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Rice, Charles, Registrar of the High Court of Justice, etc., Perth, Ontario, was born on the 7th of November, 1822, in the township of Drummond, in the county of Lanark, about two miles from the town of Perth, which then contained but a few log buildings used chiefly for government stores, the settlement being composed of discharged soldiers and their families located by the government at the close of the American war of 1812. His father, John Rice, was born in the county Down, Ireland, at or near Newry, and was descended from a collateral branch of the Monteagle family. Returning home from school one afternoon when about sixteen years old, he was kidnapped by the press-gang and forced on board a British man-of-war bound on a cruise for the coast of Newfoundland and Gulf of St. Lawrence. He continued on board ship doing duty as a sailor, until the American war broke out, when he left the vessel and enlisted as a private soldier in the Newfoundland Fencibles and took part in the battles of Chrysler’s Farm, Stoney Creek, Burlington Heights, and other engagements. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant, was wounded at Burlington Heights, and at the close of the war got his discharge with a pension and a grant of land. He had married Hannah Van Boeler, then the widow of John Woodlands, who had been killed in battle. She was born at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, of Dutch parents who had emigrated from the Netherlands and settled at Annapolis. They were descended from those sturdy and brave Dutchmen who had battled for their liberty for forty years against the colossal power of Spain under Phillip II. John Rice, through hard work, had effected a considerable clearance on his lot, and was prospering apace, when one summer, at the latter end of August, the barn in which all the produce of the farm had been stored, took fire and was burned down with all its contents, and he had to run in debt to the late Hon. R. Matheson for supplies to support the family for an entire year. This debt accumulated in Matheson’s books at compound interest at ten per cent., and in a few years Matheson got a deed of the farm, with a verbal understanding to re-convey when the debt should be paid off, which was never done in the lifetime of John Rice. Born and brought up in a log shanty, in what was then the backwoods, the subject of this sketch, Charles Rice, had but a poor chance of getting any education. There were no public schools, no free schools, in those days; and at intervals he was sent to a private school kept in Perth by the late Mr. Hudson, and afterwards to another kept by the late Dawson Kerr. On arriving at the age of fourteen Mr. Rice had been at school for about two years in all, and had only acquired some knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic. When about twelve years old, in the month of November, he hired out at six dollars a month to burn coal to earn money to buy himself a pair of boots for the winter. The following year, in the beginning of December, he hired as bookkeeper with Aaron Chambers, who had a lumber shanty, taking out oak timber near Peter McArthur’s, in the township of Beckwith. He started on foot and walked to Franktown, fifteen miles, and arrived there at dark only to find that he had five miles farther to go to reach the shanty, through a section of country and bush roads that he knew nothing about; but by following closely the directions given him, he succeeded in finding the place some two or three hours after dark. This was Saturday night. Chambers had hired him to keep his books, and on Sunday informed him that besides keeping the books he would have to cook for the men and chop the fire-wood. This he refused to do, and on Monday morning left the shanty and footed it home. He continued to work on the farm until about sixteen years old, when he was apprenticed to James Thompson (the present sheriff), to learn the printing business in the old Bathurst Courier office (now the Perth Courier). This was in May, 1839. About two years and a half after this, in the beginning of winter, he left the Courier office, took the stage to Brockville, thence by stage to Kingston (there were no railroads in those days), and arrived there at night penniless but not despairing. The Kingston News had just been started by S. and J. Rowlands, and he got work on this newspaper. The following summer he returned home, his father having died in the meantime, and worked for about two years longer in the Courier office. Ere he had been a year in the Courier, for the first time, he became convinced that if he was to succeed in the printing business, he must acquire a better education than he then had. A young lawyer in town, Henry Sache, who was sometimes hard up through nobody’s fault but his own, offered to sell him a Latin dictionary cheap. He closed the bargain and bought it, and at once determined to study Latin. The reader will no doubt smile when informed that he commenced his studies by committing the Latin dictionary to memory! A few evenings afterwards Mr. Sache, coming in and finding him intent at the dictionary, asked what he was doing. He replied that he had commenced to study Latin, and was learning the dictionary off by heart. His visitor smiled, and informed him that he would never learn the language that way—that he must get a Latin grammar, study that, and then commence to translate. But where was he to get a Latin grammar? Sache had sold his, and there was none for sale in Perth. The nearest place was Brockville; and so he got the