A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 FIRST JUDGE IN EQUITY 
 
 Of 
 
 NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. ARTHUR CALNEK. 
 
 ST. JOHN, N. B. : 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BV GEO. A. KNODELL 
 1884. 
 
Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada in the year 1884, 
 
 By W. A. Calnek, 
 
 In the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, at Ottawa. 
 
PREFATORY. 
 
 The life of every man and woman which has been spent in 
 the earnest effort to increase the happiness, enlarge the knowledge, 
 and improve and elevate the condition of all those whose lives have 
 come into contact with theirs deserves our admiration, and some- 
 what, at least, of our reverence. Tlie publication of this Memoir, 
 therefore, needs no apology from its author, for it is in a measure, 
 the record of some of the main incidents in the life of such a man. 
 Tlie unflinching and never failing discharge of every recognised 
 duty, social, moral, political or religious ; the untiring industry and 
 persistent energy ; the fine sense of honor and unblemished integ- 
 rity, and the earnest sincerity which characterised his conduct in 
 all the activities of life, are examples worthy to be held up to-day 
 for the imitation and acknowledgment of all men. It is not 
 affirmed that his life and actions were faultless, but that they were 
 as nearly so as his environment and human frailty rendered possible. 
 As a politician his motto was " the greatest good to the greatest 
 number"; as a christian his shield bore the device — "religious 
 liberty " ; as a judge he regarded the law as a fitting " instrument 
 of justice ", and . i all other capacities his escutcheon bore the 
 simple and expressive word " sincerity ", which he used in its true 
 etymological sense, and never failed to exhibit in his conduct to- 
 wards all with whom he came into business or social relations. Such 
 was the man whose biography is here briefly presented to the 
 reader, who, it is hoped, may arise from its perusal a wiser and a 
 stronger man from the lessons which so brave and good a life can- 
 not fail to teach. 
 
 W. A. C. 
 Annapolis, K S., May, 1884- 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LATE HONORABLE JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON, 
 
 FIRST JUDGE IN EQUITY OF NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 The subject of this Memoir was a descendant of very ancient 
 and honorable families both on the paternal and maternal sides_ 
 His mother, — Elizabeth Lightenstone, — was the grand-daughter of 
 the reverend Gustavus Philip Lightenstone, a Protestant clergyman 
 at Peterhoff, in the island of Cronstadt, near the mouth of the river 
 Neva, in Russia, and her father, John Lightenstone, was born in the 
 island named about 1735. This family, which had long been domi- 
 ciled in England, was originally from Germany where tlie name was 
 spelled Lichtenstein. The reverend Gustavus Philip Lightenstone, 
 or Lichtestein, was born, educated and married in England. His 
 wife, — Beatrice Elizabeth Loyd, — who is said to have been born in 
 Ireland or Scotland, was probably of Welch origin. His son, the 
 maternal grandfather of Mr, Johnston, was also educated in Eng- 
 land, and when a young man sought and obtained employment of 
 some kind in the British service which required his presence in the 
 old American colonies, to one of which, — Georgia, — he went out about 
 the time of its first settlement. Some years after his arrival there 
 he married Catherine Delegal, a native of Georgia, who was, however, 
 of French Hugenot extraction, whose grandfather was commandant 
 of the island of Jersey, one of the channel islands, at the time of his 
 decease. Her father, Philip Delegal, was a lieutenant in the British 
 army, and went to Georgia Avith general Oglethorpe, in the early 
 settlement of that colony. The ancestors of these men had been 
 driven to seek refuge in England by the sufferings inflicted upon 
 them through the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685. 
 
 The marriage of John Lightenstone with Catherine Delegal re- 
 sulted in the birth of an only child, named Elizabeth, who, a few 
 years subsequently became the wife of WiUiam Moreton Johnston, 
 
6 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 and still further on the mother of the subject of this sketch. Tliis 
 marriage took place in Savannah, Georgia, on the 21st clay of No- 
 vember 1779. Mrs. Johnston had the misfortune to lose the tender 
 care and companionship of mother when she " was just turned of 
 ten years of age," — a loss which she was old enough to deplore very 
 deeply. Few women with whose history I am acquainted liave led 
 a more eventful and checkered, or a more heroic and honorable life 
 than the mother of the late Honorable Judge Johnston. From the 
 day on which she became a wife until the close of the Eevolutionary 
 war she was doomed to long and painful separations from her hus- 
 band, who commanded a troop of dragoons, and was in consequence 
 obliged to endure severe hardships, and to encounter da gers more 
 dreadful to contemplate, either of which might, at an; moment, 
 terminate the life of one whom she most dearly loved, ,nd whose 
 well being had become inseparable from her own. The war clouds 
 rolled more and more rapidly and threateningly towards the South 
 during the last years of the strife, and her husband, who viev/ed the 
 situation from a stand-point of necessity unknown to her, deter- 
 mined on her removal from Georgia to St. Augustine, in Florida, 
 then belonging to Spain. Here she and her child would be safe 
 from the perils which surrounded her in her native and beloved 
 Georgia. She obeyed his request with alacrity and what cheerful- 
 ness she could command, though she knew that in doing so she 
 would be compelled to pass long and weary intervals without any 
 news or assurances of his safety, and that of other friends who would 
 be stiU exposed to the perils from which she alone would be exempt. 
 At length peace spread her white wings of joy over the devastated 
 colonies, but only to witness a relentless persecution — a widespread 
 confiscation of the property of the vanquished loyalists. The end 
 of the fratricidal war, which made " confusion worse confounded" 
 during the preceding eight years, did not bring an end to the dis- 
 comforts consequent upon her separation from her husband nor to 
 her prospects of continuous domestic repose. 
 
 A voyage across the Atlantic a hundred years ago was a very 
 different affair from what it is now, with our ocean steam palace 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 
 
 ships, their hixurious furnishings, rapid speed, and disregard of ad- 
 verse winds; yet this lady, in the interests of lier family, braved its 
 dangers and endured its discomforts and hardships no less than eight 
 times, including six voyages between Great Britain and Jamaica 
 besides making several other trips of almost equal length and danger. 
 
 The Johnstons are descended from a very ancient Scottish family, 
 who trace their ancestors to the days of the Crusades, if not to those 
 of the Conquest. The grandfather* of him whose name heads this 
 paper was bred to the medical profession, and emigrated to Georgia 
 about the time that witnesse'l the arrival of John Lightenstone in 
 that province. His family consisted of several children of whom 
 four at least were sons. Two of these were in Philadelphia, pur- 
 suing their studies for the profession of their father, when the old 
 Eevolutionary war commenced, and both of them left the peaceful 
 teachings of good old doctor Hossack, exchanged the scalpel for the 
 sword, and devoted all their energies to the cause of the Crown in 
 that great and disastrous struggle. William, as has already been 
 stated, obtained a captain's commission in the New York Eangers, — 
 a corps which performed a great part of their services in the Caro- 
 linas and Georgia. Two or three years before the close of the war, 
 three troops of Horse were raised and organized in Georgia, and 
 captain Johnston was offered the command of one of them. He 
 agreed to accept the offer on the condition that his rank and pay in 
 the Hangers should be continued, and the fact that the condition 
 was complied with affirms authoritatively the estimation in which 
 his dashing and daring qualities as a soldier were held by his supe- 
 rior officers. 
 
 A little bit of romance connected with his courtship of Miss 
 Lightenstone must not be omitted. The presence of over two thou- 
 sand troops in Savannah rapidly changed its usually dull and quiet 
 society into scenes of gaiety and festivity. Assemblies, balls, routs 
 and parties were of common occurrence, and the military soon be- 
 came great favorites with all classes in the community. Among the 
 
 •Lewis Johnston, M. D., Member of Council, Superintendent of Police in 
 Georgia. 
 
8 MEMOIR OF TlIK LATE HONORABLE 
 
 officers foremost in i)i'oinoting tliis general and unusual gaiety was 
 cai)tain Jolmston, who liad been fre(iuently heard to declare liis 
 aversion to niarriagt?, thougli he was known to respect and honor 
 the sex witli the homage of true chivalry, dohn Lightenstone, wlio 
 was duly informed of the cai)tain's views in this resjiect, had noticed, 
 with feelings of parental uneasiness, tlie somewhat marked attention 
 wliich he had recently shown to his only and darling daughter, 
 Elizabeth, then not quite sixteen years of age, and who was endowed 
 by nature with a gay and impressible disposition, for he feared her 
 affections might become interested in a man who could neither re- 
 turn nor reward them. He, tlierefore, determined to place her with 
 her maiden or widowed aunt, at Ogechee, about ten miles from the 
 city, and accordingly informed her that on the following morning 
 she must be ready to leave for that place, but without assigning any 
 reason for his conduct. At a ball on the evening of the same day^ 
 captain Johnston having ascertained that Miss Lightenstone was 
 to leave Savannah in the morning, sought her out, and finding 
 opportunity made proposals of marriage to her which ended then 
 and there in a formal engagement. The young lady returned from 
 the eventful ball and retired to her room to weep for the remainder 
 of the night.* In the morning she took her departure from the 
 city, leaving her father unacquainted with the event of the previous 
 evening. H^r lover, who soon became unhappy in her absence, 
 resolved to have an interview ; and in order to achieve his purpose, 
 he took horse and rode to the house of a lady friend, which was 
 situated about three miles from that in which the object of his newly 
 awakened affections was domiciled. On his arrival he prevailed on 
 his hostess to drive over and endea"'.'or to obtain. the consent of her 
 aunt to permit Elizabeth to visit her for a few days in order to meet 
 some friends who were then stopping at her house, among whom 
 she was told she might name captain Johnston, of the Rangers ; but 
 her aunt declined the invitation, lest it should be thought her niece 
 was desirous to meet the captain, and thus give rise to censorious 
 remark. No persuasion on the part of her friend could reverse the 
 
 •See Mrs. Johnston's MS. • 7,^ 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNBTON, 
 
 decision, and she was compelled to return iilone. On Mr. Johnston's 
 having been informed of the result, he announced his intention to 
 return to Savannah the next morning. He was much chagrined at 
 the want of success in his plans, but not more so than was his affi- 
 anced at her aunt's scrupulousness. But what was the astonish- 
 ment of the captain, on his arrival in the city, on finding that soon 
 after he had left it, on the preceding day, an order liad reached the 
 commanding officer of his regiment to embark it at OTice for a port 
 in South Carolina, and that the ship or ships, employed for that 
 purpose, had already sailed. He rode immediately to the water side, 
 wheie, finding two sailors in a boat, he offered them all the money 
 he had about his person, — two guineas — together with his watch, 
 if they would set him on board the ship before she reached her des- 
 tination. One of the tars said to the other — " Jack, let's take the 
 two guineas and try it, — but give him back his watch." They did 
 "try it," and succeeded in placing him safely on board the vessel 
 he sought in the mouth of the harbor. He immediately reported 
 himself to the officer commanding the expedition and asked for an 
 interview, which request having been granted, he explained the 
 cause of his absence from his regiment at the time of its embark- 
 ation, and desired that he might be made secure from arrest, as the 
 major then commanding his corps was not friendly towards him, 
 and might feel inclined to seek that course, in order to deprive him 
 of the honor of acting a part in the operations about to take place. 
 On one condition, — namely, that of leading the "forlorn hope" on 
 the day of attack, — his request was granted. It is said that he led 
 the "hope" gallantly and successfully on the following day, and 
 that, although many of their number fell or were wounded, yet he 
 escaped unhurt. Nearly half a century after these events took 
 place, his wife wrote : — " Though I keenly felt my aunt's refusal to 
 " permit me to visit her friend while Mi\ Johnston was there, how 
 " thankful have I ever since been ; if I had gone he would not have 
 " returned so soon ; his honor would have been tarnished ; and his 
 "and my life would have been rendered regretful and miserable 
 " ever after." I quote from memory, but I know I have stated the 
 
10 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 sentiment correctly, though by no means so eloquently as she has 
 done, 
 
 The marriage resulted in a family of seven children who reached 
 maturity, of whom four were sons and three daughters. The sons 
 were named Andrew, Lewis, John, and James William, and the 
 daughters bore the names of Catherine^, Eliza, and Laleah. A slight 
 sketch of such of these as are not noticed elsewhere in these Me- 
 moirs will not be out of place here. 
 
