Volume 3 — THE HON. JAMES COX AIKINS.

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The life of the Minister of Inland Revenue has been rather uneventful. His father, the late Mr. James Aikins, emigrated from the county of Monaghan, Ireland, to Philadelphia, in 1816. After a residence of four years in the Quaker City he removed to Upper Canada, and took up a quantity of land in the first concession north of the Dundas Road, in the township of Toronto, about thirteen miles from the town of York. This was sixty years ago, when that township, like nearly every other township in the Province, was sparsely settled. There was no church or place of worship in the neighbourhood, and the itinerant Methodist preachers were for some years the only exponents of the Gospel that were seen there. Mr. Aikins, like most Protestants in the north of Ireland, had been bred to the Presbyterian faith, but soon after settling in Upper Canada he came under the influence of these evangelists, and embraced the doctrines of Methodism. His house became a well-known place of resort for the godly people of the settlement, and services were frequently held there.

The subject of this sketch is the eldest son of the gentleman above named, and was born at the family homestead, in the township of Toronto, on the 30th of March, 1823. He was brought up on his father's farm, and was early inured to the hardships of rural life in Canada in those primitive times. He united with the Methodist Body at an early age, and has ever since been identified with it. He attended the public schools in the neighbourhood of his home, and afterwards spent some time at the Upper Canada Academy at Cobourg, which subsequently developed into Victoria College and University. At the first collegiate examination, which was held on the 17th of April, 1843, he figured as one of the "Merit Students." After completing his education he settled down on a farm in the county of Peel, a few miles from the paternal homestead, and there remained until about eleven years ago, when he removed to Toronto, where he has ever since resided. In 1845, soon after leaving college, he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Jane Somerset, the daughter of a neighbouring yeoman in Peel. He embraced the Reform side in politics, and was for many years identified with the Reform Party. His life was unmarked by any incident of public interest until 1851, when he was nominated as the representative of his native constituency in the Assembly. Not feeling prepared for public life at this period he declined the nomination; but at the general elections held in 1854 he offered himself as a candidate on the Reform side in opposition to the sitting member, Mr. George Wright, of Brampton. His candidature was successful, and he was elected to the Assembly. Upon taking his seat he recorded his first vote against the Hincks-Morin Administration, and thus participated in bringing about the downfall of that Ministry. He took no conspicuous part in the debates of the House, but for some years continued to act steadily with the Party to which he had allied himself. He voted for the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, and his voice was occasionally heard in support of measures relating to public improvements. He continued to sit for Peel until the general election of 1861, when, owing to his action on the County Town question, which excited keen sectional opposition, he was defeated by the late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron. The following year he was elected a member of the Legislative Council for the "Home" Division, comprising the counties of Peel and Halton. His majority in the county of Peel alone, where he had sustained defeat only a few months before, was over 300. He continued to sit in the Council so long as that Body had an existence. When it was swept away by Confederation he was called to the Senate of the Dominion, of which he still continues to be a member. His political views, it is to be presumed, had meanwhile undergone some modification, as he accepted office, on the 9th of December, 1867, as Secretary of State in the Government of Sir John Macdonald, and has ever since been a follower of that statesman. During his tenure of office the Dominion Lands Bureau was established, for the purpose of managing the lands acquired in the North West, chiefly from the Hudson's Bay Company. The scope of the Bureau has since been extended, and it has become an independent Department of State under the control of the Minister of the Interior. The Public Lands Act of 1872 is another measure which dates from Mr. Aikins's term of office, the measure itself having been in great part prepared by Colonel John Stoughton Dennis, Surveyor-General. The disclosures with reference to the sale of the Pacific Railway Charter resulted, in November, 1873, in the overthrow of the Government. Mr. Aikins participated in its downfall, and resigned office with his colleagues. Upon Sir John Macdonald's return to power in October, 1878, Mr. Aikins again accepted office as Secretary of State, and retained that position until the month of November, 1880, when there was a readjustment of portfolios, and he became Minister of Inland Revenue, which office he now holds. Though he is not an effective speaker, and makes no pretence to being either brilliant or showy, he has a cool judgment, and has administered the affairs of his several departments with efficiency. He is attentive to his duties, is shrewd in selecting his counsellors and assistants, and has considerable aptitude for dealing with matters of detail. These qualities, rather than any profound statesmanship, have placed him in his present high position.

During his residence in the township of Toronto Mr. Aikins held various municipal offices, and is still Major of the Third Battalion of the Peel Militia. He is President of the Manitoba and North West Loan Company, and Vice-President of the National Investment Company. He likewise holds important positions of trust in connection with the Methodist Church.