And while there were among the wearers of the collar of S. S., men whose lives are neither helpful nor inspiring, there were many of whom it is good to read. In Canada the first person who received a writ of commandership of St. Sylvestre, was the late Sir L. H. Lafontaine, chief justice, in the year 1853. Judge Berthelot was appointed in 1875, as above mentioned. In 1876, after eighteen years of judicial services, he asked and obtained his superannuation, and on this occasion the _Montreal Gazette_, of the 28th of August, 1876, published the following: The Ottawa Government has at last come to a determination which enables it to accept the resignation of Mr. Justice Berthelot. Nearly a year has elapsed since it was generally understood that Mr. Justice Berthelot desired to obtain that relaxation from judicial duties to which twenty years service had fairly entitled him, but as our readers are aware, ministers were seriously embarrassed in the disposal of this piece of patronage, and the learned judge was requested to defer his proposed relinquishment of official duties. Before reference is made to his successor, it is but justice to say a word or two respecting Hon. Judge Berthelot. If the hon. judge has not obtained the first rank of judicial fame, no one will venture to deny that he has occupied a most honourable position on the bench of this province, or that his services have been of a highly beneficial character. It were scant justice to say that his character has been constantly honourable, his impartiality unchallenged, and his intelligence of the most vigorous type. Laborious without complaining, diligent without ostentation, Mr. Justice Berthelot has never proved unequal to the arduous demands of his position. His knowledge of real estate and insurance law, extensive and profound, and his decisions upon these, as well as many other branches of the law, were received with the utmost respect and confidence. In determination of cases in which juries are more or less liable to be influenced by sympathy for the sufferers, he did not hesitate to adhere to those leading principles which have been consecrated by time and experience, in preference to yielding to impulses which might create a dangerous precedent. In fine, Mr. Justice Berthelot’s judicial career has been conscientious, able and upright, and entitles him to the gratitude of his countrymen. _Le Nouveau-Monde_, on 29th of August, 1876, reprinting the above article from the _Gazette_, accompanied it with the following remarks: