nces, and the ablest men of
all political parties. The people of Ontario and Quebec were little
known to the people of the Maritime Provinces, and those who resided in
the larger provinces in like manner knew comparatively little of their
fellow-subjects who dwelt by the sea. It was expected by some that the
Maritime Province representatives would be completely overshadowed by
men of greater political reputation belonging to the larger provinces,
but this did not prove to be the case. The Maritime representatives at
once took a leading position in parliament, and this position they have
steadily maintained down to the present time. No man stood better in the
House of Commons than the representative from St. John, the Hon. S. L.
Tilley. At that time Her Majesty, the Queen, in acknowledgment of his
services in the cause of confederation, had created him a Companion of
the Bath, a distinction which was also given to the Hon. Charles Tupper,
of Nova Scotia.

A vast amount of business had to be disposed of at the first session of
the parliament of Canada. Although the Union Act embodied the plan upon
which confederation was founded, it was necessary to supplement it by a
great deal of special legislation, for the purpose of interpreting it
and making preparations for the practical working of the constitution.
In all the discussions relative to the measures which had to be passed
at that time, Tilley took a prominent part, and, when the session was
over, he had established in the House of Commons, as fully as he had in
the legislature of New Brunswick, a reputation for ability as a speaker
and as a man of affairs. He was looked upon as one whose wide knowledge
of the needs of the province and whose experience in departmental work
were likely to be of the greatest use to the confederation. His high
character gave weight at all times to his words, and caused him to be
listened to with the most respectful attention. During the whole period
that Tilley sat in the House of Commons, he had the pleasure of knowing
that even his political enemies respected his character and abilities,
and, with the exception of the premier, perhaps no man wielded a more
potent influence in the councils of the Dominion than he.

It is not necessary here to trace to any large extent the career of Sir
S. L. Tilley in the parliament of Canada; that belongs rather to the
history of the Dominion than to a work which deals particularly with his
connection