MERCIER, HONORE (184o-1894), Canadian lawyer and statesman, was the son of Jean Baptiste Mercier, farmer, and of Marie Kimener, his wife. He was born at St. Athanase d'Iberville on Oct. 15, 5840. Mercier was educated at the Jesuit college of St. Mary, Montreal. Afterwards he was admitted to the bar of the province in April 1865. At the age of 22 he became the editor of the Conservative Courrier de St. Hyacinthe, in which he supported the policy of the Sicotte administration, which then represented the interests of Quebec, under the Act of Union (5840) ; but when Sicotte accepted a seat on the bench Mercier joined the Opposition, and contributed largely to the defeat of the Ministerial candidate. In 1864 he vigorously opposed the scheme of confederation, on the ground that it would prove fatal to the distinctive position held by the French Canadians. He resumed the editorship of the Courrier in 1866 ; but after a few months retired from journalism. In Aug. 1872 he was elected as member for the county of Rouville, and in May 1879. he became solicitor-general in the Joly Government, representing the county of St. Hyacinthe ; and on the defeat of the ministry in October he passed, with his leader, into opposition. On the retirement of Joly from the leadership of the Liberal party in Quebec in 1883 Mer cier was chosen as his successor. Mercier's attitude in the matter
of the execution of Louis Riel, leader of the north-west rebellion brought adherents to the Liberal minority in the Legislative assem bly, and at the general elections in Oct. 1886 the province was carried in the Liberal interest. In Jan. 1887 Mercier was sworn in as premier and attorney-general. He succeeded in passing with out opposition the Jesuit Estates Act, a measure to compensate the order for the loss of property confiscated by the Crown. When Mercier appealed to the electorate in 1890, his policy was endorsed. Early in 1891 he negotiated a loan in Europe for the province, and whilst on a visit to Rome he was created a count of the Roman Empire by Leo XIII. For a few years he was the idol of the people of Quebec, but in 1891, it was alleged that subsidies voted for railways had been diverted to political use, and he was dismissed by the lieutenant-governor. At the elections held in March 1892, his party was hopelessly defeated. On the formation of a new Government he was brought to trial, and declared not guilty; his health, however, gave way.