 (I.) Andrew, who was the eldest son, was born in Georgia, and 
 educated in Scotland, He is described as having been a young man 
 of over six feet in height, of fine proportions, and endowed with 
 much grace of motion and great beauty of face. Contrary to his 
 father's dearest hopes, who intended him to study medicine, he de- 
 termined to adopt a mercantile career, and was, in consequence, sent 
 to Jamaica, and placed in the counting house of a merchant in 
 Kingston, His father felt bitter disappointment at the boy's choice; 
 and it is uncertain whether he ever fully forgave him, until, some 
 time later, he announced his desire to comply Avith his father's 
 wishes, and complete his studies for the medical profession. Not 
 long after this event, however, he was suddenly seized with an 
 attack of yellow fever, which ultimately proved fatal. His death 
 was deeply regretted by all who knew him. He died unmarried. 
 
 (II.) Lewis, the second son, was born in St. Augustine, in Flo- 
 rida, and was also educated in Scotlantl, having studied medicine at 
 the university of Edinburgh, where he won his diploma in 1807. 
 In 1808 he commenced the practice of his profession in the island 
 of Jamaica. His father had died on the 9th December, 1807, leav- 
 ing a large and lucrative practice, which was practically resumed by 
 his son, and closely pursued by him during the succeeding ten or 
 twelve years. Having amassed a considerable fortune, he deter- 
 mined to transfer his home to this province, where his mother had 
 been domiciled since 1810-11, and where his brother James also 
 resided. He married a sister of the I'everend John Pryor, D. D., 
 who bore him no less than sixteen cnildren, of whom the eldest sur- 
 viving son, Lewis Johnston, Esq., M. D., of Stellarton, is the present 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTOIT, 11 
 
 head of the Johnston family. He died recently at Wolfville, to 
 wliich he removed from Halifax several years ago. He lived to a 
 good old age, and was distinguished for the possession of many of 
 the high qualities which characterized the family. 
 
 (III.) Catherine, the eldest daughter, was horn in Charleston, 
 S. C, and was left in Scotland hy her mother, in the care of her 
 aunts, at the time of lier first visit to Jamaica to join her husband 
 after his settlement there. With these ladies she remained until 
 about her sixteenth year, and the ten years indulgence she experi- 
 enced during this plastic age were fraught with much evil to her in 
 after life. The severe lessons of discipline which alone can mould 
 the child into a state of self-control, and fit it to encounter and 
 overcome the ills of adult age with success, seem to have been much 
 neglected, or regarded as of too little value to be strictly enforced. 
 Shortly after her removal to Jamaica she began to show symptoms 
 of nervous disease, which so increased after her arrival in Nova 
 Scotia, that it was found necessary to send her to Boston, where she 
 could have the advantage of treatment by medical men who had 
 made the disease which afflicted her a subject of special study. But 
 all their efforts to relieve her proved unavailing, and she died on 
 the 2nd June, 1819, just seventeen days before the decease of her 
 sister Eliza at Annapolis. 
 
 (lY.) Eliza, the second daughter, born in Jamaica, made her first 
 visit to Nova Scotia with her mother find sisters in the summer of 
 1806. What trifles sometimes seem to influence our destinies! 
 Mrs. Johnston has told* us that her own health and that of her 
 children requiring a change of climate for a time, it had been de- 
 cided that she should go with them to New York ; but while making 
 enquiries for a ship bound to that port, a gentleman who had been 
 informed of our intentions said to Mr. Johnston : — " I have under- 
 " stood that you are a loyalist, — why do you not send your family 
 " to a loyal colony ? — to Nova Scotia ? There is a ship now in port 
 " bound to Halifax, which will be ready to sail in a few days." This 
 conversation determined Mr. Johnston to send them hither, — an 
 
 * See Mrs. Johnston's M. S. in the possession of Senator Almon. 
 
12 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 event that led to their final settlement in this province. Halifax was 
 a gay little city at that time. Its streets and salons were thronged 
 with gentlemen wearing the uniform of the naval and military ser- 
 vices of Britain, and its noble harbor was filled with ships of war 
 and commerce. It was here, during the winter of 1806-7, that the 
 late Judge Thomas Eitchie, of Annapolis, then a rising Barrister and 
 one of the members of *'^s courty in the Assembly of the province, 
 made the acquaintance of Eliza Johnston. This acquaintance soon 
 budded into a friendship that ultimately developed into a stiU 
 warmer sentiment — one which resulted in marriage on the thirtieth 
 day of June, 1807. By this union she became the mother of (1) 
 the honorable John W. Ritchie, the second Judge in Equity of Nova 
 Scotia ; (2) Thomas A. Ritchie, gentleman, of Halifax ; (3) the hon- 
 orable William Johnston Ritchie, at present the Chief Justice of the 
 Dominion of Canada ; (4) Laleah, who became the wife of the late 
 Charles T. C. Macalla, barrister-at-law ; (5) the reverend James 
 Johnston Ritchie, for many years past rector of St. Luke's Church 
 at Annapolis ; (6) Elizabeth Lightenstone Ritchie, who married the 
 honorable Senator Almon ; and (7) George W. Ritchie, barrister, 
 deceased. Mrs. Ritchie died a few days after having given birth to 
 her son George above named, on the 19th day of June, 1819. 
 
 (V.) Laleah Peyton, born in Kingston, Jamaica, was the youngest 
 daughter. She left Halifax after the marriage of her sister Eliza, 
 and with her mother and sister Catherine, on the 4th of December 
 1807, returned to Jamaica, and did not revisit the province until 
 1810, when her mother came to reside there permanently. She be- 
 came the wife of tl 3 late William Bruce Almon, M. D., of Halifax, 
 on the 29th of January 1814. This marriage was productive of the 
 following offspring : (1) Laleah, who became the wife of Thomas 
 Andrew Ritchie, of Halifax ; (2) the honorable William Johnston 
 Almon, M. D., a member of the Senate of Canada ; (3) Eliza, who 
 married the reverend James Johnston Ritchie, rector of St. Luke's 
 Church, Annapolis ; (4) Amelia, who became the wife of the honor- 
 able John W. Ritchie, late Judge in Equity, of Halifax ; (5) Mari- 
 anna; (6) Andrew, barrister-at-law, who resides in Massachusetts! 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 13 
 
 U.S.; (7) James, — deceased; (8) reverend Foster, at present of 
 New Brunswick ; and (9) Lewis Johnstca, barrister, of St. John, N. 
 B. The grandfather of the mother of these children, — John TJght- 
 enstone, — died and was buried at Annapolis toward the close of the 
 year which witnessed his youngest grand-daughtjr's marriage. The 
 slab which marks his grave is still to be seen, and its inscription to 
 be read, in the old Annapolis cemetery near the fort. 
 
 (VI.) John Johnston was born in Jamaica, January 31st, 1790, 
 received the rudiments of his education in Scotland, and studied law 
 in Kingston, Ja., where in 1823 he married Laura, daughter of the 
 honorable William Stevenson then attorney-general of that Island. 
 Soon after his marriage he came to this province, settled in the town 
 of Annapolis, and resumed the practice of his profession. The as- 
 sembly which had been elected on the demise of the crown in 1820 
 having expired by the efflux of time, writs were issued for the elec- 
 tion of a new one towards the close of 1826, and Mr. Johnston was 
 a successful candidate for the representation ot the county and held 
 the seat until it was vacated by the death of George IV., on which 
 occasion he was a second time honored with the suffrages of a ma- 
 jority of the electors of Annapolis. To this gentleman's efforts the 
 people of the Bay of Fundy section are largely indebted for the 
 artificial breakwater-harbors which have long been acknowledged as 
 
 most useful and beneficial to them, he having obtained the first grant 
 of public money towards the construction of the first one built in 
 the county — then named Gates' Pier, but long since better recog- 
 nized as Port George. Although not distinguished by the brilliancy 
 of ability of his junior brother, of whom we are to speak more fully 
 in these pages, yet he was by no means his inferior in the scrupulous 
 and constant discharge of every duty resting upon him. Not long 
 after his first election and a few days before the rising of the "house," 
 a most heart-rending accident occurred to his wife, — a lady who is 
 said to have been distinguished by the possession of most of the 
 virtues that mark the Christian lady, wife, and mother. On retiring 
 to her sleeping apartment, where little ones had a little before been 
 laid in their cots, in some mysterious manner, never fully explained, 
 
14 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 her night-dress caught fire, and hefore it couhl be extinguished, she 
 was so badly barned that slie soon afterwards died. Mr. Jolinston 
 afterward married Mary, eldest daughter of the late James William 
 Kelly, Collector of Customs at St John, N. B., by whom he also had 
 issue. His health having failed in 1835, he was advised to try a 
 sea voyage in order to its restoration, but it proved of no avail, and 
 he died in Falmouth, England, July lltli, 1836, at the early age of 
 forty-seven years. 
 
 (VII.) James William Johnston, of whom more anon. 
 
 At the close of the war captain Johnston was advised by his 
 father, — whose Georgian estates had been confiscated, and his finan- 
 cial circumstances much deranged and straitened in consequence, — 
 to go to Edinburgh and complete his medical education, which he 
 did. His old friend colonel, afterwards Sir Archibald Campbell, 
 who was then about to sail for India, offered, if he would accompany 
 him to that country, to use all the influence in his power to further 
 his interests there. At the same time he had offers of similar influ- 
 ence if he would go to Jamaica, and after due consideration he 
 resolved to seek a new home in the West instead of the East. 
 
 An incident occurred at the close of the voyage of himself and 
 family from America to Scotland that deserves record. They did 
 not sail in the same ship nor from the same port. Mr. Johnston 
 secured a passage in H. M. ship of war Diomede to Falmouth or 
 Portsmouth ; and Mrs. Johnston and the children sailed in a ship 
 bound to Greenock or Glasgow. On the evening of his arrival at 
 Edinburgh Mr. Johnston received a letter from a friend informing 
 him that the vessel in which his wife had taken passage was due, 
 and might be expected to arrive at any time. He set off at an early 
 hour next morning, in a post chaise, to be ready to meet her on her 
 arrival and convey her to Edinburgh with him. Owing to some 
 delays on the road he did not reach Glasgow until 11 o'clock, p. m., 
 when he drove at once to the principal hotel for lodgings, which on 
 his asking for, he was informed could not be obtained, as every room 
 in the house was already occupied, and he was about to leave to 
 seek accommodation elsewhere, when a maid-servant said to him 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 15 
 
 by way of explanation, that several passengers had that clay arrived 
 in an American ship, and had taken the last vacant room they had. 
 He inquired if she knew their names ; she did not, but she knew 
 they were ladies and little children. " Go," said he, " and ask if 
 "Mrs. Captain Johnston is one of them;" "for," he added, "if she 
 "is there she will find room for me, — I am her husband." Mrs. 
 Johnston, her maid and children had indeed arrived and been stowed 
 away in this room several hours previously, and unaccustomed as 
 they had been to the bustle and confusion incident to life in a large 
 city hotel, were suffering great alarm lest some person might un- 
 bidden enter their room. Every noise below, or in the corridors, 
 startled them, aiul they were likely to pass a sleepless night, when 
 their worst fears were realized by approaching steps and a knock at 
 the door, which, — there being no fastenings to prevent, — was at the 
 same time opened far enough to admit the head of the servant girl, 
 who at once asked if Mrs. capta'ri Johnston was there. " I am Mrs. 
 Johnston, — what do you want?" said that lady. "Why, nothing, 
 ma'ni, only if you are Mrs. Johnston you can make room for the 
 captain;" and throwing the door wide open ushered in Mr. John- 
 ston, who had followed the girl, and "room" ^ms found for "the 
 captain," to the great relief and delight of all parties. 
 
