.
That great harmonizing principle of constitutional
government, impressed upon the institutions of his
country, carries with it an imperishable record :
‘© A life in civic action warm ;
A soul on highest mission sent ;

A potent voice in Parliament ;
A pillar steadfast in the storm.”
14 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

In the course of this sketch, brief passages have
been culled from available published reports. These
specimens of eloquence have been reproduced, on this
memorial page, under considerable sense of restraint.
One cannot but feel, from the force of concurrent
testimony, that they convey but a poor idea of the
living orator, of the thunder that shook the Legislative
Hall, and of powerful appeals that roused listening
crowds to sympathetic action. Reports of political
speeches, as they appeared in Provincial papers cf that
time, at the very best were meagre and unsatisfactory.
In the case of L. A. Wilmot, copiousness of style and
fluency of utterance constituted a special difficulty.
Expansion and amplification are essential to the suc-
cess of popular or parliamentary oratory. When these
were mentioned as defects in the style of Pitt, the
great Commoner claimed that “every person who
addressed a public assembly, and was anxious to make
an impression on particular points, must either be
copious on some points, or repeat them, and copious-
ness is to be preferred to repetition.” Mr. Wilmot had
the advantage of an opulent vocabulary. His oratory
had qualities of expansion ; and in this fact, as well
as in that spell of speech which few reporters could
“resist, may be found an explanation of printed meagre-
ness. Fragments of speeches, such as have been pre-
served, are quite likely to furnish as accurate an idea
of an unknown writer’s composition as of the affluent
style and pure diction of the honourable member to
whom they are assigned.
PERSONAL. 15

My own acquaintance with the Honourable Judge
Wilmot dates back to the closing part of the year
1855. By Dr. Beecham of London, who in a recent
visit to the Eastern Provinces had made his acquaint-
ance, he was spoken of in the most appreciative
manner ; and, in accordance with that competent and
exalted estimate, a very high anticipation had been
cherished. After a first cold sleigh-drive from the city
of St. John—every incident of which has been inde-
libly impressed upon the reccllection of that period,
then recently arrived from England—a cordial wel-
come was received at Evelyn Grove. The Judge was
then in the golden prime of life. Tall and straight
in form, of light elastic step and graceful attitude—a
rapid, searching glance—keen, restless, flashing eye—
exquisitely chiselled teatures—a lofty forehead, firmly
compressed lips, indicative of resolute purpose—a com-
manding presence and beaming kindliness of manner,
accompanied by a ceaseless flow of sparkling speech,
made up a most impressive and fascinating personnel.

In the admirably executed likeness by which this
volume is accompanied, his personal appearance as
delineated will be readily recognized. But it will
also be apparent to all who were long acquainted with
the subject, that the portrait belongs to a period of
which it is said that “the almond tree shall flourish.”
There are the beauty and the blossoming of ripe and
venerable years. Advancing age and excessive severity
of nerve-pain wrought a marked change during the last
decade of life. In any public effort that might be
16 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

attempted, instead of former vigour and elasticity,
there was rapid exhaustion of strength; and, as the
consequence, sometimes a good deal of subsequent
suffering. The voice, once round, full, sonorous, be-
came lighter and thinner in its range and volume.
The eye, though not dim, scarcely sparkled with its old
light and fire. There were some other signs, not to be
mistaken, of growing physical feebleness. But still the
likeness is an accurate and a speaking one; and, vastly
more than mere description, it is eloquent in expression,
Beautiful glow and benignity of countenance, well
brought out and retained in the work of the artist,
are a true and faithful index to commanding qualities
of mind and of character. As in the reflection of a
glowing lamp, through a delicate and transparent
vase, a pure light suffuses and softly rests upon the
finely-moulded features. But in earlier years, and in
the eager excitement of political or of professional
contest, there was a mobility of face that marvellously
corresponded with restless mental activity, and with
changeful moods of the moment. The brow, which
seems placid and serene as the summer morning, would
then at times gather toa cloud. In denunciation of
wrong, of injustice, or of falsehood, there was a well-
remembered expression that darkened into the severity
of strong indignation.

Retirement from the arena of politics at the
time of that visit referred to, release from professional
business pressure, and easy competence secured by his
elevation to the Bench, afforded opportunity for the
PERSONAL. 17

gratification of horticultural and literary tastes; and,
such was the activity of mental constitution, exuber-
ance of temperament and fluency of utterance, that all
the passionate purposes and governing impulses of life
were at once revealed. Never, has it sometimes seemed,
was there such lavish expenditure of intellectual re-
source, and of wealth of conversation, as on those days
of delightful and profitable intercourse. Then was
mooted for the first time, as far as my acquaintance
with the subject was concerned, the idea of a British
American Federation to comprise all the Provinces from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Acadia was the name
suggested for the new nationality. There was also the
more magnificent conception of an Imperial union.
He believed, with Lord Durham, that “the British
Colonies were like foreign nations to each other with-
out any of the benefits of diplomatic association.”
But with Canada, Australia, India, and all the other
Colonies united to each other, bound firmly to the
Mother Country, constituting an Empire to comprise
all British dominions, through which should course the
same pulsation of constitutional life, over which should
wave the same time-honoured national banner, there
would be guarantee of security—for no part could
with impunity be attacked ; and there would be sub-
stantial economical advantages, for Imperial policy
would be shaped with a view to the conservation and
promotion of all varied interests. One of those pro-
jects, though at the time deemed a little visionary, has
18 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

already become an accomplished fact. What of the
possibilities of the Imperial idea ?

From that time, in pastoral relation, while sta-
tioned in the city of Fredericton, in frequent visits, in
closely confidential friendship, in unbroken correspon-
dence through all the years between, there has been
opportunity afforded for forming an estimate of his
life and character. That there were impulses, by
which at times he was borne along into imprudent.
courses, was only too plain and a matter of regret to
his best friends; but these defects, almost inseparable
from the intensity and natural impetuosity of his
character, were all upon the surface. Those who knew
him best could most readily excuse an imprudence of
impulse, and could best appreciate the genuine worth
and the nobleness of soul by which he was always
distinguished.

In view of his representative character as a distin-
guished colonist; the rare and splendid gifts by which
he was so richly endowed, the wide space which for a
lifetime he filled in the eyes of the community ; the
influential and responsible positions which long and
honourably he occupied ; the forty years of continuous
service in discharge of political, judicial, and govern-
mental duties; the high-toned principle uniformly
exhibited through the whole of his public career; the
consistency of his course and character through a
protracted and sometimes stormy life; the extent to
which many young men, now widely scattered, were
influenced by his generous impulses, intense enthusi-
PERSONAL. 19

asm, burning words, and deeds of noble, beautiful
worth ; for the sake of still greater good, it has been
much desired that there should be permanence and
perpetuation of influence and of soul-stirring memories.

“ One of the noblest characters in colonial annals
is that of the late Judge Wilmot. As a statesman, a
patriot, and a Christian, he was a man of shining mark.
He had a cultured literary taste, and was a ready and
forcible speaker, rising at times into a commanding
eloquence of style. He was a man of tall and noble
presence, of mobile intellectual features lit up with
keen bright eyes. Amid the political conflicts of great
constitutional crises, in which he was the foremost
leader, he held high his name and fame, unaspersed
even by the rancour of party strife. He was at once
a great liberal leader, who guided his country into an
era of constitutional liberty, and a man of staunchest
loyalty to the person and crown of his sovereign.
More than any man we ever met, he realized our ideal
of the gallant Bayard, a preux chevalier—without fear
and without reproach. He possessed in a remarkable
degree the magic gift of successful leadership—the
power of inspiring confidence, enthusiasm, and devo-
tion in his followers and associates. No history of his
native country can be complete which does not devote
a large space to his work and influence. It is, there-
fore, especially beseeming that on his removal from
the busy stage on which he has played so grand a part,
the story of his life should be recorded, and its lessons
20 . HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

gathered up as a permanent legacy for his Church and
country. So many-sided was this life, through so
many channels did it pour its influence, that it is only
by looking at it from various aspects, and tracing
these various channels, that one gets an adequate idea
of its grand symmetry and multifarious activity.”*

* Editor Canadian Methodist Magazine.

 
 

Ii.

PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL.

‘*That noble figure, every look of whose countenance is expressive,
every motion of whose form is graceful, an eye that sparkles and pierces,
and almost assures victory, while it speaks audience ere the tongue !”
—Brougham.

.

N 1832, L. A. Wilmot—the initial letters of
whose name formed the word Law, and often
in that style used for signature—having suc-

cessfully and satisfactorily completed the requisite
course of preliminary study, was admitted to the Bar
of New Brunswick, and in 1838 was created Queen’s
Counsel. It must not be supposed that, with all his
brilliant gifts and splendid endowments, he could with-
out difficulty conquer success. Though afterwards one.
of the most fluent of speakers, endowed with all the
natural attributes of a consummate orator, and every
grace of style and attitude, yet asa student, singularly
enough, for a time he had to contend with impediment
of speech. “What! you,” his father is reported to have
said, in reference to an early expression of preference
for the legal profession, “with a stammering tongue,
aspire to the dignity of a pleader!” But from the
22 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

first there was the consciousness of power ; and, if he
could not be a Demosthenes, undaunted by an obstacle
overcome by the most renowned of all orators, he aimed
at the very highest distinctions of his chosen profession.
“There is no royal road to learning,” he said, years
afterwards, in one of his brief but brilliant Encenia
addresses. “We speak not of the Empire, but of the
Republic of letters. In this domain there are no here-
ditary honours. Distinctions can only be achieved by
individual effort. Each competitor must win and wear.”
On that and similar occasions, in the same strain, he
no doubt spoke from remembrance of early obstacles
overcome by’ assiduous application. “ With whatever
faculties,” says an eminent writer, “ we are born, and
to whatever studies our genius may direct us, studies
they must still be. I am persuaded that Milton did
not write his Paradise Lost, nor Homer his Iliad, nor
Newton his Principia, without intense labour :

Some will lead to courts, and some to camps ;
To Senates some :

but, whatever the pathway of life may be, and what-
ever profession may have the preference, only by
patient and laborious pursuit can the summit of ex-
cellence be attained.”

The popularity which L. A. Wilmot achieved as a
pleader was of a most unique and exciting character.
In that lordly arena, where justice presides, the gifted
and brilliant men who have coveted and contended for
professional pre-eminence and distinction have not been
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 23

few ; but his influence with juries was more extraordi-
nary, and his success in pleading more splendid, than
that of any lawyer who up to that time had practised
at the New Brunswick bar. The magnetism of noble
and graceful personal presence ; the fire, force and un-
rivalled felicity of forensic eloquence; the versatility
and daring of genius; the faculty of cleaving a way
straight to the core of the subject; a pathos which
thrilled, melted and subdued ; mastery of potent in-
vective and power of terrific exposure, which, when
concentrated into scornful and indignant denunciation
of a mean and contemptible action, gleamed and scathed
like forked lightning and rankled like a barbed arrow,
were employed according to the exigencies of the case.
They were all calculated to enforce legal argument, and
to ensure a verdict in favour of his client. The fact
has frequently been mentioned that during his practice
at the bar he rarely losta case. The very atmosphere
of court, at other times serene and severely judicial,
became charged with the electricity of his spirit and
speeches; and, for the most grave and dignified Judge,
it was not always easy to prevent or suppress demon-
stration of popular feeling, thrilled and moved by re-
sistless eloquence, to sympathy or indignant scorn.
“ As an advocate at the Bar,” says the writer of a brief
sketch in a Boston paper, a valuable reminiscence, “few
in any country could surpass him. The Court was full
whenit was known that Wilmot had a case. He scented
a fraud or falsehoodfrom afar. He heard its gentlest mo-
tions. He pursued it likean Indian hunter. If it bur-
24 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

rowed he dragged it forth, and held it up wriggling to
the gaze and scorn of the Court. When he drew his tall
form up before a jury, fixed his black, piercing eyes
upon them, moved those rapid hands and pointed that
pistol finger, and poured out his argument and made
his appeal with glowing, burning eloquence, few jurors
could resist him.” There was nothing melodramatic
in his style or mental constitution; but not unfrequently
prompted by an impulse or intuition that the most
consummate actor might have envied, but which with-
out a measure of the same genius it would have
been dangerous to attempt an imitation, by a shrug of
the shoulder, facial expression, mimicry, or some tragic
tone, he would dexterously and successfully enforce
argument, cover retreat, or foil an opponent.

The secret of Mr. Wilmot’s superb success at the
bar, and the influence which he wielded over almost
any class of men that could be empanelled, marvellous
as it seemed and almost magical to the crowds that
thronged the trial-scenes, is not far to seek. It was
mainly to be found in that quality of oratorical effort
which, born of the immediate occasion, somewhat ex-
cessive in embellishment and with not a few defects,
overmasters critical faculty, and achieves its purpose.
In dialectic skill and deep legal lore, during years of
practice, he doubtless encountered many a formidable
rival. But, in overwhelming force of appeal, and that
subtle sensibility of feeling which suffuses the speech,
evokes deep human sympathy, to which every mind
is strangely responsive, there wes an indisputable su-
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 25

premacy. That oratory of the bar was ornate or emo-
tional as the subject required. Sometimes professional
exigencies called for severity of expression. The
weapon which he wielded was sharp as well as pol-
ished and glittering. He knew when to strip away
mere rhetorical decoration and to use the naked edge.
There was then plain and pointed Saxon phrase. A
spade was a spade. Robert Hall’s preference for
pierce, to “ penetrate,” was commended as an ideal and
law of terse and incisive speech. Legal subtleties
were not permitted to perplex the minds of jurymen.
Only salient points were brought into prominent view.
If bored by bewildering cases, from the opposite side,
there was forensic flash which shot athwart the dreary
maze :

‘* A countless myriad of precedent,
That wilderness of single instances,”

known as English common law.

An incident of the Northern Circuit, without refer-
ence to any name, may be mentioned as illustrative of
ingenuity and ready tact in professional emergency.
The case was one of very considerable importance and
involving large values. It was not in his judgment a
promising one for his clients. In regard to the sub-
stantial merits of the matter in dispute he had no
doubt. In a Court of Equity the righteousness of the
claim could have been fairly established; but on tech-
nical grounds, or because the letter of the law was ad-
verse, he scarcely hoped for a verdict. There was a

point upon which, as a pivot, the proceedings would
B
‘

26 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

turn, and which would probably determine the result.
Complication warranted resort to stratagem. The
opposite counsel was a gentleman of great legal ability
and acumen, but occasionally hampered by an unfor-
tunate impediment of speech. The jury were assured
that his learned friend on the other side was eminently
upright and conscientious. Whenever this vital point
was reached—made so palpable to the jury that none
could mistake it—he would be sure to show signs of
embarrassment. The prediction was soon fulfilled. In
sight of the bird the fowler had set the snare. But
how to avoid it was the perplexity. There was mani-
fest trepidity, and consequently defective articulation.
A titter of amusement could not be suppressed. Con-
fusion became worse confounded; until, on that side,
there was a complete break-down, and Mr. Wilmot
gained the suit.

At that time, in the sister Province of Nova Scotia,
there were such lawyers as Stewart, Archibald and
Johnson. Their legal skill and eloquence were the
pride of their country, and would probably have com-
manded distinction at the British Bar. It was not an
unusual thing in New Brunswick, when any case of
great importance was pending, to obtain the advocacy
and assistance of one or more of those distinguished
barristers. Nothing succeeds like success. The simple
prestige of their names was almost sufficient to ensure
the result. When L. A. Wilmot began to make his way
up to professional eminence, and his influence felt at
the Bar, there awaited him the ordeal of rivalry with
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 27

these formidable competitors. It was only, however,
in the keenest contest that the qualities that he pos-
sessed blazed out in all their splendour. That was a
proud day for the profession in New Brunswick when,
at fair tournament, he snatched the laurel wreath of
success. And never at knightly tilt or the pride of
feudal magnificence, where, amidst flash of gleaming
steel and the glancing light of beauty, prizes were won
and awarded, were there more eager spectators than on
that occasion. When the forensic duel had been honour-
ably fought, the case was committed to the jury. For
a space, the Court adjourned. In the meantime, leading
counsel on either side, on whom chiefly centred the
excitement of the fray, returned to the hotel and re-
tired for the night. But their slumbers were effectu-
ally disturbed by a loud legal hurrah. Junior members
of the profession, cognizant of the decision, were dis-
posed to make the most of their triumph. From that
time the necessity for such importation has no longer
existed. The mantle of the eloquent advocate has

successively fallen upon many members of the same
‘ honourable profession in that Province.

Early in life Mr. Wilmot began to take part in the
discussion of public questions. It has been told when,
in response to an urgent call from the electors, he first
took his stand upon the hustings, a gentleman of the
ruling class rode up to the crowd. Counting upon
sympathy as a matter of course, in deference to estab-
lished order and as evidence of loyalty, the haughty
official demanded that they should pull Wilmot down.
28 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

He would become Attorney-General of the Province !
The sneer was as a spark of gunpowder to a train
already prepared, and the signal for an unexpected
explosion. Lemuel Allan Wilmot, in person as com-
manding as inmental qualities, drawing himself up to his
full height, throwing the glove from his hand, began a
ventilation of public questions in a manner to which
the people had been little accustomed. The burst of
indignant eloquence, of denunciation, and of patriotic
appeal, was received by the crowd with thundering ap-
plause. “A champion of the rights of the people now
appeared, who was destined to lead his country into the
enjoyment of constitutional liberty.”"* From that day
he was looked upon as the tribune of the people and
the representative of popular rights. At an age when
most men aspiring to prominent position would still be
ranking as students, by “the irresistible voice” of
York electors, he was summoned into political life.
By acclamation, unprecedented in the annals of the
county, on July 31st, 1834, he was chosen member for
the House of Assembly. Parliament was soon after
dissolved. But at the general election which followed,
in December of that year, by the same influential con
stituency he was returned at the head of the poll.
They were stirring times in which L. A. Wilmot
made his entrance into public life. In Upper Canada,
where for a time collision between established conser-
vatism and the spirit of progress had threatened
anarchy to the country, the cause of constitutional re-

* History of Canada: Rev. W. H. Withrow.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 29

form was steadily moving to victory. In Nova Scotia
the Legislature could boast a splendid galaxy of names,
not proportionately surpassed in the annals of any
Colony. The struggle for responsible government was
soon, in one of its phases, to commence in the famous
Howe libel case. Beneath the egis of the British
Constitution there was no padlock for lips eloquent in
advocacy of progress and liberal principles. In Great
Britain a condition of almost chronic dissatisfaction
and of threatened revolution, under the able leadership
of Grey, Russell, Brougham, and others of scarcely less
celebrity, had been signalized by the inauguration of a
new and nobler era in liberal and progressive legisla-
tion. The Reform Bill belongs to that period. What
statesmen of the time were doing and daring in the
cause of national and political progress and freedom,
through other parts of the Empire, the patriotic mem-
ber for York was emulous to attempt and achieve for
his native Province. “ His political principles,” he said,
in a later speech, “were not of yesterday. He had
gleaned them from the history of his cowntry—a
country they were all proud to own. Would any
honourable member dare to tell him that because they
were three thousand miles away from the heart of the
British Empire, the blood of freemen should not flow
through the veins of sons of New Brunswick?”

The entrance of L. A. Wilmot into the parliamentary
arena, at that particular period, constituted an epoch
in the annals of the New Brunswick Legislature. “As
a debater he was for many years the chief attraction
30 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

of the House of Assembly. With imposing person,
large forehead, handsome features, and keen eagle eye;
with ready wit, cutting sarcasm, quick intuitions, en-
thusiastic declamation, a hearty sympathy with every-
thing generous and good, and with scorn and hatred of
every form of wrong, he wielded a potent influence.”*

In parliamentary discussion he was a generous and
honourable opponent. He only asked from others that
which in return he was always prepared to give—a
fair field and no favour. He was accustomed, by a
single fearless bound, to plunge into the thickest of
the fray. No consideration or claim of conventional
custom ever prevented him from striking to the very
heart of the question. The success of sheer artifice
would not satisfy; and, in preference to flank move-
ment, he generally faced the foe to the front of posi-
tion. But he also wielded a keen-edged weapon of
sarcasm ; and, instead of elaborate speech, sometimes
gained his point by a single dexterous stroke. Having
occasion to expose groundless pretence, in merciless
burlesque, and manner that was simply inimitable,
there was Esop’s fly that sat upon the axle-wheel of
the chariot and said, “ What a dust do I raise !”

The House of Assembly, in which for the first time
Mr. Wilmot took his seat, met January 20th, 1835.
The next day notice was given that he would call the
attention of honourable members to the subject, then
of international magnitude and importance, of the
Boundary Line between the Province of New Bruns-

* Zion’s Herald, Boston.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 31

wick and the State of Maine. The time for in extenso
reports of parliamentary speeches, and the enterprise
of journalism now so conspicuous, had not yet come.
But the measure of influence which, from the com-
mencement, he wielded in that Assembly may be inferred
from the boldness and vigour of tone in the discussion of
constitutional questions—from extraordinary appoint-
ment on successive delegations to represent the House,
of which he was the most youthful member, and which
comprised a number of able and experienced politicians,
in negotiation with the British Government on weighty
matters of Provincial policy and of executive admin-
istration—from the fact, apparent from the official
records of those years, that his name finds prominent
place on nearly every important parliamentary com-
mittee.

Renewed attempts on the part of the Crown to es-
tablish a land-royalty, in the shape of Quit Rents, then
a vexed and burning question through the country, the
agitation of which had engendered great bitterness in
the constituency of York, necessarily occupied much of
the attention and time of the House of Assembly. The
reservation had been regarded, in the first place, as
simply an acknowledgment of sovereignty in the
lands granted. The claim had long been suffered to
remain dormant; and, in transfers of lands between
individuals, the original reserve was no longer deemed
an encumbrance. The determination to enforce pay-
ment would, it was believed, create widespread con-
fusion, litigation, dissatisfaction, and distress. The
82 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

fearless utterances of L. A. Wilmot, and his earnest
and eloquent portrayal of the hardships which, without
any corresponding advantage, enforcement of this claim
would produce, especially upon the poorer settlers, and
the “dismay” which would spread through the land,
were ample fulfilment of previous pledges to his con-
stitutents; and the County of York was warmly
congratulated “on the choice of a representative so able
and willing to protect the interests of the people.”

During the parliamentary session of 1836, Mr.
Wilmot moved an address to the Governor for a de-
tailed account of the Crown Land fund. Sir Archibald
Campbell, who had great aversion to the principles and
progress of popular reform, and rather than submit
ultimately resigned, sent down a mere general state-
ment. The mover of the address was appointed on. a
mission to England.* The immediate object of the
delegation, then an extraordinary event in colonial
history, was to obtain for the representative Assembly
the control of Crown Land rights and revenues—the
main spoke in the wheel of compact administration—
and to make the voice of the Reform party heard at
the foot of the throne.

*With Mr. Wilmot, a very young politician, was associated an
astute and experienced member of the House, soon after appointed to
the Executive Council as Honourable Wm. Crane. In any game of
artful policy he might be trusted to checkmate clever and wily oppo-
nents. But such was the contrast, that in after days the appointment
was compared to the yoking up in the same team of a veteran charger,
chafed with stiffness of age, and a fiery racer that spurned the bit and
bounded for the course. On both delegations Mr. Crane rendered
valuable service to the country.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 33

The interest of a visit to the Old Country, for one
of his romantic taste, cultured mind, and loyal pride of
race and nationality—a young man twenty-seven years
of age—cannot easily be described. By men of the
Loyalist stamp that land was reverently and affection-
ately spoken of as Home:

‘The distant sea-girt isle
Our fathers loved, and taught their sons to love,
As the dear home of freemen brave and true.”

