CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON, K.C. established as to the fishing for seals in Behring Sea. Sir Charles Russell, then attorney-general, and afterwards Lord Chief Justice, and Sir Richard Webster, then solicitor-gen eral, now Lord Alverstone, were for Great Britain as well as Mr. Robinson. The Lon don Times said "Mr. Christopher Robinson, the Canadian counsel, in a brilliant speech, summarized the whole case, reducing it to series of concise propositions, which from the British point of view, at least, demon strated the absurdity of the American claims." Again, in 1903, Mr. Robinson appeared before an international tribunal and with leaders of the English Bar struggled with brilliant advocates from the United States in the Alaskan Boundary dispute: struggled and wrestled so as to gain the praise and plaudits of friends and foes; but struggled and wrestled well nigh in vain. Mr. Robinson's mind was wonderfully clear and capacious; his reasoning power was marvelously acute; his knowledge of precedents •was practically unlimited. But he was always the least demonstrative man in court, and his quiet speeches were pure argument. He never bullied a witness, nor attempted to browbeat a judge; he did not bluster before a jury nor try to deceive them. One who knew him intimately pro fessionally said he was never known to overstate his case, misstate facts, or mis lead the court by a hair's breadth. Mr. Robinson's secret of success was his intense application, his coolness and his physical condition, which, being excellent, aided the mental process. No man worked harder than he did at his profession, and no man who is less assiduous can expect to reach the eminence he attained. Every one trusted him — his clients, the Bar, and the Bench. His opinions prevented many .an action being instituted. Mr. Robinson was of medium height, •slight and active in his walk and move ments. Until recent vears he was extreme! v
fond of horseback riding, and shooting. In fact, a few weeks before his death he was shooting on his marsh on the St. Clair flats. He married, in 1879, the eldest daughter of the Hon. J. B. Plumb, one time speaker of the Senate of Canada. He .closed his eyes for his last long sleep in Beverly House where he had first seen the light, on the last day of October, 1905, in his seventy-eighth year. "His eye was not dim nor his natural force abated." His life had been a quiet unostentatious one. He never sought for political honors, or tried to win popular applause or the votes of the people. The only public posi tion which he was ever induced to accept was one his father had held half a century before, that of Chancellor of the University of Trinity College, Toronto, an institution connected with the Anglican Church, of which body Mr. Robinson was a sincere and faithful member. In this position he did good work — showing great breadth of mind and liberality. For his eminent ser vices in connection with the Behring Sea Arbitration Her Majesty offered him the honor of knighthood, but, for reasons of his own he saw fit to decline. Had he so desired he might, without doubt, have had any of the highest judicial positions in Canada. If he had accepted a judgship he would have shed luster on the Bench, for his mind was essentially judicial, he had the faculty of seeing all sides of the question under discussion and seeing it quickly; and his learning, industrious research and keeness of intellect, his quiet manner and the well-balanced mode of expressing his views on any subject would have enabled him to rank high as a judge. As a man he was gentle, unselfish, help ful, the soul of honor. His friends loved him. As a citizen he was respected by all who knew him; and he brought credit to his country. Although quiet in manner, un demonstrative and temperate in his utter ances, he clung firmly to his own opinions:
