136 ' I OUR ISLAND STORY

established The Examiner. N 0 small degree of courage was need- ed to face and contend against the forces opposed to reform. But Mr. Whelan proved himself a man equal to the occasion. He attacked the ruling forces with such ability and vigor that, within three years, the Liberals, led by the Hon. George Coles, were victorious, and Mr. Whelan was recognized as ”the intellectual giant of his party.” He was elected a representative of the Second District of King’s County. For twenty successive years he con- tinued to be a member of the Legislature, of which, it has been

truly remarked, he was “both the pride and ornament.” For sOme I time he was a member of the Executive Council and Queen’s ‘ Printer, and his name is inseparably connected with the various measures which were, introduced in respect to Responsible'Gov- ernment, Universal Suffrage, Popular. Education, the Abolition of Landlordism, and kindred measures for the relief and better- ment of conditions in this Island.

The people’s friend in the fullest and beSt sense of the term, Mr. Whelan wasnever a demagogue. It has been remarked that _ he always prized the interest of the people more highly than their approbation. An, easy, graceful and eloquent public speaker, a brilliant and polished Writer, possessing a highly cultured literary taste and a Well-stored mind, he proved throughout his whole career ' that he was also a practical man who could frame a parliamentary

'bill with as much ease as he could prepare a lecture on a literary subject. Apart from his high oratorical powers, in respect to which he had no rival in the Legislature or out of it, and no equal since his death, the great lever of Public Opinion, so powerful through- out the British dominions, obeyed his masterly hand as often as occasion arose to resort to its agency. His opponents were, how- ever, compelled to acknowledge that he never abused the power of the Press, and that he knew how to combine a singularly con— siStent political career with conciliatory manners. ,

It is melancholy to reflect that this Singularly gifted man was compelled, as long as he lived, to look after the details of work in his printing office. It is melancholy also to know that after having borne a leading part in the early reforms brought about for the benefit of the people of this Island, and after having faithfully

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