Bernard Devlin, (15 December 1824 – 7 February 1880) was an Irish-born lawyer, counsel to the Abraham Lincoln administration of the United States Government during the most northerly engagement of the United States Civil War, Quebec-based political figure and Canadian parliamentarian,Bernard Devlin, Q.C., Library of Parliament: https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Profile?personId=11615 and peer and political competitor of Thomas D'Arcy McGee. A champion of many causes,The Montreal Beacon, Friday, 16 March 1934, page 12, Irishmen Were Leaders in Past Generations: A Father of Confederation: Thomas D'Arcy McGee, A Champion of Many Causes: Lt. Col. Bernard Devlin generally of a liberal persuasion, his abilities as a criminal advocate and oratorical skill established for him a wide reputation throughout the then-Dominion of Canada,Obituary, Montreal Gazette, 9 February 1880, referenced, page 11, in The Devlins: A Record of Achievement, Kevin M. Keough, 2007, and his motto: "justice and equality to all classes and creeds, undue favor to none" was far in advance of the tenor of the times.
Early life Born at Meera, outside present day Carrick-on-Shannon, County Roscommon, the eldest of seven siblings,Croghan Roman Catholic Church records, County Roscommon, Ireland, 22 March 2004 son of extensive landed proprietor and merchant Owen Devlin and his wife Catherine Mullany. In his teens Devlin commenced the study of the medical profession under his uncle, well known practitioner Dr. Charles Devlin of Ballina, County Mayo, later moving to Dublin to complete his studies. The medical tradition ran strongly in the family, with two uncles (the aforementioned Dr. Charles Devlin, MD and his brother Mark Henry Devlin, MD) and two brothers (John Joseph Devlin, MD and Mark Devlin, MD) all qualifying and later serving as doctors either with the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, or its counterpart in England.The Devlins: A Record of Achievement, 2007, by Kevin M. Keough, The Medical Register 1864 (page 109), 1866, 1878, National Library of Ireland, http://www.nli.ie/The Medical Directory 1852, 1854, 1866 (page 337), National Library of Ireland, http://www.nli.ie/ Dr. Charles Devlin gave his life in 1847 at the age of 44 during the worst year of the Irish famine, serving the sick poor of a workhouse in Ballina, County Mayo. He had contracted "fever" (likely typhus) from his patients.Tyrawly Herald newspaper, 15 April 1847 page 3, 22 April 1847, and 6 May 1847, records of the National Library of Ireland, http://www.nli.ie/
Leaving Ireland for Canada along with his father in 1844, the latter having suffered financial misfortunes, Devlin settled initially at Quebec City. Devlin's brother Charles, the future pioneer Mayor of Aylmer, Quebec, had arrived two years earlier, and his younger brother by 12 years, Owen Joseph Devlin, a notary, arrived some years afterwards. At Quebec, unable to practice medicine because he was less than 21 years of age, Devlin established a weekly newspaper with a liberal bias called the Freeman's Journal and Commercial Advertiser. He directed this newspaper from 1844 to 1847, after which he left for Montreal, where he continued his activity as a journalist and began the study of law under Edward Carter, QC, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons for Brome, Quebec.
Professional career Called to the Lower Canada Bar in 1847 (and later, in 1868, to the Bar of Upper Canada), Devlin set up practice in Montreal, operating initially on his own but later in association at different times and for varying periods with several others including Augustus Power, son of Quebec supreme court justice William Power, and Devlin's younger brother, notary Owen Joseph Devlin. His offices were variously located along St. James Street (present day rue St. Jacques).Lovell's Directory for Montreal, entries for years 1848-1919 Devlin's preferred location for business socializing was the St. Lawrence Hall Hotel at 13 Great St. James Street, then considered the finest hotel establishment in the city. The St. Lawrence Hall had many prominent guests at the time, including the Prince of Wales (in 1861), Charles Dickens, John A. Macdonald and George Brown.Article on the St. Lawrence Hall Hotel, McCord Museum website, Montreal, Quebec, 12 December 2013, http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/
Noted for his "splendid abilities" and as "Canada's most prominent criminal lawyer", it was said of Devlin that "There may have been his equal but never his superior in Canada. Wonderful stories are told of the effects of his oratory and pleading upon the jury, and, as an old Montrealer remarked: "Many a man was saved from the gallows by his matchless pleading".Records of the St. Patrick's Society, Montreal, date unknown, http://www.spsmtl.com Complementing his oratory was a keen knowledge of human nature, shown to best effect in the examination of witnesses.The Montreal Beacon, Friday 16 March 1934, page 43, A Champion of Many Causes
Devlin rapidly established a large and lucrative practice in criminal law, and a wide reputation throughout the Dominion of Canada.Obituary, Montreal newspaper, referenced, page 11, in The Devlins: A Record of Achievement, Kevin M. Keough, 2007, For many years he served as counsel to the Montreal Harbor Commissioners, and joint City Attorney for Montreal up to December, 1875. Created a Queen's Counsel (QC) by the Joly Government of Quebec in 1878, few cases of major importance of a criminal nature took place without his taking part on one side or the other. Among other important causes Devlin was retained, in 1864, by the administration of Abraham Lincoln to serve as counsel in the prosecution at Montreal of the participants in the celebrated St. Albans, Vermont Raid, the most northerly incident of the United States Civil War.
St. Albans Confederate Raid During the St. Albans Raid, the Confederate States of America sent a 22-man party (October, 1864) undercover to Montreal, which later infiltrated into Vermont (10–19 October) and took control (19 October) of the village of St. Albans, robbing several banks, attempting to burn buildings and causing some loss of life, before fleeing north again into Canada, hoping to draw the United States Army in pursuit across the frontier. The objective of the raid was to both raise money and draw Great Britain into the United States Civil War, thereby opening a second front against the North and drawing off resources that would otherwise be directed southward against Confederate forces.The St. Albans Raid, www.virtualvermont.comThe St. Albans Raid, http://www.stalbansraid.com/history/the-raid/The Latest from Quebec, Montreal Gazette, 20 October 1864Late American Telegrams on the raid from The Colonial Standard (Pictou, N.S.), 25 October 1864The St. Albans Raid, http://www.cbc.ca/historyThe St. Albans Raid, http://civilwar.bluegrass.net Devlin, on behalf of the United States Government, argued the raiders were criminals, not enemy combatants, and should be prosecuted accordingly. However, the court ultimately deemed the raiders legitimate soldiers of the Confederacy who could not be extradited, and they were freed, though shorn of their remaining cash from the raid.The Devlins: A Record of Achievement, Kevin M. Keough, 2007, , pages 58-97, St. Albans Raid. Speech of B. Devlin, Esquire, Counsel for the United States, in support of their demand for the Extradition of Bennett H. Young, et al, Charged with the robbery upon the 19th October last, of Samuel Breck, In the Town of St. Albans, in the State of Vermont, one of the United States of America
The decision to release the raiders was seen by the Northern states as hostile to the Northern cause. Consequently, American troops were ordered to in future pursue raiders into Canada and destroy them if necessary. However, realizing that such a move would violate Canadian neutrality and precipitate war between the Union and Great Britain, thereby achieving one of the key goals established for the raid by the Confederacy and only serving to help the South, President Lincoln revoked the order.
The St. Albans Raiders case set several precedents in the area of extradition law and, despite his loss in court, established Devlin's reputation in this field of law.The National Post, 11 March 2006, Our 'Undefended' Border, Then and Now, by Bradley Miller, lawyer Drawing heavily on European and North American sources and precedents, quoting frequently in Latin and sometimes in French, Devlin's closing remarks to the judge and jury on the occasion provide an excellent overview of the state of international law and extradition law at the time.
On 21 April 1865, telegraphed information from Bernard Devlin to Charles Stanley, Lord Monck, then Governor-General of Canada, began the Canadian manhunt for Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth, following the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (14 April 1865). Booth had visited Montreal briefly in 1864, and it was believed that he and other guilty parties may have been hiding themselves in Canada. As the search began to heat up Booth however, was found dead in Virginia. It was then that discovery of a handkerchief at the Virginia site monogrammed for John Surratt, a rebel agent, gave police a continuous trail and confirmed that the conspirators were not within Canadian borders.The Escape and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, by Edward Steers, 1996The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States, By Robin W. Winks
Fenian Raids and military service
The St. Alban's Raid of 19 October 1864 was an incident unconnected to later raids from the vicinity of St. Albans, Vermont, on the Eastern Townships of Quebec in June 1866 and again in May 1870, by the Fenian Brotherhood, a group of Irish Americans whose goal was to free Ireland from Britain. Formed in 1857, the Fenians' plan was to attack British colonies in North America, thereby forcing Britain to send troops, weakening her defenses in Ireland.The Fenian Raids, by Matthew Farfan, Quebec Anglo Heritage Network, http://townshipsheritage.com/article/fenian-raids Fenian raids into Canada occurred in 1866 (New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec), 1870 (Quebec) and 1871 (Manitoba). The Fenian threat helped forge a sense of unity among the British North American colonies, and added impetus to the move toward Canadian confederation, which occurred 1 July 1867, a year after the initial raid.
Opposed to the Fenian raids into Canada, although not unsympathetic to their cause of freedom for Ireland, Devlin was for fifteen years (1851-1866) closely identified with the active volunteer militia force. The militia also functioned as a further point of social activity and provided a platform for his political aspirations.George Rex Crowley Keep, "The Irish Migration to Montreal, 1847-67" (M.A. dissertation, McGill University, 1948); Sherry Olson and Patricia Thornton, "The Challenge of the Irish Catholic Community in Nineteenth-Century Montreal," Histoire sociale/Social History, forthcoming; Rosalyn Trigger, "The Geopolitics of the Irish-Catholic Parish in Nineteenth-Century Montreal," Journal of Historical Geography 27:4 (2001), 553-72 Devlin organized an Irish Company for the 1st, or Prince of Wales Rifle Regiment, serving initially as a captain, later as Lieutenant-Colonel, of the unit. In this capacity he commanded the regiment during the Fenian raids of 1866, assigned to guard the border from Huntingdon to Hemmingford, Quebec, opposite New York State. For his services Devlin was publicly commended by Charles Stanley, Lord Monck, then Governor-General of Canada. He retired his command, retaining his rank, in August 1866.
Political career and relationship with Thomas D'Arcy McGee