While mostly forgotten today, Abbott was notably celebrated in the 1930s by one of his successor Prime Ministers, the great orator that was Arthur Meighen. He delivered a tribute to Abbott at the time of the dedication of a memorial plaque at the late PM’s family church in Quebec. You will find this address below.

The Right Honourable Arthur Meighen: I have spent the forenoon wandering around this beautiful village which nestles on the banks of a typical Canadian river winding through a fertile and picturesque countryside to join the Ottawa. To my mind there came impressions of the good fortune which fell to young John Abbott, in that his childhood was assigned to so charming a locality. How richly blessed is the youth who is able to spend his early carefree days in quiet and lovely surroundings such as these hills and streams provide! He can carry on his reflections and build his castles undisturbed by the artificial contrivances of cities. He has the measureless advantage of solitude, and, without solitude in one’s younger life, a habit of real thinking is less likely to be cultivated.

It is indeed interesting to witness this ceremony today. More than forty years have passed since Sir John Abbott died, and now, in a church founded by his father, and amid scenes where he roamed as a boy, this tablet to his memory is erected by friends and descendants of friends who knew him most intimately in life. His Excellency, the governor general, has well said that such a tribute would be vastly more appreciated by him than would any monument in a public place in our Capital. Sir John Abbott, as we all know, was a man of modest, retiring disposition whose enjoyments were among his friends and in private life. He really had no taste for the storm and bustle of politics.

As one reviews his career, one is struck by the fidelity with which his characteristics as a man are reflected in his performances as a statesman. Sir John Abbott was essentially a lawyer. The great energies of his life were given to law. Solid and logical attributes of his mind equipped him for success in law. In that profession he reached the highest posts of distinction—certainly the highest in the realm of commercial jurisprudence. In Parliament his principal achievements were along very similar lines. It was he who evolved and drafted the first bankruptcy law for Canada. This measure he took charge of and piloted through Parliament, and so well was his work done that the framework of our insolvency legislation even now is very much the statute of which he was author. He had what we call a legal mind, but he had at the same time an exceedingly practical mind. He knew the requirements of business and what the administration of big enterprises meant.

It was Sir John Abbott who worked out and finally established as law our jury system of today, or rather the scheme of administration of our jury system of today. He it was also who planned and finally had enacted notable reforms in our revenue laws. As a result of those reforms the stamp system came into actual use, and out of enactment of that time has grown the very extensive practice of collection of our revenue by stamps. It is noteworthy that in all these endeavours he laid his foundations well. On the groundwork put in place by Sir John Abbott the legislation on these subjects today has been with much fidelity constructed. These are services such as one would expect from a man of his type, predisposition and training. They illustrate a truth that what one does in the sphere of public performance is pretty much a reflection of what one is in his private activity as a citizen.

Your very distinguished guest, governor general, spoke of certain points of similarity between His Excellency’s own experiences and those of the man whose memory we are honouring. As between myself and Sir John Abbott I can think of only one comparison. There was a similarity in our tenure of high office; both were exceedingly brief. His was brief because of the visitation of ill-health, and mine because of other impediments which have since become somewhat epidemic.

This is a day long to be remembered by the people of these parts. It is a day long to be treasured by the Abbott family, not a few of whom have, in their own time, done honour to their distinguished kinsman. Those of us who have come among you to take part in tribute to one whose illustrious and useful life this county made available for Canada join in a hope that over long years to come the inspiration of this event will not easily be forgotten among you but will return and still again return with all its happy memories.