 Captain, now Doctor Johnston, was not long in Jamaica before 
 he found himself in the possession of a splendid professional prac- 
 tice. His love for his profession seems to have been great, and was> 
 no doubt, one of the elements of the complete success he achieved 
 in it. It was no uncommon thing in those days, in Jamaica, to pay 
 a competent physician £700 or £800 sterling a year for the medical 
 superintendence of an estate ; and as the climate was eminently 
 adapted to the preservation of health among the negroes, such a 
 place became almost a sinecure, and did not interfere materially 
 with a general practice. The doctor had such an appointment, and 
 a large and lucrative business besides, and, in consequence, was soon 
 rewarded by the possession of a considerable fortune. A few years 
 only passed away before it became necessary to send his elder sons to 
 Scotland for education, and it was deemed indispensable that one of 
 
16 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 the parents should accompany tliem,and remain there during a length- 
 ened period ; and as it was impossible for the doctor to leave his em- 
 ployments, the lot necessarily fell upon his wife. She accordingly 
 made preparation for a third voyage across the Atlantic, accompanied 
 by her children. On her arrival in Edinburgh, through the influence 
 and advice of friends, she soon succeeded in placing her sons An- 
 drew and Lewis, both of whom were designed for the profession of 
 their father, under competent teachers. She continued to reside in 
 or near Edinburgh, devoting herself to the education of her daugh- 
 ters, until the autumn of 1801, when, having been informed of her 
 husband's failing health, she sailed for Jamaica, taking her daughters 
 out with her, to join her husband once more. She completed her 
 fourth voyage across the Atlantic on the 1st January, 1802. To- 
 wards the close of the same year doctor Johnston embarked for 
 Scotland for change of scene and climate, and at the same time to 
 supply a parent's supervision over the welfare of his sons, still in 
 that country. After an absence of nearly two years he returned to 
 Jamaica and resumed his employments, having recruited his health 
 in some degree during his absence. He never afterwards left the 
 island, having died there on the 9th December, 1807. 
 
 The following extracts have been made from the fragment of 
 a manuscript by Mrs. Johnston's mother, because it refers to some 
 particulars of historic value not specially referred to in her longer 
 MSS. This fragment was also kindly furnished me by the honor- 
 able senator Almon, her grandson, with permission to use. 
 
 " My father, Mr. John Lightenstone, then got a situation in the 
 " Quarter-master General's department, and Mr. William Moreton 
 '• Johnston was made an ensign in the New York Volunteers,* under 
 " the command of an old Scotch veteran, who was like a father to him 
 * and who loved him as a son. Mr. Johnston was near him when 
 " he fell dead in gallantly storming fort Montgomery. His widow 
 " and daughters came to Nova Scotia after the peace. The former, 
 " Mrs. Grant, — and her only son perished in the snow on Partridge 
 " Island, near St. John, N. B., along with colonel Chandler and many 
 
 * Elsewhere it is stated as the New York Bangers, which I take to be correct. 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 17 
 
 "others. The daughters, — three in number, — married — one a 
 " Chandler, one a Morse, and one Mr. (W. H. 0.) Haliburton, of 
 " Windsor, and became the motlier of the present (now late) Judge 
 "Thomas Chandler Haliburton — Sam Slick." 
 
 In 1778, a detachment of three thousand troops under command 
 of colonel Campbell of the 71st regiment, was sent to reduce Georgia, 
 and my father was selected to go with the expedition as one whose 
 character could be relied on, having a thorough knowledge of that 
 country and where would be the best landing place. They took 
 the town and part of the province. The New York Volunteers were 
 with them, and Mr. Johnston got his company soon after. The regi- 
 ment was then commanded hj colonel Turnbnll. Two years after 
 it was on service in South Carolina. Sir James Wright, governor 
 of Georgia, had raised for the defence of that province three troops 
 of horse, and doctor (Lewis) Johnston applied on behalf of his son 
 William for the command of one. This was granted with permission 
 to retain his rank and pay in the regiment. My father was captain 
 of the second troop, and colonel Campbell Willey had the third. 
 They had fifteen shillings a day, and allowances. After the peace 
 captain Lightenstone went to England to prosecute his claims for 
 loss of property and situation under government. The first appli- 
 cants were poorly paid. He retired on his pension, and ultimately 
 settled at Annapolis, where he died, November 4th, 1813, aged 79 
 years. 
 
 The foregoing particulars genealogical, personal and anecdotical 
 have been culled from a very interesting and valuable manuscript 
 written by the late Mrs. Elizabeth Johnston in 1837-8, for the ex- 
 istence of which we are indebted to the wise suggestion and earnest 
 request of her daughter — Laleah, — the mother of Senator Almon, 
 to whose kindness I am under obligation for a knowledge of its 
 contents, as well as for permission to use such of them as were 
 necessary to my purpose. The first part of this document contains 
 an account of the siege of Savannah, in 1779, by the combined 
 French and American forces, which deserves to be given to the pub- 
 lic. I have never met with any account of this transaction equal to 
 
18 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 that given by Mrs. Johnston, who was an eye witness of what she 
 describes. One incident connected with this siege, and which has 
 been recorded by her, is so worthy that I cannot refrain from giving 
 it a phace here. D'Estaing commanded the besieging armament, 
 numbering 10,000 men, and a Hessian officer commanded that part 
 of the garrison which was composed of liis countrymen, and which 
 consisted of about two thousand five hundred men, including the 
 New York Eangers, the three troops of Georgian horse, and a few 
 others. On the arrival of the attacking forces, on the 4th September, 
 1779, the French commander sent the Count de Noailles into the 
 town, under a flag of truce, to demand its unconditional surrender. 
 The reply of the valiant old Hessian deserves to be written in letters 
 of gold. It was in these words : — " The king, my master, do pay 
 " these men to fight, and by Gott they shall fight." And, as an his- 
 torical fact, they did fight, and that most gallantly too ; defended 
 the place successfully against four or five times their numbers, hurl- 
 ing back the invader and finally driving the hostile fleet and army 
 from the town, which after repeated assaults they could not take. 
 
 James William Johnston was born in the island of Jamaica, on 
 the 29th August, 1792, and at an early age was sent to Scotland 
 for education. For that purpose he was placed under the care of 
 doctor Duncan, the founder of Savings Banks Institutions, and whose 
 name will long be honored on that account. It is believed that he 
 went to Scotland with his father on the occasion of his visit in 1802, 
 being at that time in the eleventh year of his age. He seems to 
 have remained under the tuition of Duncan until about the period 
 of his father's death, when he was called to return, not to his home 
 in Jamaica,* but to Nova Scotia, where he arrived in the spring of 
 1808, having nearly completed his sixteenth year. His sister Eliza, 
 as the reader already knows, had married Thomas Kitchie, M. P. P. 
 for Annapolis, during the preceding year, and to him young John- 
 ston his brother-in-law was articled as a student-at-law soon after 
 
 *I am not quite certain of this. It seems probable that he would first have 
 visited his mother in Jamaica, and I am inclined to believe that he did so, and that 
 he was sent to his brother-in-law, Ritchie, from thence. 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 19 
 
 his arrival. In the same year which witnessed his departure from 
 Jamaica, his brother Lewis, having obtained his diploma in Edin- 
 burgh, returned to the island and began the practice of his profession, 
 and at this time also his brother John was studying law in the office 
 of a Mr. Munro, in Kingston. As James did not attain to his ma- 
 jority until 1813, he was not admitted to the Bar until that year. 
 He commenced the practice of his profession at Kentville, in King's 
 County, but some time after he removed to Annapolis, where he 
 continued to practice for some years. He afterward selected the 
 capital as presenting a better field for ultimate success in his pro- 
 fession ; perhaps he had begun to feel the consciousness of the latent 
 powers he possessed, and which lacked opportunity and opposition 
 only, to develop them into brilliant activity. Here he soon began 
 to make his presence felt in the courts. His unflinching integrity, 
 untiring industry, fertility of resource in the management of causes, 
 his thorough knowledge of the law, and the occasional bursts of 
 eloquence manifested in his addresses to juries on important occa- 
 sions, soon elevated him to a first place at the Bar, and gained for 
 him the ear and the respect of the Judges ; and the lapse of each 
 succeeding year witnessed an augmentation in the volume of his 
 practice, and an increase to his growing fame. His name soon be- 
 came associated, as Counsel, with every cause of importance tried in 
 the capital, or on the circuits which he usually travelled. Such a 
 person could scarcely fail to attract the notice of those having in 
 charge the administration of the public affairs ; therefore, on the 
 29th July, 1834, he was selected to fill the post of Solicitor-general, 
 an appointment which was then made by the Crown. He was at 
 the same time created a member of the Legislative Council, which 
 then also exercised Executive powers. From his seat at this Board 
 he witnessed and watched the movement, — then just beginning, — 
 to effect a radical change in the system of colonial government. 
 
 That he was strongly opposed to the introduction of violent and 
 ill-considered changes, his writings and speeches abundantly testify ; 
 but that he was inimical to such changes as would operate bene- 
 ficially upon the country, by enlarging the liberty of the subject 
 
20 MEMOIR OFjTIIE LATE^IIONORABLE 
 
 without endangerin<T the rights of the Crown, cannot be truly ns- 
 eerted. His motto in these matters was festina lente — hasten slowly. 
 Let the New succeed the Old by a series of gradual displacements ; 
 do not tear down till you liave decided hoiv and what to rebuild ; 
 retain what has been proved of use ; reform abuses when they are 
 known to exist ; " prove all things and hold fast that which is good." 
 
 He was one of the delegates appointed by this province, in 1838^ 
 to meet Lord Durham, the newly appointed Governor-general, at 
 Quebec, to confer with him touching the metvsures required to restore 
 harmony to the disturbed political relations of the British American 
 Colonies. At the close of the conference the Nova Scotia delegates, 
 on the 22nd of September, presented an Address to that gentleman, 
 which it is believed was the work of Mr. Johnston, from which the 
 following extracts are made : — 
 
 " The duties of the mission with which we have been entrusted 
 " by the Lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, and the frankness of 
 " communication permitted by your Lordship, have brought us into 
 " acquaintance with your Lordship's feelings and views in relation 
 "to British North America, and irresistibly impressed our minds 
 " with the conviction that your Lordship cherishes an ardent desire 
 " to elevate the Colonies committed to your government, and enter- 
 " tains conceptions calciilated to render that desire effective." 
 
 " In a review of the short period of the government under your 
 " Lordship's personal direction, we behold your Lordship with that 
 " feeling so congenial to Englishmen, which turns with repugnance 
 " from the shedding of blood on the scaffold, blending justice with 
 " mercy ; while returning tranquility had already rewarded an ad- 
 " ministrati' n conducted without the sacrifice of one human life ; 
 " and we were aware that improved laws and institutions were in 
 " preparation, which, under a government firm, mild, and impartial, 
 " gave to the future the reasonable prospect of restored confidence 
 " and renovated prosperity." 
 