It was the land of his ancestors and of a noble race
whose blood flowed in his veins—the land of Shake-
speare and Milton and Cowper, whose mother-tongue
was his own, whose gems of beautiful thought and
crystallized expression had enriched his ample and
opulent diction—the land of Pitt and Burke and
Erskine, whose burning thoughts and luminous elo-
quence, evoked and intensified by the supreme interest
of the hour and occasion, he had studied until saturated
with their spirit and sentiment—the land of proud
achievement in arts and arms, and the home of that
constitutional liberty for which, in a new colony, he
and his coadjutors were resolutely contending*—the
land of proud historic deed and of consecrated as-
sociation—of stately and storied castle and pomp of
cathedral architecture and magnificence. It was also

* “We must be free or die, who speak the tongue
That Shakespeare spake ; the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held,” — Wordsworth.

BY
34 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

the seat and the scene of grand national pre-eminence,

‘‘The island home,
Peerless among her peers ;””

and of that flag, the symbol of freedom under every
sky, which he had so often and so eloquently eulogized.

It was one of Judge Wilmot’s maxims, in a letter
communicated in complaint and criticism of some
petty act of colonial administration, that “little
countries make little men.” Unquestionably for him,
while still at the entrance of public life, for new and
nobler ideas and expausiveness of thought and senti-
ment, it was an immense advantage and an educa-
tional influence to breathe the air and mingle with
national life in its older and grander forms, and to
feel the stimulus of contact with the governing minds
ot the nation.

From several distinguished members of the Melbourne
Cabinet the first New Brunswick delegation received
marked tokens of respect. There was one amiable
statesman, Lord Glenelg—better known as Sir Charles
Grant, whose portrait, chiefly because of the success
of that mission, and the introduction of a more liberal
governmental system, hangs behind the Speaker's
chair in the New Brunswick House of Assembly—who
took special interest in the youthful representative.

Lord Glenelg, at that time Colonial Minister, an
advocate of Liberal principles and a thoroughly upright
statesman, from extensive acquaintance with colonial
affairs and ample experience of official life, in relation
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 35

to the special object for which the delegation had been
appointed, was competent to offer prudent counsel and
in a position to afford valuable aid. In regard to per-
sonal and professional preference and promotion, where
Crown patronage was concerned, he would willingly
have pledged the fullest consideration. Had there
been, on the part of the New Brunswick deputation, a
disposition to negotiate for private advantage, that
mission to Downing Street might have been turned to
profitable account.

It was apparent also to members of the British
Cabinet that the colonial politician possessed some rare
qualifications—quickness of apprehension and a high
crder of eloquence—that might be turned to account in
parliamentary debate, and which might contribute to
the strength of the Liberal party in the House of
Commons. A proposal was made that if he would
remain in England a constituency should at once be
found for him. It is useless now to speculate on what
the achievements of his life might have been had he
at that period, when habits of thought were still in
formative process, consented to enter the Imperial
Parliament.

It was a point with the delegation, remembering
that the taunt of disloyalty had sometimes been the
penalty of prominence in movement for popular right,
to obtain presentation at Court; and, loyal to the core,
the distinction was of a character to be thoroughly
appreciated. Through the courtesy of Lord Glenelg,
requisite permission was readily obtained and the de-
36 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

tails of Court costume speedily arranged. It may be
safely asserted, that however brilliant and distinguished
may have been the array on that occasion, there was
not any one of more courtly presence and bearing
than the untitled representative of an obscure Pro-
vince. Ordinary regal etiquette was considerably dis-
turbed when Mr. Wilmot was delayed and questioned
by his Britannic Majesty concerning antecedents and
family relationship. It was expected, of ccurse, that
with a brief answer he would gracefully retire. But,
to the consternation of Lord Glenelg, unaccustomed to
the freedom of impromptu speeches and trembling for
the temerity of the attempt, impressed with royal con-
descension and determined to make the most of the
opportunity, he burst the awful barriers of state;
and, in loyal phrase, thanked His Majesty for gene-
rous consideration of Colonial interests. Probably the
King (William IV.) was as much taken by surprise as
the Colonial Minister. It was only, however, a passing
incident; and, with but brief interruption, the order
of presentation and procession was resumed.

There was not only delegation, but counter-delega-
tion. Again, therefore, in 1837, with briefest notice,
and a dreary winter drive by land from Fredericton
to Bangor, the delegation was re-appointed to Eng-
land. The result was all that, for the time, could be
expected or desired. The Governor and Executive
were compelled to yield the important matter in dis-
pute. In consideration of a permament civil list, the
control of valuable Crown land revenue was vested in
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. , 37

the House of Assembly. The Lieutenant-Governor
resigned ; and Sir John Harvey, of conciliatory policy,
the most popular of all the Governors sent out from
home, was appointed as his successor.

At the Session of 1838, in consequence of the law-
less invasion of Canada by an organized force from the
American frontier, under pretence of sympathy with
a company of colonial conspirators, an Act was passed
by the New Brunswick House of Assembly, for which
subsequently the special thanks of the Sovereign were
received, authorizing the Lieutenant-Governor to call
out and embody twelve hundred volunteers for service
in British North America. In strenuous advocacy of
this measure the patriotic spirit and enthusiastic loy-
alty of Mr. Wilmot found vehement expression.
“This,” he said, “was not a matter to be calculated
upon mere pounds, shillings, and pence. It was to be
viewed in connection with the relations which existed
between this and the other Provinces. Their cause
was ours !—the cause and battles of our brethren—of
those very brethren who had fought side by side with
them during the last war, who inhabited the same soil,
who claimed connection with the same great and
glorious empire, and who were now struggling against
the efforts of wicked and seditious traitors and assail-
ants. The Province, in aiding their fellow-subjects,
would be fighting its own battles. Their cause was
the same. The first shot fired in Upper Canada would
reverberate to the utmost extent of the Lower
38 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

Provinces, and every loyal heart would thrill in re-
sponse.”*

Almost immediately following this expression of
enthusiasm, in 1839, consequent upon a threatened in-
vasion of their own Province, the spirit of New
Brunswick loyalty was still more fully aroused, and
the chivalrous devotion of its people to the British
flag nobly exhibited. There was a disputed territory,
on the upper waters of the St. John river, that had
been invaded by lawless parties in search of lumber.
There had been resistance and armed collision. The
militia was sent from the State of Maine, and Governor
Fairfield made a callfor ten thousand men. Two regi-
ments from Fredericton were ordered to the scene of
strife. Sir John Harvey was resolved to defend the
right. New Brunswick volunteers flocked eagerly to the
national standard. The whole country was in a blaze
of excitement. That border warfare threatened for
atime to plunge the two nations into war. The Legis-
lature of Nova Scotia voted £100,000 towards defence;
placed twelve thousand volunteers at the disposal of
the Commander-in-Chief ; and then united in “ three
times three cheers for the brave people of New Bruns-
wick, and three times three cheers for the Queen of
England.” “What had taken place in that sister
colony,” said Mr. Wilmot, “would not only have a
grand moral effect in this Province; it would spread
throughout Great Britain; it would be heard and re-
iterated in the House of Commons; and they would

* Courier, January, 1838,
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 39

there perceive that in these colonies there were brave
arms to defend the soil from the polluting foot of the
invader, and hearts that could feel and appreciate the
value of their connection with the Mother Country.
It was well known that there was a party in the
English House of Commons that would willingly bar-
ter away the inhabitants of these Provinces. The
mouths of that party would be stopped. The people of
England would not give up colonies where the inha-
bitants, rather than pass under the dominion of a
neighbouring nation, would die upon the soil where
many of them drew their breath and where all lived
happy and contented.”

Duties of military drill, at that time, in preparation
for threatened military struggle, alternated with scenes
of political debate. “The stout hearts and nervous arms
of New Brunswick deserved that discipline and direc-
tion without which they might encounter a foe to dis-
advantage.” It was well known that L. A. Wilmot,
qualified for command, intensely patriotic, in whose
veins the old Loyalist blood ran as liquid fire, while
urging the necessity for yeomanry drill, stood ready
for active service on the frontier. Ultimately,
however, for the weal of all parties, the matter in dis-
pute was amicably adjusted and battle-flags were
furled.* In a letter written by Hon. L. A. Wilmot,
when Governor of New Brunswick, the old feeling had

* Arbitration, in which Lord Ashburton and Daniel Webster were

the Commissioners, was substituted for cannon and the sword. The
award of the Ashburton Treaty, made in 1842, yielded the most valu-
40 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

all subsided ; and he eulogises “ the immortal words of
President Grant: Let us have peace.”

It soon became apparent that, in an eminent degree,
this youthful politician possessed the requisite qualities
and equipment for successful leadership in another
fight; and that upon parliamentary battle-ground, not
in forest-struggle, would his most brilliant victories be
achieved. Even before the contest for Responsible
Government had commenced in thorough earnest,
there was the presage of an approaching struggle.
Like the muttering of distant thunder, ominous of
gathering storm, arbitrary action provoked sharp and
passionate protest: “ When the Council takes such high
and commanding ground,” said the then recently
elected member for York, “it is worthy of the represen-
tatives of the people to stand forth in bold relief; and,
in the spirit of men determined to maintain their
rights and liberties, to put their hands upon it at
once, to arrest the career of wantonness of power, and
to prove that we are indeed worthy of freedom and
privilege and British rights.” *

The system of government, at that time existing in
New Brunswick and other Colonies, was that usually
known as “the Family Compact.” Offices of honour
and emolument were monopolized by persons that had

able part of the disputed territory to the United States. There was a
very general impression on this side of the line that the British
nobleman was overmatched by the astute Republican statesman—that
colonial claims were sacrificed to imperial interests,

* St. John City Gazette.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 41

come out to the Provinces for that purpose. The
Legislative and Executive Councils had in possession
all governing power. They were almost exclusively
and uniformly filled from classes claiming to consti-
tute the aristocracy of the country. Members of the
“Compact” were generally closely allied by family
relationship or business association. Government was
administered in virtue of what they regarded as an
essential and inherent right of the ruling class. They
only were supposed to possess requisite qualifications
for official duty and legitimate claim to promotion.
The patronage of the Crown, consequently, was dis-
pensed and its power distributed within a narrow and
favoured circle.

Crown officials were not in any way amenable to
the representatives of the people ; and, in any case of
remonstrance, members of that body were treated with
but scant courtesy. For any gifted member of the As-
sembly to aspire to office, emolument, or governmental
position, was deemed and stigmatized as evidence
of restless, intriguing and even disloyal temper and
spirit. Especially for any one who had evinced a dis-
position to disturb the comfortably established system,
and who had the audacity to challenge the constitu-
tional right and expedience of the dominant policy,
there was not the slightest hope of preferment.

In combination with relentless conservatism, as the
direct consequence of monopoly and intolerance, there
was an attempt at ecclesiastical domination which by
Dissenters, as then designated, was felt to be exceed-
42 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

ingly oppressive. For the offence of conducting oc-
casional religious service on the Sabbath day, in a
spirit worthy of Star-Chamber and Stuart days and
dynasty, Mr. Wm. Wilmot, father of the judge, was
expelled from, or refused admittance to, his place in
the House of Assembly. There was no church estab-
lished by law. Requisite statutory enactment had
not been secured. But as a fundamental principle
of Colonial Government, and one that was not likely
to be called in question, the theory of a State Church
was taken for granted. Equal rights of denomina-
tions were all but ignored. Jt was only about the
latter part of 1834, the time of L. A. Wilmot’s election
to the House of Assembly, that the “ Dissenter’s
Marriage Bill” became the law of the land. The
object of that measure, wrenched from ecclesiastical
monopoly, mainly due to the diffusion of liberal ideas,
and the march of Reform then signalizing its triumphs
in Imperial and Colonial legislation, was to invest
dissenting ministers with legal authority to solemnize
the rite of matrimony. Even for members of their
own church or charge, up to that time, except undér
the severe penalty of fine and imprisonment, these
clergymen could not officiate in any marriage service.
Against the deeply-shaded background of such facts,
by clear and correct perspective, we comprehend the
necessity for agitation—the ‘advocacy of civil and
religious privilege. The opinion was afterwards ex-
expressed, during a discussion on “ want of confidence ”
resolutions, that had even the conservatism of 1836,
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 43

when the old official party sought entrenchment behind
the prerogative of the Crown, been persistently ad-
hered to, and carried out, “an insulted people would
have risen in their majesty, and would have shaken
off their yoke of bondage.”*

The principles with which, from the commencement
of his career, L. A. Wilmot was identified, and of which
he was the most eloquent and authoritative exponent,
were excessively obnoxious to the party in power ; and
to the Government, as then organized, his speeches were
regarded as a seriously disturbing element. As the
champion of popular rights, he was sometimes in a
vexatious manner charged with holding democratic
principles ; and, notwithstanding the patriotic feeling
which beat and throbbed through every sentiment and
movement, in the bitterness and asperity of party de-
bate was taunted with the taint of disloyalty. The
imputation, however, could not turn him aside from
the line of well-defined duty. He had the courage of
his convictions ; and, in indignant and burning elo-
quence, meeting scorn with scorn, threw back the un-
warranted imputation.

“Those who contended for liberal principles,” he
said, in one of those renowned field-days, then common
enough in the New Brunswick Legislature, but which
have no parallel in the tamer proceedings of modern
parliamentary debate, “had their names covered with
obloquy. They asked for a constitution that, while it
protected the Queen upon the throne, threw, at the same

* Speech of Mr. L. A. Wilmot, 1847.
44 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

time, its paternal arms around the helpless infant.
They asked for the pure, the free, the glorious consti-
tution of England; for this they had contended, for
this the Liberals of New Brunswick had fought ; and
let them call them rebels who had nothing else to write
about, he cared not. They asked for a system that
would give fair play to all, that would upset all Family
Compacts, that would give the sons of New Bruns-
wick their birthright—the benefit of free institutions
and of self-government. He defied any honorable
member to look at his political life and say where he
had overstepped the bounds of the constitution. If
he did live three thousand miles from the great body
of the empire, still that empire sent its blood through
the veins of every British subject. A son of New
Brunswick had the same rights to the benefit of her
institutions as a resident of London; and he would not
submit to be cut off by any political manceuvrings.’*

The darkest hour—that which came just before the
dawn of day, as ultimately proved—in that patriotic
struggle seems to have been in the severely contested
election of 1842. Then Mr. Wilmot, who for eight
years had been a member of Parliament and the active
and accomplished leader of the Liberal party, though
now only thirty-three years of age, stood prominently
before the country as the champion of responsible ad-

ministration :
“And moving up from high to higher,
Became, on fortune’s crowning slope,
The pillar of a people’s hope.”

* Political Notes. By G. E. Fenety, Esq.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 45

In the meantime, however, the Opposition was for-
midable and the battle was furious. All the scattered
forces of the old Conservative system, marshalled with
consummate skill, were gathered into most deter-
mined opposition. ‘The adherents of opposite stand-
ards resolutely maintained the struggle and fiercely con-
tended for victory. For the reform party the contest
apparently proved to be a most disastrous one. Ina
House of Assembly of forty-one members, the only
representatives of that principle were Messrs. Wilmot
and Fisher. In Fredericton the poll was for a time
threatened by a rough, lawless, and unfranchised
crowd. For the protection of voters, and the preven-
tion of organized intimidation, it was found expedient
to call out the military. In double file the soldiers
were stationed with fixed bayonets. Each of the
later voters, for personal security, accompanied by a
sergeant, between lines of glittering steel, passed up to
the poll and gave his suffrage. At the close, Mr. Wil-
mot, amongst the successful candidates, unrolled a
scarlet silk flag bearing the significant motto Respon-
sible Government. Through Queen Street, from the
old Court House to a platform near Phoenix Square, he
was carried by his enthusiastic supporters; and, amidst
deafening cheers, made a splendid and stirring speech.
The banner thus exultingly unfurled, borne in trium-
phal procession and the proud signal of victory, at the
close of that struggle, through all the liberal ranks,
was the only one which told of success. There had
been everywhere, for reform, signal defeat and sore
46 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

disaster; and, over the entire field, their banners
trailed sadly in the dust. The party of progress, for
the time, was thoroughly and terribly routed and
shattered. But there was still a great principle in
contention and a noble cause around which they could
raily their scattered forces. Temporary disadvantage
they might be doomed to experience. But, in the end,
their principles, guaranteed by the spirit of British
constitutional liberty, were certain to prevail : for
“Freedom’s battle, once begun,

Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son,

Though bafiled oft, is ever won.”

“Looking back along the line of those years, we
seem to be gazing into the crater of an extinct voleano.
The: inflammable matter which fed the fire of debate,
and the fury with which each step of political progress
was discussed by the great antagonists on either side,
has been so bitterly burned out and extinguished, that
we in this generation, who dwell on the fertile soil of
social and religious freedom formed by those con-
vulsions, can scarcely believe in the bitterness of the
struggle and the ability and boldness of the statesmen
by whom each prize of our present liberties was
won.”

In 1844, as a slight tribute to the progress of liberal
ideas, Mr. Wilmot was appointed a member of the
Executive; but, disapproving of Sir William Cole-
brooke’s impolitic and arbitrary action in the appoint-
ment of his son-in-law, Mr. Reade, to an important
Government office, involving direct violation of a vital
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 47

principle and contention, and deemed subversive of
representative responsibility, that position was soon
after resigned. “It would be vain,” said Hon. Mr.
Wilmot, in written explanation, required by the
Governor, of reasons for tendering his resignation as a
member of the Executive Council, “for the parents of
youth to make every exertion in order to qualify their
sons for the higher offices of the Province, if the
avenues to honourable and profitable preferment are
to be closed against them ; and I therefore cannot but
view the appointment under consideration as an act of
great injustice to the people of this country, and I can
safely assure your Excellency that it will be thus con-
sidered throughout the length and breadth of the
Province.”

In the political world, as in every domain of free
thought and of unshackled action, extremes must
sometimes meet. In resistance of prerogative, Mr.
Wilmot was thrown to the utmost point of opposition:
“the Government would henceforth be taught to
know, and the ery would go forth from the Gulf
Shore to the Scoodic, that the people would have
their rights.” But in an opposite direction, as pole
from pole, his sense of political justice was subjected
to severe strain. For the first time in party vote,
while holding port-folio in 1844, he was separated
from usual political associates. They proposed to
censure the government, because in recent appoint-
ments to the Legislative Council, the proportionate
claims of the several denominations had been over-
48 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

looked. They were for the policy of many State
Churches. He was for none. Chivalrously, and at
the risk of alienated sympathy, he contended for
broad and generous catholicity of spirit and action.
The rights of “fellow-dissenters” he would conserve,
and to the utmost advocate; but to the perpetuation
of religious tests, under any conditions, he was utterly
opposed. “The narrow rule of selection, from this or
that denomination,’ was denounced. He advocated
“the more expansive policy which, regardless of all
religious differences, selects men best fitted by in-
tegrity, ability, and property, to represent the whole
people.”

After twelve years of costly and almost incessant
warfare, with varied and alternating fortunes, pending
the General Election of 1846, Mr. Wilmot resolved
upon retirement froni political life.

Though, in the first place, in 1834, his seat in the
House of Assembly was obtained by acclamation ; yet,
subsequently, in no less than five general elections, he
had abundant experience of the inconvenience, expen-
diture, fearful excitement, and frequent lawlessness
which at that time were the inseparable concomitants .
of an election campaign. Under the vicious system
which then prevailed, the poll was kept up for eight
days. There was an open vote. Aroused by partizan
and inflammatory speeches, the several constituencies
had ample license and opportunity for excess and ex-
plosion. The agitation through all these days swept
over the country, deepened in its course, and not un-
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 49

frequently ended in turbulence and almost riot. In
some respects the eloquent and liberal member for
York was not eminently qualified for a contest of that
nature. Fora temperament such as his the excitement
was too intense. In the severe attrition of opposite
forces, and the fierce collision of adverse factions, the
impetuous and combustible elements of composition
and mental constitution, with which he was abundantly
charged, blazed out into white heat; and, in brilliant,
impassioned, most vehement speech, streamed forth in
a lava-like torrent.

It cannot be wondered at that a keenly-sensitive
and high-toned mind, though eminently qualified for
parliamentary debate, and delighting in the discussion
of constitutional questions, should recoil from the
shock and severity of hustings’ warfare. In view of
the next approaching dissolution of the House, to the
general regret of nearly all political parties, by whom
his superb rhetoric and chivalrous bearing were greatly
admired, he announced his intention to withdraw from
the Legislature. That purpose, however, he was not
then sutfered to consummate. By the enthusiasm and
organization of friends and party, without personal
canvass or campaign, he was proudly and triumphantly
returned for the old constituency. The star of reform
was now in the ascendency.

Through years of conflict, embittered by contempt
of the governing class, impelled by conviction of press-
ing necessity for constitutional change, and the intro-
duction into the system of Colonial government of

c
50 HON. JUDGE WI1LMOT.

elements compatible with fair and equitable adminis-
tration, Mr. Wilmot and his coadjutors had struggled
on to ultimate and decisive success.* The “ compact”
monopoly was swept away, and the despotism of
oligarchy demolished. Responsible government was
fully inaugurated, and the principle of Ministerial
accountability, long the accepted basis of British ad-
ministration, was adopted as the solution of difficulties
between the executive and representative departments
of Government. Instead of permanent official appoint-
ments, advisers of the Crown were to be selected from
the party at the time in the ascendency ; and provision
was made for obtaining the sanction of constituencies
to all departmental appointments. To all positions of
honor and emolument, without regard to class or creed,
and free from social restrictions, the avenues were
fully opened.

A Government was organized for the purpose of
giving effect to responsible policy. It comprised a
large and influential Conservative element ; and, in the
matter of arrangements, there was necessity for com-
promise. But, in regard to the main principle, the colors
were never lowered. “He could not forget the election

* Through all this contest, calculated, as in a crucible, to try the
mettle and the mould of men, as an able tactician, capable of flank
movement—an adept in the manipulation of resolutions, and a com-
petent exponent of great constitutional principles, Mr. Wilmot found
an able and accomplished colleague in Mr. Chas. Fisher, now Judge of
the Supreme Court. On the 24th February, 1848, he moved the reso-
lution which, by admission of all parties, unequivocally committed the
country to the principles of Responsible Government.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 51

of 1842,” he said, in one of his great speeches in the
House of Assembly, “when responsible government
was scouted, jeered at, and held up to ridicule over the
length and breadth of the land. But a different day
had dawned upon the Province. The people had in-
formed themselves—had begun to see and understand
and appreciate those glorious principles—the principles
of the British Constitution—not his principles alone ;
they were the principles of every British subject. He
was a mere machine in working out the great system ;
but those great and glorious principles would live
when those who heard his voice were laid low in the
dust. Those principles were not intended for the
exclusive benefit of one class, or one party, or one
family; but for the benefit of every class, of every
party, and of every family over the length and breadth
of the land. Responsible government held out even-
handed justice and fair play to all) He had put on
the uniform when it was covered with obloquy, and
had worn it amidst scoutings and jeers, and felt proud
to bear it now.”*

An element of offensive Conservatism, conspicuous in
government, had also been inwrought into the structure
and administration of Education. It was a favorite
theory of My. Wilmot that, instead of ascent from
the primary to the academic, the current of educational
life-force descends from the University; and, through
all grades and departments, makes its influence felt
and determines the status of the system. The College

* Political Notes. By G. E. Fenety, Esq.
52 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

at Fredericton, though liberally endowed and favored
with an efficient staff of Professors, was for many years
unpopular ; and in 1844 it was asserted in the Legis-
lature that the sum expended upon it, up to that time,
“would have educated every one of the students at
Oxford or Cambridge.” It was in a very considerable
measure owing to his efforts and advocacy that, with
constitution modified, a representation of the several
leading denominations upon its Senate, and general
administration popularized, the Provincial University
has entered upon a course of acknowledged efficiency
and of increasing prosperity.

