He had married in 1839 a Miss Hawley, of St. Armand West, by whom he had three daughters. Mrs. Gale died in September, 1849. Of the daughters the only one now living is Anna R., widow of T. Sterry Hunt, of Montreal, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work; while of the other two, Agnes Logan married Andrew Stuart of Quebec, a son of Chief Justice Stuart and of a very prominent family in that city, and the third became the Baroness von Friesen, who died December 10, 1875, in Berlin, Germany. Born of parents who had both suffered for their loyal adherence to the British Crown during the American Revolution, and educated in their views Mr. Gale was, as long as he busied himself in politics, a stanch conservative and defender of British unity and British supremacy. He wrote a series of letters to the Montreal Herald (in those days the organ of the stoutest conservatism) over the signature of “Nerva” which produced a strong impression on the public mind at that time; and in espousing the cause of Lord Dalhousie and upholding the old constitution (under the title constitutionalists taken by the conservatives of that day) against the advocates of democracy or responsible government, he was but consistently pursuing the course on which he first set out. While upon the bench he maintained in an elaborate and very able judgment the right of the Crown to establish martial law here in 1837, refusing to theorize about what abstract rights man had or ought to have, declaring simply and firmly what the law, as he read it, established the prerogative of the sovereign to be in a colony. Both as a lawyer and judge he won the respect of his confreres alike by his ability and learning. For many years previous to his death he was deeply interested in the freedom of the slave. He could not speak with patience of any compromise with slavery and waxed indignant in denunciation of all who in any way aided, abetted, or even countenanced it. When the Anderson case was before the Upper Canada courts he was one of the most active among those who aroused agitation here. When the Prince of Wales visited this country he got up a congratulatory address from the colored people of Canada which, however, was not received, as the prince was desired by the Duke of Newcastle, not to recognize differences of race and creed wherever it could be helped.