 Mrs. Johnston, — from whose manuscript we have before quoted, 
 — states that her son was much pleased with Lord Durham and his 
 visit to Quebec on this occasion, and that he augured favorable re- 
 sults from the action of that gentleman in Canadian affairs. 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 21 
 
 On the 28th April, 1841, he was made Attorney and Advocate 
 General, and on the 2Gth May following he was gazetted Procurator 
 in the Court of Vice Admiralty for the province. It should be stated 
 here that on the severence of the E.xecutive from the Legislative 
 Council, in January, 1838, he was re-appointed a member of both 
 these Councils. In order to make plain the circumstances under 
 which it became, or seemed to become, desirable for Mr. Johnston to 
 seek a seat in the popular branch of the Legislature, it is necessary 
 to refer to the political condition of the province at this period. 
 The generation of to-day have but a faint perception of the fermen- 
 tation which preceded and attended the remodelling and reconstruc- 
 tion of our Colonial constitutions. In Quebec and Ontario, or Upper 
 and Lower Canada as they were then called, the excitement culmi- 
 nated in open rebellion against the Crown, and the cause of the 
 Reformers was stained witli blood. In this province, through the 
 commendable patience and moderation of the leaders of both the 
 great parties, better results were finally gained without resort to 
 such deplorable means. Perhaps they were insensibly controlled by 
 a large and thoughtful body of men, not organized as a Party how- 
 ever, whose loyal disposition and dislike of change from mere love 
 of novelty, rendered it both unwise and xmsafe for the extremists to 
 press their notions too urgently or too far. This moderate, unor- 
 ganized party were not averse to reasonable changes in the mode of 
 administration of public affair, — to such changes as would increase 
 the liberties of the subject without diminishing the rights and powers 
 vested in the Sovereign. It may be said, as a general truth, to have 
 been led by the clergy, who, to their honor be it said, in public and 
 in private, without regard to denominational distinctions, used all 
 their influence on the side of mutual moderation and forbearance. 
 
 So heated had become the partizanship of the extremists of both 
 the parties, that reason and persuasion lost their powers, argument 
 led to no beneficial result, and conversation on political subjects but 
 too frequently led to personal incrimination and insult. Families 
 hitherto socially united became estranged from each other, and even 
 the members of the same family, having taken different sides on the 
 
22 MEMOIR OF THE LATB IIOMOIUBLE 
 
 tojjics agitatinjf the public mind, severed all friendly intercourse, 
 and in some cases unliappily became the inveterate enemies of each 
 Other. 
 
 No man knew better than Mr. Johnston that in this condition 
 of the body politic ther*^' was j^'reat dan<,'er that Keform might de- 
 generate into disorganii:,ation, and that ill-considered measures might 
 be adopted, not only subversive of the existing form of government, 
 but destructive to the liest interests of the people themselves, who, 
 notwithstanding all that may be said to the contrary, always re- 
 ceived his warmest sympathies, and whose welfare he most sincerely 
 desired. In evidence of this we quote a passage or two from his 
 celebrated Mason Hall speech, delivered in March, 1840, 
 
 " I do not attend here to sustain any party or any peculiar line 
 " of politics, but to vindicate the bodies to which I belong from im- 
 " putations which have been cast upon them. I am not here to 
 " court applause on the one side or the other. Ever since I came 
 " into public life — not on my own solicitations but because I was 
 " called to it and thought it my duty to respond to the call — I have 
 " endeavored to occupy a position, which left me not without a hope 
 " of being useful. . , . The province is not my birth-place, but it is 
 " the birth-place of my children, and my honor and interests are all 
 " bound up in Nova Scotia. 
 
 " Mr. Howe uttered a sentiment which was cheered by you, and 
 " heartily do I respond to it. He said that he wanted to see the 
 '' institutions of the country such that the poorest boy might see the 
 " highest situations within his reach by means of intelligence and 
 " integrity, and with my whole heart I say amen. . . . Although I 
 " hold office I am a dissenter, and I am one who holds no high tory 
 "principles, and never did. When I was offered a seat in the 
 " Council, from choice I refrained from it, and continued to do so 
 " while it was a matter of choice, and only consented to accept when 
 " it appeared to be my duty, and I felt that as a Crown officer and 
 " Dissenter that my influence might be directed for the public good." 
 
 In relation to Responsible government he said : — " I do not op- 
 " pose it on the main principle, if I oppose it at all. It means, as I 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 28 
 
 "understand the subject, the assimilation of the government of the 
 " province to the government of the mother country, and the power 
 "of the House of Assembly to that of the House of Commons. I 
 "am not speaking as a partisan; I am addressing you sincerely, on 
 " your dearest interests, in which a false step may lead to great evils. 
 " If the new system were the blessing spoken of, — if it included a 
 "sound constitution and wholesome instit'itions well administered, 
 " it would be desirable ; but be cautious how you make changes." 
 
 These extracts ought to convince the most skeptical that Mr. 
 Johnston was any tiling but the stereotyped tory that it was the 
 fashion, in certain circles, at that time, to regard him. 
 
 The period now approached when, at the earnest solicitation of 
 many and influential friends, he reluctantly assented to seek a seat 
 in the Assembly ; and he at once resolved to appeal to the county 
 where a large portion of his youthful days had been spent in ac- 
 quiring a knowledge of the profession, to which he had already 
 become an honor and an ornament ; besides, in Annapolis he was a 
 freeholder, and therefore possessed of the qualification required of 
 a candidate under the system tlien prevailing. 
 
 The writer well remembers the clamor that ensued when the 
 announcement was made that he intended to contest the seat for 
 the county against the late member, Mr. S. B. Chipman. The Re- 
 formers immediately raised the cry of " lawyer" and " non-resident," 
 and to influence the vote of Churchmen, they were reminded that 
 he was an apostate from that Church ; and the Baptists were told 
 that, though he had attached himself to their communion, he was an 
 interested convert, and insincere in his professions. Political parties 
 were not then so distinctly defined as they became a little later on, 
 and the canvas began under any but favorable circumstances. His 
 own denomination, — the Baptists, — were divided, and a majority of 
 them opposed him with much bitterness and determination ; but it 
 must in fairness be added that those of them who gave him their 
 support manifested an equal warmth and earnestness in their en- 
 deavors to secure his return. The election took place under the old 
 system, and the polling continued for several days. At the close of 
 
24 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 each succeeding day, while the scene of voting was in the western 
 sections of the county, Mr. Johnston continued to lead the poll, 
 with constantly augmented majorities. This was a favorable symp- 
 toifi of the final result ; but it was well known that he must bring 
 to the east sucli a majority as could not be reached by his opponent, 
 whose strength was known to be in that direction. In consequence 
 of this his election was virtually assured before the voting was 
 transferred to Lawrencetown, where Mr. Chipman resided, who, 
 finding success on his side hopeless, resigned the contest, leaving 
 his antagonist to be returned by a majority of several hundreds — 
 or, to be more precise, by a majority of three hundred and seventy- 
 seven votes. This, his first election, took place in 1843. He was 
 then fifty-one years of age, and had been thirty years in the active 
 practice of his profession. ' 
 
 Among the measures introduced by Mr, Johnston and passed by 
 this Assembly none, in public utility, equalled that usually known 
 as the " Simultaneous Polling Act," under the provisions of which 
 the counties were divided into convenient districts or wards, in 
 which the polling was to take place on the same day. By this 
 means large gatherings of the electors were rendered impossible, and 
 in consequence much of the noise, drunkenness, fighting and other 
 indecorums, which, too often, marked these events in previous years, 
 were avoided or materially lessened, and much valuable time con- 
 served to the electors themselves. This bill became law on the 17th 
 day of March, 1847, and with a few modifications is the same under 
 which our elections are still held. 
 
 The law was reduced to practice with eminent success in the 
 same year in which it was passed. The Assembly having been dis- 
 solved by lapse of time, writs were issued for calling a new one, 
 and Mr. Johnston announced himself a candidate a second time. 
 He was opposed by Mr. Samuel B. Chipman, who, not daunted by 
 his former defeat, became the standard bearer of the Liberal party, 
 and went to the polls with what he declared a fair prospect of suc- 
 cess. The canvas had been, — as was usually the case in the county, 
 a very thorough and animated one, but the termination of the contest 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 2B 
 
 proved that the popularity of liis adversary had not been diminished^ 
 as he gained the seat by a majority of two hundred and sixty-seven 
 votes, and his colleagues were returned for the townships of An- 
 napolis and Granville. 
 
 The elections throughout the province generally, however, had 
 l)een adverse to the Conservatives, who resigned and gave place to 
 a Liberal administration. Mr. Johnston being chosen as the leader 
 of the Opposition, he continued to act in that capacity for the ten 
 following years, during which his brilliant qualities were as con- 
 spicuously exhibited as they could have been as the leader of a 
 government. The last session of this Assembly witnessed a series 
 of stormy debates on a variety of subjects, — Railways, Elective 
 Councils, Tariff, etc., — in all of which he took a leading part. He 
 opposed the passage of a bill for the creating a Franchise based on 
 Assessment, and declaimed earnestly and eloquently against it, de- 
 claring that its provisions were fraught with evils that would prove 
 of great injury to the province, through the manipulation of the 
 assessment rolls, by dishonest assessors, for party political purposes. 
 On the Tariff question he spoke in these words*: "That as this 
 " was the last session of the House, he had concluded on second 
 " thought not to introduce a llesolution which he had just prepared, 
 " but which he would read as propounding his views on the subject 
 " before the House. He had been very much struck with an ex- 
 " pression in the Speech of the President of the United States that 
 " it was the true policy of that large commercial nation to lay their 
 " duties so as to answer the double ])urpose of revenue and protec- 
 " tion of home industry. This he believfd was our true policy. Could 
 " we indeed enjoy free trade in its proper sense, he had no doubt it 
 " would be best for Nova Scotia ; but so long as the United States 
 "of America laid our exports under burdensome and almost pro- 
 , " hibitory duties, it wa^ absurd to talk of free trade. Between the 
 " altered policy of England and the determination of the United 
 
 *The reader will perhaps be surprised to find that Mr. Johnston so clearly 
 stated and endorsed the " National Policy " of to-day, nearly thirty years ago, yet 
 the Speech and Resolution above quoted are clear proofs of the fact. 
 
20 MElVroiR OY THE LATE HON'OKABLE: 
 
 "States to adhere to her distinctive systerr, the Colonies were- 
 " crushed and crippled, and it was now time for Nova Scotia to pro- 
 " tect, as far as she has the power, the products of lier soil and 
 " the industry of her inliabitants. The Resolution is as follows : — 
 " Resolved,—' That the jxvlicy yeiiuired is that the duties levied for 
 " ' the purpose of revenue should he yegulated by such a tariff as will 
 " ' aftbrd for us a high practical encouragement to the protluction* 
 " ' and. industries of the country.' " 
 
 To the policy of constructing the Nova Scotia railways by the 
 governnient, as public works, he offered a most able and strenuous- 
 opposition, declaring himself favorable to the method of granting 
 subventions to such companies as might be willing to undeitake to 
 build them,— a policy which, though not adopted at that time, has 
 since been recognized as more conducive to the public interests and 
 general welfare. During this session it was that he moved resolu- 
 tions affirming the propiiety of making the Legislative Council an 
 elective body, which he enforced in a logical and forcible speech, 
 which had n considerable effect upon the public opinion of the 
 country in favor of such a measure. 
 
 The general election of 1851 found Mr. Johnston soliciting the 
 suffrages of the people of Annapolis, and for a third time he was 
 opposed by the Liberals in the person of their old champion, Mr. S. 
 B. Chipman, who, with a hopefulness we cannot but admire, and 
 with a courage undaunted by defeat, prepared once more to conquer 
 the success so long denied to him. But the fates were still unpro- 
 })itious, and his opponent was return<id by a majority of two hundred 
 and seventy-five votes. The elections, however, still left Mr. John- 
 ston without a plurality of votes in the new Assembly, and he was 
 forced to continue his services to the country as the leader of an 
 increased and vigorous Opposition. 
 