stage-driver on his next trip to buy him one and bring it out, and how he exulted over the possession of that book! Every spare moment was thenceforth devoted to study, and with some assistance that he got from Ephraim Patterson, who was then studying for the church, he made pretty rapid progress. This intercourse with Patterson had induced in him a desire to study for the Church of England ministry. He talked the matter over with the late Rev. Michael Harris, and on a confirmation visit to Perth, he had an interview with Bishop Strachan on the subject. They both approved his decision, and while offering words of encouragement, pointed out the great difficulties that would have to be overcome, the subjects that would require to be studied and mastered before he could take a college degree and qualify for holy orders. Nothing daunted, the young man determined to persevere—what others had done he could do—it was only a question of time. He now reduced his course of studies to a system. He had to work ten hours a day in the printing office to support himself; so he rose at four o’clock in the morning, winter and summer, and studied Greek till six, when work commenced at type-setting. Of the breakfast hour and dinner hour he devoted forty minutes of each to the study of Euclid. From seven till ten p.m. was devoted to the study of Latin. Of course, his health occasionally broke down under this severe strain and compelled a short cessation, but only to be resumed again. Kingston was the seat of government when young Rice went there the second time and got work in the News office. Parliament opened in the fall, and Dr. Barker, of the British Whig, secured the contract for the government printing; and as he offered higher wages than the News was paying, young Rice entered the Whig office on the parliamentary work. Lord Metcalfe was governor at the time, and quarrelled with his ministers (Baldwin, Lafontaine, Rolph, etc.), on the question of responsible government. The ministry resigned, parliament was dissolved, the work in the Whig office stopped, and a lot of journeyman printers, young Rice among the rest, were thrown out of work, and he concluded to return to Perth, which at that time and at that season of the year was no easy matter. A small steamer, the last of the season, was advertised to leave Kingston for Brockville, and on this steamer he took passage and left in the afternoon, arriving in Brockville about four o’clock the next morning; the steamer’s paddle-wheels having got so coated with ice as to render progress difficult and slow. From Brockville he took the stage to Perth, a two-wheeled cart drawn by two horses, and the journey to Perth in that cart over rough and hard frozen roads, on a cold December day, was one not soon to be forgotten. Once more in Perth, he engaged with Mr. Thompson to work on the Courier half time, an arrangement which just suited him, as it gave him means enough to live on, and afforded ample time to pursue his studies. And here it may be as well to mention that while living in Kingston, a Frenchman from Paris, who was giving private lessons in French in the city, came to board in the same house. This was an opportunity not to be lost, and young Rice at once entered on the study of the French language, and worked at it diligently every evening after tea; and when he left Kingston six months after, he could read, write, and speak French with tolerable fluency. The arrangement with Mr. Thompson was only temporary, as Mr. Thompson entered upon the study of law in the office of the late W. O. Buell, and took Mr. Rice into partnership to manage and conduct the Courier business, as Mr. Thompson’s name had to be dropped from the paper on signing articles as a law student. At this time Mr. Rice entered upon his career as a journalist, his political articles, however, being revised by Mr. Thompson. The partnership continued until the first of January, 1852, when Mr. Thompson, having been appointed sheriff of the county of Lanark, sold out the Courier printing office to Mr. Rice, who continued to publish and edit the paper, having changed the name to the Perth Courier, until the first of January, 1863, when he sold out to the late G. L. Walker, brother of the present publisher and editor, Jas. M. Walker, and thenceforth ceased all connection with political journalism. In May, 1862, the Canadian parliament was in session in Quebec, and Sir John A. Macdonald’s ministry was defeated by a small majority, and the late John Sanfield Macdonald was called upon to found a new ministry, which he succeeded in doing. At this time the office of County Court clerk, deputy-clerk of the Crown, and registrar of Surrogate Court was vacant by the death of the late C. H. Sache. On the change of government, and the reform party coming into power, Mr. Rice at once applied for the office, and on the 10th of June was appointed to fill the vacancy, and which office he still holds (May, 1886). In 1864 Mr. Rice was appointed by the Hon. John Sanfield Macdonald to the commission of the peace. In 1856 he bought out the book and stationery store of Wm. Allan, but after continuing the business for two years, and finding it did not succeed to his satisfaction, wound it up and again confined his attention exclusively to the newspaper business. During his connection with the press, Mr. Rice was a strong and pronounced advocate of reform principles and responsible government, his political editorials on the questions of the day being often copied into other journals. The legislative union between Upper and Lower Canada did not work well, owing to differences in