In an able and exhaustive speech, when jirst the
measure for reform was proposed—the question was
repeatedly brought up until 1845, when an amended
charter passed into law—and in a calm, moderate, states-
manlike spirit and style, he traced out and earnestly
deprecated the existence of a variety of invidious dis-
tinctions, chiefly of a religious nature, which the
original charter had created, and which had tended to
excite hostility to the College and to impair its useful-
ness. It was proposed for supervision to substitute
the Governor for the Bishop ; to annul a provision of
the charter to the effect that the President must be an
Episcopal clergyman, and ex-officio the Archdeacon ; to
liberalize the Constitution of the College Council ; to
abolish religious tests, except in regard to the Professor
of Theology; for subscription to the Thirty-Nine
Articles of the Church of England, to require from
graduates a profession of belief in “the authenticity
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 53

and divine inspiration of the Old and New Testaments
and in the doctrine of the Trinity.” *

The cause of public education was déeply rooted in
Mr. Wilmot’s sympathies. He believed in this boon
as the birthright of every New Brunswick child ; and,
on the part of parents, deplored the apathy existing in
some parts of the country. In a community of his
own county a promise had been made that, if the
people would get out the frame for a school-house, the
expense of other necessary material for its completion
should be provided for them. But, “although boards
were offered from a neighbouring mill, nails, glass,
locks, latches—everything without money—no one felt
interest enough in the education of their children to
bring them to the spot, To this day that frame stands
‘a melancholy monument of dreadful apathy.” To meet
such neglect, and to rescue the children of the soil from
threatened degradation, it was proposed to assess the
property of the country. Far in advance of the time
for the incipiency of such a policy, in the House of
Assembly, the honourable member for York moved a
resolution to the effect: “The man who has property
and no children should be taxed to educate the
childien of the man who has no property.” There
was a firm belief in the principle of a public, free,
nonsectarian system. Nearly a quarter of a century
later, during governmental administration, it was a
cause of proud and grateful satisfaction that a com-

*Vide Observer, January, 1839.
54 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

prehensive educational scheme should be successfully
inaugurated. *

In a parliamentary debate, March, 1847, on L. A.
Wilmot’s motion in relation to “School Reserve,” the
educational question was again brought to the front.
Early in the settlement of the country there had been
an extensive reserve of public lands “for the use of
parish schools in the different counties.” The Govern-
ment was challenged “with having granted large quan-
tities of lands,” originally reserved for the endowment
of public education, amounting to upwards of six
thousand acres, to the Churches of England and Scot-
land. Jt was charged that Government had no more
right to interfere with these lands than to touch the
Bank of England. It was alleged that in one day
Government had granted several thousand acres of
these lands to the English Church, in trust to the Chief-
Justice, the Archdeacon, the Attorney and Solicitor
Generals, and other public officers, to be used as
churches should be built.” +

In the revolution which was now to be speedily
effected, this arrangement led to a curious anomaly.
As the result of successful advocacy of liberal princi-
ples, Mr. W. was called upon to form a Government.
In that administration he accepted an office which,
like most good things in those days, had been regarded

*To the statesmanship of Hon. Geo. EK. King mainly belongs the
credit of formulating the educational system of New Brunswick, and
of carrying it into law.

+ Political Notes, page 256.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 55

as peculiarly an Episcopal preserve. It had not been
supposed that there would soon dawn a day in which
a gifted “dissenter ” would be regarded as eligible for
such honourable appointment. For the possible con-
tingency there had been no provision made. The
consequence was that, ex-officio, there was a trust of
extensive glebe lands to be administered for the benefit
of the Church of England. It was not too soon, in
the public interest, that the hour had come and the
man for a free ventilation of wholesale and insuffer-
able monopoly.

Ardent as was the loyalty of L. A. Wilmot, and
especially susceptible of popular influence, it was
always under the restraint and control of prudential
and economic considerations. The disbursement of
public moneys was felt to be a responsibility and trust.
In opposition to a movement, in 1846, for a legislative
grant in aid of individual subscription for the erection
of a monument in the city of St. John, somewhat in
the style of Bunker Hill of Boston, in commemoration
of the landing of the Loyalists in 1783, now nearly a
century ago, he said: “There was no doubt but that
this was a fine subject for a speech ; but, as a descend-
ant of an old Loyalist, he felt himself degraded by the
begging attitude assumed in this appeal for a Provin-
cial grant. New Brunswick needed no brass—no
marble—to commemorate the landing of that noble,
devoted band ; their memories would be handed down
to posterity without the aid of monuments or of
obelisks.” i“
56 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

The activity and assured confidence of Mr. Wilmot,
to which the eagerness and enthusiasm of his constitu-
ents—throughout the triumphant election campaign of
1846—had communicated the impulse of renewed
energy, and the comprehensiveness of his proposed
scheme of reform, may be inferred from current cor-
respondence. Having been urged to become a can-
didate for the Speakership in the House of Assembly
for 1847, breathing the genuine spirit of a patriot
statesman, he wrote: “As I believe ‘there is a Provi-
dence that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we
will,” so I begin to think that if the Chair were at my
command, I should hesitate before I took my seat. I
see many momentous questions involving the present
and future prosperity of this Province, and the North
American Colonies generally, wherein I should like to
take an active part: Confederation of all the North
American Colonies—establishment of a pure Free
Trade between the Colonies and the Mother Country
—thorough reform in our Parish Schools—comprehen-
sive and practicable Schemes for the allotment and
occupation of our wilderness lands by a superior class
of Immigrants—hand-to-hand fight against our corrupt
system of appropriating the Public Revenue until it is
exterminated, or rather eradicated.

“These and other questions of less moment are
fraught with incalculable advantages, if rightly disposed
of. To bring about the two first would be worth the ea-
penditure of what little of life I have remaining, and
the lives of a score of better men. What shall I do?
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 57

I want to be free to act, and to act with all my energies
on these questions, and I fear the Chair would be a
dead weight upon me—and if so, I want no dead
weight. We must give up our lives for the conflict.
It will be principle against prejudice, purity against
corruption, greatness against littleness, light against
darkness, British glory against Bluwenose tinsel, the
sun against a rush light—and yet true as are these
antithetic descriptions, there will be found those who
will make a desperate defence for the corruption, the
littleness, the darkness, &c., and who will tell us the
country will be ruined by their accomplishment.”

The ideal of Mr. Wilmot, in regard to commercial
policy and tariff arrangements, which at the present
time have been thrown to the front and challenge the
most prominent consideration, seems to have been:
Free Trade between Great Britain and her dependen-
cies, also between the several Colonies ; and, in relation
to other countries, a discriminating system of protec-
tion. The essential conditions of national policy since
then, of course, have been completely changed. We
cannot now complain that any pent-up Utica contracts
our powers. But, at a period when even the trade of
sister Colonies was hampered by custom duties, it was
felt that any available market must, to a considerable
extent, be bounded by the limits of the Province.
“ These duties,” said the honourable member for York,
during the revenue discussion of 1847, in a character-
istic speech, “ were in fact a disgrace to the Colonies.

What was the case in the United States? They could
o*
58 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

learn a useful lesson there. There was no such re-
striction ; they had the whole American world for a
market. The shoemaker at Lynn could go where he
pleased, from Maine to New Orleans. But New
Brunswick rivalled all the world beside! Where was
our market? At home—cramped up in a narrow
little Province containing about 150,000 inhabitants.
The humble mechanic with a lapstone on his knee had
a mind—an intellect ; but, so long as he had no market
beyond the bounds of his own narrow Province, he\
would remain stationary. But tell him that the whole
British world is before him, and you set his mind to
work. Those wholesome regulations of the United
States had brought out the mind—the genius—the
extraordinary genius of that people. Little countries
made little mechanics and little statesmen. Look at
the extraordinary list of inventions for which patents
have been granted to the State of Massachusetts
alone. In this way the latent energies of mind were
brought into action. He regretted that any restric-
tions had ever been placed upon Intercolonial
trade.”

There was another important movement, then grow-
ing up into formidable organization, and which now
challenges still more commanding recognition, that
made its voice to be heard within the halls of the New
Brunswick Legislature. In 1847, in consequence of a
motion for a grant in aid of the St..John Temperance
Telegraph, eloquently and successfully advocated by
Mr. Wilmot, the Temperance question came up in the
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 59

Assembly for a full and exhaustive discussion. This
debate, the first probably of a series, deserves promi-
nence in the annals of Colonial legislation. The sub-
ject is doubtless destined to continued discussion in
Parliament, through the press, and on the platform,
until its principles shall have thoroughly permeated
the nation; and the dark blot of legislation, which
sanctions and legalizes the unhallowed liquor traffic,
with all the enormity of evil, of crime, pauperism and
perdition, that follow in its course, shall have been
removed from the Statute Book of this professedly
Christian country ; and when, through all these lands,
the banner of Temperance shall wave in uncontested
triumph.

In our times the public press has become a potent
political engine, the tongue of a free people, and a
stupendous social influence. The columns of enter-
prising and leading newspapers contain and circulate
much of the best thought and ablest composition of
the time; and, in the ventilation of public questions,
they form a most convenient medium of access to the
popular mind. During the most active period of L. A.
Wilmot’s career, the present era of influential journal-
ism, comparatively, was at its commencement. But
even then it was an agency not to be neglected.
Strange does it seem, as we are nearing to the close of
the century, that, within the memory of recent events,
this fact of occasional contribution should call for
explanation and vindication: “ He would not deny that
he had written for the papers—some little squibs.
60 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

Did not the first noblemen and statesmen in England
write for the papers ?” *

In May, 1848, the Hon. L. A. Wilmot was appointed
to the office ‘of Attorney-General. The duties which,
as Leader of the House of Assembly and Premier of
the Province, in the administration of government and
the manipulation of measures, now devolved upon
him, open a new chapter of political history. They
were of a nature to demand constructive ability and
the exercise of another kind of power from that by
which he had been thrown to the front of opposition.

From several measures of great utility, shadowed
forth in the Attorney-General’s scheme of govern-
ment, including railway extension, reciprocity, consoli-
dation of law, agriculture and education, it would not
be easy to form any adequate estimate of his execu-
tive ability. There was no clear field for statesman-
ship. The period of his administration was one of
transition. There had been departure from old lines
of action; but the course for the future had yet to be
clearly and definitely ascertained and determined. The
adaptation and adjustment of Government functions
to new and altered conditions and circumstances very
fully occupied the time and thought of the Assembly.
There was but ascanty margin left for the discussion
of economic measures.

One of the first questions demanding attention was
that of salaries, Under a system of monopoly, the
scale of payment, official and judicial, had been high in

* Want of Confidence Debate, 1847,
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 61

proportion to the resources of the Province. There
was expectation of immediate retrenchment. But
there were also, as a disturbing and confusing element,
the claim and complication of vested right. A delicate
and dexterous hand was required to draw a distinct
and satisfactory line of mediation between Conserva-
tive and Liberal section and sentiment, and equally and
evenly to protect and promote individual and provin-
cial interests. “He was at present,” said the leader of
responsible administration, “a member of Government,
yet he felt himself unchanged in regard to high salaries.
He had witnessed from his youth up the evil effects of
them in this community, when those in more humble
life attempted to imitate the habits and manners of
the official ; but the Government did not pay a man
to roll about in splendor in his carriage, and give fetes
and balls: they expected him to use his mental facul-
ties, and to receive the benefit of his mind.” *

In 1849, the Attorney-General, Hon. L. A. Wilmot,
in anticipation of a scheme for several years postponed
—the construction of a railroad from Halifax to
Quebec—carried a measure through the House pledging

*“T am willing not only to admit, but even anxious to assert, that
in fixing the amount of official salaries in British North America, great
frugality should be observed. In countries recently settled it is of
moment that moderate and simple habits of domestic expenditure
should prevail, and should be respected ; nor is there any exception to
that rule which I should more strongly deprecate than one which
would enable, if not require, official men to distinguish themselves
from other classes by a less strict economy and a more costly style of
life,” —Lord Glenelg,
62 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

a grant of certain public lands and the revenue of the
Province to the extent of £20,000 annually for twenty
years. In common with many others, whose specula-
tions could not at that time be brought to the crucial
test of actual fact, when the question of local roads
was mooted, and the balance of direct expenditure and
of indirect advantage of traffic and travel were not
well understood, he was quite sceptical in regard to the
development of a trade that would warrant the im-
mense cost involved. In mingled banter and sarcasm,
he characterized the first proposed scheme of railway
as “a line from St. John to Shediac ’—cut out by the
Colonial Minister and renewed by the emigrant agent
—‘built for the purpose of transporting salt from
Westmoreland, oysters from Shediac, Cumberland
butter, and Tantramar hay.” The prevalent idea at
that time was: local traffic would financially be insig-
nificant ; and, in order to benefit extensively by rail-
way thoroughfares, they must open communication
with distant and populous centres.

As representative of the Province of New Bruns-
wick, in 1850, Mr. Attorney-General Wilmot attended
the International Railway Convention at Portland, in
the State of Maine. The occasion was one of more
than ordinary interest. It was the first time since
Bunker Hill, for the promotion of beneficent and
national projects, that sons of Loyalists and Revolu-
tionists had met in fraternal intercourse. The flags of
the two countries were interwoven. The Convention
was summoned on that last July day for the purpose
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 63

of considering the feasibility, by rail via New Bruns-
wick, of connecting the cities of Halifax and Portland.

Into the magnificent schemes projected at Portland
he threw himself with all the enthusiastic impulse of
his nature. He was not always in a mood, owing
possibly to hereditary Loyalist prejudice and educa-
tional bias, to do justice to the men and the measures
of the American Republic. Statesmen, having in
charge great destinies, were not believed to have clean
hands; presidential elections were likely to produce
serious disturbance ; the great West, the safety valve,
would fill up, and then the Union would be subjected
to its severest strain. But, at the Convention, inter-
national themes were to the front: the common
heritage of the conquering Saxon race—the advantages
of international comity—the era, now beginning to
dawn, of greatly-increased inter-communication—the
splendid developments of an unfettered commerce—
the banners of the Republic and of the Empire: the
starry folds of the Union, emblematical of God’s great
works in creation, and the red-cross flag of England,
of greater work in Redemption, waving in andlistinbedl
harmony—

‘Till the war-drum throbbed no longer,
And the battle-flags were furled

In the Parliament of man, the
Federation of the world.”

‘Between the British Colonies and the United States
there was a natural, geographical, and commercial inter-
dependence. In the name of concord and mutual
64 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

welfare and prosperity, he proclaimed a bond of indis-
soluble union between the two countries. By means
of the iron rail, their possessions, broad as the Conti-
nent, would be linked together ; and, like the wedding
ring, the symbol of plighted faith, it would constitute
a guarantee of permanence. Under that ban he pealed
anathema upon the restless demagogues of either land
who should seek to part them asunder.

“ He alluded to the fact that exercise of the muscles
of the body tended to increased vigor ; and that exercise
of intellectual faculties, and interchange of opinions,
strengthened the mind. Reciprocity of kindly feeling
would, in like manner, enlarge the heart. In the
course of his remarks, Mr. Wilmot casually alluded to
the question of dissolution of the Union—that the
people of the Provinces would look upon such an event
as most disastrous to their interests and to the interests
of humanity. He thought that even a suggestion in
that direction ought to be considered treason by law ;
and, with much earnestness, exclaimed: ‘ Perish the
man who should dare to think of at.” *

There were many able and eloquent speeches at that
Portland Convention, from parliamentary and public
men—both sides of the line—but to Attorney-General
Wilmot, by common consent, was awarded the palm of
consummate, crowning oratory. He carried the au-
dience by storm. To people across the border, accus-
tomed to political declamation, it was a matter of
amazement that their most brilliant men should be

* Portland Advertiser.
PROFESSIONAL AND POLITICAL. 65

completely eclipsed. It was still a greater cause of
mystery how a style of oratory, of the imaginative and
impassioned type, regarded as peculiarly a production
of the chivalrous and sunny South, could have been
born and nurtured amidst the frigid influences and
monarchical institutions of a bleak and foggy forest
Province. There were accompanying advantages
which stamped the effort as supreme of its kind.
Dramatic action, consummate grace of rhetorical ex-
pression, a voice of matchless power and wondrous
modulation, contributed to the heightened effect. To
a very considerable extent the eloquence was im-
promptu ; and, therefore, largely took its caste and
complexion, apt allusions and rich surprises, from the
immediate scene and its surroundings. That magnifi-
cent burst of oratory swept over the audience like fire
amongst stubble, and like the tempest that bends forest
trees. Reporters are said to have dropped their pencils
and yielded to the magnetic, resistless spell; and the
people, gathered in dense mass, were wrought into a
frenzy of excitement and enthusiasm. It was very
importunately desired that upon public, social, and
international themes, he would make a round of
speeches in the chief centres of the Union.

“JT am poor,” said a Revolutionary hero, a century
ago, when tempted by a bribe of British gold; “but
the King of Great Britain, with all the treasures of his
exchequer, is not rich enough to buy me.” Time works
its own revenges. “ What is your price ?” demanded a
knot of wealthy Republicans, believing in the Sir
66 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

Robert Walpole doctrine. “My price !” said the Hon.
L. A. Wilmot; “what is it that you mean?” “ Every
man has a price,” it was affirmed, “and you have only
to name yours and you shall have it.” And thus the
eloquent Attorney-General of the little Province by the
sea, had he been accessible on that side, might, as he
afterwards phrased it, have been “turned into a
Republican stump orator.” But he had the stern stuff
of that hero of the Revolution ; and, without bravado,
could have told of another land that held his heart, and
of a nobler mission :

“To struggle in the solid ranks of truth ;
To clutch the monster error by the throat ;
To bear opinion to a loftier seat,
To blot the era of oppression out,
And lead a new and nobler freedom in.”

During the same year, 1850, Attorney-General
Wilmot visited Washington. Negotiations, in which
his Government was concerned, had been opened for a
Treaty of Reciprocity with the United States; but for
the maturity of such a scheme, time was demanded.
Four years later, through the agency of Lord Elgin,
the project was happily consummated.

 
 

II.

JUDGE AND GOVERNOR.

‘«Sans peur et sans reproche.”
—Mémoires, kc.

N January, 1851, Hon. L. A. Wilmot was ap-
S pointed Judge of the Supreme Court. It was
as Judge that, in a large circle, he is now re-
membered and venerated. The Chief-Justiceship, then
vacant, following the analogy of the British Constitu-
tion, was due to him as Attorney-General. Through
Conservative influence, endeavouring to thwart re-
sponsible administration, and the persistency of the
Governor, this more exalted seat was given to Mr.
Justice Carter. The Puisne Judgeship offered to Mr.
Wilmot, contrary to general expectation, was accepted.
By many of his political friends this step was regarded
as the mistake of his life. It was the opinion of
competent counsellors that he should have protested
against the elevation of Judge Carter, and gone into
opposition. There was every reason to believe, that
68 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

by such a course, he might have consolidated the
Reform Party, foiled the schemes of Sir E. Head, upset
the Conservative Government; and, that being made
acquainted with manifest violation of constitutional
principle, in the end the Colonial Minister would have
given him the position in contention.

The annals of British judicial administration, from
the days of Sir Matthew Hale, “for deep discernment
praised” and “sanctity undefiled,” through a golden
age of law and reason, a long and splendid succession,
commemorate the names of distinguished Judges;
their supreme legal attainments and conspicuous
mental endowments constitute a pride and glory of the
realm. Under pressure of counter and conflicting
claims and considerations, at the time of the Judge’s
appointment, to the perplexity of friends and a provo-
cation to adverse criticism, there was somewhat of
hesitation and perhaps of oscillation betwixt the
Forum and the Bench. He was a popular politician.
The House of Assembly had been the scene of mag-
nificent oratorical achievement. But then he was also
a lawyer—passionately proud of his profession and
conscious of competent qualification for discharge of
onerous and exalted duty. In deference, therefore, to
special attraction and the unrivalled prestige of digni-
fied legal position, ardent and enthusiastic sympathies
and aspirations were placed in subordination. He was
still in the meridian splendour of public life. But the
preference was laudable and perfectly explicable. He
had his reward. The ambition, which as the crown
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 69

and culmination of a brilliant and influential career—
professional and parliamentary—coveted honourable
and illustrious association and a place on the bead-roll
of immortal forensic fame, was well calculated to
ensure and perpetuate recognition.

In addition to reasons already indicated, that deter-
mined his course, there were probably others of a
private and personal nature. Asa consequence of early
entrance upon public life, his own business must have
been greatly neglected; and professional income, upon
which he was mainly dependent, would be considerably
curtailed. The inevitable cost of contested elections,
under the vicious system which at that time prevailed,
must under any circumstance have been a very serious
item. In these facts there was palpable and cogent
reason for accepting honourable judicial appointment—
a coveted prize in the legal profession. The transition
from stormy debates of the Legislative Assembly to
the ordinarily serene atmosphere of the Court of Judi-
cature, not altogether consonant to mercurial elements
of mental temperament, brought with it duties of an
entirely different character. He was now largely
withdrawn from the public gaze. For some seventeen
years, in the impartial discharge of judicial functions,
he stood aloof from party movement. This phase
of life may, therefore, fitly: be compressed into brie/
notice.

To the Bench of New Brunswick Judge Wilmot
became a noble and splendid accession. He was not
by any means a black-letter lawyer. At the bar, in the
70 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

shape of ancient and musty authorities, he never bored
judge or jury by any extra production of learned
lumber. There is a kind of legal knowledge to be ob-
tained in patient, labourious inquiry and application,
for which he would never, probably, have become con-
spicuous. As a mere /egist of what may be technically
known as “cases,” from the fibre and constitution of
his mind, he could scarcely have achieved any signal
success. In contradistinction to a dull plodder in
precedent, he was pre-eminently a jurist. “Under any
species of administration,” according to the dictum of
a distinguished aphorist, “it is seldom that both in-
tellect and intregity have a predominating sway.’
But in a very eminent degree and in marked combina-
tion, when Mr. Justice Wilmot presided at the Supreme
Court, these desiderated qualities found exhibition.
Keen observation, loye for legal studies, extensive pro-
fessional experience, acute and penetrating thought,
clear and facile intuition and perception of complex
and subtle questions involved, firm and rapid grasp of
principles that govern the noble science of jurispru-
dence, in that lofty sphere, could not fail to command
appreciation and profound respect. That very rapidity
and assurance of mental process, however, by which
complicated interests and important issues were appre-
hended and anticipated, were almost certain in some
cases to produce friction and dissatisfied feeling.
Between the Bench and Bar may often be felt the
pressure of motives that lie widely asunder. There is
ample margin for divergence of feeling and action. The
- JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 71

persistence of the advocate, knowing how much has
been staked upon his ability and judgment, and what
important interests have been entrusted to his manage-
ment, sometimes deemed sheer pertinacity, striving to
make the worse appear the better cause, is not unfre-
quently prompted by intense and anxious solicitude
for the advantage of aclient. The Judge on the other
hand has only one central, controlling idea. He strives
to be absolutely and inflexibly impartial. Through
whatever human hopes, fears, or supposed rights, it
cleave a way, the law must take its course. Upon
whatever tends to thwart pure administration, justice
sternly frowns rebuke. Occasionally impatience, pro-
voked by the wrangling of lawyers, finds severe expres-
sion. But whatever difference of estimate there may
have been in regard to Judge Wilmot’s administration,
in other respects, there was confessedly an unswerving
integrity of purpose. In his appointment to the Bench
the ermine was worn with dignity, grace, and unsullied
purity.