 The railway question was the " burning" one of the day. The 
 government had declared in favor of the policy of building it as a 
 public work, — a policy which Mr. Johnston, as we have before 
 stated, opposed with all his powers. In his first speech upon the 
 subject, on the 3rd day of February, 1852, in replying to some state- 
 
JA"MES "WILLIAM JOIIKSTO'S-, S7 
 
 ments made hy a member for King's county, he addressed the House 
 as follows : — " The honorable gentleman complains of my inflexi- 
 "' bility of ciiaracter ; that may he one of my characteristics, and, if 
 ^' so, I am afraid it is rather too late to commence the work of amend- 
 ^ ment in this particular. However, I am not disjwsed to regret its 
 *' possession, and certjiinly there is no subject to which I can look 
 ■" back with more contentment, and up>jO ".hich I feel less inclined 
 " to alter my course of action, tiian the subject of tlie railway. I 
 " have heretofore expressed, in no measured terms, my belief that 
 '' the execution of this work by government would prove injurious 
 " to the welfare of the province." This struggle, so far as it related 
 to the adoption of a ix)licy, ended for a time in forcing the govern- 
 ment to accept the Facility Bills of the opposition. Mr. Annand, 
 in his " Public Speeches and Letters," vol. ii. page 152, says : — "The 
 " House, though there was a clear majority to sustain the govern- 
 " ment, became equally divided and brouglit to a dead lock on the 
 " railway question. . , . Mr. Howe abandoned the field, offering to 
 " pass the Facility Bills required by the Opposition." This legisla- 
 tion did not, however, have the effect Mr. Johnston had hoped for 
 and expected, as no company was organized under it, during the 
 time limited for that purpose, and tlie government policy was, in 
 consequence, revived in 1854 However, he had the gratification 
 of knowing that his measure of success had met the approval and 
 secured the plaudits of a very large proportion of the people of the 
 province, who had learned to regard with pleasure these eloquent 
 and untiring attacks made by him ui)on an administration which, to 
 them seemed determined, at all risks, to saddle the province with a 
 railway debt that might not only embarrass but possibly ruin the 
 finances of the country. 
 
 The Temperance question had recently come to the front, and at 
 this time attracted and demanded the attention of all classes of the 
 people. Early in the third decade of the centuiy societies began to 
 be formed in several of the counties, by individuals who were willing 
 to subscribe a pledge of partial abstinence from the use of alcoholic 
 liquors ; but it soon camo to be felt that notliing short of total ab- 
 
28 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 stinence could successfully and entirely abate the eWls which grew 
 out of the abuse of these stimulants, and therefore the doctrine of 
 " tea-totalism," as it was called, snpplanted those of partial absti- 
 neiice, and out of the new opinions various oi^nizations were rap- 
 idly eralved, having the common object of overcoming, and so far air 
 possible of eradicating, the evils resulting from the vice of dninken- 
 ness. Tlie founders of these bodies had adopted the principle of 
 " moral suasion" as the means of accomplishing their ends. Noth- 
 ing could be more reasonable than this doctrine ; nothing could be 
 more humane than the desire, by such means, to reclaim the drunk- 
 ard and restore him to society, and much good was done by the 
 movement while this method of action remained the chief plank in 
 the temperance platform. 
 
 Heretofore the liquor traffic had been controlled by license laws, 
 of a more or less resti'ictive character ; but it did not require much 
 acumen on the part of the leaders of the temperance men to draw 
 the only logical sequence, from certain premises which they had 
 adopted, as being fundamentally sound and true, after they had en- 
 tered upon the second phase of their movement. They declared 
 that not the abuse only, but the use of alcohol in all its forms, as a 
 beverage, were, though not equally afflictive in their effects, yet in 
 a moral sense they contended they were equally sinful, dangerous, 
 and to be avoided ; in fact they went further and denounced the 
 moderate drinker as a greater criminal than the absolute drunkard. 
 If the traffic in " strong drink " was the source of the evils to be 
 abated was, in itself an evil, no government could license it without 
 sin, nor delegate tlie power to others to do so without the same 
 offence. Therefore, to be consistent, the license laws should be 
 abolished ; and in their place they proposed to enact a law prohibit- 
 ing the manufacture, importation, sale and use of all spiritous 
 liquors, or in other words to substitute " legal suasion " for " moral 
 
 suasion." 
 
 Mr. Johnston was a tee-totaller from choice before these move- 
 ments had commenced, and there can be but little doubt he had 
 watched the different phases it had assumed, and the many changes 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON, 29 
 
 which they had undergone, in tlie course of their developement, 
 with great interest, if not, at all times, with unalloyed pleasure. 
 No man could be more desirous to mitigate or remove the evils 
 caused by the abuse of stimulants than he, but few men saw the 
 whole field of battle and knew the positions of the combatants, the 
 weak and the strong points in the ranks of both armies, and the 
 ultimate effects of victory or defeat so clearly as he. It had long 
 been a maxim with him that it was a blunder to make laws in ad- 
 vance of public opinion ; that laws, to be effectual, should be the re- 
 sult of a call from the educated opinion of a majority of the people 
 whose welfare or interests they are intended to secure. The writer 
 speaks from a personal knowledge when he affirms these opinions as 
 a part of Mr. Johnston's political creed, for he had heard him declare 
 them on more than one occasion. Said a lady of fine culture, and 
 an enthusiastic friend of the free school system, to him, — " I 
 " think, sir, you do very wrong not to pass an education act giving 
 " the people free schools. You say that you are convinced that a 
 " new system, such as I advocate, based on the assessment of all, 
 " that the schools may be free and open to all, would be a boon and 
 " a blessing to Nova Scotia, and yet you decline to (or do not) move 
 " in the matter, now that you have the power.* How is this ? " 
 Mr. Johnston's reply was characteristic, and was nearly as follows : 
 " It appears to me there are some elements in your proposition 
 " which you entirely overlook. Are the people prepared to tax 
 " themselves to secure the advantages afforded by free schools ? 
 " Would not the more wealthy among the rural population object to 
 " their taxes being increased in order that their poorer neighbors 
 " might have their burdens lessened ? Would not those who had, 
 " at a very considerable expense paid from their own resources for 
 " the education of their children object to a change which would in- 
 " volve their continued taxation for the benefit of those who pos- 
 " sessed nothing to tax ? When the first of these questions can be 
 
 * Mr. Johnston was then (1858 or 1859) the leader of the Government. 
 The conversation above referred to took place at an evening social party at the 
 house of a mutual friend, in Bridgetown. 
 
30 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 " answered in the affirmative, and the two remaining ones in the 
 " negative, by any considerable majority of the people, legisla- 
 " tion will becoma safe, but not otherwise. To thrust this measure 
 " upon the people before they have been prepared for it would have 
 " the effect of deferring its adoption for a full generation. To legis- 
 " late in advance of public opinion is useless. If, therefore, we would 
 " have this measure adopted, the people must be instructed as to its 
 " value ; it must first be made alive question at the fireside of every 
 " community, in every debating club, and in every newspaper in the 
 " country before it will be safe to crystalize it into a law. It gives 
 " me great pleasure, madam, to find in you so earnest and clever an 
 " advocate ; and let me assure you that you are doing a good work 
 " in a good cause, because you are striving to bring about that con- 
 " dition of public opinion wliich I so heartily desire to see, and 
 " without which no law can be made a boon or a blessing to the 
 " people." 
 
 As in the educational so also in the temperance matter ; and it 
 is nearly certain that Mr. Johnston was not, at heart, a supporter 
 of Pi-ohibition by Law, and therefore did not very deeply regret 
 his failure to place such a law upon our statute books. But to him 
 and his colleague, — Avard Longley, — we were indebted for many 
 improvements in tlie license laws, and in him the temperance fra- 
 ternities always found a sincere friend, a wise counsellor and a firm 
 supporter. As a host, on social or festal occasions, he is said to 
 had few, if any equals. The following anecdote attests to the truth 
 of this assertion. When premier, duiing the winter of 1858-9, and 
 when the legislature was in session, he issued cards of ijivitation to 
 a large number of guests, including all the members of the execu- 
 tive council. One of these, — who was a lover of wine and did not 
 object to a " punch " when properly compounded, — on receiving his 
 invitation rushed to one of his friends exclaiming — " what shall I 
 " do ? Johnston has invited me to one of his cold water parties. 
 " I Jiatc these spiritless, unsocial and tiresome gatherings, — what 
 " shall I do, McD." " Do ? " said his friend, " wliy accept the invi- 
 " tation and go by all means ; it would be both churlish and selfish 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 31 
 
 *' to do otherwise." Not Ijeing desirous of manifesting eitlier these 
 unamiable qualities, he accepted and went. The writer years after- 
 ward heard this guest's estimate of the merits of this social gather- 
 ing. Said he, " I never knew a man like him ; I declare I had not 
 " been thirty minutes under his hospitable roof before the thought 
 " of wine and punch had entirely vanished from my mind. How 
 " this effect was brought about I do not know, but I observed that 
 " everybody present, like myself, seemed inspired and lifted out of 
 " self by his genial presence, which carried along with it an exhili- 
 1 " ration almost electrical. He seemed by intuition to know the 
 " right thing to say, the right time to say it, and the proper person 
 " to whom to say it. The desire to please which animated him 
 " appeared to ditfuse itself into every heart in the house, and a smile 
 " of satisfaction and pleasure irradiated every face in the large as- 
 " sembly. Stiffness and formality, and frivolity and vulgarity found 
 " no abiding place at his board, and the delightful evening ended 
 " only too soon for all of us, and for weeks, nay months, even years 
 " after, the remembrance of the pleasure I then experienced came to 
 " me like the memory of a pleasant dream, and I still recall it with 
 " a delight I cannot find words to express." 
 
 The social side of his nature is very poetically portrayed by this 
 anecdote, and though some readers may doubt that he possessed the 
 power to thus interest and carry out of themselves, as it were, a 
 miscellaneous company, such as was gathered in his rooms on that 
 occasion, independent of the stimulation of wine or other excitants, 
 esteemed as so generally necessary to produce geniality and a desire 
 to please, yet there are many persons still living who would cor- 
 roborate the truth of the statement from their own experience. It 
 is true that it is a faculty not common among mankind, though it is 
 equally true, that it does exist in some men, and he was one of 
 them. 
 
 On the occasion of the general election in 1855, Mr. Johnston 
 was opposed for the fourth and last time by his old mtagonist 
 Chipman, in spite of whose endeavours, however, he was again 
 triumphantly returned as the county representative. The Liberals, 
 
32 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 however, succeeded in gaining a majority in the new Assembly, 
 though they were not destined to guide the ship of state much 
 longer. Events originating in riots on the line of railway then in 
 course of construction, led to a breacli between the administration 
 and its Koman Catholic supporters in the House, which finally cul- 
 minated, during the second session, in an adverse vote which forced 
 their resignation, when Mr. Johnston was called upon to form a new 
 government, a task in which he was eminently successful, — he 
 accepting the Attorney Generalship and the position of Leader. 
 The heads of departments, and all whose acceptance of office made 
 re-election necessary, went at once to their constituencies to seek 
 an endorsement of their conduct, which in every case was cheerfully 
 awarded. As to Mr. Johnston, he found a new Richmond in the 
 field in the person of Mr. (late the honorable) William C. Whitman, 
 to contest his return. But tliis gentleman did not prove a successful 
 standard bearer, and the honorable Attorney General came back 
 with an increased majority of votes. 
 
