DALHOUSIE MEDICAL JOURNAL 99 April 1967 SIR CHARLES TUPPER - NOVA SCOTIA'S FATHER OF CONFEDERATION RODERICK MCINNIS 1 Halifax, Nova Scotia The tale of the life of Sir Charles Tupper academy, concluding that it was un - necessary will humble you both with the moment for me to know more of simple arithmetic and the multitude of his achievements: than the principal. Premier of Nova Scotia; member of the fed- In 1838, Tupper went to the medical eral cabinet successively in the positions of school at the University of Edinburgh, after President of the Council, Minister of Customs, spending a year with one Doctor Harding of Minister of Transport, Minister of Public Windsor, Nova Scotia, from whom he re- Works, and Minister of Finance; Canadian ceived medical instructions. In his years at High Commissioner to London; twice Presi- the University he began to display some of the dent of the Canadian Medical Association; characteristics which later distinguished him. and Prime Minister of Canada. An insight His capacity for work was incredible, as evi- into the man is captured by a childhood recol- denced by his own words: lection of the Duke of Marlborough, honour- I had studied assiduously (throughout ing Sir Charles in 1913: the year), but knowing the importance of not I was told when I entered the room that I failing to pass the examination, for three weeks should meet one of the greatest, if not the before the first of May I went to bed at two greatest, of Canadians, and someone whispered, o'clock a.m. and rose at five to continue my "Please remember, the gentleman you will see work. was born the very year that the great Napoleon On August 1, 1843, Charles Tupper was died." I confess, sir, that when I, a little boy, awarded the degree of M.D. from Edinburgh, saw you, I was deeply impressed by your kind- at the age of twenty-two. He returned to ness, I was somewhat awed by your presence, Amherst to become a country doctor, and and I marvelled at your versatility. married Miss Frances Morse of Amherst in Little boys readily seem able to sense the 1846. The marriage lasted sixty-six years true nature of sophisticated adults, and in- until the death of Lady Tupper in 1912. deed, these words express an impression of Doctor Tupper spent twelve years practicing Sir Charles Tupper felt by all who met him. in Cumberland county, in a day when the Charles Tupper was born on July 2, complications surrounding the practice of the 1821, in Amherst, Nova Scotia, the son of a art were sometimes surpassed by the en- Baptist minister. His father was a very deavour to reach the patient. During this scholarly man, capable of reading thirteen period, however, Doctor Tupper built his languages. Towards these ends he apparent- reputation as a man who was firm-minded, ly encouraged his son, for by the time Charles sanguine, and greatly devoted to his people. was seven, he had read aloud to his father the He writes: whole Bible. He did not show an aptitude "Enjoying the professional confidence of for mathematics, however, and students find- my county, I was called to almost all import- ing themselves in a similar plight can take ant cases of illness from Wallace, forty miles heart from his answer to a virtually insoluble east, to Cape Chignecto sixty miles west of algebra problem: Amherst, where we lived. My life was spent in riding or driving from one part of the I threw the books into my desk and country to the other. I can hardly under- did not look at it again while at the (Horton) stand how I endured the fatigue. (Often the) struggle to keep awake in driving was most painful". In comparison with today's scientific 12nd Year Medicine, Dalhousie. medicine, the conditions under which he was DALHOUSIE MEDICAL JOURNAL 100 April 1967 Two integral links in the chain of service to the medical profession PFIZER ROERIG The names PFIZER and ROERIG represent two com- plete lines of ethical pharmaceuticals manufactured for the medical profession. Another service to the medical profession is SPEC- TRUM, a quarterly medical journal, published by Pfizer Company Ltd., expressly for the physician, medical educator, hospital and health officials. By mailing the coupon below to Pfizer, you will receive a complimentary subscription to SPECTRUM. I- TO: SPECTRUM PFIZER COMPANY LTD. Pharmaceutical Division 50 Place Cremazie, Montreal 11, Quebec. I would like to request a complimentary subscription to SPECTRUM Name Address Affiliated with DALHOUSIE MEDICAL JOURNAL 101 April 1967 required to work seem incredible. In one in- ment, I shall not hesitate to support them. stance in 1846, for example, he found it neces- After only one month under his leadership, sary to amputate the leg of a woman suffering the strength of the Conservative Opposition