One trial during his presidency as Judge of the
Supreme Court, amongst scientific men and through
the country, is said to have excited a deep and wide-
spread interest. Amongst the witnesses summoned
were Professor Sedgewick, the noted geologist, and
eminent scientists of the United States. The issue of
the trial depended chiefly upon correct classification of
a mineral, a species of anthracite extensively used in
the manufacture of kerosene oil, commonly known as
Albert coal. Testimony in this case, for purposes of
72 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

accuracy, comprised some very minute distinctions and
abundance of technical terminology. The Judge was
now in his element. Wide and varied knowledge,
legal and scientific, was exhibited to very conspicuous
advantage. He gave himself to thorough mastery and
complete comprehension of the questions in disputa-
tion. The ability with which he presided, the lumin-
ous exposition of fundamental principles of law, the
acuteness exhibited in grasp of multifarious details and
scientific intricacies, commanded general admiration.
From intelligent spectators and distinguished wit-
nesses, most competent to determine, he won acknow-
ledgment of the highest encomium.

The value to his country for many years’ service, in
faithful discharge of judicial duties, consonant with
the pure and lofty spirit of the British legal adminis-
tration, from a mere reference to isolated cases, cannot
be fully estimated. “The pure and impartial admin-
istration of justice is, probably, the firmest bond to
secure a cheerful submission of the people, and to
engage their affections to government.” * “Justice is
the greatest interest of man on earth. It is the liga-
ment whieh holds civilized beings and civilized nations
together. Wherever her temple stands, and as long as
it is duly honoured, there is a foundation for security,
and general happiness, and the improvement and pro-
gress of our race. And whoever labours on this edifice
with usefulness and distinction; whoever clears its
foundations, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entabla-

* Letters of Junius.
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 73

tures, or contributes to raise its august dome still
higher in the skies, connects himself, in name and fame
and character, with that which is and must be durable
as human society.” *

During the period of connection with the Bench a
relief from severe strain of judicial duty, in response to
pressing application, taking advantage of convenient
and legitimate method of acting upon popular thought
and feeling, Judge Wilmot occasionally lectured on
subjects of literary and patriotic interest. Toward the
close of the Crimean War, in 1856, a second address on
that subject was delivered. The theme was congenial.
After much endurance, and one of the greatest sieges
on record, the fortressed City of Sebastopol had been
taken. The haughty pride and menace of Russia were
laid in the dust. In discussing the situation there
were accuracy of detail, precision of technical and
military phrase, and vividness of colouring that would
have done credit to one who had mingled in the strife.
There was a very decided impression that the best in-
terests of a noble civilization, and of a nobler chris-
tianity, were bound up with the success of the Allies.
Believing that God was still “the Lord of Hosts ”—the
Supreme Arbiter of nations—he referred, for patriotic
purpose, to sacred historic fact and to the might of
ancient Hebrew warriors. Full of the fire of that
theme, on the destruction of Sennacherib’s host, he
quoted Byron’s Hebrew melody :

* Daniel Webster,
74 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

‘The Assyrian came down, like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ;
And the sheen of their spears was like the stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.”

During the troubled days of the Sepoy mutiny, in
India, the march of the gallant Havelock was graphic-
ally described. Even the dark clouds which at the
time gathered over our countrymen in that land had
a fringe of brightness. “It was not for him to inves-
tigate the secrets of Providence ; but there seemed to
be wonderful adaptations in relation to these late
events.” It was a happy circumstance that the re-
bellion in India had not happened two years earlier ;
then England was engaged in war with Russia. Had
this been the case, every European must have died, or
been driven into the sea. But again a dispute had
taken place with China; a large number of soldiers
were out on the way for the purpose of settling that
dispute. The Chinese contingent was, therefore, ready
to enter India just when the terrible outbreak hap-
pened. :

A series of Lyceum addresses, in the city of St.
John, 1858-9, grew into fame. The audiences and
excitement were unprecedented in that community.
The design of the whole course was to deepen in the
public mind a sense of indebtedness to the Word of
God. Many a thread of purple and gold was woven
into the texture of brilliant speech. The touching
testimony of Dr. Newman, in regard to “the uncom-
mon beauty and marvellous” style of the authorized
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 75

version, was emphasized and endorsed: “ It lives in
the ear like music that can never be forgotten, like
the sound of the church bells which the convert hardly
knows how to forego. Its felicities seem almost things
instead of words ; it is a part of the national mind and
the anchor of national seriousness ; the memory of the
dead passes into it; the potent traditions of childhood
are stereotyped in its verses; the power of all griefs
and trials of man are hidden beneath its words. In
the length and breadth of the land there is not a
Protestant, with one spark of seriousness about him,
whose spiritual biography is not in the Saxon Bible.”*

Amongst the generous gifts of a loyal people to the
Princess Royal, on the occasion of her marriage to the
Crown-Prince of Prussia, was a superbly bound Bible,
“the secret of England’s greatness ”—

‘*A gem which purer lustre flings
Than the diamond flash of the jewelled crown
On the lofty brow of kings.”

In reference to that gift, a boon offered alike to
prince and to peasant,” the Judge paid a beautiful
tribute to the Book he loved so well: “There were
gathered in profusion, costly pearls and diamonds,
brilliant, dazzling ornaments, precious gifts from loving
friends. One would think that art had exhausted its
skill in producing those wondrous bridal gifts ; and
one is led to think how they will adorn England’s
daughter, and how these precious gems will ere long

* Dublin Review.
76 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

sparkle in the light of a thousand lamps in the royal
halls of Prussia. And then those mementoes of
domestic love, how they will remind her of the gener-
ous givers and of her happy English home! But see!
amid that costly, dazzling array there is another gift.
It cannot deck the brow, or sparkle on the bosom ; but
it can do more, infinitely more. When pearls, and
diamonds, and gems, and gold and gay attire, lose all
their beauty and attraction ; when all worldly glories
are fading away, this precious gift will only increase
in value and in beauty, reflecting the light of heaven
upon the soul, and affording sweet peace when all of
earth is useless, valueless. Here are decorations for
the soul, brilliants for eternity !”

The pure and life-giving Word of God was designed,
as the lecturer believed, for nations as well as indivi-
duals. The inspired idea of the mystic river of pro-
phetie vision, on more than one occasion, found noble
application: “I like,” he said, at the St. John
Anniversary of 1858, “to refer to that striking
vision of the prophet Ezekiel in the 47th chapter,
where he sees the great waters stretching away,
far away: It is like the Word of God; and there
we see the little Sunday-school children coming
up, and it is ankle-deep for them; and then we
see it growing deeper and broader for those more
advanced in years, the waters coming up to the knees,
and then the loins, until it swelled out a mighty river,
stretching far away, and which even the greatest could
not pass over; but some stand on the brink of this
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 77

great river of life, and will allow none to wade in it.
Some would endeavour to prevent us going into these
waters, even ankle deep, and instead of allowing us to
bathe in this glorious stream of the river of life, would
give to us but small draughts, not of the pure waters
of life, but a miserable, filthy compound, taken out of
the stagnant pools of man’s devising ; or which

Whoever tasted, lost upright shape,
And downward fell, into a grovelling swine.”

A pamphlet, published in 1859, contains a speech and
lecture, and also several controversial letters to which
these had given rise. There was an incident of the
speech that indicated breadth of historical knowledge,
and the ease with which it could at once be made
available in public effort. It had been stated by Mr.
Justice Parker, in an opening address, that Papal per-
mission had been given in 1778 to read the Bible in
France. That permission, according to Judge Wilmot,
was for the purpose of checking the revolutionary spirit,
generated by principles and deeds that Rome had
patronized. “Voltaire and his associates were spread-
ing their infidel writings with the avowed purpose of
overthrowing Christianity. Copies to cover cost of
publication were sold; the remainder were gratuitous-
ly circulated. This course they commenced in 1772;
you know what happened in ten years from that time.
A living tide of fire rolled over the land, devastating
the country and sweeping before it throne and king,
altar and priest. In all this there was manifest retri-
78 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

bution and the justice of God. Two centuries before,
Clement and Ravailic, both monks, had assassinated
King Henry, excommunicated by the Pope, and Henry
of Navarre. On St. Bartholomew’s Day, 1570, fifty
thousand Protestants were slaughtered. There were
rejoicings at Rome; a medal was struck in commem-
oration of the event. Under the pictures of Clement
and Ravailac were placed the inscription: ‘Happy is
the man who kills a king.” After two hundred years,
men met in dark cells to plot the Revolution. The
pictures of Clement and Ravailac, with that inscrip-
tion, were seen hanging above their heads. The king
paid the penalty. If it were good to kill Henry, why
not Louis? Upon their own principles, the evils which
had been brought about were now avenged.”

The reputation of Hon. L. A. Wilmot, as pleader
and parliamentary debater, had been made years
before; and the laurel-leaf, awarded by acclamation,
was still fresh and green. But in the absence of any
formidable opponent, a foemen worthy of keen and
polished Damascus steel, there was a general impres-
sion that the qualities which made him the Rupert of
debate must mainly be held in abeyance. There was
consequent surprise. The fire and force and freshness
of platform effort and oratory fairly took the com-
munity by storm. “For three hours,” we find, at one
time, “the audience was held almost breathless by the
magic spell of eloquence.” The announcement of John
Boyd, Esq., Hon. 8. L. Tilley, Rev. Matthew Richey,
D.D., and Hon, Judge Wilmot, in 1860, as speakers
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 79

for a public meeting to be held in the Centenary
Church, might well produce a feeling of more than
ordinary interest. Many a great crowd has been
gathered in that noble old sanctuary; but the scene
of thronged aisles and galleries, that we were privi-
leged to witness on that occasion, could scarcely be
surpassed. Between two of those gifted men, it was
difficult to award the palm of eloquence: “The Rev.
Dr. Richey is one of the most finished orators of
modern times. He would make his mark in any
civilized country and among any people; his diction
the purest, and his language the most chaste of any
man we know. He was succeeded by Judge Wilmot
in one of those thrilling, heart-stirring addresses so
characteristic of him. These men are equally great
in their different styles of eloquence, but they are
entirely dissimilar in manner and expression. The
Judge stands upon the platform a living representation
of oratory.” *

There was, in regard to these efforts, an almost
consentaneous expression. “He lectured on the
Buried City—of which the Prophet Nahum pre-
dicted: ‘I will make thy grave, for thou art vile.’
To the surprise of the wonder-stricken inhabitants ;
the astonishment of the world; the delight of the
Bible student; the remains of this great city were dis-
covered far below, dug out of the very bowels of the
earth—a wonderful attestation of the truth of the
Scripture account of Nineveh, which the sceptic has so

* Globe,
80 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

long derided, and of that divine prophecy uttered
many years before—‘For thou hast made of a city
an heap, of a defenced city a ruin; a place of strangers
to be no city; it shall never be built.’ Words fail
to express the rich imagery—the deep reasoning—
the wondrous development of prophecy—the solemn
lessons of warning which characterised this noble
effort. We will only add, it was one of the richest
specimens of sublime, soul-stirring eloquence, we have
ever listened to; and sustained, in all its force, the
fame of the speaker as one of the first orators in
America.” * For the benefit of young people the
lecture on that subject was repeated. The hour ap-
pointed was half-past two in the afternoon ; but long
before that time the St. John Institute Hall was filled
to its utmost capacity. “The doors had to be closed
and hundreds turned away. The inside of the Hall
presented an imposing spectacle. Probably not less
than two thousand five hundred managed to get in.
There were sparkling eyes and open ears. How de-
lightful to-see his Honour devoting splendid talents to
the mental and moral improvement of the young!
Citizens are under lasting obligation for the rich intel-
lectual treat.”* An arrangement of a similar kind
seems to have been made for the following year.
“The Christianity of the Bible,” he said, “never
forged a bolt or prison bar. It never drew a tear nor
encouraged a cruel act. It taught peace and good-
will. The Sword of the Spirit, the blessed Word of

* Courier, 1858, + Christian Visitor, Feb. 1858,
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 81

God, was its only weapon. The Bible was man’s
heritage and right. Youthful hearers were urged to
stand by it. If we may judge from the storm of
applause, this they are resolved to do.” *

At some points, in this memorable course, the line of
thought brought up burning questions and led to the
discussion of monitory historic facts. Fired by a sense
of the tremendous significance of such a theme, stern as
well as splendid passages burst from his lips. The fer-
vent utterances, however, were in one case denounced
as mere Protestant philippics. What was an uninten-
tional compliment, the oratory was branded as “of the

true Gavazzi style.” The propriety of such a role,
on the part of a Judge of the Supreme Court, was
publicly questioned. “There was a time,” he said,

“when a lawyer, except as an ecclesiastic, could not
sit upon the Bench. The sacred and judicial offices
were combined. A chancellor heard the cause, con-
demned the criminal and executed the sentence.”
But can there be a return of such days in the his-
tory of our country? Must the lips of legal digni-
taries, except within their own jurisdiction, be utterly
sealed and their convictions suppressed? Are there
not questions of momentous importance which, from
eminent ability and exalted position, they are spe-
cially qualified to discuss? Is the ermine of such
delicate quality and of such sensitive purity that, by
mere contact with the earnest, throbbing movements
of a living humanity, it may be soiled or sullied ?

* Church Witness, 1859.
p*
82 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

There was at least one eminent Judge who claimed
the right of untrammelled thought and of unfettered
speech. His utterances in definition of position
and purpose, as nobly exhibited and unfalteringly
maintained, breathe and burn with the spirit and
sentiment to which we are indebted for the priceless
boon of civil and religious liberty. They have the
ring of Luther’s thundering theses: “ While under
protection of the flag of my country and in possession
of British freedom, I cannot allow any power or party,
political or ecclesiastical, to dictate as to when, how, or
where I shall explain and defend Protestant tenets
and expose opposing systems.” *

The impression produced by such words can scarcely
be understood from.a mere perusal. They were ac-
companied by an intense, but undefinable, sensibility.
There was an emotion that was strangely contagious.
“« The Judge is all action. The listener feels his heart
vibrating like a reed in the wind before his wonder-
ful and powerful gesticulation. The oratory is that of
both intellect and body; the whole man is brought
into action. Does he get off a denunciation? You
read it in his countenance before the eloquent words
have leaped like fire from his lips.” +

Another side of Hon. L. A. Wilmot’s well-rounded
life, to best advantage, could be seen in his own home.
He was a versatile and brilliant conversationalist. In
addition to wealth of acquired knowledge and ac-
quaintance with best thought, as embodied in literary

* Carleton Sentinel. +St. John Globe, 1860.
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 83

art, there were ready play of wit, delicacy of feeling,
love for social intercourse, and a constant atmosphere
of kindliness. To bring out the interest of personal
interview, it may be expedient to describe one of many
visits. In order that this sketch may be a living ex-
pression, and not simply an ideal conception, it will be
preferable to trace a reminiscence in which memo-
randa can be utilized.

The beautiful grounds of Evelyn Grove, at that time
the finest probably in the Province, annually visited by
numerous citizens and strangers, always cordially wel-
comed, were evidence of cultured taste and of intense
love of nature.* House and verandah are draped and
shaded by refreshing foliage, and beautified with thick
profusion of twining plants and trellised vines. From
the rear there looms up the shadowy form of dark,
tall pines. Bounding the grounds are the stately and
graceful forms and spreading branches of leafy green-
wood trees. These have all been planted by the pro-
prietor, and are all the growth of a life-time. Fronting
the residence, intersected by pleasant paths and orna-
mented with statuary, smooth and velvety surface and
swath of deepest and richest green, is a neatly-trimmed
and shady lawn. In the midst, an appropriate setting
of gem-like beauty, bright with variegated colors, is
a spacious, circular mound. Geraniums and other
choice plants, in various and contrasted tints, are there

*In this way, as an accomplished horticulturist, Judge Wilmot
came to be widely known. He was a Vice-President of the Pomo-
logical Society of America—the President of which, the Hon. Mr.
Wilder, recently paid an appropriate tribute to his memory.
84 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

combined into rare completeness and beauty of design.
In the centre, of pyramidical shape, that may only be
expected to bloom once im a century, stands a magnifi:
cent specimen of the cactus family. “Should the
summer-time of the hundred years come in my life,”
Judge Wilmot often pleasantly remarked, as visitors
lingered in admiration, “the church bell must ring
out a peal, and all the friends be invited to a sight of
century-flowers.” That centennial glory he was not
permitted to see. The associations of that delightful
grove, in which beauty and fragrance are renewed and
reproduced, can only now revive the hopeless longing,
“‘O for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound
of a voice that is still!”

Through a slender arch of bent twigs and branches,
fragrant with perfume of rose and honeysuckle and
blossoming columbine, that climb and twine around
each delicate stem, we make our way to another sec-
tion of these charmingly beautiful grounds. What a
scene.of floral splendour now bursts upon the view!

‘‘The garden paths are broad and smooth,
There pansies bloom in gorgeous bed ;

And high above the violets
The tall, pale lilies bow their heads.”

Flowers of rare beauty and loveliness, and of deli-
cious aroma, grouped and distributed with exquisite
taste and skill, blossom and brighten in the soft balmy
sunshine ; and, with sweet odors, gladden this favored,
elysian spot. There is a sensation around you at the
moment, as if nature were sighing for repose. The
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 85

air is languid with summer heat; but in the early
morning, we should have found invigorating freshness
and the joyousness of renewed life. In matin strain,
the feathered songsters that frequent the grove warble
in concert and fill it with their melody. Here, at that
dewy hour, with wonted implements of toil, for this
floral culture forms a special charge, we might have
found our honored friend. The avenue leads at length
to another quality of production. There are superb
specimens of roots and plants, and a marvellous pro-
fusion and wealth of organic life. Threading a way
through the foliage, that almost conceals access, the
grounds in another direction change to a completely
different character. As if in some fairy land, the scene
and surroundings have undergone a wondrous trans-
formation. Instead of flowers and parenchymatous
growth, with abundance of shade, there is an almost
tropical variety of shrubbery and of thickly-planted
ornamental trees. In the centre, chiefly constructed
by his own hands, stands a summer-house of rustic
form and frame work. We find the Judge enjoying—

“The harvest of a quiet eye
That sleeps and broods on his own heart.”

By the fullness and fluency of his conversation, we
are at once fascinated. The life of every plant, its
special affinities and conditions of growth, he seems
perfectly to understand. If, as the Oriental monarch,
he does not speak of the trees “from the cedar that
isin Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out
86 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

of the wall;” from climbing ivy and myrtle and “ the
lilies,” how they grow, and fair and delicate forms of
life that have been transplanted from strange and
sunny lands, to the stately cone-bearers that tower
above us in the dusky magnificence of what seems a
dense forest growth, he talks with the accuracy of a
botanical scientist and the enthusiasm of a genuine
child of nature.

There are wonderful lessons, when once the myste-
ries of nature have found an adequate interpreter, to
be learned and treasured up. “Look,” says the Judge,
“at that slender, trailing vine! In search of support,
and failing to find a fitting object, its tendrils run
- along the ground. With gentle hand it ought to be
trained toward the light. There it would find strength
and life. But now, with a tendency to speedy decay,
it clasps and clings to a piece of mouldering wood. By
alaw of their nature, equally with ivy plant and sum-
mer-tendril, in their unfolding mind, the little ones
’ that gather around us for instruction cling tenaciously
for strength and support. If not trained upwards, in
the direction of heavenly light and love, they may be
expected to take root in some unworthy object ; and,
in direct assimilation, become of the earth, earthy.”
“What delicious fruit,” he continues, when for a moment
the modest strawberry vine claims attention, “close
upon the surface! Is it not so in the word of God?
Are not the most essential truths easily accessible ?
Were a stranger from another planet, thrown sud-
denly upon our globe, to be acquainted with the
~

JUDGE AND GOVFRNOR. 87

boundaries of knowledge, he might ask in amazement:
‘Must I know all this in order to live? Must I search
the strata, classify planets, group the stars into con-
stellations, and investigate the illimitable’? By no
means! The essential conditions of life are simple:
Bread from bruised corn, and water from the mountain
spring. Then, according to inclination or capacity,
research may be carried into distant domain. In the
word of God are deep abysses, mountain peaks, and
measureless expanse of thought. But the grand veri-
ties, needed for salvation, are upon the surface. The
strawberries lie nearest to the little children! It is not
necessary to acquire abstruse and technical knowledge
in order to live. We can subsist on that which grows
at our feet. Andso in the marvellous word of inspira-
tion, with mighty depths and knotty points for learned
men and profound theologians, for the young there are
passages, clear, simple, and loving; the twenty-third
psalm where the little ones may be led into green
pastures and to quiet waters.”

Is it the sentiment of Wordsworth, in affinity with
what has been eloquently expressed, that recurs in
suggestive strain? As a slight contribution to con-
versational interest the lines are recalled :

“Believe it not :
That primal duties shine aloft like stars ;

The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless,
Are scattered at the feet of man like flowers.”

The interest of this visit, fortunately, has not yet
ended. After an excursion through the grounds, for a
88 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

few moments of rest, we accompany the Judge to his
library. Here anew and congenial theme, often touched
upon before, is started. “Have you read,” he asks—
and his words may be given verbatim—*“the Au-
gust and September numbers of Blackwood? The
first contains an exceedingly interesting article on what
the Old Egyptians did. The writer is at a loss to know
in what way the early post-diluvians became so wise
and so well instructed in many things. To me the
article is especially interesting as supporting my view
that wisdom was originally inspired by the Creator.
It does appear marvellous that even such a man as
Whately should have entertained an idea that man
when first created, or very shortly afterwards, was
advanced by the Creator himself to a state above that of
a mere savage. Surely if God created man _ perfect,
physically and morally, he did not leave him a babe in
intellect! Why may we not, therefore, assume that the
first man was educated by the Almighty Himself—
that he took the degree of M.A. in Heaven’s College—
that he knew what kind of world he was placed in,
and how to make the most of it—that he knew the re-
lation of the earth to the sun, moon and other planets,
and how they served for days and seasons and years—
that intellectually Adam was the Creator’s master-piece
and never a savage? Then what opportunities, from
the longevity of the ante-diluvians, for imparting
knowledge! Though the wickedness of man was great
upon the earth, and led to the terrible judgment of the
flood, the majestic intellect was there
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 89

Bright and base,
With rubbish mixed and glittering in the dust.

The wonderful architecture of the Assyrians and
Egyptians, and the learning and wisdom of the latter,
necessarily indicate the transmission of a great amount
of knowledge from Noah and his sons. Mankind
could not in the first instance have civilized itself and
must, therefore, have a superhuman instructor.”

Upon the Federation of the British Colonies of
North America into the Dominion of Canada, 1868, in
acknowledgement of important public services not for-
gotten through several years of comparative seclusion,
a tribute also to distinguished and commanding per-
sonal qualities, the Hon. L. A. Wilmot was appointed
first native Governor of New Brunswick.* The ap-

*The first Governor of New Brunswick, for nearly twenty years,
was Colonel Thomas Carleton. Then, for several years, Hon. Gabriel
Ludlow and Judge Edward Winslow administered the government as
Presidents. In consequence of difficulty with the United States,
1812-14, Major-General Hunter and, in rapid succession, six other
officers of rank acted as military presidents. Sir George Tracy Smythe
was appointed Lieutenant-Governor in 1818. Judge Chipman-became
administrator in 1823 and was succeeded by Hon. John Murray
Bliss—uncle of L. A. Wilmot. Then, as regularly appointed Lieut-
enant Governors, followed Sir Howard Douglas in 1824, Sir Archibald
Campbell, 1831; Sir John Harvey, 1834; Sir William Colebroke,
1841; Sir Edmund Walker Head, 1848; Sir J. H. Manners-Sutton,
1854; Sir Arthur Gordon, 1862.

