THE HON. SIR NARCISSE FORTUNAT BELLEAU.

QUEBEC.

WE read in some of those charming old nursery stories, whose scenes are laid in "Araby the blest," as well as in tales akin to them where the drama is curtained within less alluring, but at the same time more highly favored lands, that those heroes and heroines of the earlier time were accounted supremely happy as well as divinely favored who had fairies for godmothers. The subjects of such solicitude, if we recollect aright, were represented as a meritorious, rather than as a numerous class, who were remarkable for the steady resolution with which they held their own way, and advanced their own welfare. Thus, to use an adage selected from the wise sayings of the hierarchs of the mythological calendar, the fairies, like the gods, help those who help themselves. Moreover they possess the knack of doing so at the right time and in the right way. We cannot of course say that the godmother of the subject of our sketch was a fairy, neither can we say that she had foreknowledge of the honors to which the child would attain, for whom, in the dim dawn of his infancy, she made promises and assumed vows. She might paradventure have conjectured that he would reach several of the steps of distinction at which he has successively arrived; but she could scarcely have thought that an English Prince, and he the heir to the most illustrious throne in Christendom, would, in the good time coming, traverse the ocean,

and in the course of a Royal progress, mark that child with his first kingly act, and thus by the ordeal of knighthood connect him with the history of his own sovereignty. If, however, there be a、 necessary connection between design and result, and if the latter be the natural sequence of the former, then we have some reason to suppose that the names given at his baptism, to the subject of our sketch, were not inconsiderately bestowed. Those names are not names of yesterday merely, they are nourished in classic soil. History and fable have invested them with forms of superhuman fascination. Moreover they were not more exact in their ancient meaning, than they have proved themselves to be prophetic in their modern application. The first was selected from the kingdom of flowers. In the symbolic language of that kingdom, if we are rightly instructed, it corresponds in character with the quality of self-reliance, which is particularly indicated as the occupant of the tenth phrenological compartment of the human brain. It is, moreover, of such sustaining value that in its absence, so we are told by the professors of that science, men will make but small marks in the world. The second name, which is as musical in its syllables as it is bewitching in its sense, appears to have been selected from the family of qualities. It has too, we may be allowed to think, attached itself practically as well as nominally to the owner, for his Christian names, Narcisse Fortunat, are not only poetical possessions, to some extent they represent exact properties: the first was a pledge that he should be befriended by perseverance and self-will, and the second was a promise that success and distinction should crown both.

The remote ancestor of the subject of our sketch was a native of Bordeaux, from which place he emigrated when this Province was younger, and before the triple-crossed flag floated from the Citadel. He is immediately descended from Mr. Gabriel Belleau by Marie de Kotscha Hamel, his wife. We learn further that he

was born on the 20th October, 1808, and educated at the Quebec Seminary. On the 15th of September, 1835, he married Marie Remi Josette, daughter of the late L. Gauvreau, Esq., who was formerly a member of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. He was called to the bar of Lower Canada, in 1832; and we may here anticipate the course of our narrative by adding, that he was created a Queen's Counsel in 1854, and elected Batonnier of the Section of the District of Quebec, in 1857 and 1858.

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For the period of seven years Sir Narcisse was a most zealous member of the Quebec City Council, and for three of those years he held the office of Mayor. It was during his mayoralty, and with the advantage of his earnest co-operation, that the city water works were commenced, by means of which an inexhaustible supply of pure water is conveyed from the picturesque Lake St. Charles to every portion of the city. To those who projected, and to those who carried out the project of the Quebec water works, too much praise can scarcely be given. The design, and the execution, though partially incomplete, are alike commendable. The citizens were so evidently impressed with the value of their practical and painstaking chief magistrate, that in 1853, Sir Narcisse expressing his intention to retire from the City Council, he was requested to sit for his portrait, in order that his likeness might be preserved in the City Hall. From the address which accompanied the request, we may extract some of the reasons which moved the applicants in the course they took. "The great improvements made in the city, and the important public works projected, commenced, and in some instances, completed under your auspices and administration, and your abilities so liberally devoted to the public service, will sufficiently immortalize your name." And as if such language was too feeble to express their sentiments, they add: "anything which may be said further on this occasion could add nothing to the honor and distinction which you have already acquired!" We may add

that seven years after his official connection with the city had passed away, those electors who in former days had supported him took the opportunity, on the occasion of his receiving the honor of knighthood, to present him with an address of hearty and cordial congratulation. We may observe in this place, that it was about the year 1852 that the much talked of North Shore Railway project took shape and consistency. The initiatory arrangements had been so far perfected as to warrant the projectors in introducing a Bill into Parliament for the incorporation of the Company, which Bill received the Royal assent on the 14th of June following. Of this Company the subject of our sketch was the first President. It is true that he held the office for a short time only, but we believe that within that period the survey and report were made, printed, and published, the localities determined on, and furthermore, that many of the municipalities along the route were authorized by the resident rate-payers, to issue debentures for the construction of the road. It may be observed, too, that in his own community Sir Narcisse has been at no time an idler. Thus we find him by profession a Barrister, by election a City Councillor, and by appointmenta Militia Officer and a Magistrate; a founder of Savings Banks, an active promoter of Water Works, an indefatigable Mayor, and a diligent chairman of a Railway Company. A little later in his history we note that he was selected as one of the Provincial Commissioners to secure a proper representation of Canada at the Paris Exhibition.

But graver duties and higher honors were yet reserved for him. On the 23rd of October, 1852, Sir Narcisse was called by Royal mandamus, to the Legislative Council, and from then until now he has taken a prominent part in the proceedings of that Honorable House. On the 26th November, 1857, he was nominated Speaker, and continued to discharge the duties of that office until the 1st of August, 1858, when, on the succession of the Brown-Dorion administration to power, Sir Narcisse retired