4i8
The Green Bag,
ince in districts, and being summoned oc casionally to sit in the cities for the purpose of assisting their brethren. The court has an appellate jurisdiction as well, and three judges of the court sit fn revision of judg ments at Quebec and Montreal every month. A chief justice and an acting or assistant chief justice are appointed by the Governor General in Council, one residing in Quebec, the other in Montreal. On the death of the late Chief-Justice Sir Francis Johnson, a man of great ability and an accomplished French and English scholar, a wit, a bon rivant, and the hero of all the Canadian Joe Millers, Mr. Justice Tait, the subject of this sketch, was selected to succeed him; but, in accordance with practice, the then Acting Chief Justice, Sir L. N. Casault of Quebec, was promoted to be chief justice, and Mr. Justice Tait made acting chief justice of the court at Mon treal. Sir Melbourne Tait was born in 1842 at Melbourne, a picturesque village on the St. Francis River in the Eastern Townships of the Province. His father was a leading merchant of the place, warden of the county and a Justice of the Peace, and was also a captain in the Canadian militia. The future chief justice was educated at St. Francis College, Richmond, P. Q., and in 1859 began the study of law in Montreal, entering the law faculty of McGill Universfty, where he graduated B. C. L. in 1862. He was admitted to the bar of the Province of Quebec in the following year and, after practicing law for a short time in his native place, he entered into partnership, in Mon treal, with the late Sir John Abbott, Q.C., M.P., then, and for many years, one of the leaders of the Canadian bar, and afterwards Prime Minister of Canada. The firm of Abbott, Tait and Wotherspoon had probably the largest practice in the Province, and were standing counsel for a large number of corporations, including the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and
several leading banks. Mr. Abbott becom ing engaged in railway enterprises and sub sequently in political affairs, the manage ment of the firm devolved largely on Mr. Tait and Mr. Wotherspoon. Mr. Tait con ducted most of the court business of the firm, and the law reports of the Province show that he was leading counsel in many of the heaviest commercial cases tried in Canada. For a number of years he was treasurer of the Montreal bar. In 1882 he was appointed Queen's Counsel and in 1887 he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court, being made acting Chief Justice for the Montreal division in 1894. Sir Mel bourne Tait is a D. C. L. of McGill Univer sity, Montreal, and of Bishop's College, Lennoxville. Since his appointment to the bench, he has been an assiduous and painstaking judge and, especially since his nomination as acting chief justice, he has manifested a striking executive ability and the power of organizing his associates successfully. He is a prodigious worker, and has the faculty of inspiring others with a like zeal. It would be foreign to the scope of this sketch to refer at any length to the cases decided by Judge Tait, but it may be stated that he has been fortunate enough to see a very considerable number of his most im portant decisions confirmed either by the Supreme Court of Canada or by the Judi cial Committee of the Privy Council. To those interested in the subject, reference might be made to The Shefford Election case, i o L. N. 403; Vipond <>. Findlay, 7 M. L. R., S. C., 242; Sise v. Pullman's Palace Car Company, I Off. Reports, S. C. p. 9; Canada Paint Company v. William Johnson & Sons (ltd.), 4 Off. Reports, S.C. 253; Lambe v. Fortier, 5 Off. Reports, S. C. 47; Canada Revue т. Fabre, 8 Off. Re ports, S. C. 195; Rendell r. Black Diamond Steamship Co., ю Off. Reports, S. C. 257; Beach v. Corporation of Stanstead, 8 Off. Reports, S. C. 178; Montreal Water &
