704 



PRIME. SAMUEL I. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



married. But repeated attacks of illness made 

 it evident that he was not equal to the strain 

 upon his energies in public speaking. Early 

 in 1840 he was seized with an unusually severe 

 attack, and with much reluctance he resigned 

 his charge. He applied for work on the "New 

 York Observer," and, as his skill in the use of 

 the pen was already known, his application met 

 with a favorable response. The. paper was at 

 the time under the charge of J. E. and R. C. 

 Morse and A. P. Cummings. The activity and 

 ability of Mr. Prime were so speedily manifest 

 that he became associate editor of the " Ob- 

 server" in 1840, and the Messrs. Morse prac- 

 tically relinquished their duties to him. His 

 health was still delicate, yet his labors were 

 abundant and unceasing. He did not confine 

 himself to the columns of the "Observer"; 

 his pen was employed in writing religious 

 books, in advocating educational and benevo- 

 lent enterprises in the secular press, and also 

 in general literary work. Ten or twelve years 

 of incessant toil produced its natural results. 

 In 1853, an almost helpless invalid, he sailed 

 for Europe for rest and recuperation. His 

 brother, Dr. E. G. Prime, occupied his place 

 during his absence, and the sea-voyage, with 

 change of scene and respite from work, pro- 

 duced the desired result. After a year's ab- 

 sence, he returned with renewed vigor. Tak- 

 ing warning by experience, he resolved to 

 diminish somewhat his toil, and was able to 

 persuade his brother to remain and continue 

 his helper. This gave him opportunity to de- 

 vote more time to the series known as the 

 " Irenreus Letters," which had become already 

 an attractive feature of the " Observer's " col- 

 umns, and also to engage in other congenial 

 work. In 1858 Dr. Prime purchased the in- 

 terest of S. E. Morse in the " Observer," and 

 from that time till his death was its senior 

 editor. Besides the journey abroad in 1853, 

 he made an extensive European tour in 1866- 

 '67, and again in 1876-'77. His letters during 

 these various journeys were frequent and full. 

 In addition to his regular weekly contributions 

 to the paper, Dr. Prime published about forty 

 volumes, among which are "Travels in Eu- 

 rope and the East," "The Alhambra and the 

 Kremlin," "Thoughts on the Death of Little 

 Children," " Life of S. F. B. Morse," and "The 

 Power of Prayer." This last, which was a 

 sketch of the Fulton-Street prayer-meeting, 

 was published in 1859, has been translated 

 into several languages, was reprinted in Eu- 

 rope, Asia, and Africa, and attained, it is said, 

 a circulation of more than 175,000 copies. Dr. 

 Prime was frequently a commissioner to the 

 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 

 and in 1883 went as a delegate from the North- 

 ern body to the Southern General Assembly. 

 He was Corresponding Secretary of the Ameri- 

 can Bible Society, and one of its active direct- 

 ors; Vice-President of the American Tract 

 Society ; Corresponding Secretary of the Amer- 

 ican Evangelical Alliance; President of the 



New York Association for the Advancement 

 of Science and Art ; Trustee of Wells College 

 for Women ; Trustee of Williams College; and 

 a member of numerous other religious, benevo- 

 lent, and literary organizations. He was of a 

 genial, happy temperament, always gentle and 

 courteous, and a welcome guest at every gath- 

 ering of good and learned men. He had been 

 a resident of New York city for many years. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. GoTernment. Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, Andrew Archibald Macdon- 

 ald. Executive Council : Premier and Attor- 

 ney-General, W. W. Sullivan ; Provincial Sec- 

 retary, Treasurer, and Commissioner of Public 

 Lands, Donald Ferguson ; Commissioner of 

 Public Works, William Campbell; without port- 

 folio, Neil McLeod, Samuel Prowse, J. 0. Ar- 

 senault, John Lefarges, Stewart Burns, and 

 A. J. Macdonald. 



Communications. The greatest drawback to 

 Prince Edward Island is the fact that it is an 

 island, and the greatest grievance of the prov- 

 ince is the failure of the Dominion Government 

 to carry out one of the conditions upon which 

 Prince Edward Island entered the Canadian 

 Confederation, viz., to provide continuous com- 

 munication, summer and winter, with New 

 Brunswick. The crossing of Northumberland 

 Strait in winter is an unpleasant and frequently 

 perilous undertaking. Public attention through- 

 out the Dominion was called to the subject in 

 January by the sufferings and danger incurred 

 by Dr. Mclntyre, member of the House of 

 Commons, and a large party, who crossed the 

 strait in an ice-boat. In the Provincial Legis- 

 lature, on the motion of the Premier, an ad- 

 dress to her Majesty was unanimously carried, 

 representing the failure of the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment to fulfill its contract, and praying the 

 Imperial Government to compel Canada to 

 carry out its agreement and to compensate 

 Prince Edward Island for non-fulfillment hith- 

 erto. On the outbreak of the Northwest re- 

 bellion, in order not to embarrass the Canadian 

 Government while it was engaged in war, 

 both houses of the Legislature passed an ad- 

 dress to the Lieutenant-Governor, requesting 

 that the address to the Queen be not forwarded 

 until such time as his Honor's advisers might 

 deem opportune. The address was delivered 

 to the Governor-General in July. 



Senator Howlan laid before the Senate an 

 elaborate scheme for establishing communica- 

 tion between Cape Tormentine and Cape Trav- 

 erse, by means of a subway under Northum- 

 berland Strait. The Government would not 

 commit itself to anything further than a prom- 

 ise to give the scheme a careful consideration ; 

 but a company applied for a charter to carry 

 out the undertaking. The strait at the nar- 

 rowest point is eight and a half miles wide, 

 and the greatest depth of water is about ninety 

 feet. A tunnel is deemed to be impracticable, 

 and a bridge would stop navigation. The D 

 minion Government has constructed a branch 

 railway from the Prince Edward Island Railway 



