the Liberal principles to which he held. It was a serious
misfortune to the province that at a comparatively early age he was
transferred to the bench, so that his great abilities were lost at a
critical period when they might have been useful to New Brunswick in
many ways.

John H. Gray, a new member, also sat in this House for the county of St.
John. Mr. Gray was a man of fine presence, handsome appearance, and had
a style of oratory that was very captivating and impressive. His
fluency, however, was greater than his ability, and he injured himself
by deserting the Liberal party, which he had been elected to uphold.
Gray never quite recovered from the unpopularity connected with this
action, and he never became in any sense a real leader. The party he had
deserted soon obtained the control of the province, and his final
appearance in the legislature was as a supporter of Mr. Tilley, content
to play a secondary part during the great confederation conflict.

Robert Duncan Wilmot, another of the St. John County members, a first
cousin of L. A. Wilmot, was not new to the legislature, and his mind
being naturally conservative, it is in connection with the Conservative
party that he is best known in the history of the province. He was
elected as a Liberal, however, in 1850, but seems to have forgotten that
fact as soon as he reached the House of Assembly. This was not the only
occasion on which Wilmot contrived to change his principles, for he
performed a similar feat during the confederation contest, and left the
anti-confederate government of 1865 in the lurch at a moment when its
existence almost depended on his fidelity. Wilmot never was an eloquent
man, and he entertained some highly visionary views in regard to an
irredeemable paper currency, but he was a useful public servant, and he
afterwards became a member of the government of Canada and eventually
lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick.

{JOHN R. PARTELOW}

The Hon. John R. Partelow, who was defeated in St. John but elected for
Victoria, was a man who might have acquired a great political reputation
had the stage on which he appeared been a larger one. Partelow's
qualifications for high public position did not depend upon his oratory,
which was not of a high order, but upon his moderation and good sense.
Partelow's origin was humble, and his early days were spent as a clerk
in a store on the North Wharf, St. John. In that subordinate position he
made himself s