Afflicted with gout in its most distressing form, Mr. Blake, after his retirement from the Bench, sought relief from his sufferings in milder climes. He returned to Canada in 1869, but it was evident that his end was not far distant. He died in Toronto, on the 17th of November, 1870. The late Chancellor Vankoughnet paid an eloquent tribute to his memory. "With an intellect fitting him to grasp more readily than most men the whole of a case," said Mr. Vankoughnet, "he was yet most patient and painstaking in the investigation of every case heard before him. He never spared himself; but was always most careful that no suitor should suffer wrong through any lack of diligence on his part. He had, moreover--what every Equity judge should have--a high appreciation of the duties and functions of the Court--of the mission, if I may so term it, of a Court of Equity in this country: not to adjudicate drily upon the case before the Court, but so to expound the principles of Equity Law as to teach men to deal justly and equitably between themselves. I have reason to believe that such expositions of the principles upon which this Court acts have had a salutary influence upon the country; and Mr. Blake, in the able and lucid judgments delivered by him, contributed largely to this result. He always bore in mind that to which the present Lord Chancellor of England gave expression in one of his judgments--'The standard by which parties are tried here, either as trustees or corporations, or in various other relations which may be suggested, is a standard, I am thankful to say, higher than the standard of the world.'" THE REV. ALEXANDER TOPP, D.D.