Since Confederation Hon. L. A. Wilmot was succeeded by Hon.,
now Sir, Samuel Leonard Tilley, C.B. The brief administration of
of Hon. E. B. Chandler, who followed Sir Samuel, was early ter-
minated by death. The present Governor, Hon. R. D. Wilmot, a
near relative of the Judge, completes the gubernatorial succession,
90 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

pointment was creditable to all concerned. It
could not on any side be open to the imputation of
political party purpose and manipulation. But from
disinterestedness and eminent fitness of things, no
designation could have been more politic.

The distinguished recognition accorded was purely
and pre-eminently a tribute to high character, rare
combination of mental and moral qualities, and to the
splendid services by which a reputation had been made
far beyond the boundaries of the Province. Release
from onerous judicial duties,and the comparative leisure
of governmental administration, afforded ample oppor-
tunity for literary and floral pursuits and pleasures.
What was of greater consequence an influence, always
employed for good and beneficent interests, was largely
augmented. There was also, in that appointment, an
evidence of completeness and consummation of import-
ant life work, conscious and undisguised satisfaction
and gratification. Instead of official monopoly and the
block of impassable social barriers, from the humblest
and lowliest grades and walks of life to the elevations
and altitudes of society for gifted and industrious stu-
dents, the avenues were fully opened,

‘* And we, in larger measure, now inherit
What made our forerunners free and wise.”

Young men, of colonial birth and education, go forth
to duty and effort; and, with all the incentive and
stimulus of possible achievement, aspire to public and
professional distinction. Let them not forget that to
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 91

Hon. L. A. Wilmot and to his compeers and compa-
triots, for a valuable heritage of birthright and free-
dom, they owe an unspeakable debt of gratitude.
“Yesterday,” writes a metropolitan journalist,
“marked a new era in the history of New Brunswick;
it marked that one of her sons, no matter of what class
or creed or sect, might aspire successfully to the high
dignity of becoming Lieutenant-Governor of his native
Province. Sweeping away the old landmarks of vested
rights and political distinction, the day has declared
the lofty sentiment, that a noble genius, a loyal and pa-
triotic spirit are the main tests of excellency, the grand
desiderata of honour and distinction. In hailing Judge
Wilmot as the new Lieutenant-Governor,—he comes
to us with all these recommendations, traced along a
whole lifetime spent in the service of his native Pro-
vince; and while it is possible many of the younger
portion of our people may rather incline to regard His
Excellency in the light of these latter days, catching
tone and feeling from recent political events, we simply
ask them to look back. Let them look up the records
of the past, when their grandsires were held in the
grasp of domineering family compact who knew no
right save the right to rule, who recognized only as
presumptuous any and every aspiration of the people
seeking a voice in the government of their own
affairs. And when at length this Province was con-
vulsed to its very centre, when the great Magna
Charta of Responsible Government and the people’s
rights was struggling into existence let them ask the
92 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

‘old men’ who it was that sprang to the front, and
catching up this battle-cry of the people, fought the
leader in the fight until the truth and right pre-
vailed, and won for us all that social and_ political
liberty which is to-day the boast of every true-born son
of New Brunswick. Nor was this merely the work
of aday. Persistently the struggle was continued from
year to year, but ever sustained by his constituents
of York, who stood by him ‘in the storm and in
the sunshine,’ that matchless eloquence never faltered,
that earnest, manly pleading never failed, until vic-
tory crowned the efforts of himself and colleagues,
and Responsible Government became the first prin-
ciple of the constitution. Therefore it is that the
friends of His Excellency claim for him, in his recent
appointment, that he has simply obtained his right,
a right which he is worthy to receive, and which a
vast majority of the people of his native province de-
light to bestow.” *

At the inauguration of Governor Wilmot there was
a characteristic and illustrative incident that claims
permanent record. The Senate Hall on that occasion
was thronged with the elite of the city: ladies, sena-
tors, judges, clergymen, military gentlemen and others.
The ceremony had been completed and officials were
thronging to tender congratulation. In the excitement
of the occasion, proud of the superintendent, a little
fellow from the Sunday-school found his way to the
front. With bright intelligent face he caught the Gover-

* Fredericton Reporter.
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 93

nor'seye. At once, in preference to all dignitaries, the
hand of the scholar was cordially grasped. No compli-
ment could be more genuine, and certainly none was
returned with more beaming light and reciprocity of
feeling, than that presented by the earnest representa-
tive of his Sabbath charge.

Under the old regime, retaining and reproducing in
colonial life the style to which in wealthy and aristo-
cratic home circles they had been accustomed, the
hospitalities of Government House were munificently
administered by successive English families. Society
at Headquarters was supposed to be quite select.*
Fashionable entertainments were the order of the
day. To the invited guest, the Lieutenant-Govern-
or’s invitation brought with it a very considerable
amount of prestige. It formed one of the sharp-
ly defined, and sometimes arbitrarily drawn, lines
by which society, at that time in the little capi-
tal, was discriminated and graded. There was con-
siderable speculation, at the inauguration of the
new Governor, in regard to the public courtesies which
he might deem it expedient to adopt. Upon what
principle could he harmonize practices, supposed to be
of a thoroughly worldly nature, with convictions
avowed, and course consistently pursued through
many years of Christian profession? By those who
best knew him, whatever temporary perplexities

* Like England in those days, we had quite a recognized aristocracy
—Shores, Odells, Peters’, Saunders’, Baillies, Carters, &e.—‘‘ Reminis-
cences,”’ in Reporter.
94 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

might arise, there was never a fear that he would
compromise his character and religious principles. A
little coterie there was, of fashionable community, es-
pecially anxious for the maintenance of a former
system. In one instance, when guests were at the
table, by a preconcerted plan partly in fun and slight-
ly in earnest, the question of a Government House Ball
was raised. The Governor received intimation that,
during incumbency of honourable office, in mode of
entertainment and of social demand, he would be ex-
pected to follow in the routine of his predecessors.
But with Hon. L. A. Wilmot, always on the alert, it
was not easy to carry a position, by any coup-de-main
attempt. A ball at Government House! They must
not be disappointed! He would at once name the
day! But the time indicated would not do at all;
there was an insuperable barrier. It would take them
into Lent; that was to be observed in fasting, and
not in feasting. The Church would not, during that
term of solemn Lenten services, sanction the splendour
and indulgence of worldly fashion, and of unhallowed
gratification. The inference was palpable ; his course
was clear. There was a Church, from members of
which the movement had emanated, by which, during
the days of Lent, the forms and festivities pleaded
for were prohibited. For that imperative regulation
there was scrupulous and creditable concern and com-
pliance ; but another church claimed from him the
same spirit of obedience. Upon the ground of prin-
ciple rather than of expedience, and the year round
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 95

equally with the weeks of an annual fast, the same
prohibition was enforced. In imitation of consistency,
which challenged admiration and commanded fullest
approval, he must decline the proposed arrangement.
Promenade and musical gatherings, garden parties and
conversazione, constituted a satisfactory and pleasant
substitute. The opinion has frequently been expressed
that there had never been a more generous and at-
tractive exercise, or exhibition of Government House
hospitalities.*

Until the Act of Federation, mainly representative
of Imperial interests, the Lieutenant-Governors of the
several Provinces were appointed immediately by the
Crown. They were ordinarily selected from influen-
tial circles, aristocratic families, and the ranks of those
who had claim to stations of honor and emolument.
The newly-appointed Governor, under another dispen-
sation, sustained an altered relation. In official ad-
ministration, however, and in social life, he was
brought into direct contact with the previous occu-
pants of the same dignified office. But from that
comparison the Hon. L. A. Wilmot could not suffer.
He had that genuine dignity which springs from the
soul; in all qualities, mental and physical, he was one

* Amongst prominent guests entertained by Governor and Mrs.
Wilmot, during occupancy of the official mansion, were H. R. H.
Prince Arthur of England, Baron and Lady Lisgar, Earl and Countess
Dufferin, General Sir Hastings Doyle, Admirals Wellesley and Fan-
shawe, Governors Howland and Robinson. A valuable ring presented
by the Prince to Mrs. Wilmot, set with diamond and emeralds, forms
a fitting sowvenir of his visit.
96 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

of nature’s noblemen. There is, unquestionably, an
aristocracy of birth; and all honor to those whose
glittering coronets have gained brighter lustre from
deeds of chivalrous worth. There is an aristocracy,
too, of wealth, in which the titles of money-kings, that
rule the world, are emblazoned and enrolled. But
there is also, higher than all, an aristocracy of mental
and moral worth, with its brilliant galaxy of names—
of which heraldry may have no record—the most
superb minds and splendid intellects that God has
ever given to the world. To the ranks of men, enobled
by worth and true magnificence of soul, by right
divine, the first native Governor of New Brunswick
belonged. “’Tis only noble to be good.”

“* He’s the Noble who advances
Freedom and the cause of man.”

The duties of a Lieutenant-Governor, under ordinary
circumstances, in the Provinces of Canada, are not ex-
traordinarily onerous; and, with moderate and average
prudence and ability, may be creditably and satisfac-
torily discharged. It was a matter of doubt, for many
years a popular leader, suspected of political sympa-
thies, and quite as strongly of corresponding antipa-
thies, whether Governor Wilmot would be able to
divest himself of personal and party bias and prefer-
ence. But it was soon apparent, with guarantee of
fairness to all political parties, that ample experience
of public life, and perfect acquaintance with principles
of constitutional administration, enabled him to exer-
JUDGE AND GOVERNOR. 97

cise a legitimate and commanding influence. Then, in
addition to the paraphernalia of governmental office,
there were many important interests which, from the
vantage ground of elevated position, he could most
effectually promote. A college commencement or the
opening of an industrial exhibition, civic ceremonial
or railway celebration, afforded opportuuity that was
thoroughly utilized. Throughout the Province, every
nook of which was familiar ground, there was assured
welcome. He was intensely patriotic. As was said of
another statesman, “he loved his country as a Roman
the City of the Seven Hills ; as an Athenian the City
of the Violet Crown.” :

A patriotic song, “Our Dominion for ever,” was
composed while at Government House. Accompanied
by music for “March or the Bivouac,” it was “re-
spectfully dedicated to the Militia Forces of the Do-
minion, by Lieutenant-Colonel Wilmot.” Two or
three stanzas may fitly close this chapter :—

“Our Dominion for ever! our own dear land,
The land of the brave and the free ;
Wherever we roam, we’ll think of our honie,
And love the Old Banner,
The Red-cross Banner,
Triumphant by land and by sea.

Our Dominion for ever ! God bless our land !
Rose, thistle and shamrock here grow ;
So closely entwined, they are ever combined
To adorn the Old Banner,
The Red-cross Banner,
That triumphs o’er every foe.

E
98 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

Cuorus—Then sing our Dominion for ever !
The Queen and the Banner for ever !
No cravens are we,
By land or by sea,
We'll sing our Dominion for ever !

 
 

IV.

CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK.

‘« The power which religion should exercise over the life and con-
duct, is not simply like a dash of color, here and there upon the can-
vas; but itisasif the canvas were dipped bodily into the color, till
every thread of the fabric became saturated with it.”—Dr. Dewart’s
“ Living Episties.”

HE facts and incidents of Hon. L. A. Wilmot’s
C Christian life and work are closely associated
with the place in which he so long resided.
The city of Fredericton has many attractions. Those
“who have reached it at the close of a summer’s
day, spent among the beautiful and ever-varying
scenery of the St. John, and have glanced for a
moment at the river which glides along the front
of the town, at the hills which rise with gradual
ascent from the rear, and at the Nashwaak which,
on the opposite side, rolls its tribute of waters into
the St. John, will be ready to admit that few finer
situations can be found than that chosen for the
capital of New Brunswick.’*

*Rey. T. Watson Smith’s History of Methodism.
100 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

During the earlier years of its history, in Fred-
ericton, Methodism had to struggle for existence. The
steadfast Scotchman, Duncan Blair, and the little
band of which he was the leader, had to contend
with many discouragements. Probably the first strong
impetus dates from the ministry of Rev. William
Burt. The Rev. John Bass Strong, who was stationed
there in 1827, and Revs. Richard Williams and Samp-
son Busby were all ministers of a stamp to consolidate
and extend the work. In the year 1833, after two
years upon the Mirimichi Mission, the Rev. Enoch,
now Dr. Wood, of Toronto, was appointed to the
pastorate of the Fredericton Methodist Church. A
special and distinguished style of pulpit oratory
—sound and solid exegesis, in combination with
forcible, practical appeal, sustained through all vari-
ations of tenderness, pathos, and incidental allusion
—was then in its dewy and palmy freshness and
power. It produced deep impression upon the audience,
carried the reputation of the preacher through the
community, and was blessedly and abidingly fruitful
in spiritual results. Amongst those attracted and
impressed, then at the commencement of professional
career, was the brilliant barrister, L. A. Wilmot.
Merely intellectual interest, however, soon gave place
to earnest inquiry and to profound spiritual emotion.

There was said to be at this time a settled serious-
ness of expression that was quite unusual to sub-
sequent buoyancy of spirit. This may have been due
to a severe stroke of bereavement. In the early part
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 101

of 1832, Mr. Wilmot had married Jane the eldest
daughter of James Balloch, Esq., of St. John. It
was soon apparent that hectic cheek and bright eye
“were lit with the bale-fire of decline.” “After a
severe and protracted illness,” of some months, accord-
ing to an obituary notice, “which she bore with the
greatest patience and Christian fortitude, in the full
assurance of peace with God, this amiable sufferer
breathed her last.” The sweetness and sufficiency of
experimental trust in Christ, and of consolation
abundantly afforded to the sinking and suffering one,
were well calculated to produce a deep and permanent
impression upon a sensitive and affectionate nature.
Observing more than ordinary religious concern and
movement amongst the people, Mr. Wood gave notice
that, at a particular hour in the vestry, he would meet
with any who were desirous of fleeing “from the
wrath to come.” The announcement was accompanied
by the emphatic explanation that, in attempting to
organize a week-night class, members of the church
were not expected to be present. He would welcome
persons who, after delay and indecision, were now de-
termined to work out their salvation. The service
thus arranged soon came to constitute a new centre of
religious interest. Around it gathered a number of
young people, of whom the community speedily began
to take knowledge that they had been with Jesus, who
formed a valuable accession to the membership of the
church. To the minister, also, it became ‘a means of
grace greatly enjoyed and very highly valued ;” and
102 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

which, after nearly half a century, has still fresh and
fragrant memories. On the first night only three per-
sons were present, but one of these was Lemuel Allan
Wilmot.*  Solicitude for spiritual things, like the
morning dew and mist upon the mountain brow, as
ultimately proved, was not a mere transient or evanes-
cent feeling. It deepened and developed into a
moulding influence of life. The earnest and evan-
gelical pastor and preacher became a valued and
trusted friend. Through prudent counsel and salutary
influence, he was enabled to believe in Christ and to
realize conscious and satisfying rest of soul. He
could now say, “ Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For
Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes
from tears, and my feet from falling.”

In the latter part of 1834, Mr. Wilmot was united
in matrimony to Miss Elizabeth Black of Halifax.
In every respect, and especially in regard to the
development of a settled religious character and stead-
fastness, the step was a most providential one. But
sense of delicacy prevents more than a passing allusion
to one who is still with us—pursuing the even tenor
of an unobtrusive Christian course—always best
pleased, in other days, “To hear reflected from her
husband’s praise her own.”

An incident of social life, involving fidelity to reli-

* The other names demand record. They were Henry Fisher, Esq.,
afterwards the efficient Superintendent of Education, and Mrs. P,
Risteen.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 108

gious obligation, of vital importance in its bearing upon
subsequent decision and consistency of Christian life,
upon the authority of Dr. Wood, may be mentioned in
this connection. The Watch-night service, on New
Year’s Eve, was at that time an impressive solemnity
and largely attended. They “did not then make a
sham of the watch-night.” The exercises commenced
at nine o’clock in the evening. “There was plenty of
time for singing, praying, reading the scriptures, ex-
horting and preaching.” It was customary on that
evening for a ball, one of the great events of the year,
to be given at Government House. In very different
style from that of solemn and prayerful review and
resolve, on the eve of 1835, they were summoned.to

“Ring out the Old, ring in the New.”

Young as he was, at that time, Mr. Wilmot held the
military appointment of Judge Advocate. Independent
of social position, an invitation was received from Sir
Archibald Campbell. The testing time had come. A
life-battle for Christian principle must be fought.
From the days of the Hebrew Prince there have been
like scenes of conflict. “What will ye see in the
Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.”
It was late before Mr. Wood was informed of the actual
facts and the peril to which he was exposed. An affec-
tionate message, of warning and solicitude, was imme-
diately sent. The event was left in the hand of God.
“From docility of spirit, and decisiveness previously
exhibited, there was believing hope that he would re-
104 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

nounce the world, take up the cross and cling to
Christ and the Church.* But there was also a tremu-
lous solicitude and anxiety as to the choice and issue
of that ordeal.” In deference to official duty the first
decision was to accept the invitation. The hour had
arrived, a coach was at the door. “Mr. Wilmot,” whis-
pered a faithful friend, one who in that early day had
borne reproach for Christ, “if Christian principle be
worth anything, it is worth everything!” The word
was in season. There was instantly a new and nobler
resolve.

At the commencement of the service the congre-
gation was large. But as the preacher's eye glanced
down the aisle and through the audience, there was
no immediate relief. To his great gladness, however,
after the opening prayer, in fine commanding person,
followed by his youthful bride, Mr. W. was seen
making his way up to the minister's pew. It is not
without warrant that Dr. Wood should “look upon
his decision, on that occasion, as involving the char-,
acter of all the future.”

The question of Church membership, though de-
layed for a time, had to be decisively determined.
To the Methodist Church, in the years between. have
been gathered a number of prominent and influential
laymen, that would have been a valuable accession
to any religious community. Probably no section
of the Christian Church, in the Lower Provinces, has

* Mr. Wilmot was not yet in membership with the Church.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 105

been more signally honoured. But at the time to
which we now refer, nearly half a century ago, the
loyalist and ecclesiastical spirit was still dominant
and exclusive in New Brunswick. Cost was counted.
Undeterred by any thing in the form of social ban,
though no one at the time could have anticipated the
complete revolution which almost immediately fol-
lowed, L. A. Wilmot made his choice. He was
baptized at the Communion of the Church. There
was then the unalterable resolve :

‘* Here in Thy courts I leave my vows,
Let Thy rich grace record ;
‘Witness ye saints, that hear me now,
If I forsake the Lord.”

Though not of Methodist ancestry or antecedents,
yet through Mrs. Wilmot, daughter of the Hon.
William Black, grand-daughter of Rev. William Black,
the apostle of Wesleyan evangelism in the Eastern
Provinces, he might claim tribal inheritance in our de-
nominational Israel. As expressive of unswerving
fidelity and of affectionate allegiance in a sacred rela-
tionship, fraught only with beneficent influences, the
exquisite words of Ruth the Moabitess to her
Israelitish mother-in-law, found fitting application :
“Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee; for whither thou goest I will go;
and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God ; where thou diest
I will die, and there will I be buried; the Lord do so

EX
106 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and
me.”

There has occasionally, as apparently in the case of
Lord Macaulay—if the impression produced by Trev-
ellyan’s Memoir may be trusted—in the caste and con-
stitution of exceptionally great minds, an almost inex-
plicable disparity betwixt grandeur of intellect and
capacity for spiritual things, and for a life of faith
upon the Son of God. But this young lawyer, was
not more graced with gifts than gifted with grace.
Mental ability of a high order was accompanied by a
still richer endowment of moral and spiritual qualities.

Consciousness of his acceptance with God was ever
a clearly attested and experimental fact. “Through
the whole course of my religious experience,” he was
known to testify, “I never once had a doubt in regard
to the question of personal salvation. The assurance
of my acceptance as a child of God, and the firmness
of my confidence, are such that Satan cannot take any
advantage on that side; and cannot even tempt me to
doubt or fear in regard to the reality of my conversion.”
A passage from Sir Humphry Davy, copied at that
time on the blank page of a book, and often referred
to in after life, expressed the ideal of coveted peace :
“Tenvy not any quality of mind or intellect in others ;
nor genius, power, wit, or fancy ; but if I could choose
that most delightful, and most useful to me, I should
prefer firm religious faith to every other blessing. It
makes life a discipline of goodness ; creates new hopes
when old hopes vanish; throws over decay the des-
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 107

truction of existence the most gorgeous of all lights ;
awakens life even in death, and, from corruption and
decay, calls up beauty and divinity ; makes an instru-
ment of torture and of shame the ladder of ascent to
paradise ; and, far above all combinations of earthly
hope, calls up the most delightful visions, and plains,
and amaranths; the gardens of the blest, and the
security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and
the sceptic view only gloom, decay, annihilation, and
despair.”

Through years of unfaltering ‘decision and service
for Christ, acknowledged religious consistency com-
bined with brilliant professional distinction, assiduous
attendance upon appointed means of grace and
appreciation of Christian fellowship, marked and
manifest faith and fervor of spiritual faith and of
spiritual and devotional exercise, in a measure and
manner which compelled the homage of even thought-
less men, the genuineness of Christian character was
abundantly exhibited. It was often apparent, even
amidst the whirl and tumult of public life and poli-
tical strife, that he had found the secret places of the
Most High. It was a privilege of no common order,
in that simple eloquence, almost childlike humility,
and tremulous earnestness and fervor of tone, to hear
him publicly plead with God.

In this case duty was supreme delight. When his
eloquence was in the zenith of its splendour, and
thronged audierfces hung upon his lips and greeted his
utterances with wild tumult of applause, as if uncon-
108 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

scious of the possession of any qualities that lifted
him above the level of the lowliest member, he de-
voutly and unostentatiously took his place in the
quiet and refreshing Sanctuary Service. To him it
was no mere matter of form. With the utmost sim-
plicity of speech, tearful confession and tenderness of
feeling, he would bear testimony, lead in hymns of
praise, bend in sacred supplication. Who, that has
ever been present on such an occasion, but retains
vivid impression of those fervent utterances. They
were the distinct avowal of deep love to Christ, pas-
sionate longing for nearer intimacy with the living
Saviour, an expression of conscious dependence upon
a strong arm for help. There was the power of plead-
ing, prevalent petition, or the rapt fervor of silent
communion with God:
‘Sighs now breathed
Unutterable, which the spirit of prayer

Inspired and winged for heaven with speedier flight
Than loudest oratory.”

“ During my Fredericton pastorate,” says Rev. D. D.
Currie, “it was the custom to conclude the monthly
Communion Service with prayer by Judge Wilmot.
His prayers always breathed a spirit of tenderness and
devotion, and indicated his appreciation of the neces-
sity and value of the atonement, and also how closely
he walked with God. And many a time, in earlier
years, after he had been warring with bitter antago-
nists, and had been violently abused by. a portion of
the press, we have heard him, in the week-night
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 109

prayer-meeting, pleading for strength and for charity,
that he might stand firmly in the evil day.”