sectional interests, race and religion. Among the many schemes proposed to make the machinery of government work more smoothly, and allay sectional jealousies, was the one known as the “double majority” principle, advocated by John Sanfield Macdonald, and opposed by George Brown and the Globe. Mr. Macdonald’s scheme was that all measures purely local to Lower Canada should be dealt with by Lower Canadian members exclusively; and those purely local to Upper Canada, by Upper Canada members exclusively; while general measures affecting the whole province should be dealt with by the united parliament as a whole. Mr. Rice, in the editorial columns of the Courier, supported Mr. Macdonald’s scheme. Confederation came shortly after, and partly solved the problem. During his connection with the press, Mr. Rice took an active part in all the election contests and political movements in the county of Lanark. He gave the influence of the paper in supporting the Brockville and Ottawa Railway scheme, which has since developed into the great Canadian Pacific Railway. He was the first to advocate the construction of plank roads in the county of Lanark, resulting in the formation of a company, and making the plank road from Perth to Lanark, which has since become macadamised. He was ever foremost in advocating schemes of public enterprise and improvement. Since his retirement from journalism, Mr. Rice has contributed several articles on various subjects of a non-political nature to the public press, which have appeared in the Liberal, the National, the Week, the Globe, Canadian Monthly, and local papers. Probably those that have attracted most attention are his articles against prohibitory liquor laws, and notably, the Scott Act. Mr. Rice was brought up in the Church of England faith, was baptized by the Rev. M. Harris, and confirmed by Bishop Strachan. He was a constant attendant at that church, but his outspoken advocacy of reform principles in his newspaper exasperated some of the more hot-headed tories; and one Sunday morning, on going to church, he was confronted with a placard stuck up on the church door denouncing and libelling him on account of his political opinions. He never entered the church again, and joined the Presbyterian Free church. While pursuing his studies for the ministry he had access to the theological library of the Rev. M. Harris, and read the best standard works on church history and Christian evidences, as well as the doctrinal standards of the church. The evidence and arguments contained in these works, however, did not satisfy him—he felt that there was a weakness and a want running through them—something ignored that ought to have appeared; and he determined to see and know the other side and sift the matter to the bottom. With this view, he purchased and read the latest modern works on Christian evidences and Biblical criticism—Strauss, Renan, the Jubingen school, Dr. Davidson, Mackay, Kimberly, Greig, and many others; and the scientific works of Darwin, Spencer, Huxly, Lyell, Tyndall, Buchner, Heckel, Combe, Lubbick, Fiske, and many others, and finally, after many years of study and research, settled down into a confirmed Agnostic. The knowledge he had acquired of the Latin, Greek, and French languages was of great service to him in his reading and studies. On the 18th of April, 1848, he married Grace Murray, daughter of the late James Murray, a native of Paisley, Scotland, who had emigrated to this country and settled in the township of Lanark. Brought up in the backwoods like himself, her educational acquirements were not much, and, like himself, she was chiefly self-taught; but she naturally possessed more than an average share of strong, sound, practical common sense—invaluable qualities in a woman; and her sound, sensible advice prudently given and judiciously acted upon many times proved of great value to her husband in surmounting business difficulties. Five children were born of the marriage, two sons and three daughters. The oldest son, John Albert, grew up to be a young man of promise. At the age of eighteen he was attending the Military School at Toronto, when the Fenian raid occurred, and accompanied the volunteers to Ridgeway. On their return to Toronto he was presented by the volunteers with a silver-headed cane, with suitable inscription, as a token of their appreciation of the services he had rendered. He afterwards published and edited the Paris Transcript, in the county of Brant, for about two years, but failing health compelled him to abandon it, and shortly after his return home he died. One daughter, Jeanetta, died at the age of fourteen of heart disease. The oldest daughter, Carrie Elizabeth, married Joseph Lamont, proprietor of the Headquarters hotel in the city of Fargo, Dakota, where the youngest daughter, Ida, in November, 1883, died from accidental poisoning, on the eve of her marriage to Charles Scott, now mayor of the city of Fargo. The youngest son, James M., is working at the printing business in Chicago. So that all Mr. Rice’s posterity seem destined to be citizens of the United States. Unaided and unassisted from any person or any quarter, by indomitable perseverance and a determination to succeed, Mr. Rice worked his way up from a log shanty in the woods to his present position of local registrar of the High Court of Justice. He never wholly failed in anything he undertook to do. If he had to cross a mountain and could not climb it, he would go around. Although it is twenty-three years since he retired from journalism, Mr. Rice’s name is still retained on the books of the Canadian Press Association.