 One of the first acts of the new administration was to take mea- 
 sures toward an equitable settlement of the mines question. All 
 the ungranted mines and minerals of the province had been formerly 
 leased to the Duke of York, a younger brother of George IV., and 
 this lease had been assigned or transferred to a London firm, — 
 Rundell, Bridges and Rundell, — in consideration of certain moneys 
 paid by them to the creditors of his Royal Highness ; and these 
 gentlemen formed a company afterwards known as the " General 
 Mining Association," for the purpose of opening and working the 
 mines of Nova Scotia, which thus became a close monopoly during 
 the continuance of the lease. Much dissatisfaction was caused 
 among the people of the province by these operations. They con- 
 tended that the King had exceeded his powers in granting this lease 
 without the consent of their Legislature. In 1849, the Civil List 
 Bill, — by which the estate of the Crown was vested in the provin- 
 cial government, — became law ; and it was claimed that no lease of 
 the mines was any longer valid without colonial sanction. Tlie 
 mining business of the country was thus brought to a stand-still, 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON, 33 
 
 niul the interests of all parties endaiigered. In tlie session of 1857, 
 therefore, Mr. Johnston ohtaineil power from the legislature to 
 appoint delegates to proceed to England, with a view to bring about, 
 if possible, a compromise with the lessees, subject however to ratifi- 
 cation or rejection by the Assembly. In conse([uence of this he, 
 and Mr. Adams G. Archibald, — then a prominent member of the 
 Opposition, — late lieutenant governor, — were chosen by the execu- 
 tive as such delegates. They went to London in June of that year, 
 and succeeded in effecting an arrangement with the Association, 
 which, while it secured their rights in the mines then opened and 
 worked by them, conceded to Nova Scotia the ownership of all 
 others. The terms of this agreement were laid before the Assembly 
 at its next session, and after a lively and full discussion, the ques- 
 tion to accept them was carried l»y a vote of thirty-two against nine- 
 teen, or by a majority of thirteen votes. 
 
 A more lucky event for Nova Scotia than the settlement of this 
 vexed question never occurred in it in a financial point of view. If 
 it had been delayed four years longer, the terms thus secured would 
 have become impossible, and the province would have been forced 
 to await the expiration of the lease for the recovery and resumption 
 of its rights, — rights through which it even now derives nearly if 
 not quite one-fifth of its revenues. In 18G1, it will be remembered 
 that the discovery of the existence of gold in this country was made, 
 and as soon as the knowledge of this important fact had reached 
 the ears of the lessees, they would, of course, have declined to enter- 
 tain any terms whatever. It is but fair to state that the honor of 
 this successful compromise does not belong exclusively to Mr. 
 Johnston and the party which he led. Mr, Archibald, who was his 
 co-delegate, and who was then a leading member of the Opposition, 
 gave most valuable assistance in the negotiations which preceded 
 and led to its final consummation. To the former, however, justly 
 belongs the credit of having propounded the measure which made a 
 settlement possible, and of having done so as soon as circumstances 
 had placed him in a position to do so, and the highly beneficial re- 
 sults, which are so certainly felt in this hour of her history, will be 
 readily acknowledged by every true son of Nova Scotia. 
 
34 MEMOIR or THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 On the 16tli day of February, 1856, the Attorney General, — 
 Young, — in a speech of <j;reat eloquence, moved a resolution pledg- 
 ing the Assembly to provide the sum of one hundred and fifty 
 guineas, to be expended in the purchase of a sword, to be presented 
 to Sir William Fenvvick Williams, " as a mark of the high esteem in 
 " which his character as a man and a soldier, and more especially 
 " his heroic courage and constancy in the defence of Kars, are held 
 " by the Legislature of his native province." This resolution was 
 seconded by Mr. Jolinston in a speech equally eloquent and appro- 
 priate, in which among other things he said : — 
 
 " It has been the singular fortune of Novo vS otians, — when we 
 " consider the comparatively small population of uur country, — to 
 " mark with pride, and view with unmingled satisfaction, the achieve- 
 " nients of their fellow countrymen abroad ; and although we may 
 " have been called to mourn their loss, we have mourned them as 
 " heroes who have fallen covered with glory; we have mourned them, 
 " but there has been a pride of country in our sorrow, for they have 
 " braved danger and met death with an undaunted front and un- 
 " wavering courage. Thus have we felt the loss of Welsford and 
 " Parker, to many of us known familiarly. This resolution acknow- 
 " ledges the merits of General Williams, the hero of Kars. We are 
 " not called upon to mourn him as numbered with the dead, for 
 " though we have occasion for sorrow when we reflec' that, from 
 " circumstances over which he had no control, he with his gallant 
 " band, has fallen into the hands of the enemy. But we find him 
 " only a victim to a misfortune, which, if indomitable courage and 
 " consummate skill had been able to avert, would never have over- 
 
 " taken him I regard the achievements and position of 
 
 " General Williams as iinapproached and unequalled in the history 
 " of the present war. Many have exhibited an heroic courage not 
 "to be surpassed, but he has united to the bravery of the man 
 " the skill and military capacity of the distinguished leader. His 
 " professional skill in perfecting the defence of Kars may be best 
 " judged by its terrible effectiveness on the day of assault ; his tal- 
 " ents in organizing and inspiring troops have the highest testimony 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON, 85 
 
 "in the spectacle of defeated, dispirited and ill-disciplined bands 
 " winning lanrels that veterans might envy, and achieving a triumph 
 " in the defence of Kars that will go down inmiortalised to posterity, 
 "a defence carried on and sustained by no mere animal courage 
 " but with cool, unalterable determination, united with ju-ovident 
 "precaution and conducted with admirable skill. In reading the 
 " history of that memorable day, as contained in the graphic and 
 "eloquent despatch of General Williams, which may well compare 
 "with many of tlie classic accounts of ancient battles, one cannot 
 
 " fail to be impressed with a sense of his genius and ability 
 
 " Under these circumstances we are paying to him no vain compli- 
 "ment, no empty honor in passing this resolution, — we are paying 
 '•' tliat tribute which as Nova Scotians, and the descendants of Eng- 
 "lishmen, we feel due to a native of our province whose achieve- 
 " merits abroad have been characterized by a courage so exalted, a 
 " fortitude so invincible, and an ability so great. We are paying 
 " this compliment to one who, though compelled to yield to a dire 
 " necessity against which neither strength, nor courage, nor intellect 
 " can contend, is yet covered with glory, and who is endeared but 
 " the more to the hearts and sympathies of all true Britons, and we 
 "are but claiming for our own province a share of his glory by 
 " claiming him as our own." 
 
 In the session of the following year, 1857, the " Catholic Ques- 
 tion," as it was then generally called, was ventilated in the Assem- 
 bly. The discussion arose upon a Eesolution, involving a want of 
 confidence in the Liberal ministry, which was moved by Mr. John- 
 ston in amendment to the address in reply to the speech from the 
 throne. The debate occupied about fourteen days, and was charac- 
 terized by the exhibition of great ability and eloquence by speakers 
 on both sides, as well as by considerable acrimony and warmth. 
 Mr. Johnston's speech, on this occasion, occupied parts of three 
 several days, and was perhaps the ablest effort of his political life. 
 For close reasoning, spontaneous retort, elegance of diction, and 
 eloquence in delivery, it must always hold a foremost place in the 
 records of such literature. To quote the whole speech would be out 
 
'86 . MKMOIll OF THE LATE UOSORMllE 
 
 of pliire ill this Monioir, Imt we cannot refuse to insert its olo(iuent 
 peroration, which was intended as a sunimnry of the points made in 
 it. He said : — 
 
 " If any doubt could exist as to tlie inihecility of the government 
 " last winter, there is no room to doubt their weakriess now. Re- 
 " buked, threatened, ridiculed before the whole people by two of 
 "their own officers, — the Chief Railway Commissioner and the 
 "Queen's Trinter, — they meekly submitted. At the dictates of 
 "these two insubordinates, aided by some followers in this House, 
 "they are willinj,' to purchase /cave to lire by the unworthy sacrifice 
 " of a political sU])porter, on the poor pretence of an alle<,'ed offence 
 "of the same nature, l)ut far less aggravated in degiae, tliaii that 
 " i)erpetrated by those two government officials and dictators. Out- 
 " raging by their conduct a jjortion of tluiir firmest 3U))portei's, tliey 
 "now insult their understanding l)y charging them with dishonor 
 " in allying themselves with Protestant Conservatives of liberal 
 " principles and practices, and demanding that they shall remain 
 " bound to Protestant Liberals who have abandoned in their prac- 
 " tice the liberal princii)les which they professed. 
 
 " We are taunted on the alliance of Conservatives and Catholics 
 " as if one or both were tainted with political leprosj^ Sir, we are 
 " men, and as men entitled to meet on the broad ground of a common 
 "humanity, for our platform is. Equality of Civil and Religious 
 " Freedom. As Christians, I trust we are wise enough and virtuous 
 «' enough to know how to enjoy civil freedom and political privileges 
 " without the sacrifice, on either side, of religious independence, a 
 " blessing without which the name of civil liberty were but a moek- 
 " ery. As citizens we unite in valuing the free institutions of our 
 " country, and in the determination to xiphoid them, as they exist 
 " in Nova Scotia, with inflexible integrity ; and I trust neither of us 
 " can claim precedence in the loyalty and reverence we bear our 
 " beloved sovereign as the head of the empire, or in the love we 
 " cherish towards her as the brightest example of all that adorns, 
 " elevates and ennobles her sex. 
 
 "The loyalty of Irishmen has been questioned. I dare not 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOllNHTON. 87 
 
 " assumo tlio duty of their vindication when Erin's own sons have 
 " so often fultiHed tliat oMico with an elo(iuonee peeuliarly their own, 
 " and whicli I can never reach. I may, however, be permitted to 
 " siiy, that it does seem liarsh and unj,'rat('fMl that any iniimtution 
 "like this should l)e ventured so rc^cently after tlie nanu's of Ahua, 
 " Inkernian, and Sehaslo[)ol have been adtled to the scroll where 
 " Britain's j^lories have been inscribed. While yet nnniouldered lie, 
 "amid the hei<,dits and ])reci[)ice.s and ravines of those now historic 
 "scenes, commin<;ling in the same <,'raves, the remains of Irishmen 
 "with those of their fellow countrymen, — men who togethe. met 
 "the common encnny, and when the battle fiercely raged, and death 
 " reigned rampant over the field, indiscriminating, reaped the abound- 
 " iiig harvest, — knew no rivalry but who fortuwd should reach the 
 "dea<lliest strife, who Jimt should pour forth his life in his country's 
 " .service ! Heroic men ! in their life attesting, and sealing in death, 
 " the noble truth though they learned it not from the classic page — 
 "Dnlce et deconivi est jvo patria wori." 
 
 The si)eech from which the foregoing extracts are niade was a 
 very remarkable one in more ways than one. It inculcated arul 
 defended principles that lie at the very foundations of civil and re- 
 ligious freedom, and showed, in an umistakeable manner, the true 
 sentiments of the man. He desired entire liberty of thought and 
 speech as the inalienable right and privilege of all classes and creeds 
 of his fellow men, subject only to the requirements of that bulwark 
 and defence of liberty, the Law. He proclaimed the possibility of 
 the union of adverse political parties, for a common political pur- 
 pose, without the necessary sacrifice of religious principle or opinion, 
 and affirmed the duty, as well as the necessity, of such occasional 
 combinations. In withering terms he denounced the intolerable 
 tyranny of religious bigotry, and asserted the right of his lloman 
 Catholic brothers, — subject only to the limitations which bounded 
 his own rights, — to speak, and think, and act as freely as he himself 
 spoke, or thought, or acted. 
 