The interest thus manifested, always apparent, was
never more intense and demonstrative than in connec-
tion with scenes and services of revival power and
blessing. To these exercises, of a special character, his
emotional nature rendered him peculiarly and pro-
foundly susceptible. In pentecostal manifestation,
power from on high, and the baptism of fire, he be-
lieved and exulted. There was probably no satisfac-
tion in life more deep and exquisite than that of
witnessing evidences of penitence and exhibitions of
saving mercy. Never, in brilliant efforts of public and
professional life, has he seemed greater than when
bowing in prayer with sorrowing suppliants ; and,
with affectionate eloquence, directing tearful penitents
to the cross and Saviour.

The devotional element, thus conspicuously mani-
fested, was not the only distinctive feature of Judge
Wilmot’s religious life. Intensity, always apparent,
was not more extraordinary than the breadth and
manysidedness of character. There have been others
endowed with a large measure of intellectual recep-
tiveness, of emotional feeling, of profound reverence
for the Word of God, and of capacity for unwearied
and life-long activities. In proportion as any of these
gifts or graces have predominated, they have chal-
lenged due recognition ; but in this case, in a rare
degree of completeness, there was combination of
Christian excellencies. Analogous to nature, in which
110 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

he so much delighted, which finds expansion and
expression in a thousand varied forms of beauty, was
the outgrowth and manifestation of spiritual life.
Every part and pulsation of being were pervaded and
permeated by an experimental vitality that rooted
itself in Christ ; and, in the best forms of Christian
fruitfulness, it found abundant exhibition.

It may generally be felt, in the outworking of influ-
ential lives, that all distinguishing excellencies can be
traced to the operation of one simple, but potent,
principle. A letter from Governor Wilmot—bearing
for crest-mark, with suitable device, the significant
motto: Fip—E eT AmoRE—dated from Government
House, on the last day of 1869, contains a passage
which sufficiently accounts for ceaseless, steadfast ser-
vice ; and which, over his whole life, throws the lumi-
nous light of heavenly law. “I feel ashamed of
myself,” he writes, in regard to special effort, “and
am almost resolved to decline all such work for the
future. But when I think how little I have done for
my Saviour, and how much—O, how much—He has
done for me, I am encouraged to go on.”

Unconsciously, when called upon at a representative
meeting to give the keynote, he indicated the dominant
principle of his own life, and that which gave caste
and complexion to his general religious experience and
character: It was love—the love of God and of
humanity for the love of God. ‘“ We are all one,” he
said ; “in that we belong to the Church of Christ;
and the government, essence, spirit of that Church, is
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 111

love—infinite love—for as we dwell in God, we dwell
in love. May that be our dwelling-place for ever-
more! Amid the oppositions and trials incident to a
Christian life, never let us forget that our love must
be seen. Scarcely had the gloom settled down upon
the Garden of Gethsemane, than that matchless love
was poured down upon men. It has passed down
through the ages, and is the woof and warp of
religious experience.”

The infinite, inexhaustible, everlasting love of God
in Christ, inexplicable in its manifestations,—until the
harmonies and ascriptions of earth and heaven blend
and burn into one mighty magnificent chorus—never
to be adequately celebrated, was a subject on which
he delighted to dwell. It fired his soul and filled his
mental vision. “The love of God,” he wrote in a
valued communication, “is a vast abyss, an immeasur-
able expanse. Along its shores, from age to age, with
lengthened and added weight, the plummet of angel-
mind has sought to sound the mystery. But the ery
has ever been : ‘ 0, the depth!”

“Tn vain the first-born seraph tries
To sound the depth of love Divine.”

In conviction of the compassionate and unerring
love of God, his own heart found firm and secure
refuge ; and, from the same inexhaustible source, he
was often enabled to communicate consolation. In
answer toa note, informing him of a sore bereavement,
he wrote: “Fresh wounds deep in the heart, and old
112 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

wounds opened! Your heart-sorrow I cannot inter-
meddle with. But most certainly the rod was in the
hand of Infinite Love. The purpose may be hidden
now, but you will know it by-and-by ; and your sor-
row hereafter, will be followed by a higher note of
praise. ‘All things work together for good. Work
together—that is harmonize. Wondrous harmony!
It is harmony made up of deepest heart-sorrow and
abounding joy—pain and suffering of body and peace
of soul—deepest abasement of spirit and joy unspeak-
able and full of glory—self-condemnation and faith,
justification—having nothing and yet possessing all
things. What a marvellous combination and variety
of tones, and yet a heavenly harmony! May you find
consolation in the conscious assurance of this harmony
of love! And while you attentively listen, may you
find it becoming sweeter and deeper until the wearied
heart shall breathe forth in unison its own assurance,
He doeth all things well.”

No one can have come into close contact with Judge
Wilmot without being struck with his profound vene-
ration for the Word of God. The law of God was in his
heart.*

A copy of the Scriptures long used bears evident at-
testation of the manner in which he was accustomed to

*“In one of my visits to the House of Assembly, during
the days of stormy debate, there was a most memorable scene, Mr.
Wilmot held the Bible in his hand. To that standard of immutable
law, and of authoritative enactment, he made Supreme appeal.”—
Rev. J. Sutcliffe.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 113

study the sacred page. He meditated therein by day
and night. There are marks to indicate successive
readings of the Bible—teachings throagh which he
had been led to nearer communion with God—familiar
passages which in a memorable moment had become
luminous with heavenly light—practical truths which
had been as a light to his feet and a lamp to his path
and in the keeping of which there had been great re-
ward—inspired words that had been interwoven with
the eventful incidents of his history—messages
breathing the spirit of infinite tenderness and richly
fraught with consolation—precepts unto which in his
way he had taken heed, and by which his life had been
purified—radiant promises which in the dark and
murky night had suddenly gleamed out as stars of
hope—the twenty-third psalm in which many an ex-
perience of life found its most fitting expression—
the ninety-first psalm which before starting upon a
journey he was accustomed to read at the family
altar. Through and through, the Book of Psalms
specially bears evidence of habitual and prayerful
perusal. In its simple and pathetic energy there was
an irresistible charm. “Think,” he said, “of such
passages as—‘ I cried unto the Lord, and, ‘ Out of the
depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord!’ One can
scarcely repeat that word ‘cry’ without a sigh or tear.
It sounds like the sob of childhood and suits the
tender spirit.” There was also keen appreciation of
the poetic beauty and grand imagery of the Hebrew
Bard. The woof of experimental testimony in the
114 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

fervor of Christian fellowship, was shot with many
a thread of inspired utterance : “I will abide in Thy
tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of Thy
wings. For Thou, O God, hast given me the heritage
of those that fear Thy name.” From the New Testa-
ment, in the same way, there were passages that
glowed with celestial fire: “ Whom having not seen ye
love; in whom though now ye see Him not, yet be-
lieving, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory.”

With acute and devout interest, he followed up the
main points at issue between the Bible and extreme ex-
ponents of modern science. Many of the best authori-
ties upon these subjects were constantly at hand for
repeated perusal. A volume from his library now be-
fore me, of considerable value as an exact and exhaus-
tive discussion, in margin and underline, bears evi-
dence of painstaking investigation and of clear mastery
of complex and controverted questions. In one of his
later public addresses, at a meeting held in Erskine
Church, Montreal, the audience including a number of
young men, he expatiated upon this theme:

“Some scientists and leading thinkers, as Darwin,
Huxley, and Tyndall, whose marvellous and dangerous
essays denied the power of prayer, and sought to prove
to mankind that they were mere evolutions or a
development from a lower sphere of life. There wasa
danger here. He also referred to a materialistic system
of infidelity, wherein the author blasphemously intro-
duced into his creed a Trinity, composed of humanity,
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 115

earth, and heaven. Was this his God? Could he
pray to the sky above him, the earth beneath him, or
to humanity ? What could poor humanity do, even in
its most elevated, learned form to aid him? Young
men would have to rigidly guard themselves against
these revolting forms of infidelity. In this connection,
it afforded the speaker much pleasure to see the able
manner in which Dr. Dawson had dissected the Darwin-
ian theory, and shown the falsity of such reasoning, by
clear and unanswerable argument. They could rest
assured that wherever science contradicted the Bible,
it would be proved to be in the wrong ; that wherever
a scientific statement has been discovered to be per-
fectly true, it always coincided with the Biblical
record. There was a remarkable illustration of this
in the deciphering of a number of cuneiform inscrip-
tions in the East, where, in every instance in which
they illustrated Old Testament history, there was not
found the first contradiction. The recorders of the Old
Testament history were proved and not found wanting
in truth and accuracy ; they were honest, and called a
spade a spade.- They wrote their own nation’s his-
tory with the same impartiality and candour with which
they penned that of others. They covered up no one’s
sins and shortcomings, not even those of their own
brethren; and he loved the Book the more he pon-
dered on the honest, straightforward dealing of those
writers of old.” *

* Witness,
116 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

A few years ago, Fredericton was a garrison city.
Military gentlemen and their families constituted an
important and influential element of social life. The
Government of the Province was, for a time, adminis-
tered by the General in command of the troops. Ata
dinner party, largely attended, some question of reli-
gious or Biblical character was incidentally mooted. An
officer of high position in the army, and of consider-
able dash and celerity in conversation, frankly avowed
his scepticism. The accuracy of sacred historic fact
was impugned. In the sweep of scientific discovery,
and the march of modern thought, like the Talmud,
the Vedas, and the Koran, it would be left behind. It
belonged to a former age, and was merely one of the
many land-marks of human progress. Judge Wilmot’s
veneration for the inspired volume was well known ;
bound up with that book divine were the noblest,
hopes of his life. It was not a moment, and he was
not in a mood, for silence. Recently he had read,
almost devoured, the “ Old Red Sandstone,” and other
works of Hugh Miller. In reference to the question,
raised for disputation, he was thoroughly informed ;
and, in force and felicity of expression, there were few
who could meet him on equal terms. The gauntlet
fearlessly thrown down was promptly accepted. Like
chaff from an Oriental threshing floor, the objections
were speedily scattered to the wind. The claims of
God’s word were triumphantly vindicated. Never did
his countenance light up with a finer glow than when
avowing attachment to the book of revealed truth :—
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 117

‘*Should all the forms that men devise
Assault my faith with treacherous art,
Pll call them vanity and lies,
And bind thy Gospel to my heart.”

In Judge Wilmot, as an ordinary hearer, the preacher
in fulfilment of his mission and message, found uni-
formly an appreciative and responsive spirit. The
ministry of the Gospel was regarded by him as the
divinely appointed and approved agency and instru-
mentality for the world’s regeneration; and ministers
of Christ, charged with onerous duty, were esteemed
for their work’s sake. If the occasion demanded, and,
instead of earnest, faithful, and affectionate exposi-
tion and application, there had been an apparent
attempt at display—what he would have characterized
as pulpit rocket-shooting—he could subject the efforts
to searching criticism. But the prevailing habit of
attention was that of devout, lowly, sympathetic feel-
ing, and withal a striving to profit. With the minis-
ter, his intercourse was that of a frank, genial, helpful,
and brotherly spirit. Some of us can remember days
of weakness, and comparatively inexperienced effort,
when the thought of the Judge’s presence, and the
ordeal of his searching criticism, produced a good
deal of tremor and occasionally embarrassment ; but a
glance from his kindly eye and interested expression
brought relief. A word of heart-uttered kindness, at
the close, has nerved the timid, shrinking messenger
to renewed courage and resolve. “In the beginning
of my ministerial career, when for the first time ap-
118 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

pointed to preach on a Sabbath morning in the Fred-
ericton Church, waiting tremblingly in the preacher’s
vestry for the appointed moment to arrive, Judge
Wilmot favoured me with a call. We had not seen
each other for a year, and now, knowing my timidity
as a youthful public speaker, he had come in advance
of the service to give me a cordial welcome: He laid
his hand on my shoulder, and spoke a few kind and
encouraging words, which greatly strengthened me for
the duties of that occasion. He was one of the best
hearers any pastor ever had.” *

In conscientious and habitual attendance at the
week-night and social services of the church, always
to him a source of strength and time of refreshing
from the presence of the Lord, the Hon. L. A. Wilmot
presented an example worthy of imitation. “In his
attendance to all the ordinances of the Church,” ac-
cording to the testimony of Dr. Wood, going back to
earliest membership, “he was regular, interrupted
only by occasional public duties; for, very early after
completing his professional duties, he entered the
tumultous arena of politics—forced out by the irre-
sistible voice of the electors of York County.” During
the most active years of his life, when as a point of
expediency it might not have been deemed politic to
forego legitimate social advantage, with successive
Lieutenant-Governors, some of whom were not quite
able to comprehend the necessity for that amount of
religious strictness, for himself and Mrs, Wilmot, like-

* Rev. D. D. Currie.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 119

minded in this essential matter, upon regular week-
night services of the church, there was an understand-
ing that invitations to official dinners and other social
arrangements must be declined. To the Methodist
Church in Fredericton, when I first went to reside
there, I found him to be a pillar of strength. I
can still seem to see him, so vivid are the recollections
of that time, as he took his accustomed place in the
prayer-meeting. Flanked by several official brethren,
then a noble band, he always occupied the same seat
to the right of the desk. With an unrivalled voice,
and often a full heart, he was ever ready to sing,
or speak, or pray. Often some passing incident, or an
utterance of the occasion, was turned to good account.
“TI am just holding on,” some one remarked. The
suggestiveness of the phrase was brought out. We
could see a tempest-tossed bark “holding on” in the
troubled waters of some dangerous roadstead, or off a
wild lea-shore. The waves beat high; but the anchor
was sure. As voyagers to eternity, we had often
to breast the wave. We had to hold on. The angry
tempest would speedily subside. The freighted bark
of life would yet—

“Sail o’er sunnier seas”
Than claspt of old the Hesperides ;
A bark whose sails by angel hands,
Are furled on a strand of golden sands,”

In regard to Christian fellowship, “the communion
of saints,” for which in the Methodist Church special
provision is made, Judge Wilmot formed the highest
120 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

estimate. He was accustomed to speak of this means
of grace as the sheet anchor of his earlier religious life.
During the pastorate of Rev. I. Sutcliffe, in 1844, he
was appointed to the responsible office of leader,
Around him, from time to time, were gathered many
gifted young men, now widely scattered, several of
them in the ministry of the Church to whom that
service was a moulding influence. From that class
they graduated as efficient and successful workers for
Christ. A paragraph, supposed to be from the pen of
an accomplished minister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church,* indicates the cherished recollections which
still cling to that scene of hallowed intercourse: ‘“ His
class for many years had been the school for spirit-
uality and instruction. Warm and tender in sym-
pathy, humble and simple among his brethren, faithful
in admonition, inspiring in address, and powerful in
example, many will count it as among their richest
privileges to have been associated with him. Often
have young men gone discouraged from the world
and ready to give up; but his words have gathered
up all their scattered resolutions, given new warmth
to their zeal, courage to their hearts, strength to their
purpose, and on retiring there has been the determin-
ation: ‘Nothing, nothing shall separate me from the
love of God. Under the administration of such a
leader, the service could never degenerate into dull,
insipid routine. It was hallowed by fervent prayer,

*Rev. T. Berton Smith. Revs. George S. Milligan and D. D. Currie
were members of that class.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 121

brightened by sacred song, enlivened by experience
and testimony, and energised by apt application of
apposite passages from the familiar pages of God’s
Word. Often ‘one mightier than the leader was
there.’”

‘* Heaven’s gate
Is opened by their psalm. Then do they state
Their glad experience, or anxious :
What meed of blessing, or what bounteous share
Of Mercy’s richest gifts, has been this freight.
Ah ! as they speak their lifted hearts catch fire ;
Their souls are flames, their thoughts are ecstasies,
And heaven’s own glory on their face is laid.
Such earnest hours makes men’s resolves the higher ;
Such fervent men fulfil high purposes :
And humble men, e’en thus, are nobles made.

It is of essential interest and importance, for the
glory of God, the honour of the Redeemer, the welfare
of the Church, and the triumph of Christianity, that
the spirit of devotion and consecration should find ex-
pression in appointed religious services. But it is also
requisite, for the same imperative reason, especially
on the part of Christian men and women, that a living
present principle of religion and testimony for Christ
should be carried into every sphere and domain: of
life.

The consistency of Hon. L. A. Wilmot, maintained
through many years, constituted a genuine mark of
the validity and sterling worth of profession and Chris-
tian character. There was no tendency to compro-
mise; his colors were at the top of the mast. In open

F
122 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

fold, they proclaimed fearless adhesion to principle.
By unshrinking avowal of conviction, practical obedi-
ence to sacred injunction, unswerving loyalty to the
Saviour, his attitude and influence were felt and
acknowledged. For the amalgamation of Church and
world, fashion and religion, there was never any
insidious attempt. “Would you say of any one place
of fashionable gaiety,” asks Dr. Chalmers, “that it
makes a good ante-chamber of preparation for that
house of solemn interview in which converse is held,
either with the still, small voice within, or with that
God above who bids you sanctify Him at all times in
your hearts, and to do all things to His glory ?” There
are scenes and circles, bringing with them the taint of
worldliness, the very atmosphere of which is abso-
lutely unfriendly to communion with God, into which
some professedly Christian people thoughtlessly and
foolishly plunge, that he habitually and cautiously
avoided.

“ As I grow older, my views are changing fast as to
the degree of conformity to the world which we
should allow. The door at which those influences
enter, which countervail parental instruction and
example, I am persuaded is, yielding to the ways of
good society. By dress, books, and amusements, an
atmosphere is formed which is not that of Christi-
anity. More than ever do I feel that we must stand
in a kind but determined opposition to the fashions
of the world, breasting the waves like the Eddystone
lighthouse. And I have found nothing yet which
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 123

requires more courage and independence than to rise
a little, but decidedly above, the pai of the religious
world around us. Sure, the way in which we com-
monly go on is not the self-denial and sacrifice and
cross-bearing which the New Testament talks of.
‘Then is the offence of the cross ceased.’ Our slender
influence on the circle of our friends is often to be
traced to our leaving so little difference between us
and them.” *

As the leader of a great political party, Mr. Wilmot
could not always avoid personal difficulty. The ordeal
came in due time; and, for his religious character,
constituted a crucial test. To some such incident of
party conflict, in 1844, he has been known to refer
with much feeling. There had been an attempt, by
means of defamation and slanderous assertion, to
weaken his great and growing influence in the country.
There was no bar-sinister on his escutcheon. But
he had the pride of birth, of pure, unsullied name and
of high, incorruptible integrity, which such a man can
feel. There was the proud sensitiveness of a noble
nature and a chivalrous contempt for coarse, personal
invective. With all militant qualities he was abun-
dantly endowed. But for the restraint of Christian
principle and the dictates of supreme law, for insult
and injury, the first impetuous prompting of passion
might have been to demand the satisfaction which a
now happily obsolete code of honour prescribed. In
such a mood and moment came the wonted hour of

*Dr. J. W. Alexander, of Princeton.
124 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

family worship, that ordinarily brought with it an at-
mosphere of peace, pure feeling and of tranquil
thought. A juncture had been reached in which there
was need, if ever, to take heed in the way according
to God’s word and to ponder that pure commandment
which enlightened the eyes. Irritated and exasperated,
with a deep thunder-frown upon his brow, but still
battling bravely with his own spirit, for the moment
he turned away from the Book and the altar of devo-
tion. But there was by his side one gifted with quali-
ties of mind and temper, most needed as the comple-
ment of his own, who comprehended the magnitude of
the crisis. It was of the utmost consequence, before
plunging afresh into the excitement of debate and
possibly of renewed aggravation, that conscience and
calm judgment should assert their supremacy. With
the Bible, he was followed from the room ; and, by the
highest and most sacred of all considerations, was en-
treated to seek counsel where it had never failed.
Yielding to the pressure, which cculd not well be re-
sisted, the Book was opened, and, incidentally, his eye
rested upon a passage in Job. Four thousand years ago
the Patriarch of Uz had passed through a like ordeal ;
and the ancient, unchangeable promise was still as a
direct message from God :—* And thine eye shall be
clearer than the noonday ; thou shalt shine forth, thou
shalt be as the morning ; yea thou shalt dig about thee
and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt
lie down and none shall make thee afraid; yea many
shall make their suit unto thee.”
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 125

The victory was complete. From the land of Uz,
for his comfort, the message of God had been sounding
along the corridors of ages. Suggestions of inspired
record wove themselves into petition, and help for the
hour of need was earnestly and humbly implored. He
was refreshed by conscious communion with God.
From the discipline of sore trial came self-conquest.
In force and firmness of resolve, he was strengthened
for the exigency that was pressing hard upon him;
and, as the result, was enabled to exercise that noble
spirit of forgiveness which Christianity inculcates.
“Kivery part of that passage,” said Judge Wilmot in
after years, “has had a literal accomplishment.” In
Government House, which at that time he occupied,
after retirement of other guests and members of his
own family, a frequent and favoured occurrence of
such visits, he indulged in reminiscences of that period
of life. With evident satisfaction he recounted inci-
dents of that memorable episode in his history.
Each part of the promise, as in the life of the Arabian
Patriarch, had received a minute and marvellous fulfil-
ment. His age had been clearer than the noonday.
The sun of life, then in evening declination, was sink-
ing to the horizon in a clear and serene sky. He had
dug about him ; and beneath the ample shade and rich
foliage of trees, planted by his own hand, now found
quiet and peaceful repose. Many, including children
of those who sought petty party advantage, had made
their suit unto him.

“T had heard much of Mr. Wilmot,” said a gentle-
126 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

man of the civil service. “ Political asperities were
then at their height. Insensibly my feeling towards
him had yielded to prejudice. The first time we met
was in a social service of the Church. There was
a slight allusion to some unmerited aspersion and
to the value of an untarnished Christian character.
But if they only knew, he said, in tender and
tremulous tone, what I know myself of weak-
ness, failure, imperfection, they might say worse
things than now. The genuineness of feeling and
of a noble spirit, that could only stand abashed in
the presence of an infinite purity, were not to be
mistaken.”

The laureate, Mr. Tennyson, claims for his. Red-
Cross Knight* that on him “the loyal-hearted hung;”
that “the serpent at his side” ceased “to flicker with
its double-tongue,” and that—

‘* His strength was as the strength of ten
Because his heart was pure.”

In refreshing relief to the strain and tension of
continued contest, and the asperities inseparable from
public life, in such a period of political convulsion,
we come upon scenes of gentle and peaceful ministry :

“He who ascends to mountain tops shall find
Their loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow.”

But, even amidst the towering summits and the ever-
lasting snows of Mont Blanc, some of the loveliest

* Sir Galahad.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 127

and most exquisite forms of vegetable life may be
discovered. The Alpine traveller finds a sheltered
and sunny spot, protected by frozen peaks, on which
the sun’s rays, reflected from glittering ice, beat down
with double force, where rare and beautiful flowers
and plants bloom and luxuriate.

Genuiness of Christian character, in the lives of
public men, must bear scrutiny beneath a light that
beats fiercely along their track. But there are many
quiet and unobtrusive ways, and kind and gentle deeds
in which the best qualities of heart and life find prac-
tical expression. “Pure religion in the sight of God
and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the
widow in their affliction.” In the most active and in-
fluential period of life, Judge Wilmot was prompt
and faithful in visitation of the sick. The lowlier
members of the Church, equally with those of more
prominent social position, were kept in view. Many
a sufferer was refreshed by the beaming light of Chris-
tian sympathy, and strengthened by tender and loving
words. The poor were remembered in his ministra-
tions, and destitution relieved. In an appeal on their
behalf, during the season of “peace and good-will,”
the preacher selected for his theme the words of the
King: “For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat;
I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink ; J was a stranger,
and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was
sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came
unto Me.” The contrast was also emphasised. “I
128 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

escaped that lash,” he afterwards said, “my pensioners
were first provided for.”