from a tremendous osteosarcoma of the climbed from fifteen to twenty-two seats, femur. The assistants in the surgery were a following a series of bye-elections and Liberal sailor, whom Doctor Tupper taught to liga- resignations. ture an artery, and a young doctor from Pug- In his early days in politics, Doctor Tup- wash, who had never before assisted with an per did not forget the lures of his first love, operation. These were the days before medicine. Consequently, with the Liberal anaesthesia or antiseptics, and the assisting defeat late in 1856, he felt his job had been doctor, quite understandably, grew faint dur- accomplished in overseeing the return of the ing the procedure. Despite all hazards, how- Conservatives to power. Both he and his ever, the operation was successful and the wife longed for their previous life in Cumber- woman died four months later of apoplexy. land. Party pressure was brought to bear Although he had always maintained an on him, however, and he resolved at least for active interest in political affairs, Doctor the moment, to let the world of politics be his Tupper's first offer for office did not come field of service. Little did he suspect that in until 1855. In the provincial election, he forty years he would be Prime Minister of a succeeded in defeating Mr. Howe, the already nation with the third largest land area on famous leader of the Liberal party in Nova earth. Despite his political involvement, he Scotia. This greatly surprised everyone but continued to be recognized as a man with Mr. Howe, who returned the jests of his admirable qualifications for many tasks. friends by saying that: "You will soon dis- With the Conservatives out of power in 1859, cover that I have been defeated by the leader he was asked by the Premier, Mr. Howe, to of the Conservative party". And in fact, in help in the reorganization of Dalhousie Col- the Legislature, Doctor Tupper quickly lege, of which Doctor Tupper became a gov- impressed both parties with his mental agility ernor on August 19, 1862. Moreover, in and his liberal use of cold logic in making a 1869, he was invited to take a chair in the point. His biographer, E. M. Saunders, re- Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie, the Dean, calls that: Doctor Reid feeling Doctor Tupper's presence No words were wasted in his business would "give the institution additional char- transactions, and there was with him in that acter and status". In 1860, the Medical day of leisure, a marked economy of time. Society of Halifax elected Doctor Tupper as its President. The annually increasing com- Doctor Tupper's early speeches, although mittment required of him in national politics, not considered amongst his greatest, serve to however, subtly drowned the last vestiges_ of illustrate very clearly his true nature, unclut- doctor remaining in him, except for one period tered as yet by the complexities of national (1872 - 1874), when the federal P.C.'s were politics. In one oration to the legislature in not in power, and he practiced in Ottawa. 1856, he stated the principles to which he It seems evident, therefore, that his election stood true throughout his life, the usually as the first President of the Canadian Medical unrealized ambitions of the courageous Association in 1867, (and again in 1888), politician: was more of a tribute to his administrative I did not come here to play the game of ability and his enviable reputation than to his follow my leader. I did not come here the role as a functioning physician. representative of any particular party, bound As Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 - to vote contrary to my own convictions, but to 67, his most significant contribution was the perform honestly and fearlessly to the best of passage of a Bill for General Education. Re- my ability, my duty to my country. In the past fractory to heavy opposition, based largely I have seen measures, which lie at the root of on concern over the concomitant taxation our prosperity and freedom, bucked because required for such a proposition, Tupper they emanated from the leader of the Opposi- succeeded by convincing the Legislature that tion; nor have the measures of the Government investment in the education of Nova Scotians always received a dispassionate hearing from was a guarantee of the future development the Opposition. Whenever the measures of the of the province. The trend he foresaw con- Government commend themselves to my judg- tinues so ubiquitously today. DALHOUSIE MEDICAL JOURNAL 102 April 1967 The Medical Society of Nova Scotia The Nova Scotia Division of the Canadian Medical Association Founded in 1954 and incorporated in 1861, the Medical Society has 12 Branch Societies throughout the Province.