 After an elaborate and eloquent reply by Mr. Howe, a division 
 of the House was called, when Mr. Johnston had the gratification to 
 find that he had carried a majority with him against the govern- 
 
38 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 ment, which resigned during the next day. He then, at the com- 
 mand of tlie Lieutenant Governor, assumed the task of forming an 
 administration, which he succeeded in doing — himself accepting the 
 place of Attorney General and leader. This, of course, voided his 
 seat in the Assembly, and he at once appealed to his constituents 
 for re-election, when Mr. (late the honorable) William C. Whitman 
 entered the lists of opposition, and a short but sharp canvas ensued, 
 the final result being the casting of 1774 votes for the new Attorney 
 General, against 1379 for his opponent, giving the handsome ma- 
 jority of 395 votes, the largest he had ever obtained in the county. 
 This side contest, as it may be styled, marks the vigor and determi- 
 nation of the men then composing the Liberal party in the county. 
 No defeat, no repetition of defeat, could induce them to let their 
 great antagonist take his seat in the Assembly without having his 
 right thereto contested. Mr. Whitman, it had been supposed, would 
 prove a stronger contestant than Mr. Chipman had been, but in this 
 hope they were disappointed by the issue of the contest, but by no 
 means disheartened, as after events will show. 
 
 Ariiong the last speeches made by Mr. Johnston in tlie Assembly 
 was one on the question of a " Union of the Colonies," or to be more 
 exact, on the " Union of the Maritime Colonies," in which he elo- 
 quently set forth his views on the general subject, a few extracts 
 from which will not be considered out of place here. 
 
 " I may say that it has been among the first objects of my am- 
 " bition, as a public man, to secure a union of these colonies. This 
 " aspiration arose from the conviction that it was essentially neces- 
 " sary for the purpose of raising us up and giving us a position. 1 
 " know that, divided as we are, small in extent and population, we 
 " must continue to occupy a very inferior position among the com- 
 " munities of peoples. Now, it was not from any ambitious motives 
 " that I deprecated our condition ; not from any motive of power on 
 " behalf of the community with which I might be associated. I felt 
 " that the position we occupied was unfavorable to the elevation of 
 " the body politic, and that it was antagonistic to the development 
 " of anything like a large and generous and ennobled public senti- 
 "ment. We cannot but feel that in a small community, where 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 39 
 
 "public measures amount to matters of small general moment,— 
 " where parties are brought into personal collision so closely, and 
 "personal interests and feelings are necessarily made prominent 
 " objects and motives of action, it is impossible there can be that 
 " iinanimity of feeling, that enlargement of view, that elevation of 
 " purpose wliich is so desirable in every country. Therefore it Avas 
 "that I, as an inhabitant of this country, the home of myself and 
 " my children after me, felt that my first duty was to endeavour to 
 " create this enlargement and elevation of public sentiment by ex- 
 " tending the sphere of political action, which could only be done by 
 " a Union of the British North American Provinces, — of the Queen's 
 " subjects on this side of the Atlantic." 
 
 After comparing the political condition of the Colonies with that 
 of the United States, he said: — "In early life I held strong demo- 
 " cratic sentiments, for, strange to say, though I have been called a 
 " leading Tory in Nova Scotia, I was in my youth actuated by the 
 " Wliig principles of English statesmen. I was early captivated, as 
 "many young men are, with the illusions of a Republic, — of a Ee- 
 " public that was working out the great problem they had taken in 
 " hand ; but reflection and observation have gradually sobered down 
 '• this sentiment, and I feel that, however valuable a republic may 
 " be for giving energy to individual action, it is wanting in that 
 " power of elevation and nobility of sentiment, and responsibility of 
 " action whicli can alone raise nations to that high-toned condition 
 "which we desire to see, and our minds figure before us, as the 
 " objects of our aspirations. I trust that that portion of this conti- 
 " nent over which the British flag is waving, will continue to possess 
 "perfect freedom of action, with all the elevation and refinement 
 " which proceed from connection with monarchical and aristocratic 
 "institutions." .... Returning to the subject of a union he con- 
 cluded a most eloquent speech in these words : — " I would wish to 
 " see such a union as would unite all the parts into a homogeneous* 
 
 *He appears to have used the word "honugeneous" aa more expressive of a 
 Legislative than a Federal Union. In this same speecli he said : — " I have never 
 " favored a Union of the Provinces by way of Federation, for it did not appear to 
 "tend to the great object we had in view." 
 
40 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 " whole, and make a people worthy of the source from whence they 
 " sprung, and perpetuate to all time to come, the character, name, 
 "honor, and institutions of that great country of which we are 
 " proud to form a part." 
 
 In the same year, and during the railway discussion which then 
 took place, Mr. Johnston, in urging the necessity for the construc- 
 tion of the great Intercolonial liailway, as a means to Union, spoke 
 thus : — " I look upon the question in a broad light ; I consider it in 
 " its national aspects. The aspiration of my heart has always been 
 " for the Union of these Provinces. I believe that it is the duty of 
 " every man in Nova Scotia, who desires to raise his own position 
 " as well as that of his country, to do his utmost to bring that union 
 " about. I look upon the Intercolonial liailway independent of its 
 " commercial advantages." In this same debate lie paid so warm 
 and just a compliment to his constituents that it deserves to be 
 recorded here. He was defending himself against the charge of 
 inconsistency in pro])osing to build the Pictou railway as a govern- 
 ment work, — a policy which it was said was distfisteful to the 
 county he represented, a fact of which it had been supposed he was 
 forgetful. He said : — " It may seem a strange position for me to 
 " occupy ; to bring forward this measvire and state the reasons which 
 " induce me to do so. I feel in doing so I am promoting the inte- 
 " rests of the people of Nova Scotia ; and I feel I am promoting 
 " them in the most beneficial way that is practicable ; and if any 
 " man imagines for a moment that in advocating this measure, I have 
 " lost sight of the peculiar claims that bind me to the western por- 
 " tion of the province, he utterly misunderstands my character, and 
 "fails to appreciate my motives. Do I forget the. interests of my 
 " own constituents ? Do I forget the claims of the people of An- 
 " napolis upon me ? — of that constituency that tlirough twenty years 
 " without fail and without wavering has rendered me its confidence, 
 " and a large proportion of those who compose it more than their 
 " confidence, — their personal affection, respect and esteem ? Forget 
 " their interests ! No ; ' let my right hand forget its cunning and 
 " ' my tongue cleave to tlie roof of my mouth,' before I forget the 
 " interests of that constituency." 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 41 
 
 Mr. Johnston's political career was now rapidly drawing to a 
 close. During thirty years he had devoted the energies of the best 
 years of his life to the public service, — namely, from his appoint- 
 ment to the Solicitor Generalship, in 1834, to his resignation of the 
 Attorney Generalship and leadership of the government, in 1864. 
 During this period, he had served as Solicitor General from 1834 to 
 1841, when he was made Attorney General, in which capacity he 
 acted from 1841 to 1848, and again from 1857 to 1864. Twenty 
 out of these thirty years he was the representative of the county, 
 and between 1834, the date of his first election to the Assembly, he 
 ran no less than eight elections, all of which, save the last, were con- 
 tested, and he never lost one of them. The reader has already been 
 told of the persistency with which the Liberal party in the county 
 opposed his return ; and in justice to its leaders it should be here 
 stated that they did not oppose his final election only because it had 
 become generally understood that he was shortly to be provided for 
 by a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court, as Judge in Equity, 
 as soon after the meeting of the new Assembly as the necessary 
 legislation could be made in reference thereto. During the session 
 of 1863-4 an Act was passed authorizing the appointment of an 
 additional Judge in that Court, to have special jurisdiction in all 
 matters pertaining to Equity proceedings which had formerly been 
 vested in the Court of Chancery, so called, in a Judge styled the 
 Master of the Ilolls, the title of the new Judge to be " Judge in 
 Equity." To this position the subject of this memoir was appointed 
 on the 11th day of May, 1864, and he held the place during the 
 remaining period of his life — about ten years. It is a well recog- 
 nized fact that he was in this capacity an able, painstaking and 
 efficient officer. The writer is not competent, not being a lawyer, 
 to estimate from a legal point of view, the value of the judgments 
 delivered by him ; but he has been informed by those whose prac- 
 tice was chiefly in the Equity branch of the judicial service, that 
 they were marked by their general soundness and great ability, as 
 well as by a care involving great research and labor ; and that but 
 few, if any, of his decisions had been reversed or modified on appeal 
 
42 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 to other Courts. This is high praise, when it is remembered that he 
 had nearly completed hia seventy-second year at the time he took 
 his seat on the bench, and tliat his health, never very strong at its 
 best, was preserved from utter wreck only by a rigid system of tem- 
 perance, regularity of habit, and general self-denial. 
 
 Before closing an account of the services of Mr. Johnston's politi- 
 cal life, it will not be out of place to note some of its salient points, 
 as indicative of the principles which guided him, as a politician, in 
 relation to the people whose friend he undoubtedly was. Among 
 his earliest public utterances, — his celebrated "Mason Hall" speech, 
 portions of which have been before quoted, — is to be found the key- 
 note which regulated his political creed, namely, the utmost latitude 
 of freedom and self-government of the people, consistent with the 
 acknowledged constitutional rights and privileges of the crown, 
 whose especial servant he then was. Hjisty and unconsidered 
 changes in the political status qiio of the colony he opposed, not 
 because they were intended to enlarge the powers of the commons, 
 but because they might, in the end, prove detrimental to them, and 
 at the same time diminish those of the Sovereign, in such a manner 
 as to develope an anarchy fatal alike to the rights and privileges of 
 both. In that speech he seems to have spoken as an independent 
 rather than as a party politician, and to his wise suggestions and 
 slowness of movement, the people of this province are largely in- 
 debted for the gradual and safe development of those changes in the 
 mode of the administration of its public affairs, then and long since 
 known as Eesponsible Government. It was in this way the intro- 
 duction of the new system here was not attended by the severe 
 strain, — amounting to open revolution and bloodshed, — which wit- 
 nessed the attempt to introduce it into the provinces of Upper and 
 Lower Canada, and to no man more than to Mr. Johnston are we 
 indebted for the wise counsel and moderation which led to so happy 
 a result. 
 
 An incident which occurred in the earlier life of the subject of 
 this memoir, and which took place shortly after his domiciliation 
 in the capital, remains to be mentioned, as illustrating the sensitive- 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON, ' 43 
 
 ness of his nature and liis personal courage. It may he alleged 
 that, as the present generation are mostly uninformed regarding it, 
 good taste on the part of his biographer shoidd suppress it ; but as 
 it really forms an item of the data on which only a full and true 
 estimate of his character can be based, he believes he would fail 
 fully to discharge the duty he has undertaken, if he should place it 
 entirely aside ; besides, the leading facts concerning it have been 
 communicated to him by a lady, not only connected with the family 
 by marriage, but by consanguinity also. 
 
 Shortly after his removal to Halifax, with a view to pursue his 
 professional avocations in that city, he Ijecame a partner of the late 
 honorable Simon Bradstreet Robie, then Solicitor General. In a 
 trial which took place about this time (the exact date is not given), 
 some words having been used by Mr. Charles Eufus Fairbanks, who 
 was employed by the adverse side in a case then on trial, whicli 
 were supposed to reflect in an improper manner upon Mr. Johnston, 
 that gentleman at once demanded an apology, or, as an alternative, 
 the satisfaction, under the rules of the duello, of a hostile meeting. 
 The apology was not given, and, in consequence, the rencontre took 
 place. The scene of the duel was in or near the garden at the cor- 
 ner of Spring Garden road and Park street. The late Judge Hill, 
 then a barrister, was second to Mr. Johnston, and the late John 
 Lawson acted in a like capacity for Mr. Fairbanks. The prelimi- 
 naries having been satisfactorily arranged by these gentlemen, the 
 signal to tire was given, when both discharged their weapons. Mr. 
 Johnston received his adversary's shot unharmed, but "hit" his 
 antagonist in the heel, severing the tendo-achilles, from the injury to 
 which he was lamed for life. The combatants, to the credit of both 
 be it said, became afterwards (during the lifetime of Fairbanks, who 
 deceased first,) warm and sincere friends. I do not know that it 
 has been elsewhere stated that, on the promotion of Mr. Fairbanks 
 from the place of Solicitor General to the Mastership of the Rolls, 
 in 1834, Mr. Johnston succeeded him as Solicitor General, but such 
 was the fact. 
 
