SKETCH OF HON . E. AVIIELAN . 197 Halifax , Nova Scotia , where, shortly after his arrival, he entered the printing-office of the Honorable Joseph Howe , then a newspaper publisher in that city. Here he gave such proofs of that great facility for newspaper writing which distinguished him in after life that he was occasionally employed to write editorial articles for Mr. Howe 's news¬ paper during the absence or illness of the latter. At the age of eighteen he came to Prince Edward Island , which was then ruled by parties who could scarcely be said to be amenable to public opinion. Mr. Whelan , ranging himself on the side of the people, threw the weight of his influence as a journalist into the struggle for popular rights. In 1851, Mr. Whelan married Miss Mary Major Hughes , daughter of Mr. George A. Hughes , of Her Majesty's Commissariat Department at Halifax , by whom he had two daughters—who died some time previous to his own decease—and one son,—an excellent youth, who perished by a boat accident in Charlottetown harbor, on Dominion Day, in the current year. Apart from Mr. Whelan 's oratorical power,—in which he excelled,—the great lever of public opinion, so powerful throughout the British dominions, obeyed his masterly hand as often as any fair occasion arose to resort to its agency. His political opponents will acknowledge that lie never abused the power of the press, and that he knew how to combine a singularly consistent political career with concil¬ iatory manners, Edward Whelan 's nature revolted from any mean or vindictive action. He neither bullied his opponents nor begged favors; he relied npon the strong innate love of justice of every intelligent mind; and, although he died comparatively young, he lived long enough to see, to a large extent, the results of his labors in the extension of civil liberty.