A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time by Rose

provincial store-keeper at Montreal. His mother was Maria Craig. He removed with his parents successively to Montreal and Quebec. He was educated in the latter city, and resided there for several years, in the employ of the Montreal Telegraph Company. In 1862 he was transferred to the company’s Toronto office; and in 1863, at the early age of twenty years, was sent to Watertown, N.Y., as superintendent in charge of the company’s line in the State of New York. In 1866 he was promoted to the still more important and responsible position of the company’s superintendent at Quebec, and was reappointed to the same position in 1881, when the lines were consolidated under the Great North-Western Telegraph Company. He still holds this office, and enjoys the general respect of the population of the ancient capital for his courtesy and blameless life. Mr. Pope is a member of the Church of England, and holds office in various organizations connected therewith, and in other local societies. In 1864 he married Mary Margaret, fifth daughter of Robert McClure, of Toronto, and by her has had issue eight children. * * * * * =Amherst, Lord Jeffery.=—Lord Amherst, who commanded the British army at the surrender of Montreal in September, 1760, one of the bravest officers that ever the nation had the great good fortune to possess, was born in Kent, England, on the 29th January, 1717. He was the second son of Jeffery Amherst, of Riverhead, in Kent, barrister-at-law, and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Kerrill, of Hadlow, Co. Kent, who had four sons and two daughters. Sackville died unmarried, in 1763; Jeffery, the subject of our sketch; John, an admiral in the Royal Navy; and William, lieut.-general in the army, A.D.C. to the King, lieut.-governor of Portsmouth, governor of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and adj.-general of his Majesty’s forces; Elizabeth and Margaret. A pedigree extant deduces the family of Amherst from the Saxon era. Hamo de Herst is mentioned by Phillpot, to be flourishing in the second year of Edward III. In the next reign, Richard II., the name appears by record to be written, Amherst of Amherst, they (according to Collins) having dropped the Norman _de_ and the aspirate H. Jeffery, Lord Amherst, in his childhood was noted for displaying great fondness for military life, and at that early period gave all his attention to the performance of martial evolutions. His father, observing his strong predilections, was induced to present him to one of his relatives, who was a captain. The sparkling eyes, speaking countenance, and significant manners of the young aspirant, recommended him highly to his superior officers, and at the age of fourteen he received an ensign’s commission in the Guards. Having distinguished himself on several occasions by his modest, prudent, and calm conduct, as well as by his valor, and constant attention to duty, he was, in 1741, appointed General Legonier’s _aide-de-camp_. In this high capacity he continued to serve in the German fields, and thus was present at the battles of Düttingen, Fontenoy, and Rocoux. He was at the side of the Duke of Cumberland, as _aide-de-camp_ in the battle of Lauffeldt. On that remarkable day, young officer Amherst noticed and appreciated the celebrated James Wolfe, whose enthusiastic devotion and spirited bravery on the same field, drew forth the thanks of the Duke of Cumberland. No sooner had Pitt established himself in office, than he conceived the plan of an attack against the French colonies in America. This statesman had discovered in Colonel Amherst sound sense, steady courage, and an active genius. He therefore recalled him from Germany, and setting aside military forms, promoted him to the rank of major-general, and gave him the command of the troops sent against Louisbourg, Cape Breton. Hon. Edward Boscawen was chosen admiral of the fleet. Equipments were made with great zeal, and on February 19th, 1758, the armament sailed from Portsmouth, for Halifax. General Amherst’s army, which was almost exclusively British regulars, was put in motion, being divided into three brigades, under the Brigadier-Generals Whitmore, Lawrence, and Wolfe. On the 2nd of June, the armament arrived off Cape Breton. The troops were landed near Fresh Water Cove (Comoran Creek), four miles from the town. In a few days the British triumphed over every obstacle, and Amherst entered the city, July 26th, and took possession of the whole island of Cape Breton. Many illustrious persons were present at this victorious scene. Among whom were James Wolfe, the noble hero, who so gloriously fell on the Plains of Abraham, and whose daring skill even then excited great admiration; James Murray, the first British governor of Quebec; Commodore Durrell, the young Earl of Dundonald, who commanded the Grenadiers of the 12th Regiment, and the renowned Captain Cooke, then serving as a petty officer on board a ship of war. There were also Lord Rollo, Major Darling, etc., and Amherst the moving spirit, whose wisdom and energy had enshrined his name in the grateful affections of his countrymen. Amherst wished to follow up his success by pushing forward with his whole army to Quebec, but the engagement at Louisbourg, through the protracted defence of the skilful French governor, Mr. Drucour, delayed the forces of Amherst too long, so that a descent upon Canada was impracticable that year. Amherst sailed for Boston the last of August, and from thence pushed on through the wilderness to Lake George, where he left seasonable supplies with Abercrombie, and returned to Boston, and then to Halifax, to await orders