 As a lawyer he had few equals, either in a knowledge of the 
 
44 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 principles of law, or in the practice of it as then administered, nor 
 did any understand the value of that finesse and address sometimes 
 found so useful to the interests of a client in the conduct of a 
 "case." In 1843, if my memory does not deceive me, a series 
 of short letters signed "Self-defence" appeared in the columns of 
 the Nova Scotian newspaper, then a leading provincial weekly, and 
 owned, edited, and published by the late Eichard Nugent. In these 
 letters the late Silas Livingstone Morse, barrister, of Bridgetown, 
 and several otlier gentlemen, were severely lampooned, and Mr, 
 Morse, being aggrieved, and perhaps injured, by the alleged libel, 
 demanded the name of its author from the publisher, Nugent, at the 
 same time informing him that, in case of a refusal, an action would 
 be brought against him. The piiblisher refused to give up the name 
 of the writer, and placed himself in the gap, and, in consequence, 
 a declaration was immediately filed in the case of Morse vs. Nugent. 
 The defendant, in order to exliibit his contempt of the proceedings 
 taken against him, printed the declaration in the cause in his news- 
 paper, with comments thereon, — a course hitherto, it is believed, 
 quite unprecedented in the province. It was in the days of the old 
 style of pleadings, — in which the writer as a law student becam-e 
 first acquainted with the words " demurrer," " rejoinder," and " re- 
 plication," with the prefixes common to them. The plaintiff had 
 issued not less than seventy writs of subpcena to as many gentlemen 
 as witnesses on his behalf, thereby assuring himself of a multiplicity 
 of testimony in support of his claims for damages, — and the time 
 for the trial drew nigh. Mr. Johnston, who had been employed as 
 counsel by Mr. Morse, was to arrive by coach, on the Monday pre- 
 ceding the Tuesday on which the Supreme Court was to meet, and 
 receive the brief which had been made up for his guidance in the 
 management of the " case." The coach arrived at Bridgetown on 
 time ; its passengers had an hour to dine before its departure for the 
 county town, fifteen miles distant ; the writer was in the office of 
 the plaintiff, into which within ten minutes after arrival, came the 
 "counsel" for the plaintiff in the cause "Morse vs. Nugent." He 
 was in a hurry : was his brief ready, he asked ; yes, was the reply. 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 45 
 
 here it is ; is your declaration water-tiglit ? said he ; I am sure you 
 can depend upon that, said Mr. Morse ; the hrief will present forti- 
 fications as to precedents on all doubtful points to your satisfaction, 
 and I trust to that of the court, should any exceptions be taken to 
 it ; very good, said Mr. Johnston ; I will look over the brief tliis 
 evening ; of course the cause cannot come on before Wednesday 
 morning, and if you will leave it to me I will decide before then as 
 to the best mode of proceeding with the trial. There are, you know, 
 two courses open to us ; we may examine all the witnesses you have 
 summoned, or we may contei't ourselves with a couple of them 
 only : the latter course would likely throw our adversary into con- 
 fusion and give us an advantage ; but we will talk this matter over 
 to-night or to-morrow, and decide which course to adopt. A special 
 jury was empannelled and duly sworn on the morning of Wednes- 
 day. Political controversy was at this time at white heat, and in 
 consequence the Court House was crowded with an excited and inter- 
 ested audience. The libel complained of had had its origin in the 
 political ferment, and it was attempted to give this celebrated trial 
 a political complexion. Mr. Johnston arose to open the case before 
 the jury, and his address occupied their undivided attention, and 
 that of the onlookers, for the space of four hours. It was the first 
 occasion on which it had fell to my lot to hear him address a jury, 
 and it proved to be such an effort as I had never before witnessed 
 in a court. His exposition of the law, — as it then stood, — bearing 
 on the case, was marked by an intimate knowledge of the subject, 
 as well as by much earnestness ; his description of the injury done, 
 or intended to be done, to the plaintiff, and its supposed destruction 
 of his future prospects in life, was depicted with a melo-dramatic 
 power seldom equalled by the ablest orators, and the peroration of 
 his speech was characterized by all the force of true eloquence and 
 a pathos that seemed to move the jury and the whole assembly 
 alike, with emotions of sympathy for his client in spite of them- 
 selves. 
 
 On taking his seat, he directed the proper officer to call a wit- 
 ness, giving his name, who appeared, was duly sworn, and declared 
 
46 • MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 he was the local agent, at Bridgetown, for the Nova Scotian news- 
 paper, and a marked copy of that journal, containing the alleged 
 libel, having l)een placed in his hands, he recognized it as one which 
 he had delivered to a suhscriber lor, and on belialf of, the publisher, 
 the defendant in this suit ; and the late I^wrence O'Connor Doyle, 
 then of Halifax, who was counsel for the defendant, having waived 
 any cross-examination of the witness, another was called, who swore 
 that the portion of the libel complained of, and which related to the 
 plaintiff, had personal reference to him ; and he was also allowed to 
 leave the stand without cross-examination. 
 
 Two of the seventy witnesses had thus been disposed of, and it 
 was suspected the defence relied on finding, through the cross ex- 
 aminations of the remaining sixty-eight, the points on which to 
 finally go to the jury, if not for entire acquittal, at least for mitiga- 
 tion in damages. The surprise of every one can therefore be better 
 imagined than expressed when Mr. Johnston arose and said : " We 
 rest here, my lord." To those who did not understand the signifi- 
 cance of those words, it seemed as if the case of the plaintiff had 
 broken down, and that they indicated a confession of defeat. All 
 eyes were consequently turned toward the face of Doyle, which had 
 before worn a very cheery and hopeful expression. The change seen 
 there made it evident that disappointment and possibly defeat were 
 more likely to perch on the banners of the defendant than on those 
 of the plaintiff. • ' - 
 
 Doyle arose and addressed the jury in a twenty minute speech, 
 in which he complained of the tactics employed by the other side, 
 and of the injustice done to his client by not calling all the wit- 
 nesses summoned. To which Mr. Johnston laughingly said : " Call 
 them yourself, if you desire ; they are at hand." They were not 
 called, and a few hours afterward the jury found a verdict for $440 
 for the plaintiff 
 
 It has already been stated that the grandfather of Mr. Johnston 
 was a medical man by profession, and that two of his sons were in 
 Philadelphia pursuing their studies for the same profession when 
 the Revolutionary war broke out. One of these sons, — William 
 
JAMES WILLIAM JOHNSTON. 47 
 
 Moreton Johnston, tlie father of tlie subject of this sketch, — seems 
 to have had a true passion for that profession. The reader lias been 
 tohl of the bitter disappointment he felt when his eldest son, — 
 Andrew, — declined to adopt it ; he also knows that his second son, 
 Lewis, was an M. I).; but what follows has hitherto not been known 
 to the general public. I (piote from a note before me, written by a 
 lady, who vouches for the fact tliat, " his father intended him, — 
 James William Johnston, — for the medical profession also; but as 
 he could never overcome his repugnance to the sight of blood and 
 surgical operations, on that account only was it abandoned for that 
 of the law." The same lady also states : " When in Edinl)urgh, 
 "Mrs. Johnston, — the mother, — was recommended to engage the 
 " services of the late lord Brougham, who was at that time a student 
 " in straitened circumstances, as a tutor to her son ; but having, on 
 " enquiry, ascertained that his religious principles were not of an 
 " orthodox character, she would not consent to the arrangement." 
 From this it would appear that her sense of the moral responsibility 
 resting upon her in connection with her conduct toward her child- 
 ren, was very great ; and it may be thought, by some, to have been 
 unnecessarily so ; but her instincts seem to have revolted at all 
 forms of vice, whether relating to personal conduct, or to heterodoxy 
 in religious belief, and may serve as an indication, perhaps as a key, 
 to her inner character. One thing seems certain, tliat her children 
 derived much of the intellectual ability and moral excellence for 
 which they were distinguished from her who gave them birth. 
 
 A year before Mr. Johnston's decease he visited the south of 
 France on account of the state of his health, which had become very 
 much impaired. This course had been taken under medical advice, 
 and it was hoped that a season of rest from laborious and exhaustive 
 mental labor would so recuperate liis physical system that the life 
 of the "old man eloquent" would be spared to the public for a few 
 vears longer. But this was not to be. 
 
 The gentleman who for many years had been his great political 
 antagonist, — Mr. Howe, — whose health was also in a shattered con- 
 dition, was, shortly after, elevated to the gubernatorial chair of hia 
 
48 MEMOIR OF THE LATE HONORABLE 
 
 native province, an honor to wliicli he was very justly entitled. He 
 hail occupied the position, however, for only a few montlis when he 
 died. On the occurrence of this untoward event Mr. Johnston was 
 selected by the Governor-general to succeed Mr. Howe, and on the 
 receipt of the news of the appointment, in France, where he then 
 was, he notified his acceptance of the position, and at once com- 
 menced his journey homeward, with somewhat improved health, 
 and it was earnestly hoped that his life would be spared to assume 
 the duties thus imposed on him ; but on his return to England he 
 suffered a relapse, wiiich in a few weeks ended in his decease, at or 
 near Brighton. The event caused deep grief and disappointment 
 in the hearts of his many friends and admirers, who felt that he 
 eminently deserved the honor which had been conferred upon him 
 as a suitable crowning act, in recognition of his life-long and valu- 
 able services to the people of Nova Scotia. 
 
 My task is done. It only remains to add the following very just 
 estimate of the character of the late Judge in Equity, which is ex- 
 tracted from a book bearing the title "Acadia College and Horton 
 Academy." Dawson & Co., Montreal, 1881. 
 
 " A portraiture of more difficult execution is required to present 
 " a just idea of the late Judge Johnston. In religious discussions 
 " and questions, in the church, always the most modest and meekest 
 " of men, he nevertheless was intellectually a giant. A most im- 
 " pressive sight it was to see this man with talents which at the bar 
 " and in the legislative halls could hold men by the hour in speech- 
 " less admiration, take his place in meetings of the church with the 
 " manifest humility of one who felt himself ' less than tlie least.' 
 
 " In private and public life, by the natural bent of his mind as 
 " well as training, Mr. Johnston was, in the best sense of the word, 
 " a gentleman ; meanness and falsehood were abhorrent to his na- 
 " ture, and his intercourse was marked by a delicate sense of pro- 
 " priety. His higher moral perceptions -also were remarkable for 
 "their strength and power. Give him the maintenance or defence 
 "of a case in which, as against his client, justice was denied or 
 " feebleness oppressed, and he was often known to fire and soar aloft 
 
.rANTKS WIMJAM JOHNSTON. 4<) 
 
 " in a iimniK^r truly woiitU-rfiil. On such occasions he often sur- 
 "pusHwl hiniHoli; au<l all classes of nien, unlettomi antl cultivated, 
 "Iriends and anta«;onists, have (!<|ually cxim'ssed themselves with 
 " mlniir/ition of his extraordinary power. Nor was this 4uick sen.se 
 " of justice and rij^ht ilependent on the excitement of courts or popu- 
 " lar contests ; private and intimate intercourse- no less revealed this 
 "trait in Mr. Johnston as an original element of his moral consti- 
 "tution. To one knowing him sulHciently, and contrasting his 
 " finely moulded (character with the coarse natures of many men, 
 "even in high position, how naturally and mournfully comes now 
 "the exclamation-' when shall we look upon his like again ('"