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Laurier LaPierre on Sir Wilfrid Laurier
by TVO | Allan Gregg
Laurier LaPierre has written a biography of his hero, Canada's seventh
Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, his namesake. The book is called
"Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Romance of Canada". (Originally aired June
1997)
It was the fortune of
Wilfrid Laurier to be born in a rural home, set in a quiet land, and if
we would know the man we must remember his early surroundings, and
recall his later years of serene companionship with nature and with
books. He was born on November 20th, 1841, at St. Lin, in the County of
L’Assomption. His father was a land surveyor, and his grandfather a
farmer, with a strong inclination for the study of mathematics and
technical science. His mother was Marcelle Martineau, of L’Assomption,
who died when he was four years old. She was a woman of rare gifts, with
a taste for art and a natural talent for drawing and designing. His
father afterwards married Odeline Ethier, who had been nurse in the
family. She had not the gifts of Mr. Laurier’s mother, but was a kind,
helpful, simple-hearted woman, and was greatly beloved by Wilfrid and
his sister, who died in her early girlhood. Three sons were born of his
father’s second marriage. One became a physician, and died in 1898. Two
survive: Charlemagne, a merchant at St. Lin, and member of the Commons
for the county, and Henri, who is prothonotary at Arthabaskaville. His
father died twenty years ago, and left practically nothing for the
family. Land surveying was not a remunerative profession, nor was his
father of a saving disposition. Still, he maintained his eldest son for
seven years at L’ Assomption
College, as well as during his law course at Montreal.
In so far as Mr. Laurier represents inherited qualities, we may look for
scientific and mathematical susceptibilities from the father, and for
grace and art from the mother. Both parents had the gracious manner and
wholesome simplicity of character which so beautifully distinguish the
best stock of the rural parishes of Quebec. The marks of a happy
childhood, the look that is caught at a mother’s knee, never quite pass
from the human face, and the face of Mr. Laurier in his softer moods
suggests that the home in which he was reared was a centre of all the
domestic affections, and of all the sweet courtesies of sympathetic
family intercourse. He still makes an annual pilgrimage to the old home
at St. Lin, and cherishes an unfailing affection for the aged
stepmother. He has not allowed the increasing duties and
responsibilities of public life to lessen his concern for her welfare,
and has never neglected the frequent visits in which she delights, and
which are among his chief pleasures. He has likewise manifested an
abiding interest in the fortunes of his half-brothers, and altogether
has shown an admirable sense of the obligations, and a keen appreciation
of the intimacies of family Relationship.
He first attended the elementary school of his native parish, and then
from September, 1853, to June, 1854, was a pupil of the Protestant
elementary school at New Glasgow. This village is eighteen miles distant
from St. Lin, and his chief object in attending the Protestant school
there was to learn the rudiments of English. He boarded with an Irish
Catholic family named Kirk, and often visited that of Mr. John Murray, a
great friend of his father, who kept a general store in the village. In
his leisure hours he served behind the counter of MurrAy’s store, not
for any salary, but simply to improve his English by conversing with the
customers. Mr. Murray was a strict Scotch Presbyterian, an elder in the
church, and had been educated for the Presbyterian ministry. He and his
family seem to have been greatly attracted by the schoolboy, who was
made a welcome visitor in the household. Mr. Laurier still cherishes
memories of his school life at New Glasgow, and in his reminiscent moods
seems to dwell almost fondly upon the various physical encounters he had
with the Scotch boys of the village. The fact that Laurier’s father thus
sent the boy from home to learn English would suggest that he saw in the
son early promise of his brilliant qualities, and had sagaciously and
correctly estimated the value of English, even as a mere commercial
asset. There seems reason to think that the boy’s experiences at New
Glasgow had a distinct and lasting effect upon his character and
opinions. Many years afterwards he was asked how it came that he was so
tolerant of the religious beliefs of Protestants. In reply, he told the
story of his relations with the family of John Murray, and added, “The
pure family life and the godly conduct of the Murrays so impressed me
that I am convinced a Protestant can be an earnest, true Christian, as
well as a Catholic.”
Sir Wilfrid Laurier
By Peter McArthur (1919) (pdf)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier and
the Liberal Party
A political History in two volumes by J. S. Willison (1903)
Volume 1 |
Volume 2
Life and Letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
By Oscar Douglas Skelton (1921) in two volumes
Volume 1 |
Volume 2 |