Few members of the Methodist portion of the com-
munity can have visited the city of Fredericton, where
a beautiful and nobly-proportioned church with lofty
spire looks down upon the broad and sweeping river,
and the adjacent country for miles distant, without
something of admiration and, perhaps, a tinge of de-
nominational pride. It is inferior only to the chaste
and costlier cathedral structure of the same city, and
to the magnificent sanctuary—agem of architecture—at
Marysville, on the opposite side of the river.* Itis now
with interest remembered,upon nearing that city almost
a quarter of a century ago, then just arrived from
England, curious in regard to all facts and phases of
colonial life, how standing out to the depths of vaulted
azure, gleaming in the light of the setting sun, the
lofty spire of that church became an object of promin-
ent and thrilling interest.

The Fredericton Church has a record worth know-
ing about, and a history into which many a thread
of Judge Wilmot’s time and thought and means and
life were woven. In the old Methodist chapel, as
then usually designated, during the decade, 1840-50,
were gathered a noble band of men and women—
as splendid a group of families as any community
could show. The Church at that time was deemed
comfortable and sufficiently capacious. In a special

* Erected for Methodist worship by the munificence of Alexander
Gibson, Esq.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 129

effort comprising many munificent contributions, a
heavy debt, the encumbrance of years was liquidated.
Scarcely had this long and devoutly wished for
consummation been accomplished when there came
the sweep and desolation of a great conflagration.
A large part of the city, and most of the homes
and business establishments of families forming
part of that congregation, were destroyed. Stunned
and bewildered with their own losses, their habita-
tions smouldering in ruins, there were many that
grieved not less sorely for the holy and beautiful
house which had been burned with fire.

The dislocation produced by such a sweeping disaster,
in many of our chief centres, is well known ; and how
it tests the material and the mould of men. On the
part of some, discouraged by the magnitude and com-
plication of difficulties thickening around them, there
“ was almost an utter paralysis; and, for Church enter-
prise, a fear of complete collapse. Their homes were
in ashes, business places burnt, the trade of the city
prostrate, their available resources greatly reduced ; and
how, therefore, could they meet the emergency with any
hope of success. But Judge Wilmot, whose own avail-
able means were freely pledged to the object, pro-
posed that at once they should arise and build.
“Brethren,” he said, as they met in consultation, “let
us start for a larger and more elegant church.” He
was desirous of securing a spacious edifice, in modern
style of architecture, that would meet the necessities
of their families, accommodate the large Sunday-

r*
130 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

school, consolidate their work ; and, as became a metro-
politan structure, constitute an ornament and attrac-
tion to the city. The overmastering impulse and
indomitable energy, with which objections and ob-
stacles were encountered and surmounted, fully pre-
vailed. Trustees and others caught the contagion,
and moved with the inspiration of his couragé and
hope. From the acceptance of plans and the laying
of the foundation stone, through all stages of the work,
until the scaffolding had been removed, he watched
its progress. “The labour of his own hand,” says a
public correspondent, cognizant of all the facts and
probably a contributor to the enterprise, “on the
church edifice hastened the too tardy efforts of me-
chanics.”

By not a few, however, that superb ecclesiastical
erection was keenly criticised. The propriety of
magnificent enterprise, and of a noble faith that
prompted and sustained the builders, was questioned.
It was beyond the means of the worshippers. There
was excessive ornament that involved serious expen-
diture ; the spire was too ambitious. There were—

«Storied windows richly dight
Casting a dim, religious light.”

Some of the most estimable members delighted to
recall blessed services, rich and hallowed manifesta-
tions of spiritual power, marvellous conversions, rap-
turous fellowship with which their earlier history had
been favored, A plain building, without architectural
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 131

pretensions, it was thought by some, would have been
more congenial to the tastes of a people nurtured
without anything of material splendour in the sur-
roundings of their worship. Until about that time,
the Methodist Churches of the Province, and mostly
those of other denominations, were of the same uniform
and broadside pattern. The more modern style of
Church architecture, while creditable to the taste of
the worshipping community, may vindicate at least
an equal claim to the motto of ancient ecclesiastical
builders: Soli Deo gloria, “to God alone be the
glory.” Had the edifice then erected, as some desired,
conformed to the old outlines of idea, it would have
been at once antiquated. The golden opportunity for
improvement would have passed beyond their reach.
Fortunately, Judge Wilmot had caught the spirit of
modern Church architecture, and prevailed in plan and
purpose.

The Choir of the Church in Fredericton, for more
than thirty years, was led by Judge Wilmot. That
onerous charge was first undertaken in 1845. His
heart was always in the work; in congregational
worship he found abundant enjoyment. With John
Milton he could say :-—

‘¢ There let the pealing organ blow,
To the full-voiced choir below,
In service light and anthem clear ;
‘As may With sweetness, through mine ear,
Dissolve me into eastasies
And bring all heaven before my eyes.”
182 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

“Passionately fond of music, able to perform on
almost any instrument, with a quick ear and an ex-
cellent voice, a highly cultivated taste, the nicest
power of adapting a tune to a hymn and an anthem
to the occasion, and with great command over all per-
formers, he has rare qualifications for this important
service ; and he is not one of your fastidious choristers
that can only sing in state and with the artistic. He
sings everywhere, ‘ where two or three are gathered,’
and with the children; from the chorus richly ren-
dered before the large congregation, he comes easily
to ‘J want to be an angel’ amongst the little ones of
the infant class. The present generation of singers
has grown up under his influence and training.” *

There was generally, in the management of choir-
service, an exquisite adaptation of musical expression
to the theme and structure of the hymn. The Rev.
Mr. Sutcliffe, whose reminiscences of that period
are still fresh and vivid, mentions an illustrative
incident. The organ was just then introduced, and
renewed impetus given to congregational singing.
An Incarnation hymn, “Plunged in a gulf of dark
despair,’ was announced. It has one of those sudden
transitions that perplex sensitive musicians. After
striking a note of sadness and gloom, it rises to a
strain of exulting rapture :—

“‘O for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break.”

* Zion’s Herald, Boston.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 133

But, on that occasion, with surprise and fine effect,
the tune was changed, and the closing stanzas rendered
with a joyous burst of melody and triumph.

In the discussion of the Hymn and Tune Book
question at the Toronto General Conference, there was
a point of Judge Wilmot’s speech which very distinctly
showed his musical taste and tendency. In illustra-
tion of the power and pathos of musie and song, he
referred to an incident of missionary encounter with
arbitrary and powerful chieftains. As an intimation
that this teacher could not proceed, except at the peril
of his life, their spears were crossed upon his path.
Comprehending the situation, the Missionary tuned
his violin and produced harmonies of sound that
moved and thrilled their savage souls. Ferocity was
subdued, and, melted into tenderness, they became
friends to help him on his way. The special charm
of the story was in pathetic and dramatic power of
description. Unconsciously and in perfect panto-
mime, with ease and attitude and consummate grace
of gesture, he went through the process—tuned the
instrument, touched each vibrating chord, and drew a
stroke that an amateur at once recognized as the play
of an old practitioner. Then came the application of
the incident, and not a few, moved at first to laugh-
ter, found a tear wetting the cheek.

Hymns of sevens and sixes, in Methodist worship,
are not the rolling iambics for which there are appro-
priate tunes in abundance; they are in the more
plaintive tone of the trochiac measure to which, for
134 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

special themes of a penitential character, Charles
Wesley seems to have given decided preference. They
usually contain, in each stanza, an eight-syllable line ;
hence there is some difficulty, in current music, in
obtaining sufficient and satisfactory variety of tunes
for that class cf hymns. In this fact will be found
explanation of a passage dated at Government House.
“T have been looking up,” he wrote from the confine-
ment of a sick room, “and copying out for the choir
some choice tunes for seven and six hymns. We are
rather deficient in variety ; but with this accession we
shall be ready. I think it as much the duty of the
congregation to furnish good music, for Sabbath wor-
ship and praise, as it is for the minister to prepare and
preach good sermons; and, while I can look after it,
shall do what I can for that department of Church
service.”

A favorite idea of Judge Wilmot, on which he loved
to linger, was that the Incarnation song of the angelic
choristers—* Glory to God in the highest ”—was only
the prelude of an eternal anthem strain. Sweeping
through space, it filled the universe; and, before the
throne of God, rolled up into magnificent chorus.*
“And if only,” he would say, “the music of that

* “oes not Scripture bear him out? Does it not ring with
music? Does it not tell us how at the creation ‘the morning stars
sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?’ And as the
Bible begins with the song of the morning stars over man created and
ends with the sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs and harping symphonies
over man redeemed, so its central moment, uniting both, is that carol
of angels at the Saviour’s birth.”—Canon Farrar.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 135

heavenly song had been dotted down, we might have had
some idea of seraphic melody!” At musical practice
he often made reference to the song and service of
heaven, and once longingly said: “O may I bear some
humble part in that immortal song—if nothing more
that I may be permitted to hold the music for David’s
harp!” “ But,” said one of the singers, in refer-
ence to his passionate love for training voices and
leading in sacred song, that was perfectly understood,
“ Judge, would that satisfy you?” “Would you not
like to lead the whole chowr?” “ Well, yes,” he replied,
with amused interest and a pleasant smile, “ perhaps, I
should. But I must praise Him in some way.”

The members of the choir, which comprised some
sweet and superb voices, were chiefly drafted from the
Sabbath-school. We come now, so far as Christian life
was concerned, to the principal scene of action. In the
Fredericton Sunday-school, for many years, the Hon.
L. A. Wilmot found a throne of power. There, if no-
where else, he was “the czar of many lands.’ The
earliest records, accessible to the Secretary,* date back
only to 1833—corresponding with the period of con-
version and not improbably the commencement of a
Sunday-school career. On June 14th, 1835, he was
appointed Assistant Superintendent. The exact date
of his first appointment as Superintendent has not
been entered, in the usual form, upon the records of
the School. It is thought to have been in 1843. He

* Geo. A. Perley, Esq.,—who, for twenty-eight, years has efficiently
discharged the duties of that office.
136 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

was then, probably, conscious of the grand possibilities
of his life in that direction, of the magnificence of re-
sponsibilities involved, or of the extent to which the
impress of his noble and splendid enthusiasm should
be stamped upon that institution of our Church—for
soon after the office seems to have been resigned. The
pressure of professional and political duties and en-
gagements, in that period of fierce and incessant war-
fare, may have interfered with thorough and satis-
factory preparation for the arduous and onerous duties
of such a post. Judicial appointment would promise
ampler opportunity for Biblical research. “A great
luminary,” says Mr. Fenety, in his valuable Notes,
“set in semi-darkness on the day that Mr. Wilmot
left the Forum for the Bench. He was the light
of the House for seventeen years, the centre from
whence radiated most of the sparkling gems in the
political firmament. It was at a time of life, for he
was comparatively a young man, and at a period when
talents such as his were mostly wanted by his party
and the country.” But the loss of the State was
the gain of the Church. In January 1851, following
the record, he became the teacher of a large Bible-
class. On January 11th, 1853, came a distinction
which was subsequently regarded as the most honour-
able of his life. He was again appointed to the
Superintendency of the School; and, until the day
previous to his death—which took place May 20th,
1878—for twenty-five years continuously, with deep-
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 137

ening and growing interest and attachment, he faith-
fully fulfilled the duties of that important office.

In the Sunday-school Judge Wilmot, as for so many
years he was affectionately designated, found his ele-
ment. He now believed in the grand possibilities of that
agency with all the convictions and sympathies of his
intellectual and moral being. Without stint or grudge,
for the advantage of his charge, he lavished the best
treasures of his opulent and original mind. The whole
institution, through all its arrangements and exercises,
felt the inspiration and elasticity of his presence.
There was a magnetism in his movements and ceaseless
activity and tone that were all but irresistible. In
matters of perplexity the teachers were counselled ;
and, by a beaming smile, they were stimulated and
encouraged. Inefficiency was rebuked by the sense
and consciousness of an intense earnestness. . A tardy
scholar was roused to energy. Diligence was recog-
nized and rewarded. Disobedience was awed and
abashed by the severity of look or tone. There was
that in his frown and word which was terror to evil
doers. The stubborn and rebellious, by affectionate
admonition and tenderness of appeals, always a grati-
fying result, were not unfrequently subdued to peni-
tential acknowledgment. Each department, while
under his cognizance, was held responsible for special
work. Aided by an efficient assistant,* and a noble
staff of officers and teachers, mostly of his own train-
ing, the entire operations of the School were carried on

*§. D. McPherson, Esq.
138 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

with the ease and smoothness of the most perfect and
polished mechanism.

A main attraction, for many years, was in the
addresses which from time to time formed part of
the closing exercises. The substance of many public
lectures, commanding grand audiences and enthusi-
astic interest, were first given at the Sunday-school.
At the time of my arrival in Fredericton, during the
winter 1855-6, the Judge was commencing a series
of such addresses which alike attracted children,
teachers and strangers. There were incidents and
episodes of Bible-history—the venerable Bede’s de-
parting doxology—Wycliff’s trial before Archbishop
Courtnay—the reading of a chained Bible in the
crypt of St. Paul’s—the martyrdom of Lady Anne
Askew at Smithfield, and of Ridley and Latimer
at Oxford—which, as then vividly described, could
never be forgotten, and which were the means of
making many a student of the annals of the Reform-
ation. The flash of eye kindling into sympathy with
the subject and magnetic thrill of tone, as he caught
the prophetic spirit of the Reformer’s undaunted
testimony—‘“ The truth shall prevail”—even at this
distance of time stands out in living interest; and
Tyndal’s memorable utterance, in reply to irritated
ecclesiastics—“ If God spare my life, ere many years
I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know
more of the Scriptures than you do”—seemed, as
it rolled past us through the centuries, to throb with
all its original force and significance. There was also
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 139

a rare fascination, for such an audience, and deeply
instructive, in the allegory of John Bunyan—the im-
mortal dreamer. It was accompanied by illustrative
scenes of the Slough of Despond, the House of the
Interpreter, the Palace called Beautiful, the dreadful
Fight with the Foul Fiend, Doubting Castle, the
Delectable Mountains, the Enchanted Ground, the
Land of Beulah, and that mysterious River crossed
by the Pilgrims—where, accompanied by the shining
ones, and the trumpets all sounding around them, they
passed up through the golden gates into the glorious
city. Books of travel, marvels of science, the culture
of nature, an exhaustless fund of incident, for instruc-
tion and gratification, were also placed under exacting
contribution. But especially did this honoured Super-
intendent delight to expound the Word of God, and
from the richest of all treasures to bring out things
new and old. There were some selections, as for
example the Ten Commandments, portions of the
Sermon on the Mount, Narratives of the Evangelists,
the Twelfth of Romans, and other teachings of Holy
Seripture, to which repeated attention was turned ;

and, because of the setting which in wealth of thoaste
he gave, many a gem of inspired truth was seen to
flash with a brighter and purer glow. Indelible has
been the impression thus produced by a passage such
as that in Proverbs :—‘“ Let not mercy and truth
forsake thee: bind them about thy neck ; write them
on the table of thy heart: so shalt thou find favor
140 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

and good understanding in the sight of God and
man.”

Is it right that there should be anything of unique
interest in the supreme consecration of splendid intel-
lectual gifts to such a department of Christian work ?
May not the very best minds and richest culture,
which churches and congregations can possibly supply,
find in the Sunday-school an ample sphere? “ Virtue
and intelligence,” according to Chief-Justice Marshall,
an eminent Jurist of the United States, “are the
basis of our independence and the conservative prin-
ciples of national and individual happiness; and
Sunday-school institutions are devoted to the pro-
tection of both.” “The common school,” says Sir
Charles Reed, a member of the British Parliament,
and-a devoted Sunday-school worker, “ contemplates
the physical, intellectual and moral being ; the Sunday-
school, the religious and spiritual. The public school
has its limits ; but the Sunday-school knows none, for
its teaching crowns and glorifies the completely
educated man.”

Reluctantly consenting, on a Sunday-school Anni-
versary occasion, to conduct the service, a passage was
very appropriately selected: Suffer little children to
come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the
kingdom of God. “Ihave heard him,” said one of the
most intelligent of his auditors, “at the Bar, in the
Legislature, on the Bench and the platform, but never
with a more genuine satisfaction than in the service of
to-day.”
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 141

Amongst recollections of influence and usefulness,
fragrant as the breath of a summer morning, running
along the line of many bright and happy years, bring-
ing out the best and most benign qualities of a noble
and beautiful character and sympathy, were numerous
incidents which must fail to find any adequate record :
exquisite renderings of tuneful melodies and of strains
sweet and familiar as household words—visits to the
sick room, eagerly anticipated ; winged petitions and
tender, loving words, where fever or consumption was
wasting the child of weakness—scenes, “privileged
beyond the common walks of virtuous life, quite on
the verge of heaven,” where brightness suffusing the
countenance of the sufferer was eloquently expressive
of strength renewed and of the unutterable gratitica-
tion afforded—touching and yet exulting reference to
the early departure of some beloved member of his
charge; of triumph over death, life radiant with im-
mortality,and the consummated blessedness and fulness
of the beatific vision. Delineation of memories such
as these, that linger with us like the thought of a
beautiful vision, demands the pencil and inspiration
of genius, and, in this sober sketch, may not be at-
tempted.

In the mere fact of elevation to distinctions and
dignities of public and official life, because of infir-
mities incident to humanity, may not unfrequently be
found a searching and a severe test of the validity and
genuineness of principle and Christian character. The
present Lord Chancellor of England—the successor of
142 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

illustrious men and of imperial minds—one of the
most distinguished members of the Conservative
Cabinet—is a faithful and self-denying Sunday-school
teacher. When first, as insignia of office the Chancellor
was honoured with the custody of the Great Seal, as if
the very idea of condescension to a sphere of ordinary
and unostentatious Christian work were inadmissabie,
a personal friend remarked to him that of course he
could not now continue to teach in the Sunday-school.
“Why not?” asked Lord Cairns —in a manner and tone
that were sufficiently expressive of decisive purpose.*

It has been told, when appointed Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, a report was put into circulation that Judge
Wilmot’s Superintendency would be resigned; and
that the oversight and drudgery of Sunday-school
would not be deemed compatible with the elevation
and dignity of official administration. To some of the
young people, impressed with an excessive sense of the
grandeur to which he had been raised, imparting to
current rumour an air of probability, the matter was
one of serious moment. A little fellow from one of
the smaller classes resolved himself, or was constituted
by acclamation of that somewhat extraordinary group,
a deputation to demand explanation. After listening
with amused interest there was a positive assurance
that no such traitorous thought had been entertained.
He could never prove recreant to duty. The satisfying
intimation was also given that, “if by any possibility
duties were found to be incompatible and one of

* * Christian Herald, London.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 143

two offices must be surrendered, in preference to the
Governorship with its honours and emoluments, he
would cling to the Sunday-school.”

In affinity with love for flowers and music was his
sympathy with and affection for sunny child-nature.
There was, beneath and beyond, belief in the bound-
less possibilities of their mental and moral being. The
children of the Sabbath-school were known to him by
name. In the most dignified company, without a
winning smile and a magnetic word of kindness, it was
not easy for him to pass them even in their dusty play
upon the street. It was a gratification of the very
highest kind to gather around him the early, beautiful
and unsophiscated sympathies of the little ones ; and
to control, touch “those chords so fine,”’—

“And tune their hearts too high
For aught beneath the sky.”

Did not the feature of character, thus indicated,
more than scintillations of genius, splendid corrusca-
tions of speech, and brilliant successes of life, consti-
tute his real greatness and claim to special tribute ?
Recently there was a review of the Austrian cavalry
before the emperor and empress. Just as a squadron
of hussars swept out from the main body of thirty
thousand horseman, a little girl not above four years
old darted from her mother’s side in the front line of
spectators and ran on to the open field directly in front
of the advancing host. The squadron was at full
gallop. It was close at hand. The death of the child
144 HON, JUDGE WILMOT.

seemed inevitable. A thrill of horror passed over the
powerless spectators. The empress, a full observer of
the scene from the carriage, uttered a cry of horror
at the sight of the little one just to be trampled to
death by a thousand hoofs. At the instant a trooper
swung himself down from the saddle, along the side
of his horse’s neck, and catching the child lifted it with
himself safely into his saddle without slackening his
speed or breaking the alignment. The little one was
saved. Ten thousand voices raised a shout of joy.
The empress and the mother burst into tears of
grateful relief. And the emperor, summoning to his
presence the noble soldier, took from his own breast
the richly. enamelled cross of the Order of Maria
Theresa, and hung it about the neck of the brave
hussar.*

To the Austrian hero, for that intrepid act, the rescue
of a child from a great and immediate peril, we gladly
and cheerfully accord the very highest recognition.
Boundless applause of spectators, imperial approba-
tion and award, jewelled cross and decoration of an
illustrious Order were all well and worthily bestowed.
Through that noble deed a little girl had been
snatched from the jaws of death. But are there no
wreaths woven for those who, spurning selfish ease, are
ever on the alert to save children with all their im-
mortal destinies, from sin and vice and ignorance and
other perils—more to be dreaded than the trampling
hoof of Austrian cavalry? Shall not recognition of

*London Standard.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 145

grandeur and of a greatness, due to highest and
holiest heroism, be accorded to men and women who
unselfishly minister to the least of the little ones ?
When famed and lauded distinctions of earth are for-
gotton, warriors’ chaplets withered, gold of the million-
aire cankered, storied urn and sculptured marble and
glittering mausoleum wasted to dust and ruin, then
shall service of Christ and self-denying toil for the
welfare of souls obtain full and final recompense :

“Thy feet shall stand on jasper floors ;
Thy heart shall seem a thousand hearts,
Each heart with million raptures filled :
Thou shalt sit with princes and with kings,”

The department of the school to Judge Wilmot of
special and unfailing interest was the Infant Class—
which, as conducted in that charge, has been carried
up to the very highest point of excellence. It was
a class which of all others the Superintendent never
failed to visit. The beaming countenances of bright
children told of the genuine delight with which they
listened to even his most commonplace remarks. To
this class we may accompany him on the last Sabbath
of his life: “Now children,” he said on that occasion,
your old superintendent will leave you some day and
what shall I do if some of you fail to meet me up there?
Why heaven will be no heaven without my children!
I will just wait and watch at the gates of gold. If I
miss any, I willsay surely they have not strayed away.
Some of our children have left us, and they are with

G
146 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

the angels now. Then I like to think that they grow
through the eternal years. Children will not always
remain children in heaven. Their minds and forms
will develop there as well as here.” At this moment
there was a trace of disappointment in the teacher's
face,* for the shadow of a sore bereavement had fallen
upon her life, and there had been the cherished hope
of meeting the little one unchanged in form: “Ah!
well,” he said, “you will be fully satisfied.”

The consecration of service was not bounded by the
limits of one charge. Representatives of the several
Sunday-schools in the City of St. John, “Church of
England, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Baptist, Congrega-
tional,” resolved to mark their sense of appreciation
by some special token.t The reply of Judge Wilmot
was as follows:

“ GENTLEMEN,—I receive with great pleasure the
Books and Diagrams which you have presented to me,
on behalf of the St. John Sunday-schools, for the use
of the School under my superintendence at Frederic-
ton ; and for myself, and in the name of my beloved

* Mrs. Wm. Lemont.

+ The following document, copied from The Church Witness, needs
no explanation :—

At a meeting of Superintendents of Sabbath-schools, in the City of
St. John and Parish of Portland, heldin the rooms of the Young Men’s
Christian Association, on the evening of May 25th, 1858.

