A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
History
A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography: Being Chiefly Men of the Time: A Collection of Persons Distinguished in Professional and Political Life, Leaders in the Commerce and Industry of Canada, and Successful Pioneers
This affectionate letter, coming from such an eminent man as Sir John
Rose, who attained such a high position among the most eminent men in
England, is preciously preserved by Mr. Branchaud, and the feelings of
friendship and esteem he always held towards the baronet are still warm
in his heart. During his sojourn in Beauharnois, in the summer of 1858,
the Right Honourable Edward Ellice, then proprietor of the seigniory of
Beauharnois, showed special marks of honour to Mr. Branchaud. He was
invited to all the dinners which he gave, whether to the principal
citizens of the place, or to his distinguished visitors from England. On
one of these occasions he met Lord Frederick Cavendish, the victim of
the Phœnix Park murder, Dublin, and Lord Grosvenor, now Duke of
Westminster. They were both very young then, and were going on a hunting
expedition to the western prairies. On returning home Mr. Ellice tried
to induce him to accompany him, and made him very flattering promises,
but the extended practice Mr. Branchaud had acquired did not permit him
to accept such an agreeable invitation. He regrets having declined now,
for he will never have an opportunity, if he should take a trip to
Europe, of forming acquaintances which the high position of Mr. Ellice
could have facilitated. He nevertheless keeps a grateful remembrance of
the old gentleman, who had so much regard for him. In 1859 Mr. Branchaud
married Marie Elizabeth Henrietta Mondelet, a daughter of the Hon. Judge
Charles Mondelet, of the city of Montreal, one of the judges of the
Superior Court for Lower Canada, and of Dame Maria Elizabeth Henrietta
Carter, a daughter of the late Dr. Carter, of Three Rivers. Madame
Mondelet was the niece of Captain Brock, a nephew and _aide-de-camp_ to
General Brock, and of Dr. Johnston, in his lifetime inspector general of
military hospitals in the Ionian Islands; and a first cousin of the late
Judge Short, of Sherbrooke. Mr. and Madame Mondelet died many years ago.
The Hon. Dominique, Mondelet, a judge at Three Rivers, was the elder
brother of Mr. Branchaud’s father-in-law. They were the sons of
Dominique Mondelet, a member of the old Legislative Assembly of Lower
Canada, and also a member of the Executive Council under the
administration of Lord Aylmer. In politics M. Branchaud was an advanced
liberal in his youth, but his opinions have greatly changed during the
last few years. Experience and age always exert a soothing influence on
the ideas and sentiments of the generality of men, and Mr. Branchaud did
not form an exception to the rule. He would not be so willing, to-day,
to endorse the political and social principles formulated in the
programme of _L’ Avenir_, and which were so enthusiastically adopted by
the young men who founded that paper. However, Mr. Branchaud thinks one
may be liberal without sharing the opinions of the nineteenth century
philosophers, and without believing in the omnipotence of universal
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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