The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)Dent, John Charles
History
The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4)
Dent, John Charles
Canada -- Biography
practice of the world, is a crime of the deepest dye against the law of
God and the well-being of society."
The Court of Chancery for Upper Canada had been for years a mark for
scorn and derision on account of the personal deficiencies of Mr.
Vice-Chancellor Jameson, and the lack of organization in the whole
Chancery system. The Baldwin-Lafontaine Government undertook the reform
of the Court, increased the number of Judges to three, and gave it the
improved system of procedure which has earned for the Court its present
efficiency and popularity. When the measure became law, the question
arose as to who should be appointed to the seats on the Bench that had
been created. There was but one answer in the profession. Mr. Blake was
universally pointed out as the man best fitted for the post of
Chancellor. He accepted the Chancellorship of Upper Canada on the 30th
of September, 1849, which he continued to fill until the 18th of March,
1862, when failing health compelled him to retire. There were not
wanting political opponents who declared that Mr. Blake had created the
office that he might fill it; but all who knew the man and the position
in which he stood were aware that it was with extreme reluctance he
accepted the place. As his great judicial talents came to be recognized
the voice of the slanderer ceased, and the services which he rendered on
the Bench will, we doubt not, be now heartily acknowledged by all
parties. Mr. Jameson for a short time continued to sit on the Bench as
Vice-Chancellor, side by side with Mr. Blake. In the month of December,
1850, he was permitted to retire on a pension of £750 a year.
Mr. Blake, while at the Bar, held for a number of years the position of
Professor of Law in the University of Toronto, but resigned it when he
became Solicitor-General. He took a deep interest in all the affairs of
the University, of which he was for a long time the able and popular
Chancellor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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