On motion, it was unanimously Resolved, That we tender to his
Honour Judge Wilmot, on behalf of the Sabbath-schools, which we
respectively represent, our sincere and hearty thanks for the great in-
terest he has manifested, at different times, in the welfare of our
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 147

teachers and scholars, and I thank you for your very
valuable and useful present.

“On the occasion to which you refer, I found an
abundant reward in my work, and yet a greater reward
after my work, in the assurance, that among teachers
and scholars, a fresh interest was thereby awakened,
not only in the perusal, but in the study of the Holy
Scriptures. And as you have now furnished me with
a bountiful supply of materials for future lectures, I
shall look forward with great pleasure to the first
favourable opportunity for again addressing the St.
John Sabbath-schools ; when we shall either traverse
the ‘ Catacombs of Rome,’ and explore the sepulchral
records of primitive and persecuted Christianity, or
make an excursion among the monumental inscriptions
of ‘Ancient Egypt, and there read the hieroglyphic
history of the captivity and deliverance of Israel, in
perfect accordance with our own inspired history ; or
range the fields of ‘Fulfilled Prophecy,” and gather
materials to strengthen our faith and confidence in the

Schools, and more particularly for the kind manner in which he met
and addressed them during the past winter.

And further Resolved, That we request his acceptance of a Library
for the use of the Sabbath-school at Fredericton, over which he presides ;
and also of four sets of Diagrams, as a small token of our gratitude and
esteem.

Resolved, That Dr. Paterson and Mr. J. R. Ruel be a Committee to
present these Resolutions, with the Library and Diagrams, to Judge
Wilmot.

JAMES R. RUEL, JAMES PATERSON,
Secretary. Chairman.
148 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

Divine inspiration of the Bible; or illustrate the de-
grading superstitions and barbarous cruelties of
‘Paganism and Idolatry, and contrast, therewith, the
benignant and peaceful influences of a pure and holy
Christianity.

“ The statistics of your schools are highly gratifying
tome. What a responsible work! How incalculable
the value of faithful and affectionate instruction from
Sabbath to Sabbath to THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED
youthful and immortal minds! Ever remember, that
loving, faithful teachers, are sure to find loving and
attentive scholars ; and the reward is certain, for ‘in
due season we shall reap if we faint not.’

“The Book for both worlds’ is THE Book for our
Sabbath-schools; and he who teaches the science of
Christianity from that only text book, may always be
assured that he never teaches alone, for He who has
promised that His Word shall not return unto Him
void, will assuredly accompany that blessed word with
the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

“Committed as I am for life, to the delightful work
of Sabbath-school teaching, I shall at all times feel a
deep interest in the success of your Sabbath-schools.
Our work is one—our book is one—our God is one—our
Redeemer is one—our Comforter one—our throne of
grace one; and with all of every clime and kindred
and people and tongue who shall receive the final and
eternal reward in heaven, the song will be one—‘ To
Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 149

God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever.’

“Looking forward with much pleasure to the time
when I may again be permitted to address your Sab-
bath-schools, and impart instruction with the aid of
your valuable present, believe me, very sincerely and
affectionately yours,

“TL. A. WILMOT.”

“Saint John, 25th May, 1858.” \

“Detained over a Sabbath by judicial duties, in the
City of St. John, Judge Wilmot looked in upon us at
the Benevolent Hall. There was at the time a feature
of exceptional character, in the work of the School,
which at once arrested his attention. The attendance
of boys was in average excess of that of the girls.
The promise was given that, if the same numerical pro-
portion were carried through another year, a library of
books should be presented for our use. At the end of
the year a report was forwarded to Fredericton, show-
ing that required conditions had been fully met. Ac-
companied by cheery and loving words, the books
were duly received.”*

Conscientious discharge of responsible duty found
abundant compensation. Suffering from excruciating
pain, a few months before his death, starting up from
the sofa at the appointed time, he was at his post.
“ Years ago,” he said, in answer to expostulation, “my
work was attended to in that department from sheer
sense of duty; but, now in satisfaction and accom-

* Superintendent.
150 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

panying blesssing, my comfort is rich and abiding.”
From the Sunday-school under his management, into
the membership of the church, there passed a continu-
ous stream ; and, from the same place, there were rich
and constant accessions to the gathered ones before
the throne. From young people widely scattered,
often at the time of their reception to Church-com-
munion, communications were received expressive of
gratitude for the interest and affection of former years.
These were results worth more to him than thousands
of gold and silver. :

“There were distinctions of another kind,” says a
Montreal writer, “and honorary appointments that he
highly valued.” * He was President of the Auxiliary
Branch Bible Society, cherished a deep and intelligent
interest in all its proceedings, and greatly rejoiced to
be identified with a marvellous movement, the most
magnificent of modern times, for the translation of the
Word of God into the living languages of all people,
and its circulation amongst the various nations of the
earth.

At the Toronto General Conference of the Meth-
odist Church of Canada, in September, 1874,
Judge Wilmot was elected to the chair—subsequently
occupied by the venerable Dr. Egerton Ryerson—
of the preliminary meeting at which that important
ecclesiastical assembly was organized. In association
with the Rev. Dr. George Douglas, he was appointed
to the Nashville General Conference of the Southern

* Witness,
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 151

Methodist Episcopal Church.* A rare deputation
that could not have been readily duplicated! For
who might presume to wield the Douglas brand or to
bend veteran Ulyssus’ brow? Had that united visit
been made, as then was anticipated, the Dominion,
as well as the Methodist Church of Canada, would
have been nobly represented. One could have wished
that for once, with unquenched fire of an impassioned
eloquence, the Ex-Governor of New Brunswick had
been privileged to stand in the presence of those
Southern brethren.

At the Montreal meeting of the Dominion Evan-
gelical Alliance, October, 1874, an influential assembly,
in which Principal Dawson of McGill College,
President McCosh of Princeton, Dr. Donald Fraser
of London, and other eminent men took part,
Hon. L. A. Wilmot officiated with great acceptance

* At the Montreal General Conference, 1878, in behalf of an influ-
ential Committee, by Rev. Dr. Anson Green, now also numbered with
the sainted dead, a touching and beautiful tribute was paid to the
memory of Judge Wilmot. The following resolution, formulated at
the suggestion of Hon. 8S. L. Shannon, seconded by Hon. James
Ferrier, was cordially adopted: ‘‘That while, for many years the
late Hon. L. A. Wilmot, Ex-Governor of New Brunswick, occupied
with conspicuous and distinguished advantage the highest position of
public responsibility and influence for which, by the possession of
varied and brilliant gifts, he was prominently qualified ; yet believing
that the best efforts and most cherished sympathies of his life were,
with unswerving loyalty, given to the Methodist Church, in recogni-
tion of his noble character, consistent life, and eminent usefulness, we
gladly accord to his name and memory this expression and permanent
record of our esteem and veneration.”
152 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

as President of that body; and, “if deep interest
in the cause of the Alliance”—to use his own
words when taking the chair—“was any qualification,
he could claim a special fitness for that post.” “He
thanked his brethren of the Conference for the honor
they had conferred upon him in electing him to the
position of President of this organization. He had
longed to be with them from the beginning of the
Conference, but was prevented by ecclesiastic duties
at home from coming sooner. He was happy to be
present and bear his testimohy to the necessity of
personal religion, of being like Christ in order that
‘ they might all be one in Him, and thus contribute to
the honor and prosperity of the Protestant Churches.
He hoped that the result of this gathering would
be to promote the Redeemer’s kingdom, and he was
sure that the world would be the better for it.”

While loyal to the core, as a member of the Metho-
dist Church, he was also profoundly and prayerfully
interested in regard to the prosperity and progress of
other denominations. He longed greatly for the ex-
istence and exhibition of a nobler spiritual unity.
Facts of fraternal intercourse amongst representatives
of the several Evangelical Churches in Missionary
lands, were perused with peculiar and grateful satis-
faction. At a mass-meeting of the Evangelical
Alliance, lighting up the subject with illustrative in-
cident, he made apposite reference to this subject:
“The Missionaries from the various societies laboured
side by side in the same field of toil. They were one
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND. WORK. 153

in Christ, and no matter of what denomination, com-
bined together to meet the enemy. They had no time
to discuss minor points of difference, for the enemy
was pressing hard with a determined front ; instead of
wrangling over the Apostolic succession or other
knotty points, they would kneel together, and, having
invoked God’s blessing, would advance shoulder to
shoulder and attack the enemy. There was a fine
illustration of such action in the British army. At
the memorable battle of Inkerman, when the Russian
soldiers, maddened with spirits, advanced through the
heavy mist upon the British forces, and caused the
right wing to swerve, several regiments were deci-
mated in the struggle, and the survivors were obliged
to fall back; and at the time Col. Kinloch gathered
the debris of eight or ten regiments together. The
men had been looking out for just such a leader; he
rallied 150 men, in all uniforms; each man fell in
alongside the other; there was no looking then for
this or that company, or place, or companions, but
every man stepped in to fill the ranks; and they had
scarcely been told off, when a square of Russians
charged, but the gallant 150 held 1,500 men in check ;
for they stood side by side and shoulder to shoulder,
to do their duty, as faithful servants of the Queen
should, to the last.” *

“ Before long,” he wrote, April, 1876, in deprecation
of some unlovely exhibition of exclusiveness, “ we

* Montreal Witness.
q*
154 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

shall in the church above get past all conflicts of de-
nominational peculiarities.” He exulted in the thought
that, in heavenly song and service, they would ulti-
mately meet and mingle in perfect and blessed unison.
That supreme ideal of Christian unity has since been
fully realized ; rapturous anticipation has been satis-
fied and consummated. Amidst the light and splen-
dor of emerald and gold and burning sapphire, in fault-
less purity before the Throne of God and the Lamb,
the rapture of beatific vision and of unutterable com-
munion, without a note of dissonance and with no
trace of the strife and din of earth’s controversies, a
goodly fellowship, a glorious company, a noble army,
the sainted ones of all Evangelical Churches, and re-
deemed ones of every clime and naie, unite in lofty
ascription ; and, in ceaseless and unwearied service,
chant their “hymns and holy psalms, singing ever-
lastingly.”

“Grand, good, loving man that he was,” writes the
Rev. Dr. Nelles of Victoria University, “how we
missed him at the Montreal Conference! We ought
to have some monument of one who rendered such
valuable service to the Church and to his country.
I recall, not only his noble career in Church and State,
but the pleasant hours spent at his home in Freder-
icton—when you were stationed there.”*

The last Fredericton Conference was held in 1877.

*The Rev. President Nelles and Rev. Dr. Punshon, whose oratory
signalized the occasion, were at that time cordially welcomed as
guests at Evelyn Grove.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 155

The Revs. F. Smallwood, Jeremiah Jost, and myself,
all from Charlottetown, were privileged to renew
our intercourse with the family at the Grove. It was
a most delightful time. One of the most delicious
experiences of our North American climate is that
of an Indian summer ; then a deep and soft balm and
dreamy haze spread over and suffused the face of
Nature. Something analogous there was in those
later months of the venerable Judge’s life. There
was an Indian summer of the soul, the genial warmth
and soft glow of kind and devout feeling, richer,
sunnier, and more beautiful than that of the seasons.
How pleasant are all the memories of that last visit !

‘« Fragrant as the morn, as vesper fragrance sweet !”

The latest special effort of Judge Wilmot’s active
life was in connection with the new Cemetery of the
Methodist Church.

“ Besides many acts of beneficence,” writes a friend
from Fredericton,—for many years associated with
him in the sacred intimacies and earnest activities of
Christian fellowship and of Church work—* and gen-
erous contributions of which you are fully aware, he
gave largely to various interests of the Church and
Sunday-school. To him we are also mainly indebted
for the Rural Cemetery—a beautiful burial-place of
the dead. A few months previous to his death, for
generous gifts, he received the cordial thanks of the
officials constituting the Trust Board.” *

* At an official meeting, June 11th, 1877, with special reference to
156 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

The thought has often returned: In what way can
the vacancy be efficiently filled? God buries His
workmen, but carries on His work; and the banner,
which fell from hands stiffened in death, has, we trust,
been caught up by others of like spirit and consecra-
tion.

The activities of the Judge’s life were continued
to the Jast. For a considerable period, previous to his
sudden departure, they were considerably chastened
and restrained by painful and threatening symptoms.
From neuralgia, in its severest form, he repeatedly and
intensely suffered ; but, the keenest distress, found al-
leviation and potent comfort. When almost quivering
with nerve-pain, scalding tears forced from his eyes,
with a sweet smile, he would often say: “There shall
be no more pain; and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes.”

“For the last few months of his life,” writes a
friend, “his whole converse was of heaven. Talk as
you would, on other subjects, he came back to the
same theme. He loved to quote the passage: ‘Hye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into

the Fredericton Rural Cemetery, in consideration of munificent con-
tribution and of personal oversight, it was—

‘‘Resolved, That the thanks of this Board are due, and are hereby
presented, to His Honour Judge Wilmot, for long and faithful service
in connection with this trust, for Christian zeal in all matters con-
nected with the Methodist Church, and more especially for liberal
gifts and efforts towards procuring a desirable and beautiful resting-
place for the dead—which owes much of its present appearance to his
Honour’s taste.”
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 157

the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love Him.’ The last conversation was
upon the same subject: the glorious hope of heaven.
The rapture with which he referred to the bright home
beyond even then brought a dread and fear, of which
we spoke when he had left, that the time of departure
was at hand and that we must lose him soon. Through
all that visit there was on his face a most heavenly
expression. The last words on leaving were: ‘ There is
nothing true but heaven.”

My own correspondence with Judge Wilmot, with
more or less frequency, was extended over a period
of twenty years and was counted a valued and
honoured privilege of life. The last communication,
received a little while before his death, contains
passages graphically and glowingly descriptive of the
magnificence and brightness—the light and purity, the
beatific vision, the splendour of jewelled masonry,
jasper pavement, and crowns of amaranth and gold—
of the everlasting city of God. It closes with the
familiar lines :—

‘«We speak of the realms of the blest.
That country so bright and so fair ;

And oft are its glories confessed—
But what must it be to be there.”’

That last line of the stanza quoted in many a conver-
sation, like thread of gold or sound of lute, in light
and sweetness, was woven into and mingled with an
almost ethereal strain. “Yes,” he would say, when
admiration had been expressed for floral beauty, frag-
158 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

rance, or melody, in musing undertone or lighting
up with sudden flash of thought, “ flowers are beauti-
ful, music has raptures, earth has its joys. But what
nvust tt be to be there !”

The “holy of the holiest leads.” The gladness and
rapture of earthly service have been completed and
consummated in the richer, deeper, fuller joy of that
world where all saints adore, and all seraphs burn, and
all harpers harp, and all choirs chant. In one of the
last social services, in which J now remember Judge
Wilmot, he gave out the stanza :—

“‘T see a world of spirits bright.”

Heaven seemed nearer while we sang. The veil was
lifted to the vision of faith. With intensified fervour,
he caught the inspiration of that unrivalled strain :—

‘* At once they strike the harmonious lyre,
And hymn the great Three-One ;

He hears, He smiles, and all the choir
Fall down before the throne.’

To him, in thought and feeling, heaven was not far
away. To faith’s aspiring eye its golden gates ap-
peared. In converse and countenance there was that
efflorescence of rapt and holy anticipation which
affords the surest indication of a character and growth
of Christian life, ripening and maturing for eternity.
It is delightful, and yet almost startling, to think of
nearness to the spirit land. Between the Christian
and heaven there is only a veil. “A veil is the thin-
nest and frailest of all conceivable partitions; it is
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 159

but a fine tissue, a delicate fabric of embroidery. It
waves in the wind; the touch of a child may stir it,
and accident may rend it; the silent action of time
will moulder it away. The veil that conceals heaven
is only our embodied existence ; and, though fearfully
and wonderfully made, it is only wrought out of our
frail mortality. So slight is it that the puncture of a
thorn, the touch of ain insect’s wing, the breath of an
infected atmosphere, may make it shake and fall. In
a bound, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in
the throb of a pulse, in the flash of a thought, we may
start into disembodied spirits, glide unabashed into
the company of great an:l mighty angels, pass into the
light and amazement of eternity, know the great
secret, gaze upon splendors which flesh and blood
could not sustain, and which no words lawful for man
to utter could describe!”* Suddenly, as we now re-
member, came the closing earthly scene. A slight
concussion, a ruptured valve, a severed tie or tissue, a
broken thread, and then the lifted veil, the ministry
of angels, the home of the many mansions, the noon-
tide splendour and consummated fullness and blessed-
ness of beatific vision and of everlasting day.

The last Sabbath of his life on earth was spent in
the usual routine of duty. That sacred day—its sanc-
tuary services, hymns of praise, litanies of supplica-
tion, glad tidings of salvation, communion of saints,
means of grace—always brought renewed gladness

*©, Stanford: Foster,
160 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

and hallowed anticipation. “One thing have I de-
sired,” he could say in fervent appropriation of in-
spired utterance, “that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord ail the days of my
life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire
in His temple.” Into the exercises of the Sunday-
school he entered with all his wonted interest. The
address at the close had some traces and touches of the
old fire, for he was still eloquent. The subject was
announced for the following Sabbath, and hope was
expressed that there would be careful preparation. In
his accustomed place in the choir, with unabated
fervor, he led the congregational service of song. In
evening worship was heard, for the last time, that
voice of power and melody which in public praise had
so often exulted up to the expanding gates of heaven.
An arrangement was made for a musical rehearsal at
the Grove for the following Tuesday evening. With
all wonted enthusiasm, revealing the intensity of a
life passion, he gave the assurance that “there would
be a grand practice.”

On the following Monday afternoon, in his accus-
tomed health, driving in the carriage with Mrs. Wil-
mot, he complained of sudden and severe pain in the
region of the heart, thought to have been occasioned
by a seemingly slight accident, caused by an impetuous
movement of one of the horses. He was at once
driven home, and a physician summoned; but it was
too late for medical aid. The golden bowl was
broken ; the silver cord was loosened. With scarcely
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 161

an articulation he passed away. His departure was
translation rather than death. The sun of his life set
in a clear and serene sky, to rise in the sacred, noon-
tide brightness of unclouded, everlasting day. There
shall be no night there !

Thus ransomed ones—“ the sacramental host of God’s
elect” —are “ ever ascending with songs most jubilant
from the faithful performance of earth’s lower minis-
ters to the perfect service of the upper sanctuary, with
its perennial and unhindered praise. They are passing
up through the gates of the morning into the city
without a temple ; and it is for other fingers than ours
to weave the amaranth around their brows.” *

Rapidly the tidings of his death passed through the
city. The stern fact, which fora moment it seemed
impossible to realize, speedily threw the shadow of a
deep bereavement over every home. Swift and sud-
den that departure seemed to others; to himself the
event had been one of calm and confident anticipation.
There were tokens that he was nearing the home of
the many mansions; very rapturous were the visions
of faith. He had nothing to do at the last but to step
into the chariot and “ sweep through the gates.”

In a beautiful cemetery, in the suburbs of Frederic-
ton, bounded on one side by the majestic river St-
John—fringed and bordered by a rich, almost tropical
culture—surrounded in adjacent park and slope with
grand and graceful trees—a great concourse of people
were gathered in the spring of 1878. From the stately

* North British.
162 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

church-tower—which, with heaven-piercing spire,
bathed in cloudless radiance, gleaming like a pillar of
light, crowns the loveliest of eastern cities—in slow
and solemn tone, the bell tolled out a funeral requiem.
They were met, those mourning ones, to commit to the
dust the mortal remains of him who for long years
had been closely identified with every prominent
movement of the community. Even that quiet resting-
place of the dead, in which he had planned and directed
to the last, and which now looks tranquil and exqui-
sitely attractive, was a memorial of his taste and
enterprise :—

‘* With silent step and thoughtful brow
All of the human left us now,
They carry to that peaceful grave.”

But mors yanua vite: “death is the gate of life.”
That sepulchre is the pathway to immortality. Beyond
the gloom of the grave there is a life which never
dies ; and, in sure and certain hope of a glorious resur-
rection, earth is committed to earth, dust to dust, and
ashes to ashes. “When Judge Wilmot died, a brilliant
provincial luminary was suddenly extinguished. The
simple appreciation of the talents of such a man and
the good he did, apart from his political achievements,
should have led long since to some public action being
taken to perpetuate the memory of one of New
Brunswick’s noblest and truest patriots.” *

* Fredericton Reporter, October 13th, 1880.
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 163

For less of lustre in life and life purpose, and for
public services less distinguished, there have been men
honored with the magnificence and solemn pomp of
national sepulchre. But all that was mortal of this
illustrious and revered Colonist, as was most meet,
was rendered to the mould hard by the city where his
active and beneticent life had been spent.* And grudge
not to others the trophied tomb or storied urn. To
him on that day was paid a rare, touching, and beau-
tiful tribute. A procession of some hundreds of young
people, members of the Sunday-school, moved silently
past the grave; each one dropped a flower, dewy with
tears, upon the coffined dead. There was a deep pathos
in that closing scene; hearts palpitated as with a
sense ot personal bereavement ; there was a low mur-
muring in the air, “as the sob of an infant pierced
with pain.” That expression of tearful, heartfelt
homage, more costly than glittering mausoleum or the
gold of a millionaire, was such as few magnates of
earth could have commanded; and the conspicuous
merits, to which that unique and beautiful recog-
nition was accorded, will, for a long time to come,
constitute a treasured and influential memory.

*« This Province should have some memento of the men who
in past years did so much for it, one of whom passed away a short
time ago and who bore the distinguished name of Charles Fisher.
Another was the late Hon. Mr. Wilmot, a man of the most brilliant
parts. Some memento of these should be placed in the halls, not
only as a tribute to their memory but to stir up national feeling
and inspire others to follow their example.”—Speech of William
Elder, Esq., M.P.P., in House of Assembly, February, 1851, :
164 HON. JUDGE WILMOT.

It was a rare honor to, and a nobler memorial of
their comrade, La Tour d’Auvergne, the first grenadier
of France, as he was called, foremost in a land of
chivalrous deeds, when after his death his former com-
panions insisted that his name should not be removed
from their record. Regularly, at the regimental roll-
call, it was answered by one of the survivors. There
was still an inspiration in the greatness of his life and
the thought of unsullied and heroic deeds. His name
of renown they would not willingly let die. Judge
Wilmot has finished his earthly course; he was ever
foremost in the ranks ; he died at his post. But his
name cannot yet be erased from the roll of the sacra-
mental host. His life, brightened and ennobled by
high and honourable service, will be perpetuated in
potent and enduring influence. By it, he being dead
yet speaketh !

In fitting memorial of an illustrious superintendent,
a portrait by a competent artist, to which members of
the Sunday-school contributed, hangs in the basement
of the Church. If not, like the warrior of Breton
birth, named at the regular roll-call, from that speak-
ing canvas he looks down upon the assembled school.
He seems yet to mingle with the scene of earnest and
active Christian work :—

“‘ Nothing can bereave him
Of the force he made his own.
Being here and we believe him
Something far advanced in state,

And that he wears a truer crown
Than any wreath that we can weave him.”
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. 165

Over that grave on monumental erection—promi-
nent amongst memorials of sculptured granite, or of
polished marble—in that burial place of the river
plain, In Memoriam, a simple but suggestive and
significant inscription has been chiselled. In contains
only name and date and characteristic passage from
the thirty-seventh Psalm :

THE HONOURABLE

LEMUEL A. WILMOT, p.c.L.

Born 31st January, 1809.
Died 20th May, 1878.

“The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom ;
The law of God is in his heart.”

 

 

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