Brunswick and
finance minister of Canada was born, is still standing and is now used
as a hotel. Gagetown was at that period, and still is, one of the most
beautiful places in New Brunswick. The river St. John flows in front of
it, and Gagetown Creek, which is almost as wide as the river, laves its
shores. The land in the vicinity is fertile, and fine old trees line the
streets, giving an air of beauty and refinement to the locality. Sir
Leonard was named after his uncle, Samuel Leonard Peters, and the latter
was named after an English schoolmaster named Samuel Leonard, who was a
great favourite with William Peters, the grandfather of the subject of
this biography. Samuel Leonard, after leaving Gagetown, appears to have
removed to Nova Scotia, and probably died in that province. When Sir
Leonard was five years old he was sent to the Madras School in Gagetown,
of which Samuel Babbitt was the teacher. He attended this school from
1823 until 1827, when the grammar school was instituted in Gagetown. The
Madras school system was at that time in high favour with the people of
the province, and these schools received large grants from the
government, it being thought that this system was more advantageous than
any other for the instruction of youth. This idea, however, did not
prove to be universally correct, for in the course of a few years we
find the legislature declaring that while they believed the Madras
system suitable to towns and populous places, it did not answer so well
in rural districts. Samuel Babbitt, the teacher of the Madras School,
was clerk of the parish, and, according to the custom of that day, led
the responses in church. The rector of Gagetown at this period was the
Rev. Samuel Clark. The teacher of the local grammar school which young
Tilley attended from 1827 to 1831 was William Jenkins, a graduate of
Dublin University. Jenkins was a very severe man, and believed in the
doctrine that he who spares the rod spoils the child, and Sir Leonard
had a very vivid recollection of the vigour with which he applied the
birch. He removed from Gagetown shortly after 1831, and took up his
residence in Quebec, where he conducted a large school for many years,
dying about the year 1863. Sir Leonard, after he had become a well-known
political character and a member of the government of New Brunswick, had
the pleasure of paying him a visit some time in 1858.

An interesting incident occurred in 1827, at the time young Ti