LAFOXTAIXE, X. LOUIS HYPOLYTE. 



455 



Bonal Memoirs of Ge<n ge Washington " (12mo, 

 illustrated, 1858) ; an " Essay on the Life and 

 Writings of Spenser," and a great variety of 

 magazine articles and miscellaneous contribu- 

 tions to the periodical press. Her latest pub- 

 lication was a tasteful selection of poetical ex- 

 tracts called "The School Girl's Garland, 1 ' 

 series first and second, which appeared but a 

 few days before her death. As a teacher of 

 young ladies she was more than ordinarily suc- 

 cessful, and her culture, her literary tastes, and 

 the charm of her conversation, drew around 

 her a circle of the most refined people of the 

 metropolis, comprising authors, artists, and 

 divines. Her sketches of Western life remain 



among the most faithful and lively ever drawn, 

 and stamp her as a vigorous and original wri- 

 ter, whose reputation rests on no uncertain 

 basis. She was of eminently philanthropic im- 

 pulses, and employed much of her time in for- 

 warding charitable objects. For several weeka 

 previous to her death, as one of the ladies' 

 committee of the Xew York Sanitary Fair, she 

 labored with great enthusiasm to insure the 

 success of that enterprise. She witnessed the 

 opening of the Fair, and in her official capacity 

 was on duty during the day and evening in the 

 department of arms and trophies. She died the 

 following morning of apoplexy, brought on 

 probably by the fatigue of the few previous days. 



LAFOXTAIXE. M. Lons HYPOLYTE, was 

 born at Boucherville, Lower Canada, in Oc- 

 tober, 1807, being the third son of A. M. La- 

 fontaine. Applying himself to the profession 

 of the law, he worked with assiduity and suc- 

 cess ; nor did he permit any thing to distract 

 his attention from his profession till he had ac- 

 quired a competence. While he accumulated 

 what was considered a handsome fortune for 

 a professional gentleman in Canada, he en- 

 hanced his social position by a marriage with 

 a daughter of M. Amable Berth el ot who long 

 held a seat in the legislative assembly of Lower 

 Canada. 



Coming on the stage when Papineau was in 

 the zenith of his fame and at the giddy height 

 of a popularity from which he was to be 

 dashed, never to rise again, M. Lafontaine was 

 counted among that gentleman's followers. 

 The different characters and talents of the two 

 men were ultimately to assign them to very 

 different positions. A period of rivalry be- 

 tween them was to come; and after a short 

 and sharp struggle the mastery was to remain 

 indisputably witliM. Lafontaine. Till the period 

 of the rebellion, M. Papineau was the leader, 

 M. Lafontaine the follower ; at first a distant 

 and humble follower. Few prominent men of 

 the popular party in Lower Canada escaped 

 imprisonment at the time of the revolt. On 

 the 4th of Xovember, 1838, nnder a warrant 

 issued by M. H. Edmond Barren, J. P.. M. La- 

 fontaine, smpecte d'etre suspect, was ordered to 

 be sent to jail. The same warrant included 

 Charles (since Mr. Justice) Mondelet, Dennis 

 Benjamin Viger, and a number of others more 

 or less celebrated. This warrant was issued at 

 the time when it was known that M. Lafon- 

 taine was on the point of starting for England 

 as the agent, the Constitutional Association of 

 Montreal said, of the Canadians; and they 

 suggested that their delegate, who was about 

 to proceed there, should be authorized to cause 

 him to be arrested. Before his departure M. 

 Lafontaine underwent an examination before a 



special tribunal. On arriving on the other 

 side of the Atlantic he did not deem it ad- 

 visable to remain long in England; and ac- 

 cordingly passed over to France. He found, 

 when in England, a powerful protector in Ed- 

 ward Ellice ; and as no evidence had been 

 adduced against him, he returned to Canada 

 at pleasure, being neither outlawed nor having 

 a price set upon his head. 



After the return of M. Lafontaine, the old , 

 and once popular chief of the French Cana- 

 dians, M. L. J. Papineau, long remained under 

 ban. This gave M. Lafontaine an opportunity 

 to lay the foundation of that leadership which 

 his old chief had not the remotest chance of 

 rivalling. In 1841, becoming a candidate foi 

 the representation of Terrebonne, he with- 

 drew from the contest before its close, for rea- 

 sons which he stated at great length at the time. 

 It was after his defeat in Terrebonne that M. 

 Lafontaine found a constituency in Upper Can- 

 ada, Xorth York electing an eminent stranger 

 of another race and speaking a different lan- 

 guage, in preference to a resident. 



Under Sir Charles Bagot, M. Lafontaine first 

 attained influence as a member of the Adminis- 

 tration in 1842. This was the inauguration of 

 responsible government in Canada. The suc- 

 cessor of Sir Charles Bagot, Lord Metcalfe, 

 conceived a prejudice against the ministry of 

 which M. Lafontaine was a member, almost as 

 soon as he reached Kingston, and perhaps 

 before. He took an early opportunity to lay 

 the foundation of a quarrel with them ; and 

 about the 28th of Xovember, 1844, succeeded in 

 compelling them to resign, on the ground that 

 he had made appointments and offers of ap- 

 pointments without their knowledge or advice. 

 A party contest of no ordinary vehemence fol- 

 lowed, in which the name of the Governor- 

 General was mixed np in a way that has for- 

 tunately since become impossible. Lord Met- 

 calfe went to the extremity of ruling the 

 country for a period of nine months with only 

 a Secretary for adviser. By plunging into the 



