250
The Green Bag.
Gwynne rapidly took a foremost place at the bar of the Province. Although he has now been in active service as judge for over twenty years, and has reached an age at which he might be considered entitled to enjoy a well-earned leisure, his eye has not grown dim, nor has his natural force abated. With the polished manners of a true Irish gentleman of the best school, both in his private and public capacity, Judge Gwynne is greatly respected and beloved. On the bench and in the performance of his judicial duties generally, he is a model judge; and his elaborate and keenly analytical judgments are evidence of his wonderful industry, acute intellect, and extensive and accurate legal acquirements. The sixth judge appointed to the Supreme Court Bench in 1875 was the Hon. William Alexander Henry, a member of the bar of the Province of Nova Scotia, and for many years a leader of one of the political parties in that Province, having been three times Solicitor-General and once Attorney-Gen eral. While in public life he promoted, with all the force at his command, the great na tional event of the consolidation of the Con federation. It was a fitting reward for many years of great and most valuable public ser vice when Mr. Henry was selected to occupy a seat on the Supreme Court bench, — a position which by his talents he adorned for thirteen years. Mr. Justice Henry died on the 5th of May, 1888; and on the 27th of October fol lowing, the Hon. Christopher Salmon Pat terson, then and for fourteen years a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Province of Ontario, was appointed to succeed him. Judge Patterson thus brought to the Su preme Court Bench extensive judicial experi ence as well as great attainments. Like Mr. Justice Gwynne, he is of Irish parent age, although born in London, England, in the year 1823. He was educated at the Royal Academical Institute, Belfast, and came to Canada in 1845, studied law and began the practice of his profession in Onta
rio, then Upper Canada, in 1851 . For many years prior to his elevation to the bench, in 1874, Mr. Patterson was looked upon as one of the leaders of the bar of the Province. An accomplished lawyer, he has made an able, upright, and no less accomplished judge. He has always inspired the greatest confi dence by his persevering industry, his great common-sense, and his sound judgment. The public felt that the Supreme Court Bench had not suffered any diminution of strength when Judge Patterson was appointed. Since the statute of 1875 was passed, there have been many alterations more or less im portant in the jurisdiction of the court; but to trace the subject in detail would be quite impossible in an article of this description. It may be said generally that an appeal lies to the Supreme Court of Canada from the Appellate Court, or, where no appellate court exists, from the highest court of final resort, in any Province. None but final judgments are appealable, except in equity cases coming from any Province other than the Province of Quebec, in which an appeal will lie from any judgment, decree, decretal order, or order. The cause must originate in a supe rior court of original jurisdiction, or in a court having concurrent jurisdiction with a superior court of original jurisdiction; in which latter case the amount in controversy must not be under two hundred and fifty dollars. This latter provision was made in favor of those Provinces which have not the advantage of a separate court of appeal, and is intended to cover certain county court cases and probate cases which may come by appeal before the highest court of a Province. Appeals lie also to the court in criminal cases, in Dominion controverted election cases, in exchequer cases, in cases decided by the Maritime Court of Ontario. This last court was established by the Parlia ment of Canada in 1877 for the purpose of deciding causes arising on any river, lake, canal, or inland water in whole or part in the Province of Ontario, and with the excep tion of the Exchequer Court was the only