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

chairman and Mr. Wilfrid Prévost be delegated to interview his honour, and express the desire of the bar to give him a dinner, and in order that he may fix the date that he will find convenient. (Signed) C. S. BURROUGHS, _Chairman_, (Signed) A. ROCHON, _Secretary_. Judge Berthelot regretted that he could not accept a demonstration which would be so creditable for himself from the bar of the district of Terrebonne, being on the eve of sailing for Europe, during a leave of absence which had been granted to him by the Government for recuperating his health, which was slightly impaired by his strict attendance to his judicial duties. Before his appointment to the bench in 1859, he had been called upon to fulfil the office of assistant judge in Montreal for six months, in 1855 and 1856, during which time the judges of the province had to act as such during the sittings of the Seignorial Court for Lower Canada. On the 28th of November, 1875, his Lordship Archbishop Bourget, intimated to Judge Berthelot that he had just received from Rome a letter from his Excellency Monsignor Roncetti, Ablegate, informing him that His Holiness Pius IX. had been pleased to appoint him Commander of the Order of St. Sylvestre, by an apostolical writ, dated the 24th of September then last, enclosed with the Ablegate’s letter, adding that His Holiness had been so kind and so generous that through the agency of His Eminence Cardinal Antonelli, he had consented to give to Mr. Berthelot himself the decoration of the Commandery of the Order of St. Sylvestre, which he had confided to the care of Mr. Harel, procurator of the archbishop. The newspaper _Le Monde_, of Paris, France, on the 28th of December, 1875, noticed this honour granted to Judge Berthelot in the following terms: We do not doubt that the appointment of Judge Berthelot will be hailed with pleasure by the numerous friends that he has in France, who have had occasion to appreciate, during his several visits to our continent, how he was worthy in all respects, of the high distinction which had been conferred upon him. His Excellency, Monsignor Roncetti, in a letter bearing date of February, 1876, wrote as follows to Judge Berthelot: MY DEAR AND HONOURED COMMANDER,—With your very kind letter of the 20th of January, for which I am very thankful, I have also received, through the agency of Mr. Harel, your letter for his Eminence Cardinal Antonelli, who entrusted me with his answer, which you will find herewith:—In renewing my sincere congratulations, I beg to present my homage to the most excellent lady, Madame Berthelot, to your dear children, and to accept at the same time the assurance of my most perfect esteem and profound respect. Expecting with the greatest impatience the day when I will see you in Rome, I have the honour to be, my dear and honoured Commander, Your most humble and devoted servant, CESAR RONCETTI. In the same month of February, 1876, Judge Berthelot was in receipt of a letter from his Eminence, Cardinal Antonelli, in Italian, which read as follows: ILLUSTRISSIME SIGNOR,—I have presented, with great pleasure, to the Holy Father the expressions of gratitude which your illustrissime lordship has given me in his letter of the 20th of January last, because our Holy Father had conferred upon you the Commandership of St. Sylvestre, which you acknowledged to be entirely due to the apostolic benevolence. His Holiness was raptured when he saw these expressions of veneration and love for his venerable person, and could not refrain from answering to them by words of gratitude, and by giving you, from the bottom of his heart, his apostolic benediction. Having thus accomplished the wishes which you expressed to me, I have the honour to be, your illustrissime lordship, Yours, Sec. GIACOMO ANTONELLI. The following particulars about the knighthood are found in the supplement of “Bouillet’s Dictionary,” page 42: ORDER OF THE GOLDEN SPUR. A Roman order founded by Paul III., in 1554, or by Pius IV. in 1559, has been established, according to some writers, by Constantinus, as far back as 312, to commemorate his victory over Maxencius, and approved since then by the Pope St. Sylvestre. Its object was to reward civil merit, admitting only noblemen; it could also be conferred on foreigners. Some princely families of Rome and a few high dignitaries could confer the order, which soon occasioned serious errors. Gregory XVI. reformed the order in 1841, and gave the name of St. Sylvestre, or the Reformed Golden Spur. The knights wore a golden cross with eight points, and white enamelled, showing the portrait of St. Sylvestre. It is worn with a ribbon striped red and black; between, the branches of the cross hangs a golden spur. Before the Reformation, when England was Catholic, and when the relations of that country with the court of Rome were uninterrupted, as soon as a chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench, was appointed, the writ of commandership of the order of St. Sylvestre was forwarded to him by the Pope, and he wore on his chain of office the letters S. S. Since England has become Protestant, the writ is not sent to that country; nevertheless, when a new chief justice is appointed, and when he orders at the court goldsmith the chain of office which he wears on his neck, he receives it still with the same initials S.S., as in olden times. This fact is warranted by photographs of Chief Justices Bovill and Campbell, which Judge Berthelot has in his possession, and which were given him by his friend, Judge Mackay. In a legal review, entitled _Albany Law Journal_ for 1874, in the issue of the 8th of August, we find an article headed, “Article on Campbell’s Lives of Chief Justices,” with the following comments: And while there were among the wearers of the collar of S. S., men whose lives are neither helpful nor inspiring, there were many of whom it is good to read. In Canada the first person who received a writ of commandership of St. Sylvestre, was the late Sir L. H. Lafontaine, chief justice, in the year