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

restored him to something like his former self, he removed to Canada in 1857, and settled in Melbourne, one of the Eastern Townships. Here he filled the office of mayor for two terms with conspicuous ability. On both occasions he had been elected without a contest, and without having solicited a single vote from any one, his belief being that an office of this sort ought to be conferred by the unasked suffrage of the constituency. He declined to serve for a third term, although earnestly requested to do so. While mayor, he introduced various improvements in the mode of conducting municipal business. Like many other immigrants possessing capital, he found his means vanishing before the financial crisis of 1857. Mr. Brymner drifted into what seemed to be his natural calling—literature, for which his early training and continuous study well qualified him. On the acceptance by Dr. Snodgrass of the office of principal of Queen’s College, the post of editor of the _Presbyterian_, the official journal of the Church of Scotland in Canada, became vacant. It was offered to Mr. Brymner, his fitness for the position having been recognized by the leaders of the church, he having been an active member of the church courts as a representative elder, and his numerous contributions to the discussion of important religious topics being esteemed and valuable. Under his guidance, the editorials being written with a straightforward, independent spirit, the paper at once took a high place. Many of Mr. Brymner’s articles on ecclesiastical questions were in particular much admired, and leading religious journals often made lengthy quotations from them. About the same time he joined the staff of the Montreal _Herald_, where in a little he was appointed associate editor with the late Hon. Edward Goff Penny. Often, owing to the severe indisposition of Mr. Penny, Mr. Brymner had sole editorial charge of the _Herald_. He was noted as one of the most efficient and hard-working members of the Press Gallery at Ottawa, and in 1871, the presidency of the Press Association devolved upon him. A year later, in 1872, it having been resolved to establish a new branch of the Civil Service, namely, the collection of the historical records of the Dominion and its provinces, Mr. Brymner, with the approval of men of all political shades, received the appointment. Before leaving Montreal for Ottawa, an address, signed by leading men in the professions, in business, and of the different nationalities, was presented to Mr. Brymner, accompanied by a magnificent testimonial. No better selection could have been made for the office of archivist than that of Mr. Brymner. He had peculiar fitness for the task imposed on him. His extensive historical knowledge, unwearied industry, patience, and love for research, his power of organizing and arranging materials for reference, etc., were all admirable qualifications, and these he possessed to a remarkable degree. His reports are models, and present in clear and terse language the results of his labours. The story of the origin of the office, and the important part played in its construction by Mr. Brymner, will be found in the archivist’s report for 1883. In 1881, the Public Record Office (London) authorities republished the whole of Mr. Brymner’s report as part of their own, owing, as the keeper of records, Sir William Hardy, said, to the importance of the information it contained. Every year since then copious extracts have been made from Mr. Brymner’s reports. Perhaps it will not be out of place to insert here the following excerpt from the preface to the admirably annotated publication of “Hadden’s Journal and Orderly Books,” by General Horatio Rogers, who says:—“I cannot refrain from referring to the unwearied zeal and unfailing courtesy of Mr. Douglas Brymner, the archivist of the Dominion of Canada, in affording me the fullest and most satisfactory use of the Haldimand papers and the other manuscripts confided to his charge. Would that all public officials in custody of valuable manuscripts might take a lesson from him!” Mr. Brymner is an adherent of the Church of Scotland, to which he has always belonged, and he has been one of the most formidable opponents of union. His evidence before the Senate Committee, on the 24th and 26th of April, 1882, which is substantially the argument of the non-contents on the Union question, was presented with great power and skill. It can be found in a pamphlet of over forty pages, published by Hunter, Rose &. Co., Toronto, in 1883. The greater part of his literary work is anonymous. He possesses a fund of caustic humour, some of which found vent in his letters in Scotch, under the name of “Tummas Treddles,” an octogenarian Paisley weaver, originally contributions on curling to the Montreal _Herald_, but afterwards extended to other subjects in the _Scottish American Journal_. These have ceased for some years, doubtless from the pressure of other and more serious occupations. His translations of the Odes of Horace into Scotch verse were happy imitations. A favourable specimen, “The Charms of Country Life,” is in the _Canadian Monthly_ of 1879, the others having appeared in newspapers, and, so far as is known, have never been collected. He is another illustration of the fallacy of Sidney Smith’s statement, that it requires a surgical operation to get a joke into a Scotchman’s head. Mr. Brymner’s work is gaining, year by year, in reputation with scholars and students. Dr. Poole, chairman of the American Historical Association, says that the archives “under the care of Mr. Brymner forms the most valuable collection of manuscripts for historical purposes to be found on this continent.” (_Library Journal_ for 1877, p. 458.) Dr. George Stewart, jr., president of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, says in _Canadian Leaves_, “Mr. Douglas Brymner has really created the department of archives, and made it one of the most efficient in the public service of Canada.” Other historical writers express the highest opinion of the value of the work in progress, and the annual reports are now eagerly looked for. * * * * * =Cameron, Allan=, M.D., Owen Sound, on the 30th December, 1830. His father, Daniel Allan Cameron, was the only son of Allan Cameron, at one time lieutenant and adjutant of H. B. M. 1st regiment of foot. His mother, Margaret Fisher Buchan, was a niece of the late James Ewing, of Strathleven. He was educated in Glasgow, at the Collegiate Institute and High School. He afterwards entered as a medical student at the Glasgow University, graduating in the year 1853 as Doctor of Medicine. In the following year he obtained the diploma of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and coming to Canada, in 1854, was granted the provincial license to practice his profession in the province of Ontario. In 1886 was registered as a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and is also a member of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. In 1873, he was appointed coroner for the county of Grey. He has held various offices in the Masonic lodge, and in the chapter, and also in the lodges of Oddfellows and Foresters. He was married in June, 1857, to Elizabeth Hartley, of Keighley, Yorkshire, England. * * * * * =Robertson, Henry=, LL.B., Barrister, Collingwood, Ontario, was born in the township of Whitchurch, county of York, in the province of Ontario, on the 31st May, 1840. He is of Scottish descent, his father being John Robertson, a native of Edinburgh, and his mother, Catherine Smith. He was educated at the Central School, Hamilton, and the Grammar School at Barrie. He then entered the University of Toronto, where he distinguished himself as a close student of law, and graduated as LL.B., in June, 1861. On being called to the bar in August, 1861, he commenced the practice of his profession at Collingwood, and succeeded in building up a good law practice, which he still continues in that enterprising town. He joined the volunteer force in 1868, and served as second lieutenant in the Collingwood garrison battery of artillery until 1870. In municipal matters he has always taken a prominent part, and has been a member of the Collingwood town council for several years, and deputy reeve in 1881 and 1882. He has also taken a deep interest in the educational wants of Collingwood and vicinity, and has served as member of the High School Board for six years, being chairman in 1873 and 1874; and also chairman of the Public School Board in 1877 and 1878. But it is in the fraternal societies of our Dominion that Mr. Robertson’s name is most widely known. He has filled the highest offices in the gift of the various societies he has joined, and from his knowledge of law has safely directed them over many a knotty point. In 1861 he joined the Masonic craft; in 1870 he was elected grand junior warder of the Grand Lodge of Canada; in 1872 and 1873 he was district deputy grand master of the Toronto district; in 1884 and 1885 he was elected deputy grand master, and in 1886 grand master of the Grand Lodge of Canada, and this position he still holds. He is the author of a work on Masonic jurisprudence. In the Independent Order of Oddfellows he has likewise held responsible positions, having joined that order in 1869, he was grand warden in 1880; deputy grand master in 1881, and grand master in