from the British government. Abercrombie endeavored to sustain himself against the French troops to Ticonderoga, but was defeated near this place, and here fell the gallant and good Lord Howe, and with him seemed to pass away the energy and spirit of the army. In this year Fort Duquesne was captured, and the British officers with unanimous consent changed the name of the Fort to Pittsburg; a well-earned compliment to the minister who planned the conquest of that large country. With this expedition concluded the campaign of 1758. Early in 1759 Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief of the British North American armies in place of Abercrombie, who sailed for England the 24th of January following. For the next campaign, Pitt decided upon nearly the same plan of operations, which had partially succeeded before. The main body of the British army was assembled upon the shores of Lake George, being destined to penetrate Canada by the River Richelieu, and occupy Montreal. When Pitt cast his eyes over the maps of the western world and traced its net work of lakes and rivers, noted its far stretching wilderness of forests, so solemn, and almost impenetrable, and remembered the resources of the brave Montcalm, we should expect his zeal to have cooled, but he thought only of Wolfe and Amherst, and was sure of success. According to the plan, Amherst left New York April 28th, 1759, and arrived in Albany, May 3rd, to pursue the great plan of the campaign. An alarming spirit of desertion broke out among the militia, but Amherst’s promptness soon quelled it, and a great part of the army, with artillery and stores, arrived and encamped on the woody shores of Lake George, 21st June, and on 21st July, notwithstanding the heat of the weather, all was made ready, and troops and stores were embarked upon the lakes. Amherst took Fort Ticonderoga[1] from the French, and repaired it, and gave orders to increase the naval force on the lake. Then Crown Point was to be overcome. It was formerly called Point-a-la-Chevelure, situated about eighteen miles north of Ticonderoga. It was soon abandoned by the enemy, and Amherst took possession of it on the 4th of August, thus securing two important forts. On the 16th of August, he learned that the French were so strongly intrenched in Isle-aux-Noix, as to prevent him from joining Wolfe’s army before Quebec, and he was forced to remain inactive until October, although every hour was precious. He succeeded in crossing the lake on October 18th, when he learned that the fate of Quebec had been decided, and it was an honorable trait in the character of Amherst that, in his despatches, he allowed his brigadier the full credit of the action. From the uncommonly sickly state of his provincials, he was forced to prepare for the inglorious quiet of winter-quarters at Crown Point.[2] The next year, Amherst left New York with part of his army and proceeded to Oswego. He was followed by General Gage, and soon assembled his army on the shores of Lake Ontario, from whence he descended the St. Lawrence upon the enemy’s capital, leaving Lake Champlain to Colonel Haviland, whilst General Murray with the disposable portion of the garrison of Quebec, was to push up the St. Lawrence. On September 6th, the splendid army landed at Montreal, and invested it in form. On the 8th, the Marquis of Vaudreuil, who commanded in Montreal, signed the capitulation, and the whole of Canada became a British province. French troops were conveyed to France in British ships, and the Canadian militia allowed to return peaceably to their homes. The French colonists were guaranteed the same civil privileges as British subjects, and the free enjoyment of their customs, and laws. In the meantime the Island of Newfoundland having fallen into the hands of the enemy, General Amherst dispatched a sufficient force for the recovery of it, under the command of his brother, Colonel William Amherst, whose expedition was completely successful. The general now returned to New York, then the English capital of North America, where he was greeted with the strongest tokens of gratitude and respect, and whither, also, the thanks of the House of Commons had been transmitted to him from London. Thus General Amherst planned and executed an undertaking of the most striking interest. In 1761, he was appointed Knight of the Bath. He continued to command in America until 1764, when he returned to England. He was in reality the first British governor-general of Canada, Gage, Murray, Burton and Haldimand, being sub-governors only.[3] In 1771, he was appointed governor of Guernsey, where he gave a high idea of his talents as administrator. His venerable Sovereign George III., created him Baron Amherst, of Holmsdale, in the county of Kent in 1776, and two years later his lordship was constituted commander-in-chief of his Majesty’s land forces in Great Britain. In 1782, he received the gold stick from the king, but on the change of the administration, the command of the army and the lieutenant-generalship of the ordnance were put into other hands. In 1788, he received another patent of peerage as Baron Amherst, of Montreal, county Kent. In January 1793, he was again appointed to the command of the army in Great Britain, but in 1795, this veteran and very deserving officer, was superseded by H.R.H., the Duke of York, the second son of the king, who was only in the thirty-first year of his age, and had never seen any actual service. The government on this occasion, with a view to soothe the feelings of the old general, offered him an earldom, and the rank of field-marshal, both of which he at that time rejected. The office of field-marshal, however, he accepted in July